www.jamesbondresearch.co.uk
The James Bond novels, penned by Ian Lancaster Fleming, first appeared in 1953, with Casino Royale. Fleming wrote a total of fourteen novels and short stories about his character, until his death in 1964. Fleming was educated at Eton and became a journalist until the war. During WWII Fleming served as the Personal Assistant to the Director of Naval Intelligence, where he gained much of the knowledge he applied to the Bond stories.
Fleming was responsible for devising the plan ‘Operation Ruthless’ where a team of British soldiers would crash a German aircraft in the English Channel, with the intention of killing their German rescuers and stealing their Enigma equipment. The plan was never executed, but demonstrated Fleming’s flair for espionage. Fleming, however, was frustrated at his life behind a desk and was referred to as the 'Chocolate Sailor' as he never left Whitehall.
Fleming stated that he wrote the novels to help him cope with the stress of becoming married at the age of 43, though it is more likely that he was spurred on to publish a novel after his brother, Peter Fleming, published a satirical novel criticising the security services. Most of the novels were conceived from his intelligence experience and travels abroad, with the novels being written at his Jamaican house, Goldeneye, and published annually from 1953 to 1966, two years after he died.
The Bond adventures, written by Fleming,
were successful in Britain, but not so much in the larger US market until
President Kennedy named From Russia With Love as one of his top-ten bedtime
reading books. The novels did not become phenomenally successful until the 1960s after they were adapted to film. Although the Fleming legacy was to become a
very lucrative one, Fleming did not, initially, make a great deal of money from
the sale of the film rights. He sold the rights to his first novel for a measly
$1000 dollars - he would get 100 times more in 1961. Fleming always wanted to
have his novels adapted to the screen, to fulfil his urge to become famous, and
he was to get his chance shortly after Casino Royale was published. The first
appearance of Bond on screen was not in 1962, as played by Sean Connery, but
was as a live broadcast of Casino Royale shown as part of CBS's Climax Mystery
Theatre season. This series of dramatisations featured Fleming's novel, but was
condensed into around fifty minutes.
This first outing for Bond, Jimmy Bond, as he was then, is still available, though is a patched together version. Jimmy Bond is created American in this early version (broadcast on October 21st 1954) and is assisted by Clarence Leiter of the British Secret Service. In the light of the massive hype and expense of the Bond films we are all familiar with, it is fascinating to see such a low budget and strangely acted version of Bond.
The first major appearance of Bond was to
come in 1962 when Dr No was released. This, however, was not intended to be the
first film of the series. Harry Saltzman owned the options on the remaining
Fleming novels, with Casino Royale having already been sold to another producer
(Charles Feldman). Time was running out on Saltzman's option and another
producer, Albert "Cubby" Broccoli was interested. Broccoli and Saltzman hammered
out a partnership deal and Arthur Krim, of United Artists, agreed to back the
first film. Broccoli intended for this to be Thunderball, published in the same
year, but a legal battle ensued between Ian Fleming, Kevin McClory and Jack
Whittington, the latter two claiming that the novel was based on an earlier
screen idea developed by the three. As a result of this, with the rights to the
novel and film of Thunderball being fought over in court, Dr No became the first
ever Bond adventure to reach the cinema.
The
early Bond films, produced on an annual basis, were successful in Britain but,
like the novels, initially did not really succeed at first in the massive
American markets. It was not until the huge success of Goldfinger that the
American market opened up for James Bond. The films were generally very
well received on both sides of the Atlantic. However, Richard Whitehall,
reviewing Dr No for the film journal Films and Filming, branded Dr No as
"morally corrupt", heralding an age of "fascist cinema". Goldfinger,
however, broke all British box office records and established the series as a
long-term cinematic phenomenon.
Saltzman and Broccoli went on to produce a new film on average every two years, until their partnership ended in 1975. Broccoli went on to continue producing the films by himself, while grooming his stepson, Michael Wilson, and daughter, Barbara Broccoli, to take over from him. The films now form the most successful series in cinematic history and never fail to break records on their release. they have been parodied and imitated countless times, yet the original formula seems to get more and more popular each time.
Bond is now a famous household name, with "Bond...James Bond" apparently being one of the most recognisable quotes in the world. The trademark "Vodka Martini...shaken, not stirred", the Aston Martin DB5, beautiful women and high-octane action are all familiar traits today.
Year Title
1953 Casino Royale
1954 Live and Let Die
1955 Moonraker
1956 Diamonds Are Forever
1957 From Russia, with Love
1958 Dr No
1959 Goldfinger
1960 For Your Eyes Only (Collection of Short Stories)
A View to a Kill
For Your Eyes Only
Quantum of Solace
Risico
The Hildebrand Rarity
1961 Thunderball
1962 The Spy Who Loved Me
1963 On Her Majesty's Secret Service
1964 You Only Live Twice
1965 The Man with the Golden Gun
1966 Octopussy & The Living Daylights
Year Title
1962 Dr No
1963 From Russia, with Love
1964 Goldfinger
1965 Thunderball
1967 You Only Live Twice
1969 On Her Majesty's Secret Service
1971 Diamonds Are Forever
1973 Live and Let Die
1974 The Man with the Golden Gun
1977 The Spy Who Loved Me
1979 Moonraker
1981 For Your Eyes Only
1983 Octopussy
1985 A View to a Kill
1987 The Living Daylights
1989 Licence to Kill
1995 Goldeneye
1997 Tomorrow Never Dies
1999 The World is Not Enough
2002 Die Another Day
2006 Casino Royale
2008 Quantum of Solace (unreleased)
