James Bond, as featured on birthday cards

Anyone looking for birthday cards in WHSmith or a similar purveyor of greetings cards is likely to have seen those cards which picture some of the events in the year of the recipient's birth. If you're after that sort of thing for a James Bond fan, then you might be interested in the 'Time of Your Life' range of cards.

Like most cards of this type, the 'Time of Your Life' cards are adorned with images of newspaper headlines, key events, and stars of stage and screen relevant to a particular year, but what is especially interesting is that James Bond is well represented.

The card for 1965 includes a photo of Sean Connery, no doubt reflecting the fact that one of the biggest films of that year was Thunderball. Roger Moore is pictured alongside Britt Ekland and Maud Adams on the card for 1974, the year in which The Man With The Golden Gun was released, and he appears again on the card for 1979, when Moonraker hit the screens. A publicity shot of Timothy Dalton and Carey Lowell from Licence to Kill is shown on the card for 1989, while the card for 1995 boasts a picture of Pierce Brosnan in GoldenEye mode.
 

The Time of Your Life range featuring James Bond

The card series ends in 1999, so there's no picture of Daniel Craig's Bond, but remarkably Ian Fleming is not forgotten. The card for 1953 includes the newspaper-style headline: 'Ian Fleming writes Bond novel Casino Royale.'

With James Bond referenced so prominently, the cards might well appeal to the Bond fan. More generally, though, the cards attest to the enormous success of the Bond films and their lasting impact on popular culture. With over 50 years of the Bond films, each one a blockbuster, the card makers were certainly spoiled for choice.

On location: Bilbao in The World Is Not Enough

I was in north-east Spain over the Easter holiday. Having flown into Bilbao, I was able to spend a little time in the city before returning to the UK. Apart from exploring the many museums, parks, squares, streets, and cafés that Bilbao has to offer, naturally I was keen to see the locations used in The World Is Not Enough (1999). Given that the filming was based around the world-famous Guggenheim Museum, I didn't have too much difficulty finding them.


 
Bilbao appears in the pre-titles sequence. In the very first scene, Pierce Brosnan's James Bond crosses Iparraguirre, a street that leads to the Guggenheim. As we follow Bond into a building representing la Banque Suisse de l'Industrie, we catch a glimpse of the West Highland terrier, the enormous statue of a flower-covered dog that sits in front of the museum.

Me looking at the Guggenheim, Bilbao

The building used as the Swiss bank in fact stands opposite the museum on Alameda Mazarredo. Unfortunately during my visit, the building was obscured by scaffolding and hoarding advertising men's fragrance. There would be no recreating Bond's jump out of the window that day.

The building that doubled as TWINE's Swiss bank

After jumping out of the window, Bond makes his escape by heading north on Puente de la Salve, a bridge that takes one behind the Guggenheim and over the Ría de Bilbao. I walked a little way across the bridge, and then later drove over the bridge as I tried to negotiate my way out of the city and towards the airport.

Me on the Puente de la Salve, Bilbao

Alas there was no trace of Bond's visit, but the city did offer a postscript of sorts. Walking through the streets of the old city, I spotted a poster for 'Bond & Beyond', a concert celebrating the music of James Bond performed by the Orquesta Sinfónica de Bilbao. Now, if I could just manage to be in the city on 25th or 26th June...

For more information on James Bond's Bilbao, I recommend the 007 Travelers blog, and also On the Tracks of 007 by Martijn Mulder and Dirk Kloosterboer.

Who is the best James Bond?

A recent poll conducted on behalf of CBS News by SSRS revealed that Sean Connery remains America's favourite James Bond. Fifty per cent of respondents went for Connery when asked who was the best Bond. Pierce Brosnan was second with 12%, closely followed by Roger Moore, who polled 11%. Daniel Craig was third with 8%, while George Lazenby and Timothy Dalton brought up the rear with 1% each. While the margin of error of plus or minus 3% suggests that the differences between Brosnan, Moore, and probably Craig, are not statistically significant, Connery's place at the top is clear enough.

The poll reminded me of the 'Pint of Milk' interviews that feature in Empire magazine. Each month, a well-known actor, writer or director is asked a series of quirky questions largely unrelated to their latest release or career in film. The questions vary between interviews, but all interviewees are asked, “how much is a pint of milk?” Another question asked on a fairly regular basis is, “who is the best James Bond?” Looking through an archive of classic 'Pint of Milk' interviews on Empire Online, I was interested to see the responses to that question. As with the respondents in the CBS poll, the film-making community seems to favour Sean Connery.

All the interviews available online appear to have been conducted during the tenure of Pierce Brosnan, who consequently gets an honourable mention from most interviewees. So, on the question of the best Bond, Peter Ustinov thought that nobody could touch Connery, but considered that Brosnan had developed into 006 at least. Dan Ackroyd similarly thought Connery the best, but conceded that Brosnan was doing a wonderful job. Michael Keaton admitted he wasn't particularly familiar with the film series, but said that he liked Connery. Though he hadn't seen any of the Brosnan films, Keaton thought Brosnan looked natural in the role. Kyle MacLachlan went with Connery as the best Bond, with, unusually, Roger Moore a close second. Brosnan, he thought, was suave, but lacked the element of danger. Tim Robbins, in response to the question of the best Bond, answered “Mike Myers”.

Judging by these surveys, Sean Connery's position as 'best Bond' is unassailable. Quite how we measure the notion of best Bond is debatable to say the least, but the responses nevertheless point to certain important qualities. Two of them appear to be danger and toughness, which are strongly associated with Connery's portrayal. These are evidently not enough, however, as Timothy Dalton, who took a gritty approach to the role, is at the bottom of the CBS poll, while Daniel Craig, a tough, muscular Bond, only manages a middling position. Possibly a perceived lack of humour in Dalton's and Craig's Bond, certainly when compared with the Connery, Brosnan and Moore eras, is a factor here.

The Empire interviews suggest that being the current Bond boosts the ranking of that actor. Had the interviews taken place more recently, the interviewees might have placed Daniel Craig second. On the other hand, the results of the CBS poll pointed to an age factor to the responses. Respondents over the age of 45 tended to pick Roger Moore as second best Bond, while those under 45 went with Brosnan, suggesting that people tend to regard the Bond they grew up with or first saw as their (second) favourite Bond.

As for Connery, there is a remarkable consensus among all respondents that Connery is the best Bond. I wonder, though, whether the view has become so well established in popular culture that it is now almost a natural response given without much consideration or critical thought. Like any meme that is successful by being long-lived, widespread and oft-repeated, the view or meme that Connery is the best James Bond (along with the opposite meme that Lazenby is (usually) considered the worst Bond) is somewhat self-perpetuating. Connery is likely to remain on the top spot for a while yet, no matter how well the Bond films of Daniel Craig and his successors do at the box office.

Some men who the press thought would be Bond

In the 1970s and '80s, the same names appeared in newspapers in connection with the role of James Bond. The part seemed to be up for grabs before filming of a new Bond film commenced, as the incumbent Roger Moore would often claim to be giving up the role. However, until A View to a Kill (1985), this was a negotiating tactic for an improved contract. This did not stop the speculation in the papers, and the names that were usually put forward included Ian Ogilvy, David Robb, and Tevor Eve. A few years ago, I spoke to these actors about their 'brush' with Bond.

Ian Ogilvy told me that he was never considered for the role, and certainly never screen-tested. He did, however, narrate a set of audio versions of Fleming's novels, which he supposed were an attempt by the producers of the recordings to cash in on his connection with Roger Moore via the Saint (both actors having played the role).

Trevor Eve, again, was never screen-tested, but did have an informal meeting with Barbara Broccoli, and occasionally dined with Cubby.

David Robb admits that there had been a flurry of interest in him with regard to the Bond role in 1979. He was prominent on television at the time, and was about to embark on the series, 'The Flame Trees of Thika'. Robb, however, had no meeting with the Bond producers. He mentioned, though, that later, in 1987, he was filming The Deceivers with Pierce Brosnan. They got talking about Bond on one occasion by the pool. Brosnan lamented the fact that he had been prevented from playing Bond in 1987 by the producers of Remington Steele. Robb remembers consoling him by saying that the Bond franchise was a dead duck and that Brosnan was well out of it.

The evolution of the James Bond poster

Imagine a British James Bond poster. You’ll probably bring to mind the central figure of James Bond, facing us or body turned to the side, with gun brought close to the face, as if preparing for a duel. No doubt a Bond girl is draped around him, and both figures are placed in front of a montage of action highlights. Bond’s rocket-firing car is in the background, and the head of a Bond villain looks menacingly on the proceedings. Throw in an explosion or two for good measure, and you have some of the more successful attributes or memes (or, rather, variations of the memes for the depiction of Bond, action montage, Bond girl and so on) that form the standard James Bond artwork. Successful, because they have been reused on several poster campaigns, and have also been replicated on posters of films other than Bond. There are other memes, and by identifying how they varied and which variants were favoured and reproduced, and which fell by the wayside and disappeared from view, we can trace the evolution of the Bond poster.

The UK poster of the first Bond film, Dr No (1962), showed Bond in casual repose with a cigarette in one hand and a gun in the other. Half the poster is taken up by Bond girls. Images of action and the villain are somewhat hidden from view by the title. The use of a central Bond figure, the Bond-girl emphasis, and discreetly-placed action/villain motifs survives in the posters for From Russia With Love (1963), Thunderball (1965) and You Only Live Twice (1967), although with the last mentioned, there are other versions of the poster than give much more emphasis on action, one for instance showing Little Nellie, Bond’s autogyro. The poster for Goldfinger (1963) is different, though, and could be a still from the title sequence (both were designed by Robert Brownjohn). This style was not continued.

The action montage was brought more to the fore with On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969), while the depiction of Bond girls was restricted to the leading Bond girl, in this case Diana Rigg. This may have been a response to the introduction of a new Bond actor, George Lazenby. The emphasis on action may have been designed to reassure film-goers that this was a Bond film despite the absence of Sean Connery. In any case, the artwork set the pattern for the next nine films, from Diamonds Are Forever (1971) to The Living Daylights (1987). All feature strong actions montages, and central Bond figure with the leading Bond girl by his side (although the poster for Live and Let Die (1973) was reminiscent of the 1960s’ posters in terms of the relatively high number of women it showed).

In a return almost to the early posters, the action montage depicted in the poster for Licence to Kill (1989) was reduced in size and shifted to one end. Much of the poster, however, was taken up by the 007 device (rarely depicted before) with James Bond, this time shown running, placed in front. This was possibly meant to convey the idea of a Bond on his own and impatient for revenge. The use of the 007 device survived the six-year gap between Licence to Kill and GoldenEye (1995), and was prominent on the GoldenEye poster. Indeed, it was replicated in the posters for every subsequent film. We now see only the head and shoulders of Bond, although the figure is large and dominates the poster. The main Bond girls are shown behind him. These variants were selected for the Tomorrow Never Dies (1997) poster, and to some extent for the Die Another Day (2002) poster, although there Jinx, the leading Bond girl, mirrors the pose given to Bond to indicate an equal status. The poster for The World is not Enough (1999) is closer in style to the Bond posters of the 1970s, with the expression of the variants of prominent action montage and smaller full-figure Bond, clad in Bond girls.

Taking over from Pierce Brosnan, Daniel Craig brought a brutal and darker style to the Bond films, and the poster accompanying his films reflected this. The Bond of the Casino Royale (2006) poster was depicted with gun in hand and purposeful movement, echoing the poster of Licence to Kill, but also the memes expressed in the posters for the first Bourne film (The Bourne Identity). The action montage was restricted to a single scene central to the film – the casino. Vespa Lynd, the Bond girl, was prominent too, although some posters showed her in front of Bond, while in others she was behind, looming large in silhouette. The poster for Quantum of Solace (2008) replicated the structure of Casino Royale, with the hotel in the Atacama Desert seen in the climax of the film replacing the casino.

Examination of the Bond posters shows that none was designed in isolation. Generally, each poster replicated the memes expressed in the poster of the previous film, and sometimes, if the selection pressure was sufficiently strong, the artwork for films other than Bond. Some variants of the standard memes (background montage, Bond figure and so on) were more successful than others, and these were expressed sufficiently frequently to fix in artists’ and film-goers’ minds the concept of the archetypal Bond poster. And with each subsequent film, they became more dominant in the cultural environment and increased their chances of being selected for the next poster campaign.