James Bond History Essays

James Bond History Essays James Bond History Essay James Bond History Essay defeated only by two John Wayne films: The Longest Day and How the West Was Won (filmsite. org, 2010). By the time it had been viewed by moviegoers around the world, it had earned $59,000,000 (Chapman, 2000). The following year, due to the unexpected success of the first film, EON Films released the second Bond film, From Russia with Love. It, too, would finish out the year at #3. The movies that beat it were Cleopatra, starring Elizabeth Taylor and It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, starring a who’s-who of Hollywood stars (filmsite. org, 2010). In 1964, EON Films released Goldfinger. Sadly, Ian Fleming would die of heart failure during production. He died just at the beginning of the phenomenon known as â€Å"Bondmania†. To release the Bond films on American soil, EON Films teamed up with United Artists. Unlike the first two films, United Artist decided to release Goldfinger as its major Christmas release. When it opened on the 22nd of December of 1964, it had its premieres at prestigious theaters like Grauman’s Chinese Theater in Hollywood (Winder, 2006). One reporter wrote, â€Å"lines of eager ticket buyers formed for blocks on opening day and afterward, this enthusiastic reception being duplicated all over the country† (Chapman, 2000). â€Å"The success of Goldfinger was such that in New York one showing followed another day and night, and the management imposed an interval only to sweep away from the auditorium the remains of popcorn which had reached a depth of several inches,† wrote another (Chapman, 2000). Goldfinger was the film that that established James Bond in America. American studios took notice. Spy-Fi fever had hit the U. S. and American filmmakers tried to capitalize on the popularity of the secret agent. Donald Hamilton had written a series of novels chronicling the adventures of another secret agent named Matt Helm. In Hamilton’s books, Matt Helm was a remorseless, no nonsense U. S. government operative. In the Seventies, ABC would produce a short-lived television series simply titled Matt Helm with Tony Franciosa playing Helm as a run-of-the-mill private investigator. But at the height of â€Å"Bondmania† in the mid-sixties, Columbia Pictures had something else in mind. They produced four Matt Helm comedies, beginning in 1966 with The Silencers. The movies were made to spoof the spy craze and starred Dean Martin as a perpetually intoxicated American secret agent. They turned out to be a major hit and a fifth was planned but was never made (Biederman, 2004). As recently as 2008, Steven Spielberg has been rumored to be working on a new Matt Helm movie. An even more obvious parody of the James Bond character was Derek Flint. Twentieth Century Fox released Our Man Flint, also in 1966. It starred James Coburn as Derek Flint, an agent for the super-secret spy organization known as Z. O. W. I. E (Zonal Organization for World Intelligence and Espionage). The movie contains several references to the James Bond character including the Walther PPK (Bond’s preferred handgun) which is rejected by Flint and a fight scene with Agent 0008 (Bond was 007). The film was successful enough to spawn a sequel the following year titled In Like Flint (Biederman, 2004). Television studios were not blind to the success the spy-fi genre was experiencing on the silver screen. In 1965, NBC ran a secret agent series called I Spy. It starred Robert Culp and Bill Cosby as secret agents working for the Pentagon. The series ran for three seasons. It was most recently made into a movie in 2002 starring Eddie Murphy and Owen Wilson in the lead roles (Biederman, 2004). NBC followed I Spy with Get Smart. Created by comedy legend Mel Brooks and writer Buck Henry, it follows the adventures of Maxwell Smart, a bumbling secret agent who works for a secret government agency known as CONTROL (not an acronym). According to Buck Henry, the show was created to â€Å"capitalize on the two biggest things in entertainment today: James Bond and Inspector Clouseau,† Mel Brooks is quoted as saying, â€Å"It’s an insane combination of James bond and Mel Brooks’ comedy† (latimes. com, 2008). It was most recently made into a film in 2008 starring Steve Carell and Dwayne â€Å"The Rock† Johnson. NBC would soon conclude its affair with the spy-fi genre with The Man From U. N. C. L. E, a television series starring Robert Vaughn and David McCallum. The two starred as agents for U. N. C. L. E. (United Network Command for Law and Enforcement). Due to lackluster viewership, it was cancelled in the middle of its third season (Biederman, 2004). While other American spy projects seemed to be meeting their ends, James Bond was going strong as EON Films continued to produce movie after movie starring Agent 007. All in all, EON Films has produced 22 movies starring James Bond. In addition, 1967 brought the world a James Bond spoof titled Casino Royale with David Niven portraying Sir James Bond. Ironically, Niven was Ian Fleming’s first choice to play Bond (Chapman, 2000). EON Films, however, chose Sean Connery. An odd twist of fate and legal technicality found Connery portraying James Bond for the last time in Never Say Never Again. This movie is not considered an official James Bond film as it was not produced by EON Films. Released in 1983, it was the only time two Bond films were in theaters simultaneously as Roger Moore was starring as James Bond in EON Films’ production of Octopussy (Winder, 2006). Roger Moore is the third man to portray 007 in an EON Films production. After Sean Connery’s five film run, George Lazenby was given the role in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service in 1969. Connery returned to the role in 1973’s Diamonds Are Forever. From 1973 to 1985, Roger Moore continued as James Bond until the role was given to Timothy Dalton in The Living Daylights. After two films starring Dalton, the role was given to Pierce Brosnan in 1995’s Goldeneye which was later made into a highly successful first-person-shooter video game on the Nintendo 64 gaming platform. In 2006, EON Films, partnered with MGM, took Bond in an entirely new direction. It was decided that audiences wanted a less campy and more no-nonsense James Bond. Daniel Craig took up the role and for the first time, James Bond was James â€Å"blonde†! Controversy ensued, but if box office receipts are any indication, the audience didn’t mind as his became the highest grossing Bond film to date. In 2006, he starred in Casino Royale, which, unlike the earlier film of the same name, was actually based on Fleming’s first Bond novel. At the time, it made the James Bond Franchise the highest grossing film series of all time, even eclipsing the popular Star Wars films (guardian. o. uk). The record stood unchallenged until another mysterious character out of Great Britain surpassed it. As of 2007, the Harry Potter series has taken the lead with $4. 5 Billion compared to Bond’s $4. 4 billion (guardian. co. uk). The good news is that Bond has a chance to regain the title as Daniel Craig is currently slated to star in the as of yet unnamed 23rd installment of the James Bond franchise. Granted, there are two more Harry Potter films yet to be released, but, that will be all since the books are finished. There is no end, however, in sight for the James Bond franchise. The influence James Bond has had on popular culture is certainly not limited to the books and films. One staple of all Bond films is the music. None of which is more important than the â€Å"James Bond Theme†, written by Monty Norman. The â€Å"dum-de-dum-dum† of the famous tune which is heard in all of the Bond films has been the inspiration for many other spy-fi projects. Even toddlers are familiar with the sound as evidenced by the opening sequence for the Disney Channel’s popular pre-school kids’ show Special Agent Oso. The opening credits are accompanied by songs sung by well-known singers including Tina Turner, Sheryl Crow and Tom Jones. Paul and Linda McCartney had their Bond song performed with their band Wings, â€Å"Live and Let Die†, nominated for an Academy Award as did Bill Conti and Michael Leeson’s song â€Å"For Your Eyes Only† performed by Sheena Easton. She actually appeared in the title sequence singing the song. The only singer to actually appear as a character in the film is Madonna in Die Another Day. Duran Duran’s song, â€Å"A View to a Kill† from the film of the same name made it to number one on the U. S. pop charts in 1985 (Chapman, 2000). James Bond has appeared in video games, comic books, and even as an action figure. Countless books, essays and articles have been written about him and songs have been sung in his honor. He’s starred in movies and on television. Ian Fleming’s secret agent has managed to infiltrate just about every aspect of the media in hundreds of languages in countries around the world. With no end in sight, is it any wonder that the American Film Institute has his most famous quotation recorded as the 22nd greatest in cinema history (afi. com 2010)? And with another Bond film on the horizon, we can no doubt be sure that some time in the near future, we will once again be reintroduced to the man known as Agent 007 and will hear the immortal introduction of, â€Å"My name is Bond, James Bond. † Bibliography All Time U. S. A. Top Box Office Leaders by Decade and Year (2010). Retrieved April 11, 2010, from filmsite. org/boxoffice2. html. Amis, Kingsley (1966). The James Bond Dossier. London, Jonathan Cape. Bennett, T. and Woollacott, J. (1987). Bond and Beyond: The Political Career of a Popular Hero. London. Benson, Raymond (1984). The James Bond Bedside Companion. New York, Dodd, Mead and Company. Biederman, Danny (2004). The Incredible World of Spy-Fi. Chronicle Books, Llc. Chancellor, Henry (2005). James Bond: The Man and His World. London, John Murray. Chapman, James (2000). Licence to Thrill: A Cultural History of the James Bond Films. New York, Columbia University Press. â€Å"Frankly, My Dear, I Don’t Give a Damn† Tops AFI’s List of 100 Greatest Movie Quotes of All Time (2010). Retrieved April 11, 2010 from afi. com/tvevents/100years/quotes. aspx. Harry Potter Becomes Highest Grossing Film Franchise (2007). Retrieved April 11, 2010, from guardian. co. uk/film/2007/sep/11/jkjoannekathleenrowling. Lycett, Andrew (1995). Ian Fleming: The Man Behind James Bond. London: Turner Pub. QA with Mel Brooks. Los Angeles Times. May 19, 2008. Retrieved May 1, 2010 from latimes. com/entertainment/news/movies/la-et-brooks20-2008may20,0,4126646. story. Sandbrook, Dominic (2005). Never Had It So Good. London, Little Brown. Winder, Simon (2006). The Man Who Saved Britain: A Personal Journey Into the Disturbing World of James Bond. New York, Farrar, Straus and Giroux.