James Bond

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For the ornithologist James Bond click here.

The fictional character James Bond is a sophisticated British spy, invented by and appearing in books by Ian Fleming (and later Kingsley Amis, John Gardner and Raymond Benson). Fleming named the character after the American ornithologist James Bond. Fleming would later write to the birder's wife that her husband's "brief, unromantic, Anglo-Saxon, and yet very masculine name was just what I needed." Bond has the code name of 007, pronounced "double-oh seven". The 'double-oh' prefix indicates a 'licence to kill'; that is, permission to use deadly force at his discretion in the course of his duty. There is a highly successful and durable series of films made by EON Productions, the majority of which were produced by Albert R. Broccoli and then later his daughter and stepson, Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson. They were mostly released by either United Artists or MGM. There are also many notable video games based on the films and some with original scripts with the character.

"James Bond" has entered popular culture and language, with people using the phrase to describe something stealthy and/or futuristic: "right out of James Bond", "James Bond style security", and so on.

Personal Information

James Bond is the son of a Scottish father, Andrew Bond, and a Swiss mother, Monique Delacroix, both of whom are dead from a climbing accident by the time of the books and movies. He went to school briefly at Eton College. In the movies he has a degree in Oriental Languages from Cambridge University, although this contradicts the information in the novels and the scene in Tomorrow Never Dies where Bond is unable to use a computer with a Chinese keyboard. Bond can also speak fluent Russian, which he claims to have studied at Oxford in The World is Not Enough, and can be seen communicating in any number of other languages in the various films. He served in the Royal Navy before joining the Secret Service and holds the rank of Commander. During his tenure writing Bond books, John Gardner promoted the literary Bond to Captain, but he was subsequently demoted without explanation. In both the book and movie versions of On Her Majesty's Secret Service he marries, but his wife is killed on their wedding day by his greatest enemy, Ernst Stavro Blofeld.

Fleming's Bond was born in 1924, lied about his age to enter the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve in 1941, and had gained the rank of Commander by the end of the war.

The Bond family motto is Orbis non sufficit (Latin for "The world is not enough").

Overview

Bond movies are known for their villains, women (most of whom end up in bed with Bond), gadgetry manufactured by "Q", and 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 elaborate methods, from which Bond escapes after the gloating villain gives him the critical information necessary to thwart his plot. Despite the films' description as "thrillers", Bond's character is rarely troubled, regardless of the odds facing him. Many of the original books have a much darker tone however, with fewer fantasy elements and gadgetry.

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 are often given names that are double entendres, leading to a succession of jokes. Examples include "Pussy Galore" in Goldfinger, "Plenty O'Toole" in Diamonds Are Forever, and "Xenia Onatopp" (a villain who gets sexually excited by strangling men between her shapely thighs) in GoldenEye. Despite Bond's 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 1990s revival with Pierce Brosnan in the lead role has been successful.

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 Estoril Casino in Estoril, Portugal, is credited as the birthplace of Bond. The Casino was a home away from home for many spies operating during World War II, 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.

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), the Austin Powers movies, and Johnny English (2003). In the 1960s, the success of the 007 films inspired numerous television imitators, including The Man From U.N.C.L.E. (to which Ian Fleming contributed, and the name "Napoleon Solo" was originally the name of a crime boss in Fleming's Goldfinger), I Spy, Get Smart, and The Wild Wild West.

Video games have been released based on all the movies from A View to a Kill (1985) onwards. There have also been a number of James Bond video games not based on an existing story. A comic strip in Britain ran from 1958 to 1983, along the way adapting nearly all of Fleming's novels as well as producing many original stories on its own.

Bond Characters

Reoccurring or Relevant Characters from the James Bond movies:

Allies

  • M - Head of MI6
  • Miss Moneypenny - M's secretary.
  • Q - MI6's quartermaster
  • Felix Leiter - Bond's CIA liaison; later joined the DEA and was half-fed to sharks (in the book Live and Let Die, but in the movie Licence to Kill)
  • Rene Mathis - Bond's French counterpart in Station F
  • Jack Wade - After Licence to Kill, Bond was paired with a new CIA liaison. He appeared in GoldenEye and Tomorrow Never Dies.
  • Charles Robinson - MI6 operative
  • Bill Tanner - MI6 Chief of Staff
  • Bond Girls - Female companions or sometimes enemies of Bond, invariably beautiful and rarely appearing in more than one movie.

Enemies

  • Bond Villains - Featured in every film; in most films, however, there is a new villain.
  • Ernst Stavro Blofeld - Head of S.P.E.C.T.R.E.. Appeared in four Bond films.
  • SMERSH - "Death to Spies". Bond's original nemesis and mostly used in the books.
  • Jaws - A popular henchmen appearing in two films, The Spy Who Loved Me and Moonraker.

00-Agents

  • Agent 002: Bill Fairbanks - Assassinated by Francisco Scaramanga in Beirut 1969.
  • Agent 003: Unknown - Found dead in Siberia in the film A View To A Kill
  • Agent 004: Frederick Warder - In the film The Living Daylights he participated in a training exercise in Gibraltar with Bond. He was murdered by a KGB agent who left a tag on the body that read "Death to Spies" in Russian.
  • Agent 006: Alec Trevelyan - One of Bond's best friends, he betrayed MI6 and Her Majesty's Government by faking his death and aiding in the theft of the secret satellite, GoldenEye. His only motive for doing so was the fact that his parents were Cossacks betrayed by the British government.
  • Agent 008: Unknown - Agent 008 is only mentioned when M threatens to replace Bond in the films, Goldfinger and The Living Daylights.
  • Agent 009: Unknown - Assassinated by Mischka and Grischka in the film, Octopussy.
    • Unknown - Sent by M in The World is Not Enough to assassinate Renard. He put a bullet in his head, but Renard lived.

Bond Bits

  • Bond introduces himself with the words: "The name is Bond. James Bond." This introduction is so well known that it has entered Western popular culture.
  • In the films he prefers his Vodka Martinis "shaken, not stirred", although in the books it was first specified the other way around.
  • Bond drives numerous cars but the most commonly associated with 007 is the Aston Martin DB5.
  • Bond originally used a Walther PPK handgun. Since Tomorrow Never Dies it has become a Walther P99.
  • Every James Bond film ends with the line "James Bond will return" somewhere in the credits (usually at the end of them, with the exception of Die Another Day, in which it precedes them). Until A View to a Kill, it included the name of the next film, usually rendered "James Bond will return in (title)". This was occasionally later superceded: for example, the end of The Spy Who Loved Me stated that James Bond would return in For Your Eyes Only, but it was later decided that the post-Star Wars space craze had to be cashed in on, and the novel Moonraker was duly adapted into a space plot (which was then followed by 'For Your Eyes Only').
  • All Bond films, with the exception of Dr. No start with the now famous "gun barrel" scene followed by a pre-title film introduction. The significance of the "gun barrel" scene is looking down a gun barrel at a walking Bond from an assassin's point-of-view. Bond then quickly turns, fires at the camera, the scene goes red, the barrel turns to a white circle and the intro movie starts.

Vehicles & Gadgets

Another popular element of James Bond is the exotic equipment and vehicles he is assigned on his missions, which often prove to be critically useful.

The original books and early adaptations had only relatively minimal pieces like the modified attache case in From Russia with Love. However, the gadgets took on a more spectacular profile in the film version of Goldfinger and its tremendous success encouraged the following films to have Bond supplied still more equipment. For instance, it became an expected scene in each film where Q would present and demonstrate Bond's assigned tools for the mission and it was a near guarentee that each and every piece would be invaluable to Bond in the field.

Fans eventually complained that the use of gadgets became excessive in the Roger Moore films, particularly in Moonraker and subsequent productions struggled to find a balance in which gadgets could have a place without giving the impression that the character unduly depended on them.


See also:

Books

by Ian Fleming

Fleming himself wrote twelve Bond novels. In order of publication, they are:

  1. Casino Royale (1953) – first American publication title: You Asked for It
  2. Live and Let Die (1954)
  3. Moonraker (1955) – first American publication title: Too Hot to Handle
  4. Diamonds are Forever (1956)
  5. From Russia with Love (1957)
  6. Dr. No (1958)
  7. Goldfinger (1959)
  8. Thunderball (1961) – with Kevin McClory and Jack Whittingham. Because of controversy surrounding Thunderball's conception, this led to film-rights wranglings and prevented it from becoming the basis for the first James Bond movie
  9. The Spy Who Loved Me (1962) – Told from the point of view of a woman who meets James Bond. Fleming disliked this novel and a British paperback edition did not appear until 1967
  10. On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1963)
  11. You Only Live Twice (1964)
  12. The Man with the Golden Gun (1965) – Fleming died before a final draft was completed. It is believed that Kingsley Amis and possibly others finished the manuscript

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 5 stories "For Your Eyes Only", "From a View to a Kill", "Quantum of Solace", "Risico", and "The Hildebrand Rarity".
  • Octopussy and The Living Daylights (1966)
    • originally published with only the two short stories "Octopussy" and "The Living Daylights." A third story, "Property of a Lady," was added for the 1967 paperback edition. Most editions of this collection use the short title Octopussy.

All of these stories later provided some basis or characters for Bond films, with the exception of "Quantum of Solace." The title character of the Octopussy movie is said to be the daughter of the villain of the short story. One additional short piece, "007 in New York", appeared in Fleming's collection of travel essays, Thrilling Cities (1964) and was added to new editions of Octopussy and The Living Daylights beginning in 2002.

by Kingsley Amis

Since the death of Fleming, many writers have written novels based on James Bond. The first was Kingsley Amis (writing as Robert Markham). The intention was for a rotating series of authors to write Bond novels using the Markham pseudonym. After Colonel Sun, only one other Markham novel was completed, Per Fine Ounce by Geoffrey Jenkins, but it was rejected for publication and the Markham series was cancelled.

  1. Colonel Sun (1968) – elements of this novel were later used for the Bond films The World is Not Enough and Die Another Day.

by John Pearson

John Pearson's "authorized" biography of Bond was well-received by fans. The book suggests that Fleming based the adventures of 007 on the real-life exploits of James Bond, much like Arthur Conan Doyle supposedly based his stories on a real-life Sherlock Holmes. Gildrose Publications considered having Pearson continue writing a new series of Bond novels based upon this concept (with Pearson "inheriting" the job from Fleming), but nothing came of it. The canonicity of this novel is a matter of some debate by Bond fans, with some considering it apocryphal, but it was published as an official Bond novel by at least one publisher.

  1. James Bond: The Authorized Biography of 007 (1973) – contains references to virtually every Bond novel and short story by both Fleming and Amis.

by John Gardner

In 1981, the series was revived, with new novels being written by John Gardner. Between 1981 and 1996, Gardner wrote fourteen James Bond novels and two novelizations.

  1. License Renewed (1981) – it has been suggested that the 1985 Bond film, A View to a Kill may have borrowed some plot elements from this book
  2. For Special Services (1982)
  3. Icebreaker (1983)
  4. Role of Honour (1984)
  5. Nobody Lives Forever (1986)
  6. No Deals, Mr. Bond (1987)
  7. Scorpius (1987)
  8. Win, Lose or Die (1989)
  9. Brokenclaw (1990)
  10. The Man From Barbarossa (1991)
  11. Death is Forever (1992)
  12. Never Send Flowers (1993)
  13. SeaFire (1994)
  14. COLD (1996) (retitled Cold Fall for American publication)

by Raymond Benson

In 1996, John Gardner retired from writing Bond books. Raymond Benson was quickly chosen to replace him. He is the first American to write James Bond novels, a fact that was initially controversial.

  1. Zero Minus Ten (1997)
  2. The Facts of Death (1998)
  3. High Time to Kill (1999)
  4. Doubleshot (2000)
  5. Never Dream of Dying (2001)
  6. The Man with the Red Tattoo (2002)

Benson also wrote three James Bond short stories; "Blast from the Past" which appeared in the January 1997 issue of Playboy, "Midsummer Nights Doom" which appeared in the January 1999 issue of Playboy, and "Live at Five" which appeared in TV Guide in 1999. Prior to retiring as Bond novelist (see below), Benson indicated plans to write more short pieces and publish a short story collection.

After his 2002 novelization of Die Another Day, Raymond Benson abruptly retired from writing Bond books. The series will be continued, but focusing on Bond's adolescence (see below). It is unknown whether the literary Bond's life will be continued in print from where Benson left off.

Screenplays to Books

In addition to the above novels, there were seven "novelizations" which were books based on the screenplays of Bond films. These books are generally not considered official canon, despite most being written by the current Bond novelist of the time. Gardner, in particular, tries to incorporate his novelizations into both his own continuity and that of Ian Fleming, despite Licence to Kill containing major elements and events from several Fleming works.

  • James Bond, the Spy Who Loved Me (1977) by Christopher Wood
  • James Bond and Moonraker (1979) by Christopher Wood
  • Licence to Kill (1989) by John Gardner
  • GoldenEye (1995) by John Gardner
  • Tomorrow Never Dies (1997) by Raymond Benson
  • The World is Not Enough (1999) by Raymond Benson
  • Die Another Day (2002) by Raymond Benson

Young James Bond

In April 2004, Ian Fleming Publications announced a new series of James Bond books was on its way. Instead of picking up where Ray Benson left off, however, this new series of books would be about a 13 year old Bond, aiming at the "Harry Potter audience". The new novels will be written by Charlie Higson (The Fast Show).

by Charlie Higson

  1. SilverFin - March 2005
  2. Untitled - Fall 2005

James Bond Jr.

In 1967, Gildrose authorized the publication of 003 1/2: The Adventures of James Bond Jr. by Arthur Calder Marshall writing as R.D. Mascott. This book was aimed at young adult readers and chronicled the adventures of 007's nephew (despite the inaccuracy of the title). This book is not considered part of the official Bond canon.

The early 1990s TV series James Bond Jr. spawned a series of six episode novelizations by John Peel (writer) writing as John Vincent.

Official films

Fans of Bond films tend to have their own favorite actor who has played the part. Sean Connery played him as the tough guy, always ready with the clenched fist beneath the polished exterior. George Lazenby, though only appearing for one film, is one of the most controversial Bond actors, being simultaneously loved and despised by Bond fans. Roger Moore's Bond was much older, smoother and more sophisticated, rarely getting a hair out of place while saving the world. The films of Timothy Dalton attempted to take Bond back to the darker roots of the books, making him a more complex and troubled character. Pierce Brosnan, the current Bond actor, is widely regarded as portraying Bond with a mix of Connnery's raw masculinity and Moore's suavity.

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

starring Sean Connery

starring George Lazenby

starring Roger Moore

starring Timothy Dalton

starring Pierce Brosnan

  • 21: James Bond 21, 2005. — All current information on the next James Bond movie including casting rumors and confirmed reports.

Unofficial Films

starring Barry Nelson

starring David Niven

starring Sean Connery

Recently, MGM has managed to acquire the distribution rights to the Casino Royale spoof and Never Say Never Again (due to a legal settlement with Kevin McClory, who formerly held the story rights to Thunderball and was responsible for making Never Say Never Again). MGM now owns nearly all the rights to the 'Bond Films'. It has been suggested that this purchase has made it possible for a serious adaptation of Casino Royale to be considered.

other films pertaining to James Bond

Video games

Note: There are a lot of older James Bond games not listed here. The ones listed below are more recent.

On November 15, 2004 EA Games will release GoldenEye: Rogue Agent for XBox, PlayStation 2 and GameCube consoles.

Parody

Parodies of Novels

There were several parodies of the Bond novels in the 1960s.

  • Michael K. Frith and Christopher B. Cerf of the Harvard Lampoon wrote Alligator by I*n Fl*m*ng in 1962. Another J*mes B*nd story entitled "Toadstool" appeared in a Playboy parody published by the Lampoon. The cover of "Alligator" closely parodies the Signet covers for the Fleming novels, even including a short Fl*m*ng biography, and a list of nonexistent B*nd novels including "Lightingrod", "From Berlin, Your Obedient Servant", and "Scuba Do – Or Die".
  • Sol Weinstein wrote four novels about Israel Bond, Agent Oy-Oy-Seven, beginning in 1965: Loxfinger, Matzohball, In the Secret Service of His Majesty – the Queen, and You Only Live Until You Die.
  • Cyril Connoly wrote a short story Bond Strikes Camp, which satirized a homosexual relationship between M and Bond.
  • William Henley Knoles, under the pseudonym of Clyde Allison, wrote a series of twenty novels between 1965 and 1968 about Agent 0008, a thinly disguised version of Bond. The books were more action/soft core S&M stories than legitimate satire, but their scarcity has made them sought after Bond collectibles. The series ran: Our Man From Sadisto, Our Girl From Mephisto, Nautipuss, Go-Go Sadisto, The Desdamona Affair, Gamefinger, Sadisto Royale, 0008 Meets Gnatman, For Your Sighs Only, The Lust Bomb, The Merciless Mermaids, Mondo Sadisto, 0008 Meets Modesta Blaze (which also parodies the popular comic strip heroine Modesty Blaise), The Sex-Ray, Roburta The Conqueress, From Rapture With Love, The Ice Maiden, The Sin Funnel, Platypussy, and The Desert Damsels.
  • Bridge experts Philip and Robert King wrote a collection of bridge game-related short stories entitled Your Deal, Mr. Bond. The title story features 007.
  • Kim Newman's Anno Dracula novel Dracula Cha-Cha-Cha features a vampire agent of the Diogenes Club named "Hamish Bond". The segments of the novel featuring this character are filled with references to the Bond books and films, including chapters titled "On Her Majesty's Secret Service", "From Bavaria with Love", "Live and Let Die" and "The Living Daylights". Bond's archenemy seems to be a vampiric version of Blofeld (although there's a twist), and an alteration in his personality towards the end is portrayed as a change from Connery to Moore.

Parodies of Movies

The James Bond movies have also been repeatedly parodied:

  • Get Smart
  • In Like Flint and Our Man Flint, two mid-60s spy spoofs starring James Coburn
  • The Dangermouse cartoon series
    • Colonel K is clearly based on M
    • Baron Greenback has a number of similarities to Blofeld, most notably the white hairy catapiller that takes the place of Blofeld's cat.
  • Mike Myers' Austin Powers movies
    • Dr. Evil is almost an exact duplicate of Bond's Ernst Stavro Blofeld, the head of S.P.E.C.T.R.E.. Similar to Dr. Evil, Blofeld also wore a white or grey suit and had a white cat.
    • Emilio Largo, the S.P.E.C.T.R.E. villain from Thunderball is parodied in all of the Austin Powers movies as a character named "Number Two". Largo and Number Two are both played by an older gentlemen who wear eyepatches and are the second in command in their evil organizations.
    • Rosa Klebb from From Russia With Love is often cited as the prototype for the Frau Farbissina.
  • Undercover Brother (2002)
  • Johnny English (2003), starring Rowan Atkinson
  • An episode of The Simpsons, "You Only Move Twice", featuring a supervillain, Hank Scorpio. The Bond analogue, "Mr. Bont", is clearly based on the Sean Connery portrayal, but unlike Bond he is captured and killed due to Homer Simpson's interference in his attempted escape from captivity. This is not the only Bond homage from The Simpsons however — for example, the "Chief Wiggum P.I." segment of "The Simpsons Spin-Off Showcase" episode borrows heavily from Live and Let Die, even duplicating certain shots.

Miscellaneous Bond Trivia

  • James Bond (James Bond (ornithologist)) is the name of the American ornithologist who wrote Birds of the West Indies. In the film Die Another Day James Bond (spy) can be seen holding the book, Birds of the West Indies in a scene in Cuba. Ian Fleming, who was a keen bird watcher living in Jamaica, was familiar with Bond's book, and he chose the name of its author for the hero of Casino Royale in 1953, apparently because he wanted a name that sounded 'as ordinary as possible'.
  • James Bond was also the name of a Quaker author and religious historian in Maryland, USA.
  • Terance James Bond is the name of an ornithological and wildlife artist born in 1946 in Suffolk, Britain.
  • It's also interesting to note that the mid-1920s story "The Rajah's Emerald" by Agatha Christie is centered around a very proper British character named James Bond.
  • One story for the inspiration for Bond's number came from Rudyard Kipling's railroad stories, which centered around a train called 007.
  • Another version of the origins of the number 007 states that this was the number of the coach service from Dover to London in Kent, England that passed by Higham Park, a location where Ian Fleming spent a lot of time and where he gained the inspiration for and wrote Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

See also

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