“The name’s Bond, James Bond.” The famous self-introduction quote of the iconic character, otherwise known as “007”, created by Ian Fleming and that has sparked imaginations worldwide for several decades.
The recent passing of Sean Connery, the first and arguably best actor to portray Fleming’s fictional British M16 intelligence officer in the movies, prompted me to write this post. More on Connery later.
My first introduction to James Bond was with the movie Goldfinger, released in 1964. I was fourteen and so enamored with the character and storyline after watching it that I read all of Fleming’s Bond novels.
But did you know that Goldfinger was not the first Bond movie?
Trivia time: What were the two movies in order of year of release, that preceded “Goldfinger”? And what movie with year of release followed Goldfinger?
Scroll down for answer.
Answer: Dr. No (1962) followed by From Russia, with Love (1963). Thunderball (1965) followed Goldfinger.
Only one year between movies? Really? Nowadays we have to wait two to three years minimum between sequels! (For marketing purposes, perhaps?) But I digress. Back to Fleming’s novels.
Interesting fact: Fleming’s Bond novels number fourteen, as well as some short story collections. But the movie order does not follow the order in which Fleming, who passed away in 1964, wrote the books. The first four movies were produced out of order with the books. Here they are in order of movie release with their respective book year: Dr. No (1958) was his sixth novel in the series, From Russia, with Love (1957) his fifth novel, Goldfinger (1959) his seventh, and Thunderball (1961) his ninth. The intervening books were all made into movies later.
The interesting part of this is that if you read the books in order, they tend to make sense chronologically and in terms of storyline. Although they are standalone narratives and not sequels strictly speaking, they do on occasion reference a prior book’s storyline. Why the movie producers decided to make the films out of order from the book versions is uncertain.
More trivia: What was Fleming’s first Bond novel, and what year was it written? Bonus question: what is unique, and important, about the movie version?
Answer: Casino Royale (1953)
Bonus Answer: The original movie version (1967) is unique as the only film adaptation which is not a typical serious Bond movie, but rather a satirical spoof starring David Niven. It’s considered by Bond aficionados as “unofficial” as it has painfully little resemblance to the novel. The more recent remake (2006), with Daniel Craig as the latest actor to portray Bond, is important because it is true to Fleming’s intent of his inaugural novel, which is setting Bond’s backstory as to how he gained his “00” status.
Here’s a site describing the movies in both order of release and in order of the books if you’re interested
Ian Fleming will always be remembered for providing us with a character and story arc which has endured and remained popular over the years, and will for many more to come, even as the latest movie production has been unfortunately delayed by the Covid pandemic. More importantly for me, as a teenager, his novels provided me with an exciting diversion while furthering my appreciation for reading.
Here’s an Ian Fleming trivia question: What 1968 musical-fantasy film was based upon a Fleming book?
Answer: Chitty-Chitty Bang-Bang based on Fleming’s 1964 novel Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang: The Magical Car, written for his son. Quite a change from his Bond stories!
Favorites. We all have them, right? Favorite food, favorite ice cream flavor, favorite sports team, favorite book, favorite movie, favorite beer . . .
So what if I asked what your favorite Bond movie is, and who is you favorite James Bond (as in actor)? For me, it’s Goldfinger, and Sean Connery, hands down. Goldfinger was the first movie to have all the elements of the later productions, including the gadgetry of “Q.” Who could forget the Aston Martin DB5 and its amazing array of defense mechanisms! As far as actor, some would say Roger Moore, but I think his portrayal was a little too lighthearted. In my opinion, Connery was the quintessential Bond. He projected enough gravitas to confront villains with his license to kill, yet was suave and debonair, especially with woman. Just as I pictured Bond when reading Fleming’s novels! I actually think the latest Bond portrayal by Daniel Craig approaches Connery’s more than any of the others.
And yet another Bond trivia question. Sean Connery was not the first choice of Ian Fleming and movie producer Albert Broccoli to portray the character. Who was, and what TV show was he famous for?
Answer: Patrick McGoohan, who turned the role down. If you can believe that! His TV show: The Prisoner. Having watched some of his episodes, I actually think he would have made a pretty good Bond as well.
As for Sean Connery, the character of James Bond was not a one-off from an acting perspective. Many consider the legendary Scottish actor to be the last great movie “star.” His performances in so many other movies transcend the Bond characterization, and are both varied and superb. To name a few, there’s The Hill, The Man Who Would Be King, The Untouchables (for which he won an Oscar), The Presidio, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, The Hunt for Red October, First Knight, The Rock, Entrapment. And who could forget Alfred Hitchcock’s Marnie.
Despite his varied and versatile acting career, in my opinion Sean Connery remains both the original and authentic Bond, James Bond, and as an actor will be sorely missed.
Last Bond Trivia question: What was his preferred beverage?
Answer: Dry Martini – Three measures of Gordon’s, one of vodka, half a measure of Kina Lillet. And what has endured and become a true Bond trope: “Shaken, not stirred.”
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Tony