Chapter One – Introduction to the World of 007

The purpose of this work is to investigate whether James Bond is still relevant to

modern day British culture and whether British culture is reflected through the James

Bond films. The reason that this work will look at only the films and not the James

Bond books by Ian Fleming, is that the James Bond books were all written in the

1950’s and the early 1960’s and so reflect Britain and British culture in that period.

The films are different from the books in that they were made in every decade, from

Dr No (1962) right through to Die Another Day (2002).

The ‘official’ Bond films are all the work of a partnership that began in the early

1960’s between Harry Saltzman and Albert ‘Cubby’ Broccoli. Between the two of

them they set up two companies, Eon Productions would produce the films and

Danjaq1 would hold the copyright and licences to the films. United Artists (UA)

agreed to provide the funding and to distribute the films. This relationship remained

unchanged until 1975 when after a series of bad investments in which Saltzman sold

his share of the franchise to UA who would still carry on in their previous role, but

would remain a silent partner in the actual production of the films.

This carried on until 1981 when UA was sold, as it was essentially bankrupt, to

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) and the new company was named MGM/UA

Communications. As he grew older Cubby Broccoli began to involve his daughter

Barbara and his step son Michael G Wilson and after his death in 1996 they took over

producing the series. As it currently stands the series is produced by Michael G.

Wilson and Barbara Broccoli with MGM/UA providing the funding and the

distribution.2

There are possibly two main reasons for the cultural historian to look at the James

Bond films. The first is that they are a unique piece of evidence; they are the only film

franchise in cinema history that has lasted for more then 40 years which is roughly

equivalent to half the time period of talking movies. From a uniquely British point of

1 Up until his death Cubby Broccoli always maintained that Eon did not stand for anything, however Danjaq is taken from his and Saltzman’s wives names.2 Although MGM/UA has recently been acquired by Sony, so the UA name is likely to be used less and less with possibly only Bond being distributed under the UA name.

1

view the films have become more of a cultural institution then a film series. The other

main reason is that although the actor playing James Bond, the plot lines, and the

villains have changed over the years, British culture and the perception of British

culture have also changed and this alteration can be seen ‘through’ the films, there is a

kind of ‘mutual reflection’ or symbiosis.

The way in which this research will examine how Bond has developed from a Cold

War warrior to a modern British agent will be to look at the main perceptions of

British culture that can be seen in the films. These can be divided into two broad

categories.

The first is the evolution of women and political correctness in the films. The main

way in which this can be seen is through the ‘Bond Girl’ which can be interpreted as

the ‘evolution of feminism’. This evolution can clearly been seen from the classic

‘damsel in distress’ in the early films such as Honey Ryder (Ursula Andress) in Dr No

to the modern heroine who is the equal to Bond as in the latest films such as Wai Lin

(Michelle Yeoh) in Tomorrow Never Dies.

The other way in which the Bond films can be looked at to see the changes in political

correctness are the changing attitudes of Bond himself. This is, as I shall argue, that

his attitudes reflect changes in the attitudes of the British public. This can be seen

most markedly as in the early Bond Films. There Bond was, by modern standards, an

unhealthy, politically incorrect sexist who smoked, was racist and treated women as

‘objects’. In the more recent films, however, Bond does not smoke; he drinks very

little and treats women more like equals.

The second category is the development of the villains of the film and the attitudes of

Bond towards the rest of the World and particularly the United States of America. The

early villains were almost always Communists or a member of SPECTRE3 an

organisation bent on the destruction of the values of the ‘Western World’. These

villains have evolved since the 1960’s though and in the films since 1985 the enemy

of Bond has been an enemy of the entire World, not just an enemy of Britain or of

3 The Special Executive for Counterintelligence, Terrorism, Revenge and Extortion

2

NATO4. Often in the later films the villains plot had nothing directly to do with a

threat to Britain such as in The World Is Not Enough where the villains plot was to

detonate a nuclear device in Istanbul.

The attitudes the Bond films display toward the United States of America and the rest

of the World is a useful reflection of the attitude of Britain in its international politics.

The early Bond films reflect the fact that the British Empire was still in existence and

that Britain didn’t need help from America. Indeed in the early films the British have

to help the Americans and in four of the first five ‘official’ films, Bond has to assist

the Americans to defeat a villain that they were helpless to defeat on their own.

This slowly changes, first with Bond grudgingly accepting American help and then, in

the last two films, by accepting the help of American specialists (such as a nuclear

scientist or an operative from the CIA5) because they have skills or resources that he

lacks, such as the ability to defuse a nuclear device. This Americanisation or influence

of American culture on a supposed British film increased greatly after the early

1970’s with the apparent death of British cinema, although the Bond films still refuse

to accept the supremacy of America as shown in Die Another Day where the

American NSA6 cannot resolve a situation in Korea and need help from Bond.

The one major problem with these changes in the Bond films however is that some of

these politically incorrect actions and events are part of the expected codes and

conventions of a Bond film, with many of the less offensive actions and events

becoming intertextural references that are copied in many other mediums. What this

means is that, in a Bond films, there are certain things that the audience member is

expecting to see when they watch the film.

The audience expects there to be a gadget laden car; other gadgets such as a wrist

watch or brief case; at least one or more beautiful girls; a gun or fist fight; a trip to

4 North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, a group of countries who joined together during the Cold War to provide mutual protection against any possible Soviet attack.5 Central Intelligence Agency, the American Secret Service who deal mostly with external threats to America, the American equivalent to MI6.6 National Security Agency the American agency responsible for the collection and analysis of foreign communications and to protect US government communications from interception and analysis by foreign countries.

3

M’s7 office (the head of MI68); a trip to see Q9 to receive the gadgets; Bonds capture

and escape whilst learning of the villains plot and finally, a fight to the death with the

villain, which will end the film with Bond in bed with the girl. All of these things

form the expected codes and conventions of the Bond films and all of the films

contain at least most of these events in one form or another

This research, although part of a long line of works about the World of Bond, will

differ from most as it will look at the subject not only from what cultural changes that

the films display, but also by looking at whether the Bond films are actually useful as

a historical source. Films can be used by historians for all different types of reasons,

but their main usage is to show that:

‘the technique, the story content and the evolution of the films of a nation are

fully understandable only in relation to the actual psychological pattern of this

nation’10

This means that although the films are not completely British they are so ingrained

with British culture and customs that the films have to be studied by taking this into

account. Film historians can study the films to see what cultural items can be seen in

them as this is the only way to properly examine a film.

This research will be divided into chapters that reflect the categories that I have

imposed on this research, so Chapter One will look at feminism and political

correctness, Chapter Two will look at the politics and villains of Bond and Chapter

Three will look at historical and cinematic uses of Bond. The final chapter will be a

conclusion and will examine whether there have been changes in the Bond films, if

these reflect changes in the culture of Britain and finally whether the James Bond

films are a historical source or not.

7 M is a code name that is given to the head of MI6 in the Bond films and is supposed to have been inspired by C the code name of its first director Captain Sir George Mansfield Smith-Cumming, which was also used by all subsequent directors of SIS.8 Military Intelligence 6, the branch of British intelligence that deals with external threats to Britain, (the official name of which is the Secret Intelligence Service) as opposed to MI5 who deal with internal threats to the security of Britain, but also including the Republic of Ireland (the official name of which is the Security Service).9 Q stands for Quarter Master and was the title given to Desmond Llewlyn character in the third film Goldfinger. In his first on screen appearance in From Russia With Love he is introduced to the audience as Major Boothroyd. Since Desmond Llewlyn’s death in 1999 the role of Q has been played by John Cleese, however he has not yet been given a real name in the films.10 S Kracauer, From Caligari to Hitler: A Psychological History of German film (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1947) p.5

4

The James Bond World has been studied by many different people in many different

fields; the films have been looked at from political context by Jeremy Black, from a

popular culture context by James Chapman and from a media context by John Cork,

Bruce Scivally and Christopher Lindner. This research will initially begin by covering

the same areas as these authors, but will then broaden out to examine the subject in

relation to British culture.

Although this research will not look at the individual James Bond actors the films can

be broadly divided up based on the different ‘incarnations’ of Bond and whilst these

will have no major impact on the chapter structure of the research it does provide a

basis for the work. Therefore this research will look at the 1960’s as the Sean Connery

period, the 1970’s as the Roger Moore period, the 1980’s as the Timothy Dalton

period and the 1990’s/2000’s as the Pierce Brosnan period. Although the actors did

not remain exactly in these time frames (Sean Connery made Bond films from 1962 –

1971 with another one in 1983) this is broadly the periods each of these incarnations

of Bond reflect.

This division is very broad, but it does not include On Her Majesty’s Secret Service

(1969) or the two unofficial James Bond films, Casino Royale (1967) and Never Say

Never Again (1983). The reason for not including these is because George Lazenby

only stared in one film (On Her Majesty’s Secret Service) and so would not fit in with

the way that I have divided the Bond movies whilst Casino Royale was a ‘spoof’ film

and not made to be taken as seriously as the other ‘official films’.

Finally Never Say Never Again has not been included in the general division of the

Bond films as it was to all intensive purposes a remake of Thunderball. The reason for

this was that the copyright ownership of the story of Thunderball was under dispute

and so the film was allowed to be made with some changes, subject to the film having

the same general story line as Thunderball. This fact does not have a major impact on

this research, but does explain why Thunderball has been included in the research

whilst Never Say Never Again has been excluded.

5

Chapter Two – The Changes in the Bond Girl and Political Correctness

Throughout the history of the Bond films, James Bond’s relationship with women has

always been critical, whether they are allies or enemies, whilst the attitudes and

actions of Bond himself also have a major impact on the story and the audience’s

perceptions of him. The early Bond of Sean Connery was sexist, racist, a heavy

smoker and drinker and a gambler, all traits which are seen as unacceptable in modern

society and so in the latest films of Pierce Brosnan these traits have been phased out

to make Bond acceptable to modern society.

The Bond girl is always one of the most talked about and important features of a Bond

film and is part of the expected codes and conventions of a Bond film. Many people

who see the films believe that it is the Bond girl who is integral to the film and believe

that it is not really a Bond film without a girl so the relationship between Bond and

the girl is perhaps the most logical place for any study of the Bond films to start.

The early Bond Girls were generally depicted as weaker than Bond or less intelligent

and so dependant on him for their survival. The first Bond Girl, Honey Ryder (Ursula

Andress) in Dr No, was depicted as a naïve girl who collected sea shells to sell and

believed in dragons, (which was actually an armoured car with a flame thrower). In

the film she is dependant on Bond (Sean Connery) to look after her and protect her

and he eventually uses this to seduce her toward the end of the film.

The earliest Bond Girl who tried to be his equal was Pussy Galore (Honor Blackman)

the Bond girl of the third film Goldfinger. Many film critics see Goldfinger as the first

film that has the complete Bond story:

‘most critics and film historians agree that Goldfinger, the third Bond film,

produced in 1964, is not only the definitive Bond film but also the Blueprint of

all the successive Bond films.’11

The film is the first of the series that supplies all the expected codes and conventions

of a Bond film, there is the Bond girl, the gadgets and it is the first film to feature the

original and best loved Bond car, the Aston Martin DB5:

11 M Sterling & G Morecambe, Martinis, Girls and Guns: 50 Years of 007, (London: Robson Books, 2002), p.75

6

‘Goldfinger is, indeed the truly definitive Bond film, without necessarily being

the best. Everything works beautifully:’12

Goldfinger provides the audience member with everything they could want from a

Bond film and was possibly the best planned film release of all time:

‘Goldfinger also captured the prevailing public mood in the Western World

like no other film before or since’13

The film is regarded by many as the best of the series not only as it’s the first film to

feature all of the modern expected codes and conventions of a Bond film, but also as

it epitomises the time at which it was released.

Pussy Galore in the first part of Goldfinger resisted Bond’s advances, but eventually

succumbed to his charms and betrayed her employer Auric Goldfinger (Gert Frobe) so

that Bond could save the American gold reserves at Fort Knox. This was a continued

theme in the early Bond films in that if strong women did not succumb to his charms

they ended up being killed, as it had to be ‘shown’ that Bond was superior to the

women in his life.

One of the best ways to see this way of treating women as the ‘Bond Girl’ is a quote

by Roald Dahl (who wrote the script for You Only Live Twice) where he recounts a

conversation with Cubby Broccoli and Harry Saltzman, on how women should be

portrayed in the film and what their role in regards to Bond should be:

‘So you put in three girls. No more and no less. Girl number one is pro-Bond. She

stays around roughly through the first reel of the picture. Then she is bumped off

by the enemy, preferably in Bonds arms.’

‘In bed or not in bed’ I asked.

‘Where ever you like, so long as it’s in good taste. Girl number two is anti-Bond.

She works for the enemy and stays around for the middle third of the picture. She

must capture Bond, and Bond must save himself by bowling her over with sheer

sexual magnetism. This girl should also be bumped off, preferably in an original

fashion.’

‘There aren’t many of those left,’ I said.

12 M Sterling & G Morecambe, Martinis, Girls and Guns: 50 Years of 007, (London: Robson Books, 2002), p.15313 Ibid, p.153

7

‘We’ll find one, they answered. Girl number three is violently pro-Bond. She

occupies the final third of the picture and she must on no account be killed. Nor

must she permit Bond to take any lecherous liberties with her until the very end of

the story. We keep that for the fade out.’14

This transition from the ‘damsel in distress’ to the modern heroine who is the equal to

Bond can most clearly be seen when comparing the latest films to the early ones, as in

both Tomorrow Never Dies and Die Another Day Bond has to be assisted by female

agents from foreign countries (China and the USA respectively). This was commented

upon by Michelle Yeoh who starred in Tomorrow Never Dies as one of these

heroines:

‘In the old days, the Bond girl was the blonde girl in the swimming pool.

We’re going into the 21st Century and women are not just gorgeous to look at,

but smart. They’re intelligent and just as smart as Bond.’15

The modern female is seen as the equal to Bond, which in the original films would

have been unthinkable as the women were not supposed to be Bond’s equal only his

assistant.

By the 1970’s the producers of Bond had realised that they could not portray women

in the same way Fleming had in the novels or even the way they had in films that had

been released eight years before:

‘One thing Broccoli had impressed on all the writers who worked on the film

was the need to redefine the role of the Bond girl. Feminism had redrawn the

rules throughout the 1970’s and the Bond movies had come in for much

criticism from women’s groups,’16

By the time of The World Is Not Enough (the second most recent film) Bond has to

assisted by a nuclear specialist who is a female character whilst in Die Another Day

Bond’s ally in the NSA (who eventually becomes the films ‘Bond Girl’) is also

female.

14 007’s Oriental Eyefuls, Playboy, June 1967, p.87, quoted by Chapman, J, Licence to Thrill: A Cultural History of the James Bond Films, (London: I.B. Tauris & Co Ltd, 1999) p.13215 Michelle Yeoh as quoted by J.Cork & B.Scivally, James Bond The Legacy, (London: Boxtree, 2002) p.31716 M Sterling & G Morecambe, Martinis, Girls and Guns: 50 Years of 007, (London: Robson Books, 2002), p.214

8

The change in the hierarchy of characters and the use of women in the films can be

best seen in the latest four Bond films where M is played by Dame Judi Dench. The

only constant that has remained unchanged in all the Bond films is his eventual

seduction of the ‘Bond Girl’ in the final minute of the film. In the early films this

seduction was an integral part of the story though as Bond has to seduce these women

in order to reposition their sense of right and wrong so that they worked with him and

not for the enemy.

This change in the perception of women in the Bond World is noted by Chapman and

Black who both recognise that it reflects the ‘real World’; by 1980 Britain had a

woman Prime Minister in Margaret Thatcher and by the 1992 Stella Rimington had

been made the Director General of the ‘real’ MI5 and was also the first head of MI5

to be official identified since its formation:

‘I have no doubt that the fact M became a women was directly related to the

fact that I became Director General of MI5.’17

In fact ‘Margaret Thatcher’ appeared in one of the Bond films at the time of her

premiership to congratulate Bond on saving the World18 yet again, but this reflection

of the ‘real World’ shows how the interaction between the two realities is always

changing with changes in culture.

As well as being a clear sign of the changes in the role of women in the films and in

society the fact that Bond’s superior is a female is probably the most obvious example

of the changes in the Bond films overall as well as one of the main changes with in

British culture in the last 40 years. Although this is the most obvious change in the

political correctness of Bond it is not the only change that has occurred due to the

growth in political correctness in society.

The changes in political correctness are most clearly seen through the attitudes and

actions of Bond himself. The early Bond of Sean Connery was sexist, racist, a heavy

smoker and drinker and a gambler whilst the modern Bond of Pierce Brosnan is

totally different. The modern incarnations of Bond have to be more in line with public

expectations and so he doesn’t smoke, rarely drinks and he only gambles in 17 Stella Remington as quoted by J Cork and B Scivally, James Bond The Legacy, (London: Boxtree, 2002), p.24918 It wasn’t actually Margaret Thatcher, but an actress by the name of Janet Brown

9

circumstances that required him to for plot explanation or to move the story on and as

Black puts it:

‘But for his association with the trademark “Shaken not stirred” line he would

probably no longer drink!’19

The biggest change in Bonds attitude came with Timothy Dalton taking on the role, as

from his first film The Living Daylights Bond has not slept with almost every women

that he meets and he no longer smokes or spends much of the film drinking. The latest

incarnation of Bond is as a more socially responsible man, who still has to fight to

protect Britain, but does not have to do it by seducing every woman who works for

the enemy or who could be a potential ally:

‘the romantic subplot between Bond and Kara is particularly well handled. It’s

easily the most believable love affair in the series since Bond fell in love with

Tracy in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service; Bond is virtually a one-woman man

in the film … This was partly influenced by the prevailing AIDS scare.’20

Bond was ‘growing up’ as a character and was no longer acting in a way that meant

he slept with every available woman.

This was also the first Bond who was ‘politically correct’ as although other Bond’s

had not made literal sexist or racist remarks, as the character had in the novels, this

was a new World where Bond could not say certain things and could not do certain

things (although gambling was the whole story line of Fleming’s first novel Casino

Royale).

In the latest film, Die Another Day James Bond (Pierce Brosnan) was captured and

tortured, which would originally go completely against the codes and conventions of a

Bond film. It was done in an effort to show how politically correct the films have

become and to show that Bond and Britain are not the best in the World as they were

shown to be in the earlier films.

19 J Black, The Politics of James Bond: From Fleming’s Novels to the Big Screen, (London: Praeger, 2001), p.16120 M Sterling & G Morecambe, Martinis, Girls and Guns: 50 Years of 007, (London: Robson Books, 2002), p.261

10

This is also a Bond who is socially aware and who does not sleep with almost every

female character in each film, although as it part of the expected codes and

conventions of a Bond film that he does have to sleep with at least one women,

usually one who has resisted his advances right up until the end of the film. This is

still a more responsible attitude towards sex then the other Bonds had and this was a

conscious decision by the producers, as they had to show that due to the increased risk

of AIDS even Bond could not ‘sleep around’ like he used to.

11

Chapter Three – Bond, Politics and the rest of the World

In the early Bond films the main enemy of Bond and the World is Earnst Stravo

Blofeld and his SPECTRE organisation who are not aiming to take over the World or

destroy it, but to carry out acts under contract to other organisations (usually a foreign

government and usually one associated with Communism).

The main enemy of Bond however was always SPECTRE and its influence can be

seen in many of the films, even in From Russia With Love where although Bond

thought he was fighting the Russians, they were both actually fighting SPECTRE. The

use of SPECTRE as Bond’s nemesis was an attempt by the films producers to de-

politicise the series.

This was due to the fact that as the films were set in contemporary times and

locations, with highly controversial issues such as nuclear power and eventually the

‘space race’ in Moonraker and You Only Live Twice, so to show Bond fighting

Soviets could have increased the existing political tensions between East and West,

although as Dr No tells Bond:

‘East? West? Points of the compass, Mr Bond. Each as brutishly stupid as the

other. I work for SPECTRE.’21

Even in this, the first film, the producers were trying to make them as contemporary

as possible, but also trying to make them as un-political as possible so as to avoid

insulting any country or group of people.

Thus because the films were attempting to be non-political the villainy had to be

suggested in other ways and this was often achieved by dressing the villains in black

as opposed to any colours or symbolism that would suggest a certain country:

‘For example, the black clothes and dark glasses of the helicopter pilots in You

Only Live Twice, the black clothes of Largo’s men in Thunderball and the

black helmets and clothes of the motorcyclists in For Your Eyes Only.’22

21 J Chapman, Licence to Thrill: A Cultural History of the James Bond Films, (London: I.B. Tauris & Co Ltd, 1999), p.7622 J Black, The Politics of James Bond: From Fleming’s Novels to the Big Screen, (London: Praeger, 2001), p.92

12

By dressing the enemy henchmen in black the connotation for the audience is that

they are evil and this was shown with out using a political symbol or colour, such as a

Communist hammer and sickle, which could cause political problems in the ‘real

World’.

By dressing the enemy in black it also made it easier for the audience to identify who

was pro Bond and who was against him as in Thunderball:

‘SPECTRE is always uniformed in black, in keeping with a long tradition of

screen villains. Thus when the spectacular underwater battle begins in

Thunderball, the SPECTRE team wears black whilst the CIA team and team

captain 007 all sport red wetsuits.’23

Although the films were purposefully non-political to avoid increasing political

tensions, it was also about succeeding in the international cinema market, villain’s

were shown in such a way as to make the audience think that they had communist

sympathies to arouse the audiences hatred and fear of them. This idea is shown in

Goldfinger where:

‘his ‘Operation Grand slam’ is backed by Communist China. The character Mr

Ling (Burt Kwouk) is explicitly referred to as a ‘Red Chinese agent’, and it is

his government which provided Goldfinger with the atomic bomb.’24

This reference to Communist China was of course highly topical, as many people

feared the increasing power of China, though it was also highly coincidental that:

‘in October 1964, a month after the British release of Goldfinger and shortly

before its American release, China exploded its first Atomic Bomb,’25

This topicality would have greatly affected the American audiences who would have

felt threatened by another communist nuclear power.

The avoidance of making the series political meant that none of the films set James

Bond as directly opposed to Communism, but they did have him opposed to agents

(or former agents) of the communist state. From Russia With Love was thus the most

23 Moniot, Drew, ‘James Bond and America in the Sixties: An Investigation of the film formula in popular culture’ in Journal of the University Film Association, Volume 26, Issue 3, (1976), p.2924 J Chapman, Licence to Thrill: A Cultural History of the James Bond Films, (London: I.B. Tauris & Co Ltd, 1999), p.2925 Ibid, p.102

13

political of the films, as for much of the film Bond thought he was working against

the communists where as he was actually being set up by SPECTRE. Although the

films attempted to be as un-political as possible, they did cause offence in some

circles such as at the Vatican and in Communist East Germany:

‘The Bond films and books contain all the obvious and ridiculous rubbish of

reactionary doctrine. Socialism is synonymous with crime. Unions are fifth

columns of the Soviet Union. Slavs are killers and sneaks. Scientists are

amoral eggheads. Negroes are superstitious, murderous lackeys. Persons of

mixed race are trash.’26

Like all material released in the public domain although the films attempted to be as

neutral as possible it was inevitable that they would offend someone and in this case it

offended an East German newspaper journalist.

With the decrease in Cold War tensions in the 1970’s and a change in actor for Bond,

villains had to change as well. Live And Let Die changed the direction of the Bond

films here Bond was fighting against drug smugglers in the USA. Although the film is

set in America drugs were seen as a problem around the World in the 1970’s and with

the loss of British control of the West Indies, the apparent lack of influence in the

region from the Americans was a major cause for concern.

This decrease in the threat of Communism was most clearly shown in A View To A

Kill where Bond is presented with the Order of Lenin for his defeat of Max Zorin

(Christopher Walken) whose threat to the American Silicon Valley was also a threat

to the USSR and its need for Silicon computer chips.

‘Building the plot around microchips and making Silicon Valley the target was

a deliberate attempt by Eon to make A View To A Kill as up to date as possible

to teens and young adults in their audience.’27

The need to make the Bond films as up to date as possible was a prevailing mood

throughout the production of all the Bond films and as changes occurred in the ‘real’

World Cubby Broccoli wanted them to be present in the films

26 Neues Deutschland (1965) quoted by M Sterling & G Morecambe, Martinis, Girls and Guns: 50 Years of 007, (London: Robson Books, 2002), p.15727 M Sterling & G Morecambe, Martinis, Girls and Guns: 50 Years of 007, (London: Robson Books, 2002), p.252

14

‘He was also keen to address the détente between America and Russia and so

conceived the main female role in The Spy Who Loved Me as Russia’s top

agent who teams up with Bond.’28

By keeping the Bond films as contemporary as possible the producers not only

appealed to the audience at the time, but also made it easier for future audiences to

understand the films.

By using contemporary issues people in the future would by more likely to have heard

of the event, for example the space race and the science fiction boom in the cinemas

in the 1970’s:

‘Eager to consolidate the box office after The Spy Who Loved Me success

Broccoli and United Artists decided to embrace the science fiction boom by

sending James Bond into space in the next film.’29

By setting Moonraker in space it appealed to people who had seen Star Wars and

other science fiction films as although it was set in contemporary times it included

lasers and space stations and the Space Shuttle two years before its first actually

launch into space by NASA in 1981.

The threat from Zorin in A View To A Kill shows the current incarnation of the Bond

villain as a single ‘madman’ intent on causing as much damage as possible for his

own motives. This phenomenon was possibly best shown in Tomorrow Never Dies

where a media baron, Elliot Carver (Jonathan Pryce), tries to start a war between

Britain and China in order to achieve his own aim of World wide media coverage.

A story line which shows yet another change in the direction of the Bond villain as the

villain is not now working for anyone other then themselves, and they are only trying

to achieve ‘personal aims’. This plot line also shows how in a changed World where

the Cold War no longer exists it is not armies or generals who defeat the enemy, but

the media as one story broadcast to enough people can topple governments.

There is a very strange relationship between Bond and the ‘rest of the World’, but his

relationship with America is also strange in that the way that Bond interacts and 28 M Sterling & G Morecambe, Martinis, Girls and Guns: 50 Years of 007, (London: Robson Books, 2002), p.12529 Ibid, p.225

15

perceives foreign agents and governments as apposed to Britain’s relationships with

these countries in real life.

This is shown in numerous films as Bond saves the USA from threats which are not

likely to be in the ‘real World’:

‘In the films, Bond dramatically and frequently, saves the United States’30

An example is where Bond has to save America is in You Only Live Twice, where he

has to save the USA from a huge influx of drugs.

‘Bond is given CIA support in the Bahamas, providing an opportunity for

probing the unsettled nature of the Anglo-American relationship, he fears he

will be sent a ‘muscle bound ex college man with a crew-cut and a desire to

show up the incompetence of the British31’32

Although Bond does accept the help of the Americans, as he does in Diamonds Are

Forever, where he does accept CIA help, Bond finds that he ends up having to save

the day himself without help from the rest of MI6:

‘he is dependent on the backup of the CIA, but repeatedly this is

insufficient.’33

Although Bond and Britain do need outside help it is never good enough as Britain is

still the most important country in the World, although this was a purely fictional

viewpoint as obviously Britain could not compete or even hope to equal the USA.

The producers even put in slight anti-American references, although they are so slight

that the casual viewer would not notice them, or if they do they would not understand

what they were. An example of this is in Goldfinger where:

‘They put a gleamingly polished Thunderbird through the works, inflicting on

the machine a torture far more agonising (because for once it is really

happening: and to a status symbol at that.)’34

30 J Black, ‘The Geopolitics of James Bond’ in Intelligence and National Security Journal, Volume 19, Issue 2, 2004, p.29231 I Fleming, Thunderball, (London: Pan Books, 1963), pp.116-197 quoted by J Black, ‘The Geopolitics of James Bond’ in Intelligence and National Security Journal, Volume 19, Issue 2, 2004, p.29832 J Black, ‘The Geopolitics of James Bond’ in Intelligence and National Security Journal, Volume 19, Issue 2, 2004, p.29833 Ibid, p.12734 P Houston, ‘007’ in Sight and Sound Journal, Volume 34, Issue 1, 1964, p.16

16

By destroying an American icon like the Thunderbird the producers were destroying

an icon as relevant and important to the Americans as the Aston Martin was to the

British.

This difference between the attitudes and actions of the two countries is continued in

the way that the characters dress and their sense of style:

‘Bond is the only individual at the Las Vegas gambling tables in a white

dinner jacket, and, later, when, atop an elevator, he coolly goes up the outside

of the Whyte House, dressed in a black dinner jacket and with a red carnation

in his buttonhole. The American agents in contrast wear ordinary clothes.’35

Although the British and Americans are allies and do work together, the Americans

are depicted as having no class or style compared to Bond.

Yet despite the fact that Bond does not think that he needs American help in the films,

it is clear from the first film Dr No, that he has to accept the ‘Americanisation’ of the

World as he is given a new gun:

‘His Beretta is discarded and M tells him to use a Walther PPK, mentioning

that the CIA swear by them.’36

The need to Americanise the series was recognised early on in the production of the

series and even in the 1970’s the producers saw that they had to make the series

appeal even more to the American market:

‘But there was still a prevailing mood both at Eon and United Artists of a need

to Americanise James Bond and also make him more relevant to the 1970’s’37

The American market represents a major proportion of any movies box office gross

and so producers and studios always think about how to appeal to the American

market and the films target audience in America rather then the target audience of

France for example.

This catering to the audience went to extreme lengths with the film Licence To Kill as

it was originally planned to be released under the title ‘Licence To Kill Revoked’:

35 J Black, The Politics of James Bond: From Fleming’s Novels to the Big Screen, (London: Praeger, 2001), p.12736 Ibid, p.9437 M Sterling & G Morecambe, Martinis, Girls and Guns: 50 Years of 007, (London: Robson Books, 2002), p.194

17

‘Licence To Kill the title the film was ultimately released under because MGM

worried that American audiences' wouldn’t understand what ‘revoked’

meant’38

As well as politics playing an important part of the role and story of the Bond films,

the intended audiences ‘intelligence’ has to be taken into account. The fact that the

studio thought that Americans would not understand the word ‘revoked’ shows how,

although the American market is vital to a films success, if the film aims above the

heads of the audience the film will not succeed.

With the increase in the power of America and the films trying to be as un-political as

possible the theme of cooperation between east and west was accentuated with

common threats meaning the two sides had to cooperate such as in The Spy Who

Loved Me. Before the final end of the Cold War it is Bond himself who secures the

respect of the Soviet Union when he is presented with the ‘Order of Lenin’:

At the end of For Your Eyes Only in which the Soviet KGB39 leader General

Gogol, a familiar figure, appears as a warmly smiling rival not an automaton

of a vicious bureaucratic state.’40

This cooperation between east and west began in The Spy Who Loved Me with Bond

working alongside a Soviet agent, but this was on a small scale.

It wasn’t until the next film Moonraker where the two sides of the Cold War were

seen clearly working together to their mutual benefit:

‘When Drax’s space station appeared on radar, the American Colonel Scott

telephones the KGB’s General Gogol from NASA41 headquarters. Each

confirms that it was not their station. Scott informs Gogol that the Americans

were sending up a shuttle to intercept. Gogol grimly replies that the USSR will

act unless the Americans settle the matter.’42

38 M Sterling & G Morecambe, Martinis, Girls and Guns: 50 Years of 007, (London: Robson Books, 2002), p.26639 Komiten Gosudarstvennoye Bezhopaznaesti, which is Russian and is loosely translated as ‘committee for state security’ and was basically the Soviet equivalent to the CIA or MI640 J Black, The Politics of James Bond: From Fleming’s Novels to the Big Screen, (London: Praeger, 2001), p.10041 National Aeronautics and Space Administration, responsible for all of Americas space program and has its headquarters in Houston, Texas.42 J Black, The Politics of James Bond: From Fleming’s Novels to the Big Screen, (London: Praeger, 2001), p.140

18

Although the threat from Drax is against ‘the whole World’ it is Bond who has to save

the World. Although he is assisted by Americans, the film is shows that although the

Americans and Soviets have decided to work together they both still need Bond and

Britain to help save the day.

The Bond films also look at the final end of ‘The Empire’ and the power of Britain on

a global scale. This is shown in Licence to Kill as the plot line of the film results in

Bond not even going to the UK at all as he ends up resigning from MI6 in order to

carry out a vendetta on Franz Sanchez (Robert Davi) who is a central American drug

lord who also has political control over a fictional country because he attacked and

mutilated his friend and CIA agent Felix Leiter (David Hedison in this film), although

his vendetta managed to coincide with dealing with a threat to the security of the USA

so in a way Bond does end up helping the USA.

This film was the second and last of the Timothy Dalton films and both were made in

the late 1980’s at the end of the Cold War and the threat of Communism at which

point many people thought that there would be no place for Bond in the World, but

the films producers have managed to change the Bond role from Communist fighter to

anti-terrorist agent although he still has to fight to protect Britain from terrorists,

criminals and in Tomorrow Never Dies the corrupt head of a corporation.

Although Tomorrow Never Dies is typical of the James Bond series by showing

Britain as a World superpower, it is a typically Bond ‘farfetched’ plot as in a war with

China (which Elliot Carver tried to set up) Britain would not be able to compete with

China. This end of the power of Britain is never really accepted in the James Bond

reality and although there is some limited acceptance, for example in the story of

Licence To Kill Bond spends the entire film out of the country, the story lines still

show Bond as at least the equal of the USA and China43 as the two modern

superpowers.

43 This is a kind of exaggeration to call China a superpower, as although it is a major economic and military power and has overtaken every country in the world (including Russia as the other superpowers), it is still nowhere near the strength of the USA or Japan in either economic or military power.

19

This imbalance was however commented on by Fleming himself in one of his short

stories about Bond when the villain Milton Krest (an American) taunts Bond:

‘Nowadays, said Mr. Krest there were only three powers – America, Russia

and China. That was the big poker game and no other country had either the

chips or the cards to come into it. Occasionally some pleasant little country …

like England would be lent some money so that they could take a hand with

the grown ups.’44

Although there was a slight recognition of the fact that Britain was not a superpower

in the modern World, it was by the villain who used it to taunt Bond. As the villain

was then later dealt with by Bond the anti British remarks he had made could not have

had any truth in them.

44 I Fleming ‘The Hildebrand Rarity’ in For Your Eyes Only: Five Secret Occasions in the Life of James Bond, (London: Pan Books, 1962), p.181 quoted by J Black, ‘The Geopolitics of James Bond’ in Intelligence and National Security Journal, Volume 19, Issue 2, 2004, p.297

20

Chapter Four – Uses of Bond for History and Cinema

In the last couple of decades historians have started to see film as a valuable

commodity when studying the past. From the early days of cinema newsreels

provided people with their first view of the wider World outside their own country in

an almost real time fashion. Although the pictures could be a week old, to people at

the time the images from another continent were a fantastic achievement.

Not only newsreels provide historians with information about the past however,

fictional films, such as James Bond, can also provide historians with useful

information about the past:

‘Fiction films are of course a very rich source for all manner of historical

studies: to mention but a few, class image, racial attitudes, political attitudes

and national prejudices, the history of fashion and theatre design, relations

between the sexes. It is important to think of a fiction film as a product of its

times, whatever the ostensible subject matter and period setting.’45

As Lisa Pontecorvo shows, although the film is a fictional piece of work, it is always

going to be a product of the time that it was made in, even if the plot of the story is set

in a totally different time period, for example costume dramas...

Historians now also often regard films as the equal to the written word and believe

that they have just as much value as the written word:

‘every film has a value as a document, whatever its apparent nature’46

Between the cinema and television, history has become altogether more accessible to

‘ordinary’ people who have no specialist history training. The modern World is a

place:

‘in which people increasingly receive their ideas about the past from motion

pictures and television, from feature films, documentaries miniseries and

network documentaries.’47

45 L Pontecorvo, ‘Film Resources’ in The Historian and Film, ed. P Smith, (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1976) p.2246 M Ferro, ‘The fiction film and historical analysis’ in The Historian and Film, ed. P Smith, (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1976) p.8147 R Rosenstone, Visions of the Past: The Challenge Of Film To Our Idea Of History, (Cambridge, Harvard University Press, 2001), p22

21

By making film widely available the film makers have to cater to the audiences’

opinions and prejudices which mean that the films have to contain some element of

popular cultural and have also become a part of popular culture in themselves. This

means that historians can examine the culture at the time the film was made by the

culture in the film:

‘Film is observed not as a work of art, but as a product, an image-object,

whose meanings are not solely cinematographic’48

The Bond films as well as being a highly successful film franchise have also proved

themselves as an actual historical source. The Bond films do contain features that

allow the cultural historian to talk about it as a proper historical source:

‘Here we shall consider the views that feature films, though predominantly

fictional, capture at least the surfaces of reality; that historical dramas or

period pieces serve as a visual ‘re-creation’ or ‘history’ of some earlier period;

that feature films reflect popular attitudes; that feature films serve as indicators

of covert culture traits and values; that films are primarily a source of their

own history.’49

All films can be used as a way to view the past (i.e. the time at which the film was

made) but the Bond films are different as the film series has been a continuous one for

the last forty years. This means the films show the evolution of British culture and a

British view on World events over the last forty years and so barring direct newsreels

(which actually went out of fashion in the 1950’s) offer the only continuous film

source on the past.

Films provide historians with vital evidence about the past that they probably could

not get from their more usual sources (text documents, paintings) and as historians

have the ability to take the films for more then just their fictional content:

‘The study of the feature film by the historian has rich possibilities as only he

has the factual basis in the general history of the period to be able to put such

productions into context.’50

48 M Ferro, Cinema and History, translated by N Greene (Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1988), p.2949 W Hughes, ‘The Evaluation Of Films As Evidence’ in The Historian and Film, ed. P Smith, (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1976) p.6550 L Pontecorvo, ‘Film Resources’ in The Historian and Film, ed. P Smith, (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1976) p.23

22

By putting the James Bond films into context the historian can examine the themes

and issues that the films raise such as sexism, politics and political correctness.

The films sparked a huge growth in the genre of spy/action films, with films such as

The Ipcress File (starring Michael Caine) in the 1960’s, which was only one of

numerous spy films released during the decade and the spoof spy film series Austin

Powers (starring Mike Myers) in the 1990’s also proving to be highly successful.

The Ipcress File was a British spy film made in the 1960’s exactly like the Bond films

(it was also part of what the producers had hoped would be a series although in the

end it was only a trilogy) and was trying to capitalise on the Bond films success and

by having the well known British actor Michael Caine as the lead character ‘Harry

Palmer’ the producers were trying to usurp the Bond films because Sean Connery was

a relatively unknown actor when he started playing the role of Bond, although within

a few years of staring in Dr No he was the most recognizable person on the planet.

The films also had an impact on the ‘small screen’ with a huge number of spy series

being broadcast, including The Man From U.N.C.L.E.51 a hugely popular American

television series featuring an American and Russian agent working together to protect

the World from T.H.R.U.S.H.52, in a similar way to Bond fighting SPECTRE. The

fact that it was the Bond films that started the spy film phenomenon or ‘Bondmania’

as it became known meant that Ian Fleming was inundated with offers for work. In

1963

‘Fleming was approached by the Hollywood producer Norman Felton to script

a Bond-type series for American television. This series would feature an

American agent called Napoleon Solo and eventually reached the screen as

The Man From U.N.C.L.E.’53

Fleming eventually turned down the opportunity, but this shows that even in the early

1960’s, shortly after the Dr No’s release (the first Bond film), producers and film

51 United Network Command for Law Enforcement, A world wide secret organization that included agents from both ‘east’ and ‘west’ countries who attempted to thwart terrorists.52 Technological Hierarchy for the Removal of Undesirables and Subjugation of Humanity, the ‘Man from U.N.C.L.E.S.’ equivalent to James Bonds SPECTRE53 M Sterling & G Morecambe, Martinis, Girls and Guns: 50 Years of 007, (London: Robson Books, 2002), p.125

23

studios were paying attention to how successful the films and novels were. By the mid

1960’s the films were being copied everywhere:

‘By the time Thunderball was on general release and breaking box-office

records around the World at the start of 1966, the ‘spy boom’ in cinemas and

on television had reached its peak. Spies were in, and the Eon Bond series was

copied, parodied and ripped of everywhere.’54

Every major film studio and television production company were copying the Eon

Productions series and although most of them never managed to become successful

like the Bond series many were at least good individual films in their own right.

There are also numerous intertextural references to the James Bond films in television

programs and movies, for example this occurs in numerous episodes of ‘The

Simpsons’. One example of this intertextural reference is in ‘The Simpsons’ episode

‘You Only Move Twice’ Homer Simpson goes to work for the head of a corporation

who is based on a Bond style villain and even has a British character who is tortured

on a table with a laser as Bond was in the film Goldfinger55.

In Die Another Day there were even intertextural references to the Bond films for

example Halle Berry’s emergence from the sea which was homage to Ursula Andress

in Dr No. This was because Die Another Day was the twentieth Bond film and was

released on the fiftieth anniversary of the publication of Casino Royale (1953) and the

fortieth anniversary of the released of Dr No (1963) so the producers wanted to pay

tribute to the previous films and the novels.

However the Bond films are not entirely factual in what they show and never have

been (as Britain was never really an equal of the USA or USSR during the Cold War),

but they do show an interpretation of British society and World events that can be

used by historians to assess what the view of society was at the time of the films

production.

54 M Sterling & G Morecambe, Martinis, Girls and Guns: 50 Years of 007, (London: Robson Books, 2002), p.16055 This was actually only one of the references to the Bond films in the episode, others include, Scorpio's doomsday gun room looks just like the rocket room at the end of You Only Live Twice where the final fight scene involves troops dropping in through the roof; the closing song is done a Bond theme style and finally the principal female hero kills an opponent by squeezing his neck between her legs, just like Xenia Onnatop does in GoldenEye.

24

Chapter Five – Modern Zero? Conclusions on Bond

The overall evolution of Bond from the earliest films through to the latest Hollywood

blockbuster, Die Another Day, shows that he has changed and so have the films

general themes. Women have changed in attitude and actions, Britain has been

changed from a superpower to a secondary power, the enemies of peace and freedom

have changed and society’s attitudes have changed as well, so Bond has had to

evolve, which he has.

The content of the James Bond films have been a reflection of the development of

culture within British society and so can be used as historical evidence to illustrate

changes in society. An example of this is the choice of car for Bond; his first cars

were British Aston Martins illustrating national pride and a belief that Britain was still

a superpower.

The change to a German BMW was a cause of complaint from some pro-British

groups as they saw the only reason for its inclusion was, as an act of product

placement. In the latest Bond film, Die Another Day, Bond at last goes back to the

British Aston Martin, a return that coincided with resurgence in British Industry and

in what it means to be British after years of decline.

This return to patriotism, lost slightly in the 1980’s, was shown right at the start of

GoldenEye the first Bond film of the 1990’s:

‘When Bond enters the Soviet armoury, he meets his colleague, agent 006

Alec Trevelyan (Sean Bean), who cheerfully greets him by asking if he is

ready to save the World again and declaring their mission is for England’56

This remark is part of a restoration of patriotism in the Bond films, partly due to the

reinvigorated spirit of the British public and partly due to the fact that in the previous

film (Licence to Kill) James Bond had actually resigned from MI6 so the producers

had to show that he had returned to serving his country. The remark is also part of the:

‘restoration of ‘the patriotic code’ that Chapman finds in the Brosnan films,’57

56 J Leach, ‘The world has changed: Bond in the 1990’s and beyond?’ in The James Bond Phenomenon; A Critical Reader, ed. C Lindner, (Manchester: Manchester University, 2003) p.251 57 J Chapman, Licence to Thrill: A Cultural History of the James Bond Films, (London: I.B. Tauris & Co Ltd, 1999) quoted by J Leach, ‘The world has changed: Bond in the 1990’s and beyond?’ in The

25

This resurgence in patriotism and pride in Britain is best seen in the ‘real World’ with

the rise of ‘Brit Pop’ in the early 1990’s where British bands (such as Oasis and Blur)

suddenly hit the top of the charts on both sides of the Atlantic ending years of

American domination in the music industry..

The ways in which the culture and the cultural view of the country has changed over

the last 40 years can be seen in the way Bond dresses and acts. In the early films Bond

was always in a dinner jacket and was always immaculately dressed, the audience

member was supposed to understand the hierarchy within British society and what

was expected of the upper classes.

This class system knowledge was especially shown in Goldfinger where the audience

member was supposed to understand the rules of golf and the relationship between

Bond and his Caddy, whilst in From Russia With Love the snobbery of the British

upper class is shown when the:

‘Villain gives himself away by his choice of red Chianti to accompany grilled

sole (‘Red wine with fish – that should have told me something,’ Bond

remarks)’58

The latest films are more like American Hollywood blockbuster action films full of

explosions, car chases and lots of violent action, though they still contain slight

reference to an outdated British class system that differentiates Bond from all other

action films.

Although the Bond films general attitude towards sex has shifted, just as attitudes

have in the ‘real World’, the films would not work cinematically and would not

conform to the expected codes and conventions of a Bond film if Bond didn’t sleep

with at least one woman. The attitude towards women is probably the most obvious

example of the changes in the Bond films and of the changes in British culture in the

last 40 years. However the attitudes towards Communism and Russia have also

dramatically shifted.

James Bond Phenomenon; A Critical Reader, ed. C Lindner, (Manchester: Manchester University, 2003) p.25158 J Chapman, Licence to Thrill: A Cultural History of the James Bond Films, (London: I.B. Tauris & Co Ltd, 1999) p.76

26

This can best be seen when comparing the timing of the release of Dr No and the

release of the latest Bond films, as when Dr No was first released the Cuban missile

crisis was fresh in people’s minds whilst tensions over Vietnam and Eastern Europe

were increasing, where as a threat to Britain from communist forces would not seem

relevant in the modern World, whilst the threat from terrorism and rouge states would

be relevant.

The director of the latest Bond film Die Another Day Lee Tamahori puts it expertly

when he describes the development of the Bond series:

‘It’s all very well to reinvent him, but some facets to his character everyone

expects. I’ve been a big fan of the Bond movies most of my life. To me, the

Bond film is a kind of impregnable fortress of filmmaking. It used to be about

girls and gadgets and a good-looking spy and then it changed shape and is now

about girls, gadgets, a good-looking spy – and big action. It is a timeless thing

and is constantly evolving.’59

This quote perfectly sums up the development of the Bond films as Bond has had to

evolve, but it also shows how there are some elements that just cannot be changed or

else it just would not be a Bond film.

As a historical source the Bond films have also proved themselves as through the

evolution of the character and his relationships the changes in British culture and

international politics can be observed, which means that to the historian the films can

be used as a record of the changes that have occurred since the first film Dr No was

produced in 1962.

The original books by Ian Fleming can also be used as a cultural resource when

studying the past as can:

‘popular magazines and broadcasts, bestsellers, ads, fashions in language and

other sedimentary products of a people’s cultural life also yield valuable

information about predominant attitudes, widespread inner tendencies. But the

medium of the screen exceeds these sources in inclusiveness.’60

59 M Sterling & G Morecambe, Martinis, Girls and Guns: 50 Years of 007, (London: Robson Books, 2002), p.30860 S Kracauer, From Caligari to Hitler: A Psychological History of German film (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1947) p.6

27

All films can be used to provide information about the time at which it was produced,

not just the time at which it is set. However even at this the Bond films succeed to a

greater extent then any other film due to the length of time they have been produced

over and the fact that they expressly feature a British agent and so look at events such

as the Cold War from a British point of view:

‘shifts in the Cold War were also noted. In Moonraker the Americans check

with the Soviets when their radar shows the space station from which Drax is

planning to fire germ laden globes at the earth in order to confirm that it is not

a Soviet space vehicle.’61

As the film does show the changes in the two superpowers attitudes towards each

other it can be seen that the films do provide information about the time at which they

were made. Also because they do this from a British point of view means they provide

a great deal more information on British culture then a typical Hollywood film would.

The final question is whether any more Bond films can be made and does Bond have

a future in a World where Britain is not a World superpower or even a declining one?

The answer to this question is ‘yes’ for the Bond films were never meant to be factual

in what they showed, as Britain was never really an equal of the USA or USSR during

the Cold War. When GoldenEye was released in 1995 it was the first Bond film for

six years and when it was released:

‘The movie’s winning combination of humour, action and elegance proved

that James Bond was not bound by the confines of the Cold War. He was a

hero every bit as relevant in the 1990’s as he had been in the 1960’s.’62

What the films do show is an interpretation of British society and World events from

a uniquely British point of view, which could be true no matter when the films were

made, whether it is 1960 or 2000.

However it really does not matter whether the films are realistic or fantasy versions of

Britain and the World for their popularity is assured. For a film series to have existed

for over 40 years is a tremendous achievement as it is a:

61 J Black, ‘The Geopolitics of James Bond’ in Intelligence and National Security Journal, Volume 19, Issue 2, 2004, p.29962 J Cork and B Scivally, James Bond The Legacy, (London: Boxtree, 2002), p.257

28

‘time span which represents roughly a third of the entire history of the cinema

and half the period since the introduction of talking pictures in the late

1920’s.’63

This is an exceptional feat and so even if the World Bond lives in is not entirely

factual, it does contain references and direct links to real events over that period that

show how society has changed and so Bond has changed as well.

The only thing about Bond that cannot change is his relationship to Britain as this is

an integral part of the character. The first time we see Bond he utters a line that has

such delivery and poise that means it is:

‘rendered iconic thanks to Connery's suave delivery. His nonchalant

expression, and the line of cigarette smoke, are equally as memorable, thanks

mainly to Terence Young's superior direction and understanding of mood,

exhibited in all his Bond movies. Yes, it probably is the best movie

introduction ever, even after forty-two years.’64

So as was said by Sean Connery in Dr No when we first met the character of Bond in

a line that will forever symbolise not only the films but Britain as well:

‘Bond, James Bond.’65

63 J Chapman, Licence to Thrill: A Cultural History of the James Bond Films, (London: I.B. Tauris & Co Ltd, 1999) p.26864 http://www.universalexports.net/00Moments.shtml65 S Connery, from the script by R Maibaum, J Harwood, and B Mather, Dr No, 1962

29

Appendix One – Basic Film Storylines

Dr No, 1962, Sean Connery

Dr No interferes with US rocket launches from a secret Jamaican base using an

atomic powered radio beam which overwhelms ground control instructions.

From Russia With Love, 1963, Sean Connery

Bond has to steal a Soviet Lektor decoding machine, but it is a trap set by SPECTRE

using it and a beautiful Russian cipher clerk as bait to try to lure him to his death

Goldfinger, 1964, Sean Connery

Auric Goldfinger with Chinese tries to detonate an Atomic Bomb inside the vault of

Fort Knox, in order to irradiate the US gold reserve and increase the value of his own

gold.

Thunderball, 1965, Sean Connery

SPECTRE steals a NATO bomber carrying two nuclear bombs in an attempt to obtain

a ransom from the USA and the UK.

Casino Royale, 1967, David Niven

A comedy parody of the Bond series where Sir James Bond is the head of MI6 and

orders every agent to be named James Bond 007 to confuse the enemy, whilst

attempting to defeat Le Chiffre in the casino.

You Only Live Twice, 1967, Sean Connery

Blofeld from a base in a Japanese volcano abducts US and Soviet spacecraft in order

to start World War Three for the Chinese whilst Bond is assisted by Japanese agents.

On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, 1969, George Lazenby

Blofeld from a fake psychological clinic in the Alps brainwashes young women to

release germ warfare agents unless his demand (including amnesty for past crimes)

are met whilst he tries to be given a British aristocratic title.

30

Diamonds Are Forever, 1971, Sean Connery

Blofeld kidnaps billionaire Willard Whyte and uses his business empire to help fund

his diamond encrusted laser firing satellite in order to hold the World hostage.

Live And Let Die, 1973, Roger Moore

Mr Big uses his Fillet Of Soul restaurants and his Voodoo shops as fronts to distribute

free cocaine to double the number of drug addicts and drive his competition out of the

USA.

The Man With The Golden Gun, 1974, Roger Moore

Francisco Scaramanga the World’s most expensive hit man has stolen a Solex

Agitator, which harnesses solar power and uses it to create a prototype solar energy

plant. He plans to sell it to the highest bidder which would give them a monopoly on

solar power.

The Spy Who Loved Me, 1977, Roger Moore

Karl Stromberg a powerful shipping magnate plans to destroy above ground

civilization by using stolen nuclear submarines to start World War Three so he can

create his own kingdom under the sea.

Moonraker, 1979, Roger Moore

Hugo Drax an aerospace mogul whose company build the space shuttle plans to

destroy all life on earth with lethal chemical compounds launched from space so he

can begin a new civilization from physically perfect people on a space station.

For Your Eyes Only, 1981, Roger Moore

Aristotle Kristatos a Greek smuggler working as a double agent for the Soviets plans

to sell them an ATAC66 system which emits a coded transmission which allows

nuclear submarines to launch Polaris missiles.

Octopussy, 1983, Roger Moore

66 Automatic Targeting Attack Communicator

31

Kamal Khan an exiled afghan prince and General Orlov an unstable Soviet military

leader who wants the USSR to invade Western Europe so uses Octopussy’s circus to

smuggle a nuclear bomb on to an American military base in Germany.

Never Say Never Again, Sean Connery

A remake of Thunderball with SPECTRE stealing a NATO bomber carrying two

nuclear bombs in an attempt to obtain a ransom from the USA and the UK.

A View To A Kill, 1985, Roger Moore

Max Zorin a genius, product of Nazi death camp experiments who is a secret KGB

agent, who breaks with the Soviet Union in order destroy silicon Valley so he can

control the Worlds silicon microchip market. Results in Bond being awarded with the

Order of Lenin.

The Living Daylights, 1987, Timothy Dalton

Georgi Koskov tries to take over the KGB by tricking Bond into assassinating

General Pushkin as well as working with Brad Whittaker an arms dealer in order to

re-create SMERSH67 to secure KGB funds to finance an opium smuggling arms

trading scheme

Licence To Kill, 1989, Timothy Dalton

Franz Sanchez a central American drug lord who also has political control of a

fictional country, is building an Asian/American drug cartel and plans to transport the

drugs hidden in petrol tankers and signalling the buyers using a televangelist.

GoldenEye, 1995, Pierce Brosnan

Alec Trevelyan a former 00 agent is head of Janis, a Russian arms trading

organisation, and he plans to get revenge on the British for their betrayal of the Lienz

Cossacks by wiping out the London banking records with an EMP68 from the

GoldenEye satellite.

Tomorrow Never Dies, 1997, Pierce Brosnan

67 Short for Smyert Shiponam, which is Russian and loosely translated means ‘death to spies’68 Electromagnetic Pulse, an electronic blast that destroys all electronic equipment within its radius whilst leaving people and structures unharmed, originally discovered as a side effect of a nuclear bomb.

32

Elliot Carver a World wide media baron plans to start a war between Britain and

China to cover his destruction of the Chinese government so that a Chinese general

can take control of the government and award his company broadcast rights.

The World Is Not Enough, 1999, Pierce Brosnan

Renard a global anarchist and Elektra King the daughter of an Oil Baron plan to

destroy Istanbul by exploding a nuclear submarine by putting a weapons grade

plutonium rod inside its reactor forcing the World to rely on her oil pipe line

Die Another Day, 2002, Pierce Brosnan

Gustav Graves and Tan-Gun-Moon plan to use the Icarus satellite to destroy the

minefield in the Korean DMZ69 allowing the North Korean Army to invade South

Korea to unite Korea, China and Japan into an unstoppable superpower.

69 DeMilitarized Zone

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Appendix Two – Little known facts about Bond

1. There are actually 22 Bond films although Casino Royale and Never Say

Never Again are not recognised as official Bond films as they were not made

by Eon Productions, the company who officially own the copyright to Bond.

2. Bond has been played by five actors as of now and apart form Bond there are

only six characters who have appeared in more then one film, M, Q,

Moneypenny, Felix Leiter, Blofeld, General Gogol and Jaws. Only Jaws and

General Gogol have been played by the same character every time they appear

on screen, the other characters have all been played by different actors.

3. In the books SPECTRE and Blofeld were written as a trilogy of books, but this

order of books was changed to make SPECTRE the main enemy of Bond

rather then SMERSH which was Bond’s main enemy in the books.

4. Roger Moore was one of the original choices to play Bond before Sean

Connery was chosen, but he was in a contract to star in a television program,

whilst Timothy Dalton and Pierce Brosnan were both considered for the role

years before they actually got the part.

5. Never Say Never Again is actually a remake and came about as the copyright

ownership of the story to Thunderball was under dispute and so the film was

allowed to be made with some changes, just as long as the film had the same

general story line as Thunderball.

6. Very few of the Bond films actually follow the story lines of the books as the

books were written in the 1950’s and early 1960’s so when they came to be

made as films many of the plots, locations and technologies were already out

of date.

7. The timing and stories of the films were always chosen for a particular reason,

Dr No was the first film as the space race was just beginning and Jamaica

where the film was set was an exotic and adventurous location to many

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cinema goers, whilst Moonraker was filmed as the studio wanted to cash in on

the ‘sci-fi’ phenomenon that occurred.

8. Many people still believe that Sean Connery was the best of the ‘Bonds’ and

that George Lazenby was perhaps the worst due to his wooden acting. Pierce

Brosnan is considered as the closest Bond to the character of the books as he

has the slight humour that is required but the hard edge that Roger Moore

lacked.

9. Blofeld and SPECTRE appeared in some form or another in 6 films, but

Blofeld was played by 5 different actors. As Bonds arch nemesis he had many

incarnations and as his body was never seen on screen it is possible that he or

SPECTRE could return in the future.

10. GoldenEye was named after Ian Fleming’s home in Jamaica (which was

actually named Goldeneye); he built it as a winter retreat which he would go

to every year to write a new Bond novel. He in turn had named after a military

operation that he participated in during World War Two.

11. Ian Fleming never approved of Sean Connery as James Bond as he felt he was

to rough and lower class as he had always envisioned Bond as more of an

upper class gentleman.

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Appendix Three – Bond Information

Film Released Screenplay By Directed By Box Office

Dr No 1962 Richard Maibaum, Johanna Terence Young $59.5 million

    Harwood & Berkley Mather  

From Russia With Love 1963 Richard Maibaum & Johanna Terence Young $78.9 million

    Harwood  

Goldfinger 1964 Richard Maibaum & Paul Guy Hamilton $124.9 million

    Dehn  

Thunderball 1965 Richard Maibaum & John Terence Young $141.2 million

    Hopkins  

Casino Royale 1967 Wolf Mankowitz, John Law Val Guest, Ken Hughes, John Huston $41.6 million

    Michael Sayers Joseph McGrath & Robert Parrish  

You Only Live Twice 1967 Roald Dahl Lewis Gilbert $111.6 million

On Her Majesty's Secret Service 1969 Richard Maibaum Peter Hunt $64.6 million

Diamonds Are Forever 1971 Richard Maibaum & Tom Guy Hamilton $116 million

    Mankiewicz  

Live And Let Die 1973 Tom Mankiewicz Guy Hamilton $126.4 million

The Man With The Golden Gun 1974 Richard Maibaum & Tom Guy Hamilton $97.6 million

    Mankiewicz  

The Spy Who Loved Me 1977 Christopher Wood & Richard Lewis Gilbert $185.4 million

    Maibaum    

Moonraker 1979 Christopher Wood Lewis Gilbert $202.7 million

For Your Eyes Only 1981 Richard Maibaum & Michael John Glen $194.9 million

    G. Wilson  

Octopussy 1983 George MacDonald Fraser, John Glen $183.7 million

    Richard Maibaum & Michael    

    G. Wilson    

Never Say Never Again 1983 Lorenzo Semple Junior Irving Kershner $137.5 million

A View To A Kill 1985 Richard Maibaum & Michael John Glen 152.4 million

    G. Wilson  

The Living Daylights 1987 Richard Maibaum & Michael John Glen $191.2 million

    G. Wilson  

Licence To Kill 1989 Richard Maibaum & Michael John Glen $156.2 million

    G. Wilson  

GoldenEye 1995 Jeffrey Caine & Bruce Feirstein Martin Campbell $350.7 million

Tomorrow Never Dies 1997 Bruce Feirstein Roger Spottiswoode $335.3 million

The World Is Not Enough 1999 Neal Purvis, Robert Wade & Michael Apted $352.1 million

    Bruce Feirstein  

Die Another Day 2002 Neal Purvis & Robert Wade Lee Tamahori $456 Million

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Appendix Four – James Bond Anachronisms

CIA – Central Intelligence Agency, the American Secret Service who deal

with external threats to America as well as internal intelligence threats,

the American equivalent to MI6.

EMP – Electromagnetic Pulse, an electronic blast that destroys all electronic

equipment within its radius whilst leaving people and structures

unharmed, originally discovered as a side effect of a nuclear bomb.

FBI – Federal Bureau of Investigation, the criminal investigative and

intelligence agency of the United States Department of Justice.

KGB – Komiten Gosudarstvennoye Bezhopaznaesti, which is Russian and is

loosely translated as ‘committee for state security’ and was basically

the Soviet equivalent to the CIA or MI6.

MI5 – Military Intelligence 5 the branch of British intelligence that deals with

internal threats to the security of Britain, but also including the

Republic of Ireland (the official name of which is the Security

Service).

MI6 – Military Intelligence 6, the branch of British intelligence that deals

with external threats to Britain, (the official name of which is the

Secret Intelligence Service).

NASA – National Aeronautics and Space Administration, responsible for all of

Americas space program and has its headquarters in Houston, Texas.

NATO – North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, a group of countries who joined

together during the Cold War to provide mutual protection against any

possible Soviet attack.

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NSA – National Security Agency the American agency responsible for the

collection and analysis of foreign communications and to protect US

government communications from interception and analysis by foreign

countries.

SMERSH – Short for Smyert Shiponam, which is Russian and loosely translated, means ‘death to spies’. The Russian agency responsible for catching and punishing foreign spies.

SPECTRE – Special Executive for Counterintelligence, Terrorism, Revenge and

Extortion, an organisation that is bent on destruction of the values of

the western World, but by being paid by foreign governments to do it.

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References

Films

Dr No, Terence Young, Eon Productions and UA, 1962.

From Russia With Love, Terence Young, Eon Productions and UA, 1963.

Goldfinger, Guy Hamilton, Eon Productions and UA, 1964.

Thunderball, Terence Young, Eon Productions and UA, 1965.

The Ipcress File, Sidney J. Furie, Lowndes Productions Limited, Carlton

International Media Ltd, 1965.

Casino Royale, Val Guest, Ken Hughes, John Huston, Joseph McGrath and

Robert Parrish, Famous Artists Productions and Columbia Pictures, 1967.

You Only Live Twice, Lewis Gilbert, Eon Productions and UA, 1967.

On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, Peter Hunt, Eon Productions and UA, 1969.

Diamonds Are Forever, Guy Hamilton, Eon Productions and UA, 1971.

Live And Let Die, Guy Hamilton, Eon Productions and UA, 1973.

The Man With The Golden Gun, Guy Hamilton, Eon Productions and UA,

1974.

The Spy Who Loved Me, Lewis Gilbert, Eon Productions and UA, 1977.

Moonraker, Lewis Gilbert, Eon Productions and UA, 1979.

For Your Eyes Only, Jon Glen, Eon Productions and UA, 1981.

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Octopussy, George Jon Glen, Eon Productions and MGM/UA, 1983.

Never Say Never Again, Irving Kershner, Taliafilm and Warner Brothers,

1983.

A View To A Kill, Jon Glen, Eon Productions and MGM/UA, 1985.

The Living Daylights, Jon Glen, Eon Productions and MGM/UA, 1987.

Licence To Kill, Jon Glen, Eon Productions and MGM/UA, 1989.

GoldenEye, Martin Campbell, Eon Productions and MGM/UA, 1995.

Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery, Jay Roach, Moving Pictures

and New Line Cinema, 1997.

Tomorrow Never Dies, Roger Spottiswoode, Eon Productions and MGM/UA,

1997.

Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, Jay Roach, Moving Pictures and

New Line Cinema, 1999.

The World Is Not Enough, Michael Apted, Eon Productions and MGM/UA,

1999.

Austin Powers: In Goldmember, Jay Roach, Moving Pictures and New Line

Cinema, 2002.

Die Another Day, Lee Tamahori, Eon Productions and MGM/UA, 2002.

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Television Programs

You Only Move Twice: The Simpsons, Season Eight, Mike Anderson, Gracie

Films and 20th Century Fox, 1996.

Books on Bond

Barnes, Alan, and Hearn, Marcus, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, the Unofficial James

Bond Film Companion, (London: Batsford, 2000).

Bennett, Tony and Woolacott, Janet, Bond and Beyond, (Basingstoke:

Macmillan, 1987)

Black, Jeremy, The Politics of James Bond: From Fleming’s Novels to the Big

Screen, (London: Praeger, 2001)

Chapman, James, Licence to Thrill: a Cultural History of the James Bond

Films, (London: I.B. Tauris & Co Ltd, 1999)

Comentale, Edward P, Watt, Stephen and Willman, Skip (ed), Ian Fleming &

the Cultural Politics of 007 James Bond, (Bloomington: Indiana University

Press, 2005)

Cork, John and Scivally, Bruce, James Bond The Legacy, (London: Boxtree,

2002)

Lindner, Christopher (ed), The James Bond Phenomenon; A Critical Reader,

(Manchester: Manchester University, 2003)

Rye, Graham, The James Bond Girls, (London: Boxtree, 1995)

Snelling, O. F, Double O Seven James Bond A Report, (London: Holland

Press Ltd, 1964)

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Sterling, Martin and Morecambe Gary, Martinis, Girls and Guns: 50 Years of

007, (London: Robson Books, 2002)

Books on History and Film

Ferro, Marc, Cinema and History, translated by Naomi Greene, (Detroit:

Wayne State University Press, 1988)

Grenville, John Ashley Soames, Film as History: The Nature of Film Evidence

(Birmingham: University of Birmingham, 1971)

Hollows, Joanne & Jancovich Mark (ed.), Approaches to popular film,

(Manchester: Manchester University, 1995)

Kracauer, Siegfried, From Caligari to Hitler: A Psychological History of

German film (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1947)

Neale, Steve (ed.), Genre and Contemporary Hollywood, (London: British

Film Institute, 2003)

Rosenstone, Robert A, Visions of the Past: Challenge Of Film To Our Idea Of

History (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2001)

Smith, Paul (ed), The Historian and Film, (Cambridge: Cambridge University

Press, 1976)

Thompson, Kirstin & Bordwell, David, Film History: An Introduction, (New

York: McGraw-Hill, 1994)

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Articles on Bond

Black, Jeremy, ‘The Geopolitics of James Bond’ in Intelligence and National

Security Journal, Volume 19, Issue 2, (2004), pp.290-303

Cash, William, ‘The name’s Fleming’ in Evening Standard Magazine, 3rd

February 2006, pp.15-17

Houston, Penelope, ‘007’ in Sight and Sound Journal, Volume 34, Issue 1,

(1964), pp.14-16

Moniot, Drew, ‘James Bond and America in the Sixties: An Investigation of

the film formula in popular culture’ in Journal of the University Film

Association, Volume 26, Issue 3, (1976), pp.25-33

Websites

http://www.007.com

http://www.007.info

http://www.ajb007.co.uk

http://uk.imdb.com

http://www.jamesbond.com

http://www.jamesbondmm.co.uk

http://www.mi6.co.uk/mi6.php3

http://www.snpp.com/episodes/3F23.html

http://www.thesimpsons.com/episode_guide/index.htm

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http://www.universalexports.net/00Moments.shtml

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Bond

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