88 replies to this topic

[dee-bee-five]

I think George Lazenby should have gone on till Dalton took over. Then we would have been spared years of Roger Moore as Bond.

And I, for one, believe the world would be the poorer for it.

[Colossus]

Connery 1962-1967; 1983
DN-YOLT
NSNA

Lazenby 1969-1971
OHMSS
DAF

Moore 1973-1983
LALD-OP

Dalton 1985-1993
From A View To A Kill
TLD
LTK
Property of a Lady (91)
Colonel Sun (93)

[ACE]

In 1958, Ian Fleming sells the rights to all his existing and future James Bond short stories to Hugh Hefner, largely to annoy his wife. The McClory incident also happened. The rights to the novels he sells to Broccoli and Saltzman.

Sean Connery [1962-1965]

Casino Royale (1962): Filmed in black and white and on location in Northern France, still a firm fan favourite despite its relatively small budget, due to Ken Adam's extraordinary Casino set (a largely blank room with a grille in the ceiling - who would have expected that in a battered beachfront turn-of-the-century neo-Gothic hotel?), Sean Connery's utterly extraordinary pronounciation of "Veshper" and the scene where one of the leading characters emerges from the sea wearing only swimming trunks; an iconic image, even if it had to be filmed in Jamaica to spare Mr Connery any embarassment from emerging from the autumnal English Channel. The film earns itself an unfortunate reputation when Marylin Monroe - intially cast as Vesper Lynd - takes the method acting a bit too far just before the picture is released. The film ends on Bond vowing to avenge himself on SMERSH, which he does in...

From Russia with Love (1963): A riot of exotic colour, and notable for the film's first cliffhanger ending. An initial draft of the script, introducing SPECTRE as the villains, is dumped as unnecessary and pointlessly friendly towards evil Bolshevieks. Author Ian Fleming has a cameo role as one of the naked fighting gypsy girls. Truman Capote's Rosa Klebb is another higlight. The film is nominated as Best Picture for the Academy Awards but appears to lose out to the damn-near unwatchable Tom Jones. With this disappointment, as he spills to the wine-red floor, will James Bond return?

Dr No (1964): Yes. It's making far too much money to stop now. With Fleming duly tucked up in dead, Eon decide to push the envelope (whatever that means) and let themselves loose on Fleming's most outlandish novel. As a mark of respect to his friend, Noel Coward agrees to take on the role of Dr No, as long as he can wear one of his own dressing gowns and his steel claws are the precisely the girth of the third assistant director's penis. The scene where he invites Bond to dinner and regales him with three hours of camp theatrical anecdotes and random bitching about Dame Sybil Thorndyke - "Thorndyke by name, Thorny Dyke by nature, my dear" - is heavily cut. Still, the film-makers do show some of the restraint later absent from the series when the sequence with the giant squid, a long-lost fan "Holy Grail" deleted scene, is excised for being a ) too long and b ) too stupid. Dr No does drown in a cloud of guano, although not until Coward has delivered of one of the immortal speeches of the Bond series "Oh/ What a to-do/ I am covered in poo. My dears/ I once was No/ And now I'm Not."

In 1965, Sean Connery starts getting stroppy, so they try to drown him.

Thunderball (1965): Introduces Bond's Aston Martin and the pre-credis sequence in which he jet-packs off the Chateau, squirts water over his pursuers and then ejects his Japanese female sidekick out of the car's roof is hailed by many as four minutes of uber-Bond, but most as insanely misogynistic and racist. Eon takes this as a compliment. The rest of the film continues as is, for to mess with it would be vandalism. However, halfway through filming the underwater battle scene, and after a hard day of screaming down the telephone for a share of the loot, Connery does get suspicious when his polyurethane underwater jetpack is replaced by a lead one. Agreeing to finish the film, Connery vows that it will be his last.

This places Eon in a quandary: Thunderball earns a zillion dollars (inflation adjusted) and the name Connery is big business.

Hence...

Neil Connery: 1967

On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1967): "You Know the Name! You Know the Number!" the adverts screamed. We also know a completely abject performance when we see one. Fundamentally inexperienced, Connery v2.0 goes down like a rat in a pram. Deciding against the condescending "Bond has had to have plastic surgery" routine, Eon are still accused of breaking the fourth wall with dialogue such as "Do you have any brothers, Count?" / "No, Sir Hillary. Do you?" / (Staring straight at camera and winking as if suddenly palsied) "Yesh". Eon accused of huge cynicism. They take this as a compliment. Becomes controversial in later years when ABC splits the film in two for television and hires Sean Connery to do a voiceover as Bond. Time becomes kind to the neglected film - which contains many of the series' best scenes, when Connery's not in them - and some delusionists will even claim that the leading man's tears in the final scene are evidence of true talent rather than director Peter Hunt mashing his testes with a broken pencil, off-camera. Also controversial is the casting of Tracy - whilst having an acting heavyweight supporting the untried Connery may be laudable, 73 year-old Gwen Ffrangcon-Davies is, it has to said, unconvincing in some stunt sequences. The rumour that she ate a murray mint before a love scene haunts the picture to this day.

Sean Connery: 1970 - 1971

You Only Live Twice (1970): The punning title aside, the real Connery's return to the series is a triumph. Set mainly in Japan, Bond avenges the death of his wife and there's some volcano madness too. The acting is largely dreadful. Asked why he returned to the series after rejecting it so vehemently in 1965, Connery admits that being offered Belgium was a substantial incentive. He claims that he intends to flatten it and build the world's largest golf course and that he will put his brother in charge. He later admits that the bit about his brother was a lie.

During the filming of

The Man with the Golden Gun (1971): Connery discovers that Belgium is too small for his ego and demands Germany. After three seconds of debate, Broccoli and Saltzman refuse and Connery walks, although by this stage, lumbers would be more apt. He retires to Bruges to be closer to his money.

Filming is suspended with little over a quarter shot whilst a new Bond is sought. Fortunately, little enough imagination is required to hire

Roger Moore [1973-1983]

The Man with the Golden Gun (1973): Deciding that by this stage the audience could not be any more condescended, the film-makers opt for the "plastic surgery whilst being brainwashed" routine as some sort of way of explaining how the Bond of the early part of the film - a hog of a Scot - is somehow changed by the Russians into a skinny ginger Englishman. The audience, largely accepting any old rubbish by this stage, are happy to buy it, and the scene when Moore tries to kill June Whitfield's M is a series highspot. Even though the script has evident problems, Christopher Lee's scruffy Cuban gangster is a genuine departure for the actor, although the fangs seem a touch trite on reflection. The ending of the film, in a hall of mirrors in which Bond's face is seen to change from Connery to Moore back to Connery and then Moore again is proclaimed as "a serious study of fragmented identity" by someone on this website probably, but most people know "too cheap to reshoot" when they see it.

Live and Let Die (1974): And so we come to this, the (no pun intended) black sheep (although this is a joke in the script, God help us). Due to the ("plot" critical) scene in which Moore's Bond blacks up to infiltrate the Harlem den of Mr Big, this film has not been shown on British television since May 1982 and for years was only ever available on bootleg VHS from that bloke on the market. The redemption of the film may never yet happen, and the (briefly available) DVD release of 2002 only compounded the error: digitally rendering Moore white (but being unable to redub his feeble attempts at patois) sent the police round to Rodney King's again.

Due to the race riot in Letchworth in July 1974, Harry Saltzman withdraws from the partnership. A euphemism for being utterly broke due to being a greedy loony.

Diamonds are Forever (1976): Following Live and Let Die, which they rather enjoyed, the government of South Africa invites Broccoli to make his first "go-alone" Bond film there, which after thirteen seconds of doubt, he agrees to. Careful to avoid accusations of racism and black-bashing, with his usual fist around the jugular of world affairs, Broccoli insists on all lead characters being white. This does not improve matters, but the film becomes a particular favourite with the KKK - they are able to project it onto their robes. The last film to feature Blofeld, the casting of Kevin McClory as the villain is initially accepted by McClory as a great compliment, but his family become suspicious the day after filming is completed when he does not return home. To this day, Eon deny that the death scene where Blofled is force-fed his cat and then hacked to death in a combine harvester is a snuff movie. One of cinema's most mysterious... mysteries.

A hiatus is necessary. But James Bond will return...

Jim, you're the greatest Bond fan comic genius in Oxford. EVER!
Very, very funnyful.

I didn't see CR so, yes, I've kept up the "boycott".

Just curious is all. Great thread, anyway.

[Loomis]

Back OT, I've noticed a few posters have mentioned or listed a Jinx and/or Wai Lin film. If Eon never considered doing a Felix Leiter film, which I definitely would've lined up for, I really don't see why a film on either Jinx or Wai Lin was even considered.

From what I gather, a Wai Lin film was an idea kicked around by Eon, but never seriously developed. It probably had a life of just a couple of meetings where it came up briefly then went away. I'd be very interested to hear otherwise, though, as I may be underestimating Eon's post-TND enthusiasm for this project.

By contrast, the Jinx film was developed much further. Stephen Frears (currently basking in somewhat excessive critical acclaim for THE QUEEN), of all people, had been lined up to direct a completed script by Purvis and Wade. (I'm surprised, BTW, that I seem to be the only person on CBn who ever mentions this screenplay - shouldn't it be the Holy Grail of Bond fandom?) Details are extremely thin on the ground, but I read somewhere once that Colin Salmon would have been in the cast, presumably as Robinson.

Here's Neal Purvis on JINX (http://movieweb.com/...ews.php?id=2996):

So how about the once-rumoured Jinx movie? "We spent two months with Stephen Frears on it and it's all down to the studio. Halle Berry was very happy, Stephen and the producers were happy and we were happy

[doublenoughtspy]

(I'm surprised, BTW, that I seem to be the only person on CBn who ever mentions this screenplay - shouldn't it be the Holy Grail of Bond fandom?)

With such Bon Mots as "Yo mamma", the only thing the Jinx script would be good for is to keep the furnace burning.

Jinx is essentially the Sherrif Pepper or Jaws of her era. Trendy, "popular", but hardly worth a spin off.

[Loomis]

(I'm surprised, BTW, that I seem to be the only person on CBn who ever mentions this screenplay - shouldn't it be the Holy Grail of Bond fandom?)

With such Bon Mots as "Yo mamma", the only thing the Jinx script would be good for is to keep the furnace burning.

Have you read it?

It seems that it was of sufficient quality to attract highly-respected director Stephen Frears, whose most recent film at the time was DIRTY PRETTY THINGS, which garnered almost as much acclaim as THE QUEEN.

In any case, an unproduced "Bond" script, commissioned by Eon.... I'd be interested in reading it. Wouldn't you?

You say that Jinx was just trendy, and hardly worth a spinoff - as it happens, I agree. My main point is not that the character deserved a film of her own, but that she came within an ace of getting one (which considering the director attached to it might even have been a pretty decent piece of work).

Not referring to you, DNS, or to anyone in particular, but I get the impression that many Bond fans would prefer to think that the Jinx film was never anything other than pure rumour. But it wasn't - not by a long chalk. It was a serious project that reached an advanced stage of pre-production, with a completed script and a director onboard and at work.

[doublenoughtspy]

No I haven't read it, and yes I would be interested in seeing it.

I just tried to PM you a list of Bond script's that I would put in the grail category above Jinx, but it told me you don't allow messages.

[Loomis]

I just tried to PM you a list of Bond script's that I would put in the grail category above Jinx, but it told me you don't allow messages.

Really? That's strange. I'll have a look at my controls to see if it's something to do with the settings.

[Blonde Bond]

Imagine if the Jinx film would've been better in quality, than Die Another Day.

"Sorry Mr.Brosnan, here's one last nail for your coffin."

"Aren't you glad we gave you a proper send-off?"

And now, let's move on to Jinx. We got a script and a good director this time around.

[Andrew]

I just tried to PM you a list of Bond script's that I would put in the grail category above Jinx, but it told me you don't allow messages.

You've piqued my interest.

[coco1997]

Are you going to post your "deviated" list of Bond history, Andrew?

[Andrew]

Are you going to post your "deviated" list of Bond history, Andrew?

Sometime tonight. I still have to decide how far I'm going to take it.

[Guardian Viper]

Sean Connery:
- Dr. No
- From Russia with Love
- Goldfinger
- Thunderball

George Lazenby:
- You Only Live Twice
- On Her Majesty's Secret Service
- Diamonds Are Forever
- Live and Let Die

Roger Moore:
- The Man with the Golden Gun
- The Spy who Loved Me
- Moonraker
- Octopussy

Timothy Dalton:
- For Your Eyes Only
- A View to a Kill
- The Living Daylights
- License to Kill

Pierce Brosnan:
- GoldenEye
- Tomorrow Never Dies
- The World is Not Enough
- Icebreaker

Clive Owen: (Oh well, maybe Daniel Craig goes too...)
- Casino Royale
- 007 Origin Trilogy, Part II
- 007 Origin Trilogy, Part III

[freemo]

Sean Connery (62-74)

1 - Thunderball (62)
2 - Live and Let Die (63)
3 - From Russia With Love (64)
4 - Goldfinger (65)
5 - Diamonds Are Forever (67)
6 - Dr. No (69)
7 - You Only Live Twice (71)
8 - OHMSS (73)
9 - Man with the Golden Gun (74)

Thunderball as film #1, though I'd probably plunder a few monents from the "real" Dr. No, such as the "Bond, James Bond" and the "That's a Smith and Wesson". In a moment of tremedous foresight, the "table of SPECTRE agents" scene features agents who go on to be major villians in successive films (Mr. Big, Kronsteen, etc).

FRWL "as is" but bumped back to film #3 because I think Bond needs a couple of triumphs over SPECTRE, rather than just one, before they consider him a serious threat. And after the highly succesful but slightly campy GF ("as is") and DAF ("as is" but Charles Grey's character isn't Blofeld), Dr No. is hailed as the "gritty back to basics return to Fleming yay!" Bond film.

I always thought film #5 was too early for revealing Blofeld. Here I've held it back until film #7. Christopher Lee can play Blofeld.

I know I'm alone in this, but I'm not really interested in a "revenge film". Instead I'll tie up Blofeld in the pretitle sequence (like the "real" DAF pretitle sequence, but longer and more (wait for it) "gritty") of the next film. I noticed alot of people suggested TMWTGG as the first Moore film, personally I think it's better suited to a more expereinced, older-looking Bond. In my Golden Gun, Bond has just returned from his three year search and killing of Blofeld, and things have changed in his absence. None the least the emergence of a "new kid in town", Scaramanga, assassin-for-hire, who's been taking down British agents, and who many in "the biz" believe to be an even better marksman than Bond (I'd cast someone younger than Connery to play Scaramanga). ConneryBond proving he's still the champ would make for a nice swansong I think.

.

That Connery "run of nine" is really my "dream" series, and I'd be half tempted to just end it there. But in the interest of keeping Bond going...

Roger Moore (77-83)

10 - Moonraker (77)
11 - The Spy Who Loved Me (79)
12 - For Your Eyes Only (81)
13 - Octopussy (83)

Moonraker more "like the book". The Spy Who Loved Me with a villain more interesting than Stromberg taking over the remains of SPECTRE. For Your Eyes Only an anthology of mini Bond adventures (probably, say, three of the stories from the book, omitting "Quantum of Solace" and "From A View to a Kill"). Octopussy "as is", but more coherant and less jokey.

Timothy Dalton (85-89)

14 - From A View to a Kill (85)
15 - The Living Daylights (87)
16 - Licence Revoked (89)

I like the idea of Bond having his Licence Revoked, though I don't think it was executed all that well in LTK. I'd like to see Bond really ostrasized (sp?), completely on his own. No help from Q or Moneypenny or anyone. Infact, have the whole service against him (Have M assassinated or something, and everyone thinks Bond did it. Bond's on the run ala The Fugitve, all the other 00's have orders to kill him, and Bond's got to find the real killer). It should be really dark and have the feel of a "bad dream".

[Publius]

ConneryBond proving he's still the champ would make for a nice swansong I think.

You know what, you're damn right! I've always really liked the thought of Connery facing off against Scaramanga (who I agree would probably be best to recast in that case), and the dark, bizarre world of TMWTGG would make for a great backdrop to Connery's grizzled veteran Bond.

[Andrew]

Christopher Lee can play Blofeld.

I've always thought that he'd play a much better Blofeld than Scaramanga (although he was good as him too). When I read Fleming I always picture Lee in the part.

[Bon-san]

I just tried to PM you a list of Bond script's that I would put in the grail category above Jinx, but it told me you don't allow messages.

Really? That's strange. I'll have a look at my controls to see if it's something to do with the settings.

I've tried to send you PM's for years, and it never has allowed it. I think I even PM'd the CBn team to try and pass a message along some time ago (before I was a Team Member). Cannot remember if I ever got a reply to that, either.

I thought you were just in deep cover.

[TheSaint]

I'm not sure if that's a will of steel or sheer bloodymindedness. Rye and Benson may not, as you say, be fans of Moore; knowing one of them personally for many years, I happen to know that's certainly true in his case. But I don't think either of them has "passed" on seeing any Moore Bond film because they know - as any fair minded person surely does - that to give in to any self-indulgent boycott is to forfeit one's right to comment generally. For instance, how can you answer which is your favourite Bond film if you have chosen not to see one? It would be impossible to do so.

It is a particular pity in this case because I happen to believe that you have passed on THE classic film of the series - and I write as someone who for decades has regarded OHMSS as the peak of the series. And when Craig was first announced, I was definitely dubious and remained a fence-sitter for quite a while. But I had to give the guy a chance and came out convinced that he is the best guy, bar none, to assume the role. Subsequent viewings have reinforced that view (and, believe me, working in TV as I do, I'm not easily impressed or swayed by hype). An open mind is far more rewarding than a will of steel.

You found me out DB5-I'm not fair minded at all. Probably why I didn't drink the kool-aid.

[freemo]

ConneryBond proving he's still the champ would make for a nice swansong I think.

You know what, you're damn right! I've always really liked the thought of Connery facing off against Scaramanga (who I agree would probably be best to recast in that case), and the dark, bizarre world of TMWTGG would make for a great backdrop to Connery's grizzled veteran Bond.

I think with TMWTGG Bond should about 45 (which Connery would have been in '74) and Scamanga about 30-35, young and cocky. I see the basic premise of "my" Golden Gun one of the king (Bond) returning from exile to discover that a younger, seemingly better version of himself has taken the "throne", which is what Die Another Day is really, except that they i) are at pains to point it out, and ii) botch it up something royal. I agree with you that it should definitly be a "cat and mouse" game, just Bond vs. Scaramanga. No laser weapons or sun power schemes.

I do like Moore and Lee's performances, alot, but I find young upstart vs. aging vetern, current champ vs. former champ, a more intriguing duel than "light vs. dark". Things I really like from the "real" film and would keep are Scaramanga's admiration for Bond (which would fit into my "alternate" film nicely, though in a more "you were great in your day, but now it's my day" way), Scaramanga sending the bullet to Bond (but this time it would really be him who sends it), and the fact that Bond doesn't know what Scaramanga looks like (a massive advantage for Scaramanga).

[Bon-san]

Disclaimer: I think Roger Moore is the cat's meow, but he doesn't appear in this timeline because he was too busy with his ten film run of Saint pictures.


1962 Casino Royale

[Jim]

1978 is a critical year for 007. The Eon series seems to be going off the rails

[Loomis]

ConneryBond proving he's still the champ would make for a nice swansong I think.

You know what, you're damn right! I've always really liked the thought of Connery facing off against Scaramanga (who I agree would probably be best to recast in that case), and the dark, bizarre world of TMWTGG would make for a great backdrop to Connery's grizzled veteran Bond.

I think with TMWTGG Bond should about 45 (which Connery would have been in '74) and Scamanga about 30-35, young and cocky. I see the basic premise of "my" Golden Gun one of the king (Bond) returning from exile to discover that a younger, seemingly better version of himself has taken the "throne", which is what Die Another Day is really, except that they i) are at pains to point it out, and ii) botch it up something royal. I agree with you that it should definitly be a "cat and mouse" game, just Bond vs. Scaramanga. No laser weapons or sun power schemes.

I do like Moore and Lee's performances, alot, but I find young upstart vs. aging vetern, current champ vs. former champ, a more intriguing duel than "light vs. dark".

Nah, I don't want Bond to be ROCKY BALBOA. You'll be amazed to read this coming from me, but I think THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN is absolutely perfect as it is. That said, going with your idea, the 31-year-old (in 1974) Malcolm McDowell would have been an absolutely terrific "young" Scaramanga.

In Bizarre Alternate Universe Created By A Bond Fan #974, the Bond of TMWTGG is Lazenby, brought back five years after OHMSS, after Moore's debut bombed at the box office and Connery's demands for another comeback were simply too.... stratospheric.

It's easy to picture Laz in TMWTGG, since he did all those Hong Kong movies in the '70s.

As befits the time, Laz sports a drooping moustache in this flick (and there are lawsuits over actual bodily harm that some cinemagoers claim to sustain courtesy of the shockingly loud orange and purple kipper tie and fluorescent yellow shirt Bond wears at lunch with Scaramanga), leading to a still-unresolved debate among fans as to whether he's supposed to be the same Bond as before, or whether, when he mentions "the other fella" at the start of OHMSS, he's actually referring to the character he plays five years later in TMWTGG. In addition, some Bond enthusiasts have speculated that the hand-rolled fag 007 is seen puffing on as he wanders through Wanchai may be a "marihuana cigarette", or "pot".

Yes, it's shaping up now: George Lazenby IS Ian Fleming's James Bond 007 in "THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN". Also starring Malcolm McDowell as Scaramanga. The film launches the career of Dutch beauty Sylvia Kristel, who plays Andrea.

Rest of the film "as is", and, yes, I include the slide whistle, Sheriff Pepper, and all those other marvellous elements most of you lot refuse to appreciate for some reason.

[David Schofield]

After almost falling out of love with their acquisition of Ian Fleming's canon of novels and the James Bond character due to a futile, seemingly endless search for the correct actor, in 1965 Cubby Brocoli happens upon a mature looking Australian male model called George Lazenby who in almost every way resembles the Bond of the books.

With some of the finest British talent of the 60s, EON Productions begin filming the Fleming novels in order starting with Casino Royale. Lazenby is a huge hit and Bond and Lazenby-mania exceed the popularity of the Beatles in the late 60s. Lazenby realises exactly what an oppportunity he has and for the next four years each Bond film appears annually in the order they were published. In the early 1970's, Lazeny grows his hair and a moustache and appears in Universal Solder, a film criticising war and emphasing peace: Lazenby wins a Best Actor Oscar.

Loyal to his routes, Lazenby returns to Bond to continue the filming of the Fleming canon. Releases do become more sporadic now as Lazenby non-Bond work escapates - appearing in such its as Sleuth opposite Laurence Olivier and taking the lead, barely recogniseably, in One Flew Over the Cuckoos next. However, Lazenby finishes the Bond canon and he is last seen on a beach in Jamaica in The Man With The Golden Gun in 1985 with Helen Mirren in the role of Mary Goodnight.

Meanwhile, in other news, a body builder turned failed actor, Sean Connery, "Big Tam" to his friends at the WMC, returns to his career in Edinburgh as a coffin polisher. Later, he becomes a labourer in his brother Neil's plasterering business. Neil Connery makes a fortune in the building boom of the 1980s and retires to Spain to play golf on his fortune. His brother Sean tries run the plastering business himself but as a result of early 1990's recession, heads to England to find work in the new out of town warehousing and distribution. In 1997, John Major's Tory government working out the way to win the General Election is the give Scotland immediate independence, abolishes the Union between England and Scotland.

Today, Gordon Brown is President of Scotland and economic journalists have twinned its economic quality with several African states. Engalnd remains prosperous with most envied living standards in the world. George Lazenby is Lord Lazenby. The wareabouts of Mr Sean Connery are unknown.

[Safari Suit]

I would add one or two Dalton films in, one perhaps featuring elements of the torture sub-plot of DAD (which would of course mean DAD itself would change).

You found me out DB5-I'm not fair minded at all. Probably why I didn't drink the kool-aid.

Could someone PLEASE explain to me what this Kool-aid expression means?

[Jim]

It's a reference to the Jim Jones massacre.

[I never miss]

I agree: great topic.

Here's my timeline:

Sean:
DN 1962
FRWL 1963
GF 1964
TB 1965
YOLT 1967 (these 5 movies are unchanged)

George:
OHMSS 1969 (Donald Pleasance plays Blofeld)
DAF 1971 (Donald Pleasance plays Blofeld)

Roger:
LALD 1973 (we see Bond's personal DB5 outside his apartment)
TMWTGG 1974 (JW Pepper does not return)
TSWLM 1977
MR 1979 (Jaws does not return)
FYEO 1981

Tim:
OP 1983
AVTAK 1985 (Fiona Fullerton as Pola Ivanova is main Bond girl)
TLD 1987 (Topol returns as Columbo)
LTK 1989 (Minus silly ending)
TPOAL 1991

Pierce:
GE 1993
TND 1995
TWINE 1997 (C Jones played by Nicole Kidman)
DAD 1999 (Jinx character less streetwise, M Campbell directs)
CS 2002 (for the 40th anniversary, Sean Connery plays C. Sun)
EON 2004 (Rachel Weisz is Bond girl)

Daniel:
CR 2006
RISICO 2008 (Emma Pierson intro as MoneyPenny, Campbell directs)
MY ENEMY'S ENEMY 2010 (Michael Gambon debuts as new M)
SHATTERHAND 2012 (Forrest Whitaker plays Shatterhand)

Matthew Macfadyen:
DEATH IS SO PERMANENT 2014 (The new Bond debuts at 39 yrs of age)

Edited by I never miss, 02 March 2007 - 10:03 PM.

[Loomis]

I just tried to PM you a list of Bond script's that I would put in the grail category above Jinx, but it told me you don't allow messages.

Really? That's strange. I'll have a look at my controls to see if it's something to do with the settings.

I've tried to send you PM's for years, and it never has allowed it. I think I even PM'd the CBn team to try and pass a message along some time ago (before I was a Team Member). Cannot remember if I ever got a reply to that, either.

I thought you were just in deep cover.

I've just sent you a PM, Bon-san.

[Thunderfinger]

Stan Laurel is James Bond in
1925 CASINO ROYALE
1927 LIVE AND LET DIE
1929 MOONRAKER
1931 DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER
1933 FROM RUSSIA, WITH LOVE

Cary Grant is James Bond in
1935 DOCTOR NO
1937 FROM A VIEW TO A KILL
1939 QUANTUM OF SOLACE
1941 GOLDFINGER
1943 FOR YOUR EYES ONLY

Gary Cooper is James Bond in
1945 THE HILDEBRAND RARITY
1947 RISICO
1949 THUNDERBALL
1951 OCTOPUSSY
1953 THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS

Richard Burton is James Bond in
1955 THE SPY WHO LOVED ME
1957 THE PROPERTY OF A LADY
1959 ON HER MAJESTY

[DamnCoffee]

[spynovelfan]

Late 1955. Ian Fleming succeeds in selling the film rights to the Bond series to American producer Cubby Broccoli, whose film The Cockleshell Heroes, about British naval commandoes in World War Two, has just been released, starring Trevor Howard. Broccoli immediately hires 45-year-old David Niven to play James Bond in CASINO ROYALE, which is released in 1956. It is directed by Terence Young, with a script by Richard Maibaum (both had worked on 1953's The Red Beret).

The film is a massive departure for Niven, for although he is still playing a debonair, upper-class British military man, the 'gay blade' tone of all his previous performances is, for the first time, counterbalanced by a sense of genuine menace in his performance. Niven, a friend of Fleming's and perhaps even a model for the character of Bond, later revealed that he had tried, with CASINO ROYALE, to be more faithful to the dark days of secret warfare he had experienced himself as a commando signaller attached to the SAS behind enemy lines during World War Two. With no moustache and a notably muscled physique, shown off to full advantage by a topping pair of blue bathing trunks, Niven became an unlikely sex symbol, and his work on CASINO ROYALE arguably paved the way for the sexual revolution of the 1960s.

Niven returned for the lack-lustre LIVE AND LET DIE, which is now very rarely shown on television due to perceived racist undertones, not helped by Trevor Howard being blacked up to play Mr Big. Nevertheless, the film is undergoing a critical appraisal, with some fans claiming that it is an overlooked masterpiece.

Niven bowed out of the series at this juncture, saying he had become self-conscious and wanted to go back to comedy. Broccoli now turned to...