No No No this is NOT a serious Blog about the Bond-ster!
OMG! I was just thinking it might be fun to do a James Bond section of my blog, that is until I started looking around out there and found so many wonderful blogs about the Bond franchise! I'm just a lightweight when it comes to in depth blogging so you'll just have to bear with me if you want to read this one.
The year was 1962 and I was nineteen, full of piss and vinegar and still in the service when the first Bond movie came out (Dr. No). As of this writing 'No Time To Die' (2021) was the latest Bond movie made which makes the Bond movies cover about 60yrs of my life. Life seemed a lot simpler in 1962, although the Vietnam War was just starting to heat up and Bond was pure exciting escapism.
Those beautiful Ladies
...Pussy Galore, Holly Goodhead, Octopussy, Plenty O’Toole, Chew Me, Xenia Onatopp, Honey Ryder, Mary Goodnight, Dr. Molly Warmflesh, Miss Moneypenny, Strawberry Fields, Dr. Christmas Jones, Solitare, Thumper, Dink, May Day, Penelope Smallbone, Kissy Suzuki, Jenny Flex, Vesper Lynd, Bibi Dahl, Bambi, Pan Ho, Domino Vitali, Jinx Johnson, Peaceful, Elektra King, Wai Lin, Fiona Volpe, Tiffany Case, Miranda Frost, Melina Havelock, Anya Amasova, Solange Dimitrios, Stacy Sutton, Camille Montes, Tatiana Romanova, Helga Brandt, Tracy Draco and Fatima Blush. Those fabulous ladies, villains and vixens. I never knew there was a relationship between the Bond ladies and Playboy magazine until I started researching this blog.
"Ask anyone about their favourite James Bond and the chances are a large percentage will say Sean Connery. In a poll of 2,000 fans by the Hollywood Reporter, a massive 76% of respondents named the veteran Scottish actor as the best 007 of all time – although my own personal favourite is, without question, Sean Connery.
The surprising thing is that when James Bond’s creator Ian Fleming met Sean Connery, he didn’t want him to play the British super-spy! In an interview, Connery claimed Fleming wasn’t happy with a “working-class Scot” playing the smooth and suave spy. He said Fleming had shortlisted seven actors, including Cary Grant as the number one choice – Connery didn’t even make the shortlist! Connery said Fleming’s first choice had been Cary Grant, but he was “too expensive”.
Connery described Fleming as a “snob”, claiming he got the role almost by default, because everyone the author wanted was ruled out for one reason or another! Thankfully for the viewing public, Fleming couldn’t have been more wrong and Connery has gone down in history as the most famous and best-loved Bond of all time." (SOURCE)
"All the greatest men are maniacs. They are possessed by a mania which drives them forward towards their goal. The great scientists, the philosophers, the religious leaders - all maniacs. What else but a blind singlenee of purpose could have given focus to their genius, would have kept them in the groove of purpose. Mania... is as priceless as genius." ~ Ian Fleming ...(SOURCE)
Molly Peters as Patricia Fearing in Thunderball
Karin Dor as Helga Brandt in You Only Live Twice
Eunice Gayson as Sylvia Trench in From Russia With Love
Zena Marshall as Miss Taro in Dr. No
Daniela Bianchi as Tatiana Ramanova in From Russia With Love
Martine Beswick as Zora in From Russia With Love
Aliza Gur as Vida in From Russia With Love
Honor Blackman as Pussy Galore in Goldfinger
Shirley Eaton as Jill Masterson in Goldfinger
Tania Mallet as Tilly Masterson in Goldfinger
Nadja Regin as Bonita in Goldfinger
Margaret Nolan as Dink in Goldfinger
Claudine Auger as Domino Derval in Thunderball
Martine Beswick as Paula Caplan in Thunderball
Luciana Paluzzi as Fiona Volpe in Thunderball
Diana Rigg as Teresa di Vicenzo in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
Angela Scoular as Ruby Bartlett in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
Catherine Schell as Nancy in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
Jill St. John as Tiffany Case in Diamonds Are Forever
Lana Wood as Plenty O'Toole in Diamonds Are Forever
Lola Larson as Bambi in Diamonds Are Forever
Trina Parks as Thumper in Diamonds Are Forever
Denise Perrier as Marie in Diamonds Are Forever
Sophie Marceau as Elektra King in The World Is Not Enough
Jane Seymour as Solitaire in Live and Let Die
Gloria Hendry as Rosie Carver in Live and Let Die
Madeline Smith as Miss Caruso in Live and Let Die
Britt Ekland as Mary Goodnight in The Man with the Golden Gun
Maud Adams as Andrea Anders in The Man with the Golden Gun
Carmen du Sautoy as Saida in The Man with the Golden Gun
Barbara Bach as Anya Amasova in The Spy Who Loved Me
Lisa Guiraut as The Belly Dance Girl in From Russia With Love
Sue Vanner as The Log Cabin Girl in The Spy Who Loved Me
Caroline Munro as Naomi in The Spy Who Loved Me
Olga Bisera as Filecca in The Spy Who Loved Me
Lois Chiles as Holly Goodhead in Moonraker
Emily Bolton as Manuela in Moonraker
Corinne Cléry as Corinne Dufour in Moonraker
Leila Shenna as The Private Jet Hostess in Moonraker
Carole Bouquet as Melina Havelock in For Your Eyes Only
Lynn-Holly Johnson as Bibi Dahl in For Your Eyes Only
Cassandra Harris as Countess Lisl von Schlaf in For Your Eyes Only
Maud Adams as Octopussy in Octopussy
Kristina Wayborn as Magda in Octopussy
Tina Hudson as Bianca in Octopussy
Tanya Roberts as Stacey Sutton in A View to a Kill
Grace Jones as Mayday in A View to a Kill
Mary Stövin as Kimberley Jones in A View to a Kill
Fiona Fullerton as Pola Ivanova in A View to a Kill
Maryam d'Abo as Kara Milovy in The Living Daylights
Kell Tyler as Linda in The Living Daylights
Carey Lowell as Pam Bouvier in Licence To Kill
Talisa Soto as Lupe Lamora in Licence To Kill
Izabella Scorupco as Natalya Simonova in Goldeneye
Famke Janssen as Xenia Onatopp in Goldeneye
Serena Gordon as Caroline in Goldeneye
Michelle Yeoh as Wai Lin in Tomorrow Never Dies
Teri Hatcher as Paris Carver in Tomorrow Never Dies
Cecilie Thomsen as Prof. Inga Bergstrom in Tomorrow Never Dies
Denise Richards as Dr. Christmas Jones in The World Is Not Enough
Serena Scott Thomas as Dr. Molly Warmflash in The World Is Not Enough
Halle Berry as Jinx in Die Another Day
Rosamund Pike as Miranda Frost in Die Another Day
Rachel Grant as Peaceful Fountains of Desire Die Another Day
Eva Green as Vesper Lynd in Casino Royale
Catherina Murino as Solange Dimitrios in Casino Royale
Olga Kurylenko as Camille Montes in Quantum Of Solace
Gemma Arterton as Strawberry Fields in Quantum Of Solace
Bérénice Marlohe as Sévérine in Skyfall
Tonia Sotiropoulou as Bond’s Lover in Skyfall
"When I wrote the first [Bond novel] in 1953, I wanted Bond to be an extremely dull, uninteresting man to whom things happened... when I was casting around for a name for my protagonist I thought by God, [James Bond] is the dullest name I ever heard." ~ Ian Fleming
C'mon now, I know you've got one, whose your favorite?
(Leave me a comment!)
(Mouse over the picture for the name.)
The Above poll was conducted in Great Britain. (God Bless The King!)
The poll below was conducted in the U.S.A.
(CLICK HERE to ENLARGE)
The early Bond films were very Euro-centric before the formation of the European Union (EU).
"On Her Majesty’s Secret Service was shot in Switzerland (ski chases!) and on Portuguese beaches, to name just two locations. It gave viewers in and outside the UK the chance to vicariously visit different European landscapes, promoting holiday destinations at a time when the expansion of commercial air travel was ushering in a Tourist Boom.
Given James Bond’s historical role as a link between the UK and continental Europe, it seems appropriate that, in No Time to Die, we first find him back in Italy, a country that Daniel Craig has visited in every one of his instalments except for Skyfall, his mind on past and current lovers (both played by French actresses). Cultural entanglement is stronger even than top-level diplomacy.
Remember, James works for the Queen!
But if 007 has achieved closure by making peace with his past, the aftershocks of Brexit suggest that it will still take Britain a while to accommodate to its new, post-EU reality. If, as traditionally promised by the end of the film’s credits, “James Bond will return”, it remains uncertain what form the character will take in the future. It’s an uncertainty that uncannily mirrors the UK’s relationship with Europe – and its search for a role in today’s world." ~ (SOURCE)
"Perhaps the most persistent myth about Connery is that he was an “unknown” actor who was plucked from obscurity by Bond producers Albert “Cubby” Broccoli and Harry Saltzman, who reportedly cast him against the wishes of author Ian Fleming and distributor United Artists. But this is to ignore the fact that Connery had already established himself as a television actor, drawing critical plaudits for lead roles in a 1957 BBC production of Requiem for a Heavyweight and in the 1961 TV production of Anna Karenina, but also appearing in a number of meaty co-starring roles in Hollywood films, including opposite Lana Turner in Another Time, Another Place (1958).
It was reportedly his appearance in Disney’s fantasy Darby O’Gill and the Little People (1959) that drew Connery to the notice of Broccoli’s wife, Dana, while the British crime drama The Frightened City (1961), in which Connery as an underworld enforcer steals the picture from its nominal star John Gregson, was also evidence of a star in the making.
Nevertheless Connery was inspired casting as James Bond. Connery made the role his own to such an extent that it is now impossible to imagine any of the other actors said to have been considered – including Cary Grant, David Niven, Patrick McGoohan and even Roger Moore – stepping into the shoes of “the gentleman agent with the licence to kill” in 1962"....(SOURCE)
Looking ahead it seems the 'woke' crowd has arrived. "Amid reports that Daniel Craig has hung up his Bond boots once and for all, speculation about who will take his place is rife. Will it be Idris Elba? Henry Cavill? Tom Hiddleston? While Hiddleston dismissed his chances, X-Files star Gillian Anderson threw her hat into the ring. It was liked almost 30,000 times – many people evidently think it’s time for James to become Jane.
You know the silly “news” season is upon us when the internet starts buzzing with speculation that Gillian Anderson is to be the next James Bond. My own view is that this just ain’t gonna happen.
On the one hand the idea of casting a woman as James Bond offends the Ian Fleming purists (like me), who see it as political correctness gone mad. Bond, they say, was always conceived as a British white male and to make him anything else would be tantamount to sacrilege. Bond is an icon of popular culture and shouldn’t be messed with. You wouldn’t turn Indiana Jones or Luke Skywalker into a woman, any more than you’d want a male Bridget Jones."...(SOURCE)
Daniela Bianchi as Tatiana Romanova in From Russia with Love (1963), here on the left, was such and unforgetable shot. Tatiana Romanova is assigned to seduce and distract James Bond by a duplicitous Rosa Klebb. She first catches 007's attention with a photograph in her MI6 Dossier, but proves even lovelier in person. She successfully sneaks into his hotel suite in Istanbul in the middle of the night, and professes her love for James Bond.
It is mere moments after the couple meet that Agent 007 and Tatiana Romanova form a bond. Tatiana slinks under his hotel bed sheets wearing nothing but a black lace choker. Little do the lovers know that agents of SPECTRE are recording the action from behind a one-way mirror.
Tatiana Romanova works a cipher clerk in the Russian security service's Istanbul office. Under high security, Tatiana works with the Lektor decoder, the latest in Russian secret transmission technology. Colonel Klebb (actually working for SPECTRE) recruits Tatiana to seduce British Agent 007 in a double bluff to "mislead British Security". It is 007's intention to take her safely back to England with her "dowry" - the Lektor decoder. In reality, the lovely cipher clerk is a pawn in SPECTRE's deadly game that could ultimately lead to the death of both Tatiana and 007. The ultimate Russian spy easily gets under 007's skin!...(SOURCE)
There were other great actors that tried out for the Bond role and some that tried out for Tatiana Romanova. See Sam Neill do a reading as James Bond in From Russia With Love just below.
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