Tuesday, May 3, 2016

James Bond: Shaken.. & Stirring Things Up




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     Ian Fleming created a kick arse British Secret Agent, James Bond 007. Bond is a veteran of World War II. Navy. Decorated. Bond works for a section of Her Majesty's Secret Service department MI6. He is such a special agent for the government (spy) that he has been granted a  'licensed to kill'. Translation? He is a legal mass murderer...er... soldier... er... spy... er... government agent. Great job for a man with a cold heart, cool looks, cooler car, a special gun and love of bed-hopping.
And if the occasional young lady dies after meeting him... well... all part of the job. There will be others.
     Male model and bit actor Sean Connery donned the tuxedo first. Appearing in Dr. No, Bond's first foray onto the big screen, Connery quickly became a world-wide star. The Scottish actor followed that success with four more consecutive hit appearances.
     While Connery was making his first splash as 007 on screen in 1962... (just a few years later)  CBS TV produced a black and white version of Casino Royale starring American actor Barry Nelson. Notable, but forgettable. In fact, Casino Royale would be released on the big screen in 1967 starring David Niven, Woody Allen and Peter Sellars, all playing some version of a Bond character. Comic, semi-popular. It was obvious Bond in any form was a hot property.
     Connery stepped away from the role and was replaced by another male model George Lazenby. He had the looks, he had the style, he just wasn't very popular. Which was too bad, "On Her Majesty's Secret Service' had the making of a great Bond film as 007 got married and evil SPECTRE killed his beautiful wife played by the gorgeous Diana 'The Avengers/Brit TV Series' Rigg.
     Connery returned for one more go round in the 70's with 'Diamonds are Forever'. He was older. Paunchy. And wore a terrible toupee. It was a hit! But not enough to inspire him to continue on with his Aston Martin and shake martini role. In came... The Saint!
     The Saint was a popular radio series and later would become a TV series starring good looking Roger Moore. Moore would be perfect to replace the Connery Bond. He was suave, relied on gadgets instead of fist fights, loved the ladies (all races) and his hair stayed pretty much in place on a boat or jumping out a window. Moore starred as Bond in seven films from 1973- 1985. The Bond fandom was given a little shake-up in 1983 as Sean Connery came back to revive Bond in 'Never Say Never' a remake of his earlier 007 venture, Thunderball. Title was a tongue and cheek joke on how he would never play Bond again. This time, it was over for Connery. 1985's 'View to a Kill' was Moore's swan song as the UK spy hero.
     Waiting in the wings was a young Irish TV actor, Pierce Brosnan. He had the looks, but even better ... he had the female following from his show Remington Steele. Unfortunately, his TV show's producers had a contract.. and he was going to have to wait. 
     {Note: This happened before to another popular TV star, Tom Selleck. Selected to play Indiana Jones in the original Raiders of the Lost Ark, Selleck could not break his contract with producers of Magnum P.I. Harrison Ford took the part, the rest was film history!}
     Timothy Dalton did get his chance at Bond for 2 pictures. And then he was done. Timothy Dalton? Fine actor... bad guy in Rocketeer, good guy in Flash Gordon. And as Bond, he was also gone in a flash.
     Remington arrives and stars in four Bond pictures. They are all popular but the far fetched story lines and the end of the real Cold War cut into the spy genre's popularity. After his fourth Bond feature, Pierce Brosnan was cooly called (by some production underling) only to be told he was out.
     In was Daniel Craig, a blond, medium height, more athletic Bond. The series was rebooted back to Casino Royale (no comedy) and Craig was off and running. But the stress and strain of being Bond, even caught up to Daniel Craig. Craig is a very good, versatile actor. Bond must have been rewarding, but stifling to him. After SPECTRE, his last go round as Bond, he insinuated he was done with 007. And so... the rumors started to fly. Who's next?
     In the politically correct climate of post 9-11, why not a Black Englishman as Bond. Reboot the series to fit the times. Will it play? Only time will tell.. and projected Bond actor Idris Elba has yet to sign a contract (as of this blog).
     I have been a Bond fan all of my life. The series started in my youth and I followed it pretty much all through Connery, most of Moore, maybe one Dalton, maybe 2 Brosnans and all of Craigs. But as I have grown older, this current spy genre has lost me. I did like homages to Bond like Kingsman: Secret Service and 'The Man From U*N*C*L*E remake but only because they harkened back to early Bond series themes and devices. But now, how can you make a Bond film without worrying about falling into some Austin Powers hokiness? So, is it the end for Bond and me? Just play that theme song and see what happens!

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