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James Bond

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James Bond is a fictional character, a sophisticated British secret agent spy invented by and and appearing in books by Ian Fleming (and later Kingsley Amis, John Gardner[?] and Raymond Benson[?]). Bond has a code name or alias of 007, pronounced: double-oh seven. There are a series of films, and some notable videogames about the character.

Fleming saw the cover of a book on ornithology by an American author named "James Bond", and thought it would be a good name for his spy.

James Bond was most famously played by Sean Connery and Roger Moore, although other actors have had their turn (see below). Bond movies are known for their cartoonish villains, beautiful women (most of whom end up in bed with Bond), amazing gadgetry manufactured by "Q" (played by Desmond Llewelyn in every film, except the first, until his death in 1999), and outrageous stunts. Most had little to do with the real activities of intelligence agencies, involving Bond in violent acts of derring-do to save the world from various apocalyptic madmen. The madmen invariably attempt to kill Bond using rather improbable and elaborate methods, from which Bond escapes after the gloating villain gives him the critical information necessary to thwart his fiendish plot. Despite the films'/books' description as "thrillers," Bond's cocky character is rarely troubled, regardless of the odds facing him.

Bond is employed by the British Secret Intelligence Service, or MI6, a real-life institution. His superiors are known by single letters such as M and Q, a practice which is also used in the real institution where the chief, for example, is known as C.

Bond's female companions, as well as being beautiful, are often given names that are double entendres, leading to a succession of corny jokes. Examples include "Pussy Galore" in Goldfinger, "Plenty O'Toole" in Diamonds Are Forever, and "Xenia Onatop" (a villain who gets sexually excited by strangling[?] men between her shapely thighs) in GoldenEye. Despite Bond's patronising attitudes towards women, most of these leading ladies end up, if not in love with him, at least subdued by him.

Bond films began to look increasingly outdated throughout the 1980s, with the main character's sexism and the fixation with glamorous locations looking anachronistic and his unruffled exterior increasingly incongruous when compared to movies such as Die Hard. After a relatively unsuccessful attempt to turn Bond in a harder-edged direction with Timothy Dalton as the main character, the successful 1990s revival with Pierce Brosnan in the lead role has increasingly turned the series into self-parody.

At least a little of the Bond character was based on the life of its creator, who was noted for his glamorous lifestyle (including a fair number of female companions). The character is also believed to have been inspired by several of Fleming's contemporaries in British Intelligence during World War Two. The famous Casino in Estoril, Portugal is credited as the birthplace of Bond. The Casino was a home away from home for many spies operating during WW2, with Portugal operating as a neutral ground during the conflict. Fleming was inspired by the atmosphere at the Casino, where much of Europe's royalty mingled openly with many of the world's covert agencies.

The first actor to play Bond was American Barry Nelson[?], in a 1954 CBS TV production of Casino Royale. In 1956, Bob Holness[?] played the spy in a South African radio dramatisation of Moonraker.

James Bond is a moderate to heavy drinker, having consumed 100 alcoholic beverages in his films up to 2002, and more than 250 in Ian Fleming's novels. In the films, he has champagne 32 times, and drinks 20 vodka martinis. Source: http://home.earthlink.net/~atomic_rom/007/

James Bond is a household name (arguably the most successful fictional character ever) and has had a definitive impact on the spy genre, including some parodies like Casino Royale, 1967 or the Austin Powers movies. In the 1960s, the success of the 007 films inspired numerous television imitators, including The Man From U.N.C.L.E., I Spy[?], Get Smart, The Wild Wild West[?], and Johnny English.

Video games have been released based on all the movies from A View to a Kill (1985) onwards. There was also a generic Bond game based on the Legend of Zelda Link's Awakening[?] engine.

Table of contents

1 Bond characters

2 Bond Bits

3 Books

4 Films

4.1 starring Sean Connery
4.2 starring David Niven
4.3 starring George Lazenby[?]
4.4 starring Roger Moore
4.5 starring Timothy Dalton
4.6 starring Pierce Brosnan

5 See also

Bond characters

Bond Bits

James Bond is an orphan
Bond introduces himself with the words "The/My name is Bond, James Bond"
He prefers his vodka martinis "shaken, not stirred" (although in the books, it was the other way round, for the films, the better flowing description was used)
His family motto is 'Orbis non sufficie' (The World is Not Enough)
He holds the military rank of Commander.

Books Fleming himself wrote twelve Bond novels (though there have been many sequels by other hands since his death). In order of publication, they are:

Casino Royale (1953)
Live and Let Die (1954)
Moonraker (1955)
Diamonds are Forever (1956)
From Russia with Love (1957)
Dr. No (1958)
Goldfinger (1959)
Thunderball (1961) - with others. Because of controversy surrounding Thunderball's conception, this led to film-rights wranglings
The Spy Who Loved Me (1962) - Not exactly a Bond adventure -
On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1963)
You Only Live Twice (1964)
The Man With the Golden Gun (1965)

He also wrote two compilations of short stories featuring the character:

For Your Eyes Only. Five Secret Occasions in the Life of James Bond (1960)

including For Your Eyes Only, From A View To Kill, Quantum of Solace, Risico and The Hildebrand Rarity

Octopussy and The Living Daylights (1966)

including Octopussy, The Property Of A Lady and The Living Daylights. Almost all of these stories later served as the basis (though sometimes little beyond the title) for Bond films. One additional short-short story, 007 in New York, appeared in Fleming's collection of travel essays, Thrilling Cities (1964).

Films Note: The sequence numbers, where given, are those used by the makers of the "mainstream" Bond films.

starring Sean Connery

1:Dr. No, 1962 ("Bond Girl": Ursula Andress[?])
2:From Russia With Love, 1963, ("Bond Girl": Daniela Bianchi[?])
3:Goldfinger, 1964 ("Bond Girl": Honor Blackman[?])
4:Thunderball[?], 1965, ("Bond Girl": Claudine Auger[?])
5:You Only Live Twice[?], 1967, ("Bond Girls": Akiko Wakabayashi[?] and Mie Hama[?])
7:Diamonds Are Forever, 1971 ("Bond Girl": Jill St. John[?])
Never Say Never Again[?], 1983 ("Bond Girl": Kim Basinger) (Not a United Artists version, so not numbered)

starring David Niven

Casino Royale, 1967 (a spoof, so not numbered)

Recently, MGM has managed to acquire the distribution rights to the Casino Royale spoof and Never Say Never Again, and now owns nearly all 'Bond Films'.

See also

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