My Top 10 Bond Musings

I haven’t found an event for today so, it is an anything goes kind of day in which I’ll list Bond related thoughts. Maybe something will strike a chord and solicit some interest via a comment.

My list of musings on Bond and Bond’s influence on pop culture:

One of my favorite Bond inspired songs is “Millennium” by Robbie Williams from the album The Ego Has Landed.

Queen

I would have liked if Queen had done a theme song for a Bond film that captured the spirit of the themes from the 1960s. 

If I was asked to write an official Bond novel, I would set the story in the orient during the late 1950s or in the 1970s, which I feel was undermined the less serious Bond films of that era.

I would bring Jeffrey Wright back as Felix Leiter. And, I would say bring back Giancarlo Giannini as Rene Mathis, but I know that can only happen in flashback. 

Nathan Fillon channels Bond

Best celebrity Bond nod: Nathan Fillon.

I would like to see Bond return to Egypt and India.

Most over utilized gadget: the smart phone. I would like to see more creative ingenuity with the gadgets that's clever and cutting edge.

Rachel Weisz as Bond's Girl

I think Rachel Weisz would be a superb Bond girl and her profession? Perhaps a journalist. 

One of my favorite Fleming short stories: “The Property of a Lady” because the story reminds me of a Faberge exhibition I once visited while in Scotland, and I find auctions rather exciting.

Villain I would have liked to have seen in a Bond film: Rutger Hauer circa 1980s. 

Rutger Hauer as Bond's intellectual equal or superior

© Copyright. Michele Brittany. 2011 - 2015. All rights reserved. All text, graphics, and photos are protected by US and International Copyright Laws, and may not be copied, reprinted, published, translated, hosted, or otherwise distributed by any means without written permission.

The Living Daylights Sees the Light of Day…..Day 35 of Bond 365

I turn to literature for today’s entry for Day 35 of Bond 365. 

On this day in 1962, the short story The Living Daylights first appeared in The Sunday Times (UK) and was posthumously published by Jonathan Cape June 23, 1966 (UK). The Living Daylights was paired with another short story, Octopussy, for that release. In more recent editions, two additional short stories have been added: The Property of a Lady and 007 in New York.

Fleming originally titled this story Trigger Finger and is about Bond’s three-night stake out to kill an assassin. When it was published however, the title was changed to Berlin Escape, which was kept when it was published later that same year in America. In 1966, it was adapted to a comic strip format by writer Jim Lawrence and illustrator Yaroslav Horak. Titan Books re-released the comic strip in their James Bond Omnibus Vol. 2 (2011) and is available from Amazon.

Cover art Richard Chopping (Wikipedia)

It has been a couple of years since I have read this short story, but I remember enjoying the story as well as the other ones. The film includes details from the story: a beautiful cellist with a sniper rifle. In the story, Bond shoots the butt of her gun; in the film, he saves her. In the book, Bond hopes he is fired for making the split second decision to prevent her shot rather than kill her. For the story, Fleming consulted the National Rifle Association for sniper shooting information. The concept of the noise masking an escape was inspired by the real life escape of Pat Reid. And, Fleming profiled his half-sister Amaryllis for the female assassin.

The original cover was illustrated by Richard Chopping, who was himself an author (children’s books and natural history) and illustrator. He created the dust jackets for nine of the James Bond books, starting with From Russia, with Love (1957, Jonathan Cape). Interestingly, Chopping’s correspondence with Fleming went up for auction in 2010. The collection of letters touched on details relating to the dust jacket art. I bet they would have been interesting to read. The lot sold for $57,600.

© Copyright. Michele Brittany. 2011 - 2015. All rights reserved. All text, graphics, and photos are protected by US and International Copyright Laws, and may not be copied, reprinted, published, translated, hosted, or otherwise distributed by any means without written permission.

Anthology, Upcoming Conference and Blog Updates

It has been a busy few weeks reviewing abstracts and drafting a preliminary layout for my anthology sections. I am initially organizing the book by medium – film, television, videogames, etc. – that I think will work well. It’s not an original or ingenious method, but I think it is effective and efficient. Of course this can, in all likelihood, change once I have the essays in hand this November. In all though, I have chosen twenty abstracts that represent a broad range of mediums influenced by Bond the past six decades.

While the essayists are busily researching and composing, it is that time of year for me to prepare my area’s call for proposals for the Southwest Popular/American Culture Associations (SWPACA) 35^th annual conference being held in Albuquerque next February 19 - 22. I should have that CFP posted in the next couple of weeks here at my blog as well as at the organization’s website for your perusal and consideration. Deadlines have been pushed forward a bit earlier this year to early November, rather than mid December.

And, after having a successful screening and discussion of OSS 117 Cairo Nest of Spies (2006) at last year’s conference, I am waiting for acceptance of my proposed screening and roundtable discussion of The Quiller Memorandum (1966) at this upcoming conference. For those who do submit a proposal for the conference, let me know if you would be interested in being a participant at the roundtable, since I’ll be looking for a few individuals that have expertise in the spy/espionage genre.

If you have not attended an academic conference before, this conference is still small enough to provide an encouraging environment for those who may be hesitant about speaking publicly or sharing one’s academic research.  And, of course, it’s an excellent opportunity to network with like minded individuals.

At the moment, I’m completing research for a few upcoming posts:

Octopussy and The Living Daylights (1966, UK, Literature)

The two short stories plus Property of a Lady and 007 In New York make up current editions of Fleming’s fourteenth and final novel, published posthumously in 1966. This past Sunday (the 23^rd) marked the 47^th anniversary of the release from UK publisher Jonathan Cape.

Najica Blitz Tactics (2001, Japan, Anime)

Studio Fantasia brought A LOT of fanservice to this spy oriented anime. Once getting past all of the knickers and crotch shots, this anime explores the overarching concept of humanity. The two main characters are strong female types – Najica Hiiragi and Lila – as well as an abundance of supporting female characters (all in miniskirts and white undies.

She Spies (2002-04, US, Television)

This spy (term loosely applied) adventure series premiered on NBC and ran a surprising two seasons. It has several similarities to another more popular series, Charlie’s Angels, but is decidedly more comedic in its approach. Season one was available on DVD, culminating in 20 episodes.

In addition, I’m formulating a series of posts on mature spies (think: Red 1 and 2, Crackerjack 3, Agent 88) and spotting Bond’s influence in some unusual places. So, bookmark and visit often. Thanks!

Bumper Month to Celebrate Bond!

Last weekend, I found an application for my iPad called “Remind mii” that allows me to input significant dates and it, in turn, will display timely reminders of birthdays, anniversaries, and other events. I’ve had to tweak the categories but since downloading the app, I have been adding Bond franchise related dates partly for personal interest, but also to identify milestones that warrant a word or two from yours truly.

Already, June is a rather busy month for commemorating movie premieres, various book releases, and even birthdays of a couple of directors!  Last week was the 30^th anniversary of Roger Moore and Maud Adams’ Octopussy (1983). Today marks the UK release of You Only Live Twice (1967) and 1985’s A View to a Kill. Tomorrow Licence to Kill (1989) will celebrate its release, 24 years ago.

While I unfortunately do not have any autographs of any stars from You Only Live Twice (not yet anyway!), I do have a few photographs from the other three films to commemorate the occasion.

Octopussy (1983) Maud Adams

In honor of its 30^th anniversary, my boyfriend and I rewatched the 1983 Octopussy last week. It had been several years since I had watched what would be Roger Moore’s second to last outing as James Bond. While there were a few witty lines, more often the one-liners were cheesy and over the top. The Tarzan yell sound effect when Moore swings through the forest via a hanging vine made me groan out loud – didn’t they learn anything about leaving out silly sound effects with Thunderball? The nod to Fleming’s short story “The Property of a Lady” was a nice touch. And honestly, it was an entertaining movie to revisit.

A View to a Kill (1985) Roger Moore and Tanya Roberts

My boyfriend and I had the pleasure of meeting Tanya Roberts (Stacy Sutton) a couple of times over the past few years, both occasions were at the Hollywood Collector’s Shows, in the summer of 2009 and again this past January.

Diana Lee Hsu (Loti) was at the collector’s show in January. You will remember her role of Loti who met her demise late in the movie. However, did you know that she is also the dancer in the opening Bond song?

Licence to Kill (1989) Diana Lee Hsu

And, also at the January show was Robert Davi (Franz Sanchez). He was an incredibly jovial person and very engaging with all those who stopped at his table. Since I have the uncommon spelling to my name, occasionally celebrities will misspell my name after I’ve spelled it out. It happens and it’s interesting to see how different stars go about fixing the error:

Licence to Kill (1989) Timothy Dalton and Robert Davi

One of the things I noticed is that a lot of the celebrities at the collector's show were congratulating Mr. Davi on his singing by comparing him most favorably with Frank Sinatra. Well, come to find out, he had an album out titled “Davi Sings Sinatra – On the Road to Romance.” And you know what? He can really croon like Ol’ Blue Eyes himself. If you like the Brat Pack music of the 50s/60s, pick up Mr. Davi’s CD or catch one of his performances.

Robert Davi and Bond fans

Editor's Note: All photographs except the last photo are pages from The James Bond Archives edited by Paul Duncan (Taschen, 2012).