James Bond

James Bond, also known as 007 (pronounced "double-oh seven"), is a fictional British spy introduced by writer Ian Fleming in 1953. Fleming wrote numerous novels and short stories based upon the character and, after his death in 1964, further literary adventures were written by Kingsley Amis, John Pearson, John Gardner, Raymond Benson, and Charlie Higson; in addition, Christopher Wood wrote two screenplay novelizations and other authors have also written various unofficial permutations of the character.

Official films

The James Bond film series has its own traditions, many of which date back to the very first movie in 1962.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Since Dr. No, every official James Bond film begins with what is known as the "gun barrel shooting scene", which introduces agent 007. The gun barrel is seen from the assassin's perspective—looking down at a walking James Bond, who quickly turns and shoots; the scene reddens (signifying the spilling of the gunman's blood), the gun barrel dissolves to a white circle, and the film begins.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In the first three films, stuntman Bob Simmons played the role of James Bond in the gun barrel sequence (making Simmons, technically, the first actor shown playing James Bond in a movie). Starting with Thunderball in 1965, every actor to portray Bond would be filmed in the scene. For the first film, Dr. No, opening credits designer Maurice Binder achieved the look with a pin hole camera shooting through a real gun barrel. In addition to Simmons, Sean Connery and George Lazenby were the only actors who would film the sequence while wearing a hat, while Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, and Pierce Brosnan would wear tuxedos for their renditions. Beginning with 1995's GoldenEye, the gun barrel was computer-generated and later Die Another Day, being the twentieth Bond film, introduced an actual CG bullet being shot from Bond's gun and zooming towards the viewer.

Related Topics:
Bob Simmons - Maurice Binder - Pin hole camera - Tuxedo - Computer-generated - CG

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

After the gun barrel scene, every film starting with From Russia with Love (1963), would start with a pre-credits teaser, also popularly known as the "opening gambit." Usually the scene features 007 finishing up a previous case before taking on the case from the film, and does not always relate to his main mission. Some of the teasers tie in with the plot of the film (as in The Spy who Loved Me). Many teasers include a huge action sequence, which from film to film would get larger, crazier, and add more special effects than each previous film. The 1999 film The World Is Not Enough currently holds the record as the longest Bond teaser ever, running more than 15 minutes; most teasers run for less than five minutes.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

When the teaser sequence is finished, the opening credits begin during which an arty display of scantily clad and even (discreetly) naked females can be seen doing a variety of activities from dancing, jumping on a trampoline, to shooting weapons. This sequence, initially designed by Maurice Binder for fourteen 007 films, is a trademark and a staple of the James Bond films. Since Binder's death in 1991, Daniel Kleinman has designed the credits and has introduced CG elements not present during Binder's era. While the credits run, the main theme of the film is usually sung by a popular artist of the time. For the most part, the credits are unrelated to the plot of the film, although the design may reflect an overall theme (for example, You Only Live Twice uses a Japanese motif as well as images of a volcano, both of which are elements of the movie itself). For Your Eyes Only begins with Sheena Easton singing the title song on-screen. Die Another Day was unusual in that the images shown in that film's opening credits advance the storyline. Beginning in the mid-1990s, it has become common for most films to be released without opening credits sequences; the Bond films are among the few exceptions.

Related Topics:
Daniel Kleinman - Japanese - Volcano - Sheena Easton

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Agent 007's famous introduction, "Bond. James Bond" became a catch phrase after it was first muttered (with a cigarette in the corner of his mouth) by Sean Connery in Dr. No. Since then, the phrase has entered the lexicon of Western popular culture as the epitome of polished, understated machismo. On June 21, 2005 the catch phrase was honoured as the 22nd greatest quote in cinema history by the American Film Institute as part of their 100 Years Series {{ref|AFI}}.

Related Topics:
Catch phrase - Lexicon - Popular culture - June 21 - 2005 - American Film Institute - 100 Years Series

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Every aficionado has a favourite James Bond: Sean Connery—the tough, his machismo ready beneath the polished persona, George Lazenby—the controversial ultra-macho man, equally loved and despised, Roger Moore—the sophisticate, rarely mussing his hair whilst saving the world, Timothy Dalton—the hard-edged literary character, and Pierce Brosnan—the polished, hard-edged man. In 2005, EON Productions is expected to announce the sixth official actor to play the role of secret agent 007.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Films

Every film, except Dr. No (1962), has the line: "James Bond will return. . ." or "James Bond will be back" during or after the final credits. Up until Octopussy (1983) the end-credit line would also name the next title in the film series ("James Bond will return in..."). Over the years the films have incorrectly named the sequel three times. The first, 1964's Goldfinger, in early prints announced Bond to return in On Her Majesty's Secret Service, however, the producers changed their mind shortly after release and subsequently made the correction in future prints of the film. In 1977, The Spy Who Loved Me stated Bond would return in For Your Eyes Only, however, EON Productions had decided to instead take advantage of the Star Wars space craze and release a film adaptation of Fleming's Moonraker, which was changed to a plot involving outer space. Thirdly, Octopussy (1983) incorrectly states the title of the next film as From A View To A Kill, the original literary title of A View to a Kill.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Music

"The James Bond Theme" was written by Monty Norman and was first orchestrated by the John Barry Orchestra for 1962's Dr. No, although the actual authorship of the music has been a matter of controversy for many years. Barry went on to compose the soundtracks for eleven Bond films in addition to his uncredited contribution to Dr. No, and is credited with the creation of "007", which was used as an alternate Bond theme in several films, and the popular orchestrated theme "On Her Majesty's Secret Service". Both "The James Bond Theme" and "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" have been remixed a number of times by popular artists, including Art of Noise, Moby, Paul Oakenfold, and the Propellerheads.

Related Topics:
The James Bond Theme - Monty Norman - John Barry - Soundtrack - 007 - On Her Majesty's Secret Service - Art of Noise - Moby - Paul Oakenfold - Propellerheads

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Barry's legacy was followed by David Arnold, in addition to other well-known composers and record producers such as George Martin, Bill Conti, Michael Kamen, Marvin Hamlisch, and Eric Serra. Arnold is the series' current composer of choice, and was recently signed to compose the score for the his fourth consecutive Bond film, Casino Royale.

Related Topics:
David Arnold - George Martin - Bill Conti - Michael Kamen - Marvin Hamlisch - Eric Serra

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

On Her Majesty's Secret Service is the only Bond film with a solely instrumental theme. The main theme for Dr. No is the "James Bond Theme", although the opening credits also include an untitled bongo interlude, and concludes with a vocal Calypso-flavoured rendition of "Three Blind Mice" entitled "Kingston Calypso" that sets the scene. From Russia With Love also opens with an instrumental version over the title credits (which then segues into the James Bond Theme), but Matt Monro's vocal version also appears twice in the film, including the closing credits; the Monro version is generally considered the film's main theme, even though it doesn't appear during the opening credits.

Related Topics:
Bongo - Calypso - Three Blind Mice - From Russia With Love

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In addition to the nowadays typically truncated version of The James Bond Theme which is always heard at the beginning, the tune is also often used in an action scene somewhere in the film. In a somewhat surreal moment in Octopussy, an Indian snake charmer plays the tune for Bond on his flute, and Bond makes a remark about the tune, suggesting that the movie character would be aware of his own theme music.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

During the title credits a popular artist usually sings the theme of the film. Shirley Bassey has performed the most with three theme songs. Some other performers include Tina Turner, Duran Duran, Tom Jones, Paul McCartney, Nancy Sinatra, Carly Simon, Gladys Knight, a-ha, Sheryl Crow, Sheena Easton, Garbage and Madonna.

Related Topics:
Shirley Bassey - Tina Turner - Duran Duran - Tom Jones - Paul McCartney - Nancy Sinatra - Carly Simon - Gladys Knight - A-ha - Sheryl Crow - Sheena Easton - Garbage - Madonna

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Trivia

• Many people assume the Bond producers would never hire an American to portray the character in the official film series, but American actors have been hired on two occasions and asked on several others. Adam West was offered the chance to appear in On Her Majesty's Secret Service when Sean Connery chose not to return to the role, but turned down the offer. John Gavin was hired in 1970 to replace George Lazenby, but Connery was lured back at the eleventh hour and it was he who appeared in Diamonds Are Forever instead of Gavin. Burt Reynolds was also asked by Cubby Broccoli in the early 70s to replace Connery after Diamonds Are Forever, but turned it down. James Brolin was hired in 1983 to replace Roger Moore, and was preparing to shoot Octopussy when the producers convinced Moore to return. Several other American actors, including Patrick McGoohan and Robert Wagner, have been offered the role only to turn it down. To date the only American to play the role is Barry Nelson, although unofficially in the Americanised version of the character in the 1954 TV adaptation of Casino Royale.
• Roger Moore is the only English actor to have played Bond in the official film series. Sean Connery is Scottish, George Lazenby is Australian, Timothy Dalton is of mixed Italian and Welsh descent (and born in Wales), and Pierce Brosnan is Irish.
• While initially skeptical about Sean Connery being chosen to play Bond (at one point dismissing him as an "overgrown stuntman"), Ian Fleming liked his portrayal so much that he eventually changed the background of the character in the novels so that his father was Scottish. Roger Moore was reportedly Fleming's initial first choice for the Bond role.