Ian Lancaster Fleming, the name evokes myriad emotions. The thrill of the teens, the dash of youth, the nuances of middle years and the nostalgia of the retired couch. He was a gift to my generation– an enigmatic story teller sans boundaries. A planner of operations in the British Naval Intelligence, Fleming learnt spycraft as he negotiated the serpentine lanes of counterintelligence.
“The name’s Bond,JamesBond” and so said Sean Connery as Bond made his appearance in Dr. No. The world stopped to notice and continued to so for decades. The Scot Sean Connery sizzled the screen even as 007 scorched the earth with a bevy of beautiful and lethal women.
He went with Daniela Bianchi to “Russia with Love“, demolished the ominous “Dr No”, grappled with archvillain Auric Goldfinger in “Goldfinger” and saved the world from the evil Blofeld in “You only live Twice“. Classics all which raced the heart and raised the pulse.
Sean Connery is the numero uno Bond for me. He carried the role with elan with his looks, quips and easy ways
Sean Connery is the numero uno Bond for me. He carried the role with élan with his looks, quips and easy ways. Daniel Craig too slipped into Bond’s shoes easily but somewhere the Connery X factor was missing. Roger Moore for me was an average Bond although the Indian flavor provided by Kabir Bedi and Vijay Amritraj in “Octopussy” was exotic. Pierce Brosnan somehow didn’t fit and Tim Dalton and George Lazenby were complete Bond disasters!! They were not 007 licensed to kill rather 007 and half, licensed to laugh!!!
The sizzling Ursula Andress was the perfect Bond girl to Connery. The feisty Swede matched him frame for frame and the sultry looks brought in the audience in hordes. She was followed by a line of beautiful Bond ladies played by Britt Ekland, Jane Seymour, Shirley Eaton, Eva Green and many more. The ladies were a force by themselves and the franchisee “Mission Impossible ” copied with their own brand of battle ready women executing on own terms
No Bond story is complete without the epiphenous villains. The plotting, dark, vile, rapacious thugs! Who can forget the hulking monstrous “Jaws” with metal teeth played by Richard Kiel? The long line of these blackhearted characters were aptly portrayed by talented actors like Mads Mikkelsen (Casino Royale), Christopher ‘Dracula’ Lee, Telly Salavas, Don Pleasance, Yaphet Koto. Without them a Bond movie would be but a damp squib.
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Fleming created memorable side characters who garnished the stories with their unique flavors. The mysterious ‘M’, the Director of British Intelligence. Starting as a man the character transformed into a woman in seven movies for a fresh “perspective “. His name was a secret till it was let out as Admiral Miles Messerrvy in “The Man with the Golden Gun“. Dame Judith Dench then took on the mantle of playing ‘M’ and we were told that ‘M’ was actually Olivia Mansfield in “Skyfall“. Sadly she died in the movie thus ending the lasting legacy of the mysterious ‘M’. ‘Q‘ the Quartermaster and Miss Moneypenny were the other players who brought the stories down to earth with ordinary human touches.
Daniel Craig’s explosive run as Bond saw culmination in “No Time to Die“. Here Bond sacrifices himself trying to save humanity from a bio weapon and Craig exited as Bond. However the movie left a significant hint. The first female 007.Nomi the black woman protagonist in the movie (played by British actress Lashana Lymek) rose from the ashes and left enough pointers to take off where Bond left. I look forward to that future.
I am in sync when Nancy Sinatra crooned
“You only live twice….
One life for yourself and one for your dreams”
My life of dreams was intricately plotted by Ian Fleming and perfectly executed by James Bond— my hero.
Images Courtsey:
- www.nocloo.com
- www.denofgeek.com
- www.imdb.com
- openmeans.com
- www.007.info
- en.wikipedia.org
- www.ebay.com
- www.etsy.com
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Engineer, corporate manager, entrepreneur, sportsman all in the past. Now traveller, reader, occasional swimmer and dreamer. Always a loner but well disguised.......that's me
