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007 X 6 - JAMES BOND NOW AND THEN
The 25th Bond movie is canned til next April but why not Netflix your way through some golden oldies this Christmas? Belinda Beckett checks out 6 x 007s over 6 decades to help you choose.
HE’S an enduring symbol of ruthless cool, irresistible sex appeal and impeccable British pedigree. Dreamed up in 1952 by retired naval intelligence officer Ian Fleming who set up his typewriter in Jamaica, the suave assassin appears in 12 novels and two short story collections.
Dr. No was the first of 25 films in the Eon Productions franchise that has introduced us to six very different Bonds. Down the decades, his persona has moved with the times, erasing the racism and homophobia, sacking the maid, quitting smoking and giving women some respect. Most polls rank Sean Connery the best Bond ever. Who’s your favourite?
Dr. No - Sean Connery Movie (1962)
Daniel Craig in the long-awaited No Time To Die
The Modern Bond - Daniel Craig (2006-2020)
‘The Name’s Bland – James Bland’, was fans’ initial reaction. He wasn’t tall or dark but he had rugged Steve McQueen charm and he made Bond his own from the get-go with Casino Royale. His professional assassin with a patriot heart and a taste for luxury added gritty realism without sucking out the fun. Skyfall remains the highestgrossing Bond film and won an Oscar for Adele. After Spectre’s lacklustre reviews in 2015, Craig said he’d rather slash his wrists than play Bond again but with No Time To Die it’s definitely done. Twice postponed by Covid, now until next April – a disaster for the big cinema chains – Craig’s final mission sees him up against Rami Malek’s dastardly IT villain and a phallanx of feisty Bond Women (no one calls them Girls any more) the #MeToo movement would be proud of.
Current Bond Daniel Craig
That bikini scene from Dr. No
The Quintessential Bond - Sean Connery (1962-1967, 1971, 1983)
Women wanted him, men wanted to be like him. ‘Shaggable Sean’, the original Bond who died this October, aged 90, was all hairy chest, simmering virility and sang froid. Fleming was initially appalled at the choice of a rough Scot for his sophisticated English secret agent but later admitted he couldn’t see anyone else in the part. Very much a Bond of his time (he wouldn’t get away with the face slapping today) Connery’s spy swung his way through the Sixties seducing Pussy Galore in Goldfinger and Ursula Andress wearing that bikini in Dr. No. It was all glossy good fun. Connery quit after You Only Live Twice saying five films in six years had become “very wearing and boring”. But the money enticed him back for two more and he still looked fit for another when he finally threw in the script.
George Lazenby (1969)
The 1-Hit Wonder - George Lazenby (1969)
Remembered as much for his Fry’s Chocolate Cream adverts as for On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, this Aussie model with zero acting credentials was hired after Broccoli saw him accidentally punch the stuntman during a screen test and liked his natural aggression. The youngest Bond at 29, he leant the spy some of Daniel Craig’s gravitas but smothered the humour. When he walked away from a follow-on contract saying Bond was ‘too archaic’ for the Seventies, everyone thought he was insane, including co-star Diana Rigg who couldn’t stand him. He has regretted it ever since.
The Playboy - Roger Moore (1973-1985)
The most debonaire of all the Bonds, with his safari suits, turtleneck sweaters and silky-smooth charm, his eyebrows spoke innuendo louder than words. Perfect for the Seventies, Moore’s Bourbon-drinking, cigar-smoking Bond didn’t age well, turning to smarmy and a little bit sleazy in the Eighties. He was 58 when he made his seventh and last film, The Man with the Golden Gun. The Washington Post wrote: ‘Moore isn’t just long in the tooth – he’s got tusks’. On the plus side, he snagged two of the best Bond themes, Live and Let Die and Carly Simon’s Nobody Does it Better from The Spy Who Loved Me.
The Action Man - Timothy Dalton (1987-1989)
On paper this classically-trained Shakespearean actor from Wales was over-qualified for the job. But Dalton’s Bond was more action hero than quirky British spy. Uncomfortable with Bond’s sexist one-liners and womanising ways, he made the spy “tougher and closer to the darker character Ian Fleming wrote about”. Both his movies were licenced to thrill – remember him hurtling off the top of The Rock of Gibraltar in a burning Landover in the opening credits to The Living Daylights – but lacked the nuance and whimsy and although Licence to Kill was another box office hit, Dalton never really nailed Bond.
The Cool Celt - Pierce Brosnan (1995-2004)
Smoother than Connery, sexier than Moore, he added flirty Irish eyes and the Armani Look to four Bond films, starting with GoldenEye, which introduced us to Dame Judi Dench as M. Brosnan’s Bond brought back the witty asides, the Martini, shaken not stirred, and gave up smoking. At 50, the actor was looking forward to his fifth Bond assignment when he was fired over the phone. “I was kicked to the kerb with the way it went down,” he said about his abrupt sacking. Happily the allsinging, all-genders star of Mama Mia! and Mrs. Doubtfire is no one-trick pony and the roles are still flying in.
The Next Bond?
James Norton, the sexy vicar-detective, was for long the front runner and would have been the first Bond redhead. But all bets are off following rumours that first, Dark Knight Rises star, Tom Hardy, was set to step into Bond’s Danner combat boots. It’s true the 43 year-old Londoner whose versatility ranges from tough guy action movies (Venom, Dunkirk) and theatre classics (Wuthering Heights) would be the most established actor ever to play 007. Recently, however, further names have entered the fray, including Richard Madden who played Robb Stark in GoT, Tom Hiddleston (The Avengers, Thor), Henry Cavill (Superman, The Witcher) and Sam Heughan (Outlander).
