Will the Real James Bond Step Forward Please!

The year was 1987. I sat in my bedroom, reading a book. My brain felt as if it were melting and leaking out of my ears. What was the title of the book that caused such a violent reaction? Casino Royale. Please understand: the James Bond I had known, until then, existed only in the movies. Sean Connery, Roger Moore and some guy named George Lazenby (who I had been told had one major flaw: he wasn't Sean Connery) inhabited, defined, lived-and-breathed this role from the age of...1! Yup! In surely one of the most bizarre moves in parenting history, Mumsy and Daddy took their 1 year old son to see Live and Let Die! Several years later, at the mature of age of six, my mother took me to see An Unmarried Woman; an R-rated film with graphic nudity, sex and adult themes...but, that's another blog.  Our subject is readin'!

Casino Royale, published in 1953, by Jonathan Cape, introduced the world to James Bond. Another 9 years would pass until Sean Connery would debut as the world's greatest secret agent, in the movie Dr. No (The Dangermouse theme music just popped into my head...but that's another blog!). The books sold fairly well until, in 1960, then Presidential Candidate John F. Kennedy listed his 10 favorite books, in a Life magazine interview. Last on the list, in 10th spot, and the only work of fiction, was From Russia With Love, by Ian Fleming. Bookstores (remember those?!) could not keep copies of the Bond books on the shelves. This explosion of interest led Harry Saltzman and Albert "Cubby" Broccoli (yes, his family genetically engineered the vegetable "broccoli" yonks ago!) to make films of the books.

What this little recap establishes is that the James Bond books were originally literary adaptations. Reading Casino Royale for the first time, I began to challenge everything I thought I knew about James Bond, as a character. The script writers lifted some of the plot elements and characters from Fleming's works. They even used his titles, until Licence to Kill in 1989. If you adapt a work of fiction, I believe the filmmakers have an obligation to make as literal a translation to the silver screen as they can. Fleming's James Bond is a very violent chauvinist... actually, he's a real bastard full-stop! However, he is REALLY good at his job. He is also, in my not-so-humble-opinion, a symbol of post-war Britain. The British had become somewhat desensitized from seeing so much death and destruction. Bond can distance himself from the act of killing. He is not a psychopath; he merely recognizes killing as a part of his job. He knows he should not dwell on the killing too much, or he would not be able to do his job. What is his job? He cleans up international messes that threaten British interests. He is the best at this job, because he can take more physical punishment than anyone else.

To cast an actor in this role, the producers needed to find someone who could embody all of these qualities and still be appealing to audiences. I believe this is nearly impossible, because Bond is truly an unpleasant character. I don't like him, as much as I am glad he exists in the fictional world he is saving; because no one else could do it better (cue Carly Simon music!) So, the producers softened some of Bond's hard edges. Even a softened Bond is a pretty scary mutha', and the producers went with their third choice, Sean Connery.

Now before we get to Connery, I want to establish a frame of reference. Raymond Benson's indispensable James Bond Bedside Companion, quotes Casino Royale, for Fleming's description of Bond:

"His grey-blue eyes looked calmly back [from a mirror] with a hint of ironical inquiry and the short lock of black hair which would never stay in place subsided to form a thick comma above his right eyebrow. With the thin vertical scar down his right cheek the general effect was faintly piratical." -Casino Royale

You can always argue that this description can be interpreted several different ways; and several different actors could, therefore, play the part. Allow me to dispense with all the arguments.

This is a portrait, sketched by George Almond, based on the above description, and others, in Fleming's writing. THIS is what James Bond SHOULD look like! Please refer back to this sketch, as we compare it with the actor's who have played the part on film.

But first, TV. It all began in 1955! "WAIT!", I hear you exclaim. "You wrote that 1962 was when the first film came out!"Ahhh, yes! Well, before Sean Connery ordered his first watered-down martini, he was preceded by the strange notion that he could be Americanized...yep!, you guessed it, Jimmy Bond! Barry Nelson, pictured above, played the role first in a TV movie called Climax! Ooooh, even sounds exciting. My biggest problem with Mr. Nelson is that he looks too much like a Chicago PI, instead of an assassin. NEXT!
Believe it or not, this was the best picture of Connery I could find, from before his casting in Dr. No, and without him smiling! Compared with Gregory Almond's sketch, Connery makes you wonder if Saltzman  and Broccoli had actually read the books...or could READ at all! Even Ian Fleming, BOND'S CREATOR, said NO to Connery on the basis of head-shots like these. He wanted Roger Moore; perfectly understandable, since Moore ACTUALLY looks a little like the sketch. However...

..."The Golden Smirk" was too busy prancing around in tights, playing Ivanhoe, to be a serious candidate. The producers convinced Fleming that Moore would not be a good choice to act in Dr. No, because he was too young. By the time Connery wanted to quit, Moore committed himself to The Saint and the world would have to wait a few years more for Ian Fleming's original choice to take the role. Connery eventually convinced Fleming he was the right actor for the role, after acting in a few scenes. Now I beg of you, kind readers, please hold your jeers and booing for our next actor!

As long as he isn't grinning or wearing that DAMN KILT!, Mr. George Lazenby actually, sorta, kinda looks the part. His interpretation of the character, much closer than Connery's to the text, is even more impressive when you realize THIS WAS HIS FILM DEBUT! He handled the fights brilliantly, acted tender and loving with Diana Rigg, and came across as a worthy replacement for Connery. Whether you think I am smoking crack or not, Lazenby would never be given the chance to reprise the role, which ultimately Diamonds Are Forever would suffer for. He was literally hounded off the set by the crew, who taunted him that he wasn't REALLY Bond! When the film did poorly at the US box-office, the producers, cowardly shit-bags that they were, blamed Lazenby. SCREW YOU! I wouldn't want to be in another Bond film, if I were treated like that.

Just...just...BATHE in the magnificence! Even without the stray lock of hair and the scar on his right cheek, HALLELUJAH! Finally Bond looks the way he's supposed to! This picture was taken from For Your Eyes Only, far and away Moore's best performance as Bond and the best film he was allowed to be in. A clever script that successfully adapted two short stories ("For Your Eyes Only" and "Risico", from the anthology For Your Eyes Only), Roger Moore spent two hours getting the living crap kicked out of him! just like in any Bond novel! It was not until my teen years, when I was immersed in Fleming's work, that I realized what a truly wonderful Bond film this is. The casting is perfect, the direction tight-as-a-drum, the soundtrack funky and modern, and, the ending, perfect! (SPOILER ALERT!) After successfully recovering the ATAC system, Bond throws it over a cliff, rather than surrender it to the Soviets. "That's detente comrade," Bond says. "You don't have it, I don't have it." (END OF SPOILER ALERT!) Wonderful stuff!

Handsome and one mean SOB, Timothy Dalton first played Bond just as I was finishing reading my last Fleming novel. Watching The Living Daylights was a revelation. My friend Doug Rau (who had also been reading the books) and I raced to be on time to see the film. We arrived during the credits, which turned out to be very fortuitous; because the pre-credit teaser is a mixture of the sublime and the ridiculous. The short story "The Living Daylights" has always been one of my favorites. Before Bond helps a defector across the border, he instructs his unsympathetic liaison, Captain Sender, in the rigors of his job:

 "'Look, my friend', said Bond wearily, 'I've got to commit a murder tonight, not you. Me. So be a good chap and stuff it, will you? You can tell [local commander] Tanqueray anything you like when it's over. Think I like this job? Having a Double-0 number and so on? I'd be quite happy for you to get me sacked from the Double-0 Section. Then I could settle down and make a snug nest of papers as an ordinary staffer. Right?' Bond drank down his whiskey, reached for his thriller- now arriving at an appalling climax- and threw himself on the bed." -"The Living Daylights"

It isn't so much that Dalton looks exactly like the sketch of Bond. By playing the character, as in the above excerpt, he became Bond more convincingly than anyone had before. The above speech was nothing new. In Casino Royale, one of the first scenes we find Bond in is deciding whether or not he should resign. This is a constant theme in Fleming's work: Bond's weariness from years of killing for Queen and Country. Dalton ABSOLUTELY nailed it; and, as a result, looks like Bond.

I like Pierce Brosnan as an actor...as Bond? Meh...He never fully escaped Remington Steele and he's just too nice. The World Is Not Enough is definitely his best film, and even then, he did not convince me of his Bond-ness. And thank God I'm not including Bond girls in this blog, because Christmas Jones...uhhhhhh...someone is going to rot in hell for that one...and the casting!

AND NOW! A DRUMROLL PLEASE! DRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!

TAH-DAH! NAILLLLLLLLED IT! A Bond who bleeds! A Bond who indisputably kicks ass! A Bond weary from his job! A Bond in an ACTUAL adaptation of an Ian Fleming novel! Nothing held back, no pussy-footing around or endless smirking. I believe the tagline for Casino Royale should have been:

51 Years In the Making! We are proud to present James Bond as the author originally intended!

Casino Royale was the first movie I paid to see twice in over seven years. The dialogue was lifted from the novel! Jeffrey Wright was an interesting choice as Felix Leiter, which took a little getting used to: a six-foot tall Texan, with blond hair and a hawk-like nose, becomes a balding African-American... Thank-the-Lord Mr. Wright is an excellent actor! Giancarlo Giannini, as Mathis, was simply perfectly! Eva Green, as Vesper Lynd, divine! AND THEY FINALLY GOT THE GODDAMN MARTINI RIGHT!!! YES!!! I nearly cried when he ordered it! If you're wondering, it is named after Vesper in the novel, just as in the film! After 51 years of dumbing down James Bond into some kind of superhero, he is finally presented, warts and all! In some ways, I think Daniel Craig looks more like the description than the figure in the sketch! But, I'm being too generous!

The object of this blog was to demonstrate what the James Bond film franchise started with (Fleming's writings) and what they did with it. Along the way, they chose actors who did and did not look like the character; actors who did or did not play the character as written; and finally found someone who lock-stock-and-barrel did everything right! I would have hated to be a Bond fan in the 60's, because I may not have lived to see Daniel Craig and his PERFECT performance, in a PERFECT Bond film. It was definitely worth the wait!

This blog will no doubt raise a little controversy for whoever reads it. However, I still maintain that the Bond films were adaptations of books. The films must be judged by how well they translate those works into films. As for the films that bear no relation to any of Ian Fleming's work, they must be judged on whether or not they are in Fleming's spirit, ie could you imagine Fleming writing the novel? Oh, by the way, "Goldeneye" is not a weapons satellite. It is the name of Ian Fleming's house, in Jamaica, where he wrote the first drafts of each novel! Just thought I'd clear that one up! Thank you for reading, and don't forget: "Three measures of Gordon's, one measure of vodka, half a measure of Kina (White) Lillet. Shake it very well until it's ice cold, then add a large thin slice of lemon-peel. Got it?"-Casino Royale