007: Licensed To Thrill
(and still doing so after 40 years).

Played on film by five different actors (eight if you include the bizarre ‘Casino Royale’), James Bond 007 is the hero of the longest running and most successful film franchise in the history of popular cinema. The actors that have portrayed him include Sean Connery, Roger Moore and Pierce Brosnan; his beautiful women have included Ursula Andress, Honor Blackman, Diana Rigg, & Halle Berry; his style is impeccable; his exploits are death defying and his one-liners are legendary.

Actually, it’s been more like fifty years that the adventures of the suave and sophisticated agent have been enthralling the general public around the world with adventures not only on celluloid, but also in the original books, radio shows, TV appearances, comics and magazines. James Bond seems to have been around forever, the idea of the secret agent in a tuxedo and bowtie, with a shoulder holster under his arm is ingrained into the international consciousness, and with each successive film being seen by approximately a quarter of the world’s population, 007 is a cultural icon of several generations.

James Bond 007 was the invention of writer Ian Fleming, and first appeared in the novel “Casino Royale” in 1953. The world was a very different place then, with the Cold War at its height and tensions between East and West, a fertile area for a writer of thrillers to explore. The book and its sequels were an immediate success, and went on to sell thousands of copies.

As the public awareness of Fleming’s books and his character grew (partly through a long-running series of comic strip adaptations in the Daily Express) the idea of transferring Bond to the cinema took root in the minds of two film producers. Harry Saltzman and Albert R “Cubby” Broccoli were convinced that 007 could work as a movie - as long as they had the right actor to play him. Forming a company named Eon Productions, Saltzman and Broccoli convinced United Artists to put up $1,000,000 to produce what would turn out to be ‘Dr No’. With financing in place, they turned their attentions to securing the right star for the film. Initially several actors were considered for the role including Cary Grant, Patrick McGoohan and Richard Burton, (Ian Fleming’s choice for the part was apparently either David Niven or Roger Moore), but in the end a fairly unknown actor and model from Scotland landed the job - Sean Connery, who as part of his audition was asked to light a cigarette in a really smooth way. Connery had already appeared in a few movies, including the gritty ‘Hell Drivers’ (1957) with future “Man From Uncle” David McCallum, but his role as the suave agent assured him a wonderful future. In order to get just the right performance out of him, director Terence Young made the young actor sleep in a Saville Row suit to make him feel at ease in that type of clothes.

‘Dr No’ was perfect for the time, and at the behest of Broccoli, the ingredients of the whole series including exotic locations, beautiful women, dry humour and dazzling gadgetry all made their debut’s. In the role as the mad genius Dr No was Joseph Wiseman, the beautiful woman was Ursula Andress as Honey Ryder and there was an appearance from the future head of “Hawaii 5-0” Jack Lord as Bond’s CIA contact Felix Leiter. With Bernard Lee as 007’s boss M and Lois Maxwell as his secretary Miss Moneypenny, almost everything was in place. The film was released in the UK in October 1962 and made its way to America the following May. It was a spectacular success, and within a year a second film was in cinemas.

‘From Russia With Love’ took all of the elements that had made ‘Dr No’ work so well and capitalised on its worldwide popularity. As well as bringing back M and Moneypenny, as almost every subsequent film would, it also introduced the first evil villains henchman, Robert Shaw; the world domination chasing organisation SPECTRE; and the wonderful Desmond Llewellyn as Major Boothroyd (or as he became later - Q). Another addition that was to be carried on throughout the series was to have the theme song sung by a current popular artist, in this case Matt Monro. Again ‘From Russia With Love’ did well enough at the box office to command a sequel, and this time Eon pulled out all the stops.

Released in 1964, ‘Goldfinger’ was the film that really put Bond on the map. The film revolves around a millionaire business man, Goldfinger (Gert Frobe) who somehow secretly smuggles gold across international borders. But it was everything that the producers crammed into the film that made it such a hit. In this film Bond acquired his now classic car, the Aston Martin DB5 with all its amazing gadgets and modifications. He also met up with two of the most memorable characters in Bond mythology the Henchman Odd-Job (wrestler Harold Sakata) and the gorgeous Pussy Galore (Honor Blackman). The theme song was a stunning number sung by Shirley Bassey, which stormed into the pop charts across the world, and it was this film that really took the idea of the cool and collected super-spy and instilled it into the collective thoughts of a generation.

After ‘Goldfinger’ everyone wanted a piece of the action and several imitations were spawned including the Derek Flint series of films starring James Coburn (‘Our Man Flint’ in 1965 and ‘In Like Flint’ in 1967) and the fondly remembered US TV series “The Man From UNCLE”.
With everything going so well, the following film ‘Thunderball’ took the series to new heights with a story of stolen nuclear bombs and missing state-of-the-art planes. It also featured a dazzling amount of underwater work with what seemed like hundreds of divers battling near the sea-bed, a theme song from Tom Jones and spectacular special effects. It was the biggest Bond film so far and its success was reflected at the box office.

‘You Only Live Twice’ came out in 1967, it was the fifth James Bond feature and making it had cost almost twice as much as ‘Thunderball’. This fantastic tale of missing rockets and a potential war between Russia and America, with huge sets and hundreds of extras as well as an appearance by Donald Pleasance, seemed to be pointing the way forward for the series. However by the time Saltzman and Broccoli were ready to begin work on a sixth film they had to look for a different star.

Sean Connery eventually gave up the role of James Bond as he felt he was being typecast and it had become difficult for him to get other roles. Although it took him a few years, he eventually found fame (and fortune) as one of Britain’s favourite actors, even though most people still associate him with this landmark part. With a new film needed to convince the critics and the public that the Bond series could survive Connery’s departure, Saltzman and Broccoli had to come up with an actor to match his popularity. Instead of choosing a well-known name though, they decided to try and re-create the success that they had with Connery by casting a virtually unknown Australian male model that had never made a film in his life, George Lazenby.

With Bond re-cast, the producers decided to surround Lazenby with a group of much more famous supporting characters. Both Telly Savalas and Diana Rigg were brought in to bolster the film’s pulling power at the cinemas, but ‘On Her Majesty’s Secret Service’ was generally poorly received. Savaged by the critics, and thought of as difficult to work with by the crew Lazenby didn’t last very long as 007, taking Saltzman and Broccoli back to square one. Having made less than the previous release, ‘On Her Majesty’s Secret Service’ had pushed the series into a real low and Eon had to somehow get it back on track. The only way they could guarantee that was to get Connery back.

‘Diamonds Are Forever’ was the seventh Bond film and the publicity machine put into place behind it was incredible. Connery was offered a then unprecedented $1.2m to return to the role that had made him a household name. He accepted, but donated his entire fee to charity. With their original Bond back, Saltzman and Broccoli pulled out all the stops to make the public aware of his return. The film hit the cinemas in December 1971 and made a great impact. With one of the best theme songs of them all, sung as “Goldfinger” had been, by Shirley Bassey, and many fantastic set pieces, the film was an instant hit. However Connery’s return was temporary and the hunt would soon be on to replace him once more.

Back when the series had kicked off with ‘Dr No’, Ian Fleming had suggested Roger Moore as a potential Bond and now the producers actively sought him as a replacement for Sean Connery. Moore’s Bond was much more refined than Connery’s, and it seemed that the public were going to get a taste of what Fleming had originally wanted for his creation’s on screen appearance. Unfortunately, as Roger Moore came in, so did many more tongue-in-cheek jokes and a slightly silly period began for the series.

Between 1962 and 1969 Roger Moore had portrayed Simon Templar in “The Saint” on TV. A sort of modern day Robin Hood, Templar was debonair, charming and dangerous. He had also starred alongside Tony Curtis in “The Persuaders” in 1971, where he had a similar persona, so the jump into 007’s shoes was not a huge one. His first film in the series, ‘Live And Let Die’ was a huge hit as Moore slipped almost seamlessly into the role. Again the film had a stunning theme song, this time by Paul McCartney and the film also introduced the world to the beautiful Jane Seymour, who would go on to have a successful career on US TV as “Dr Quinn: Medicine Woman”.

‘The Man With The Golden Gun’ soon followed in 1974, and the Bond series was again hitting the heights of success. As well as featuring Ian Fleming’s cousin Christopher Lee as the main villain, this film also starred Britt Ekland and Hervé Villechaize the midget who later appeared with Ricardo Montalban in the Hit TV series “Fantasy Island”. With a theme song trilled by Lulu, the series seemed to be in great form, but behind the scenes there was trouble. Mounting differences between Saltzman and Broccoli had resulted in a the pair being unable to work together, and in 1975 Saltzman sold off his share of the Bond films rights to United Artists, effectively giving complete control to “Cubby” Broccoli.

The cameras began to role on the latest Bond movie, and ‘The Spy Who Loved Me’, was released in 1977. This time Roger Moore was given a strong female character to work against, a Russian agent played by Barbara Bach (who later married Ringo Starr) and a new enemy in the steel toothed “Jaws”, a part that was created especially for actor Richard Kiel. The theme song, an international hit, was written and performed by Carly Simon, and the film was one of the best received for many years. But in the same year another film was released that was to have a direct effect on the next Bond film - ‘Star Wars’.

Since ‘Dr No’, the Bond films had been style setters, but in 1979 the popularity of ‘Star Wars’ and ‘Close Encounters Of The Third Kind’, which had brought science fiction back into vogue, was reflected in the theme of 007’s next outing, ‘Moonraker’. Although the Bond series’ reliance on hi-tech gadgets had always given it a “spacey” flavour, this was the first time that Bond had actually ventured outside the Earth’s atmosphere. With a budget almost three times that of ‘The Spy Who Loved Me’, it didn’t take significantly more than the previous film, and although ‘Moonraker’ was well received, it was the first in a run of successively disappointing films which added little to the excitement of the series as a whole.

‘For Your Eyes Only’, ‘Octopussy’ and ‘A View To A Kill’ seem to have dated much more than the other films, and as the films got sillier, there was a worse enemy on the horizon than any Bond had previously fought, old age. Not only was Roger Moore almost 60 when he made ‘A View To A Kill’, but most of the series regulars were looking a little past it. Bernard Lee, who had played Bond’s boss M throughout most of the films, had finally succumbed to cancer in 1981 and although Lois Maxwell was still going strong the time had come for a change of pace and for what some consider the best Bond films of all, ‘The Living Daylights’ and ‘License To Kill’.

Although Broccoli was still around, his son-in-law Michael G Wilson (who had originally been employed as Broccoli’s assistant) moved up to co-producer, with “Cubby’s” daughter, Barbara, as an associate producer. It was this team that first sought Pierce Brosnan for the role of 007, but even though his casting was announced, it was somewhat premature as his commitments to the TV show “Remington Steele” caused him to be unavailable. Undaunted, a new star was sought, and although both Sam Neill and Mel Gibson were considered, they found their new 007 in Timothy Dalton. With him in the hot-seat the creative team then produced two of the grittiest Bond adventures since ‘From Russia With Love’.

In 1987 ‘The Living Daylights’ introduced a new sort of Bond. Dalton’s style made the world of 007 a little harsher and more realistic as he tried to get to the bottom of a plot to kill off the “00” agents. This film also introduced topical subjects such as the Russian invasion of Afghanistan and, although his Bond still had time for the ladies, he was also less misogynistic and more romantic.

Two years later, Broccoli and Wilson came up with an even more tense and edgy Bond film. ‘License To Kill’ is in its own way as different from the rest of the films as ‘Casino Royale’. The story follows Bond as he resigns from the Secret Service to avenge the murder of his long-time friend Felix Leiter’s wife. Leiter was played for the second time by David Hedison (from the TV classic “Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea”). Bond’s adversaries in the film were an almost too real South American Drug Lord (played by Robert Davi) and his murderous henchman (played by Benicio Del Toro). Even though the film was one of the most realistic, it still had some amazing effects and stunt sequences, but the film did not do well at the box office. In fact although the critics loved both Dalton and his films, something had to be done to once again revitalise the series.

There was a gap of six years before the next film, partly because of the unpopularity of ‘License To Kill’, and partly due to a shake up behind the scenes as Broccoli took MGM to court over their proposals to license the Bond films for TV. Meanwhile control of production company Eon passed from “Cubby” Broccoli to Wilson and Barbara Broccoli and once again the producers went looking for another actor to play James Bond, as Timothy Dalton felt he needed to move on. This time, however, one of their earlier choices was available - Pierce Brosnan.

By the time ‘Goldeneye’ was released in 1995 things had subtly changed. M was still in charge, but she was a woman (wonderfully played by Dame Judi Dench); the Secret Intelligence Service was now based in the real SIS headquarters in Vauxhall, London; Miss Moneypenny was still M’s assistant (played by Samantha Bond) but she was now spouting sexual innuendos to Bond! Brosnan’s Bond took the best elements from all his predecessors to create probably the best screen version ever. ‘Goldeneye’ was a resounding success. Its hi-tech story concerning stolen helicopters, killer satellites, dispossessed former agents (specifically 006 played by Sean Bean) and introducing an ex KGB agent (Robbie Coltrane) was a definite winner.

‘1997’s ‘Tomorrow Never Dies’ continued in the same vein, as Bond linked up with a Chinese Intelligence agent (played by martial arts expert and Hong Kong film star Michelle Yeoh) to foil the maniacal plot by a media mogul (Jonathan Pryce) to start WWIII. While ‘The World Is Not Enough’, released in 1999, seemed somewhat smaller in scale, it still managed to include a stolen nuclear submarine, the return and possible death of Robbie Coltrane’s Zukovsky, a kidnapped M and the very lovely Dr Christmas Jones (Denise Richards). The film was also the most successful Bond film to date, making a re-appearance for Mr Brosnan a certainty.

The only two Bond films not to be made by Eon Productions (and therefore not part of the official series) were ‘Casino Royale’ and ‘Never Say Never Again’. Released in 1967, ‘Casino Royale’ was a messy and not very funny comedy, featuring three James Bond’s (David Niven, Woody Allen and Peter Sellers) and 1983’s ‘Never Say Never Again’ was basically a remake of ‘Thunderball’. ‘Casino Royale’ is nearer to an official release due to the fact that it’s producers bought the rights to the book, just like Eon had for ‘Dr No’, etc. ‘Never Say Never Again’, on the other hand, was only able to be made through a 1960’s legal decision that gave one of ‘Thunderball’s co-writers cinematic rights to the characters and situations. Strangely, the resulting film was better than the Eon production of 1983 (‘Octopussy’), mainly because of the surprise return of Sean Connery to the part of James Bond.

Which brings us to ‘Die Another Day’, the big film for this Christmas. Everyone is returning in their previous roles (except Desmond Llewellyn, who sadly died in a car crash soon after the release of ‘The World Is Not Enough’, and will be replaced by John Cleese). The film features some amazing special effects and stunts, including a fantastic car chase across an ice-field! The writers have also included lots of references to previous films in celebration of this films status as the twentieth official Bond film ever made.

The actors playing all of the lead characters may come and go (although it was recently announced that Pierce Brosnan is happy to do a fifth film) but in the world of 007 only one thing is absolutely certain: James Bond will return.

Dr No (1962) - Sean Connery
From Russia With Love (1963) - Sean Connery
Goldfinger (1964) - Sean Connery
Thunderball (1966) - Sean Connery
You Only Live Twice (1967) - Sean Connery
Casino Royale (1967) - Peter Sellers, David Niven & Woody Allen
On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969) - George Lazenby
Diamonds Are Forever (1971) - Sean Connery
Live And Let Die (1973) - Roger Moore
The Man With The Golden Gun (1974) - Roger Moore
The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) - Roger Moore
Moonraker (1979) - Roger Moore
For Your Eyes Only (1981) - Roger Moore
Octopussy (1983) - Roger Moore
Never Say Never Again (1983) - Sean Connery
A View To A Kill (1985) - Roger Moore
The Living Daylights (1987) - Timothy Dalton
License To Kill (1989) - Timothy Dalton
Goldeneye (1995) - Pierce Brosnan
Tomorrow Never Dies (1997) - Pierce Brosnan
The World Is Not Enough (1999) - Pierce Brosnan
Die Another Day (2002) - Pierce Brosnan