The Bond-ster Page Four

Cards

It all started right here: The Formula

This is how the Bond Formula got started. Hollywood learned a lot from those "Beach Party" genre movies, and decided to go BIG. Create a movie that was so big all the imitators could not get enough money to compete. It all started in the "B movie" factory and the Peter Pan syndrome.

The Peter Pan Syndrome:
a) A younger child will watch anything an older child will watch.
b) An older child will NOT watch anything a younger child will watch.
c) A girl will watch anything a boy will watch.
d) A boy will NOT watch anything a girl will watch.

So therefore to get your greatest audience, you zero in on the 19yr old male and the "formula" was born. "The hottest-selling items in Hollywood these days are sequels and headlines. There was a time when studios and producers took chances and risked a lot of money on an original script or an unknown actor. They'd spend their time talking about their commitment to new talent and the pursuit of art."

What Hollywood really thinks

When Hollywood finds something that works (makes them money) they stick with it through the years. For example the scene in The Seven Year Itch (1955), when marilyn stands over the subway grate and the wind blows her dress up. It Worked!

1955

Marilyn's dress blew up 60+ years ago!

The Pursuit Of Art

The hottest-selling items in Hollywood these days are sequels and headlines. There was a time when studios and producers took chances and risked a lot of money on an original script or an unknown actor. They'd spend their time talking about their commitment to new talent and the pursuit of art. But the I.R.S. helped put a stop to much of that, ruling that movies are no longer first-rate tax shelters. Today, producers must have winners each time out. The result: they play it safe.

And what's safer than a pretested property? Remake King Kong or make the Gary Gilmore story. Dust off A Star Is Born or take an option on Entebbe. A sequel cashes in on an idea that has already demonstrated its box-office appeal. When a property starts as a news story, it receives press attention beyond the wildest dreams of a William Morris agent. Walter Cronkite himself teases your film — for free. Barbara Walters. The New York Times. Time and Newsweek. Every time Gary Gilmore made noise, his life story (ponder that one) jumped in potential box-office value.

Unlike sequels, movies from headlines have no simple genesis. The news epic requires a complex deal. And on the next pages, Esquire shows what might happen (although in this case it did not) to a typical story that starts in your local paper and ends up in your neighborhood theater. Some of the names have been changed to protect exclusive life stories. Other names are real, since many of these people could not have been invented.

The phenomenon itself is very real: as you read this, negotiations are proceeding for movies or TV movies about reporter Don Bolles and the circumstances surrounding his death; gas-station operator Melvin Dummar and the Howard Hughes fortune; Richard Speck; and the Peter Reilly murder case, to name just a few.

How do they happen? They begin with an item in the newspaper — big or small — like the one below. From then on, it's not unlike a Chinese fire drill.

Here is a link to the full story in Esquire Magazine Click Here

The article on the right is a re-print of an article published in ESQUIRE magazine with a link to the full article at the bottom. The full article shows lots of documentation and is well worth the read.

So what appeals to a 19yr old testosterone laden male, what will he go & spend his money to see on the big silver screen? I was definetly the target audience in 1962 when Dr. No was released.

I was in the service and US Forces went to DEFCON 2 on Oct. 24th over the Cuban Missle Crisis, James Meredith becomes the first African-American student to enroll at the University of Mississippi, the U.S. establishes a military council in South Vietnam, the Berlin Wall was built in 1961, dividing East and West Germany and tensions were heating up when Kennedy ordered the Cuban blockade, but then lifts blockade after Russia backs down (Aug.-Nov.). The Cold War was on.

Most importantly to an idiot 19yr old like me Marilyn Monroe made one of her last public appearances on May 19th at a birthday celebration for U.S. President John F. Kennedy before her death. Click on the pic to watch her sing.

That event became an iconic moment in pop culture when the actress sang an intimate, sultry, and memorable rendition of "Happy Birthday" to the world leader. Monroe wore an intricately designed skin-tight beaded dress that was considered a little scandalous at the time. The performance added to rumors that the two were having an affair and only three months later Monroe died of a drug overdose, ruled a probable suicide, under suspicious circumstances.

Into this tapestry came James Bond and Ursula Andress and the longest running franchise in history was born. Ursula said later, "the swimsuit is what made me famous." Of course scantily clad gorgeous women and lots of gadgets would be appealing to your target audience. One of the gadgets that I was enthralled with was 'Little Nellie' in the 1967 release of You Only Live Twice.

Place your mouse pointer on Little Nellie to see her fly!

This is a great sequence when the Bond-ster navigates the island and is chased by helicopters!

I would love to have had one of these!
Still Shots from "You Only Live Twice" (Click Here)

Please note that I am not criticizing the 'Formula', far be it from that because I am totally hooked! I very much enjoy the Bond films and have found all them all to be very entertaining. This last one, (as of this writing) No Time To Die, will probably be the last one to follow the 'Formula' as James was killed off in the last scene. I interpreted this as a message from the current generation of Hollywood film makers, Gen Z, or the Millenials or whatever they are calling themselves today, directed right to the heart of all us Boomers. James Bond, as we knew him, is dead and gone. (my opinion)