James Bond (film series)
The James Bond film series are spy films inspired by Ian Fleming's novels about the fictional MI6 agent Commander James Bond (codename 007). The franchise remains as one of the longest running film series in history. EON Productions have produced 22 films between 1962 and 2008. In addition, there are two independent productions and an American television adaptation of the first novel. Albert Broccoli and Harry Saltzman co-produced the EON films until 1975, when Broccoli remained the sole producer. Since 1995, Broccoli's daughter Barbara and stepson Michael G. Wilson have co-produced them. Six actors have portrayed 007 so far.
Broccoli's and Saltzman's family company, Danjaq, has held ownership of the James Bond film series through Eon, and maintained co-ownership with United Artists since the mid-1970s. From the release of Dr. No (1962) up to For Your Eyes Only (1981), the films were distributed solely by UA. When Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer bought UA in 1981, MGM/UA Entertainment Co. was formed and distributed the films until 1995. MGM solely distributed three films from 1997 to 2002 after UA retired as a mainstream studio. From 2006 to 2008, MGM and Columbia Pictures co-distributed the franchise, as Columbia's parent company, Sony Pictures Entertainment, bought MGM in 2005. MGM will distribute the series alone once more. The twenty-two Bond films have grossed over $4 billion in the worldwide box office, being the most profitable film series ever.[1]
Films
| Eon Films | ||||||||
| Title | Year | Actor | Director | Synopsis | Actual | Adjusted | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Box Office[2] |
Budget[2] | Box Office |
Budget | |||||
| Dr. No | 1962 | Sean Connery | Terence Young | James Bond traces a mysterious murder to a Chinese doctor living on a small Jamaican island who, working for SPECTRE, plans to disrupt American rocket launches. | $59.6M | $1.2M | $419.35M | $8.44M |
| From Russia with Love | 1963 | SPECTRE hires a seductive young female Russian agent to act as a fake defector in a plot to assassinate James Bond. | $78.9M | $2.5M | $547.835M | $17.35M | ||
| Goldfinger | 1964 | Guy Hamilton | Bond battles gold magnate Auric Goldfinger, who plans to irradiate the gold supply of Fort Knox making it worthless. | $124.9M | $3.5M | $853.2M | $23.9M | |
| Thunderball | 1965 | Terence Young | Bond is sent by his boss to a health farm where he gets a valuable lead in his next mission: to track down the villain in a SPECTRE robbery of nuclear weapons. | $141.2M | $5.6M | $955.27M | $37.9M | |
| You Only Live Twice | 1967 | Lewis Gilbert | After faking his own death, Bond investigates the hijacking of American spacecraft from orbit. Bond engages in a fake marriage with Kissy Suzuki to fool the enemy. | $111.6M | $9.5M | $716M | $61M | |
| On Her Majesty's Secret Service | 1969 | George Lazenby | Peter R. Hunt | Removed from hunting Blofeld, Bond almost resigns, but Moneypenny alters his letter to a request for leave. He pursues Blofeld on his own, with a lead from his girlfriend's father. Incognito as Blofeld's hired genealogy expert, Bond discovers his plan for biochemical terror. | $87.4M | $7M | $518.2M | $41.5M |
| Diamonds Are Forever | 1971 | Sean Connery | Guy Hamilton | Bond traces a diamond smuggling operation first to Las Vegas and then to a SPECTRE plot to build a satellite with laser beams capable of destroying weapons on the ground. | $116M | $7.2M | $615.2M | $38.2M |
| Live and Let Die | 1973 | Roger Moore | Bond fights heroin smugglers in New Orleans and Jamaica in a film imitating the conventions of "blaxploitation" movies of the era. | $161.8M | $7M | $801.7M | $38.7M | |
| The Man with the Golden Gun | 1974 | A golden bullet with "007" etched in its surface is received by MI6. It seems it has been sent by Scaramanga, who has been hired to assassinate Bond. | $97.6M | $7M | $442M | $31.7M | ||
| The Spy Who Loved Me | 1977 | Lewis Gilbert | Bond teams up with a female Russian agent to locate two missing nuclear submarines. | $185.4M | $14M | $669M | $50.5M | |
| Moonraker | 1979 | Bond investigates the mid-air hijacking of a space shuttle, and suspects the wealthy manufacturer of the shuttle himself, Hugo Drax. | $210.3M | $25M | $650M | $77.3M | ||
| For Your Eyes Only | 1981 | John Glen | Bond's investigation of the murder of a marine archaeologist working for the British Secret Service leads him to a broader smuggling operation. | $195.3M | $28M | $474M | $68M | |
| Octopussy | 1983 | The murder of Agent 009 and a forgery of a Fabergé egg leads Bond to Kamal Khan and Octopussy, the leader of an all-female 'octopus cult'. Khan has betrayed Octopussy, who also owes Bond a favour for having helped her father long ago. They ally against Khan, who is plotting the use of a nuclear bomb. | $187.5M | $35M | $404.7M | $75.5M | ||
| A View to a Kill | 1985 | Bond investigates a high-tech firm, Zorin Industries, and uncovers a plot to cause an earthquake in Silicon Valley and disrupt its computer industry. | $152.4M | $30M | $304.9M | $60M | ||
| The Living Daylights | 1987 | Timothy Dalton | Bond deliberately misses when the Russian agent he must shoot turns out to be a civilian (and an attractive female cellist) who was asked to impersonate a (fictitious) spy. They investigate the fake defector for whom she was allegedly working, leading them to a weapons-smuggling scheme. | $191.2M | $40M | $363M | $76M | |
| Licence to Kill | 1989 | Bond resigns from the secret service in order to seek revenge for the wounding of his CIA friend Felix Leiter. | $156.2M | $42M | $272.2M | $73.2M | ||
| GoldenEye | 1995 | Pierce Brosnan | Martin Campbell | Bond fights to prevent an arms syndicate from using the GoldenEye satellite weapon against London in order to cause a global financial meltdown. | $353.4M | $60M | $496.3M | $84.2M |
| Tomorrow Never Dies | 1997 | Roger Spottiswoode | Elliot Carver, a media mogul, tries to start a world war for his own profit. Bond teams up with a Chinese agent to stop him. | $346.6M | $110M | $459.8M | $145.9M | |
| The World Is Not Enough | 1999 | Michael Apted | Bond investigates the assassination of a British oil tycoon named Sir Robert King. Featuring a female villain who attempts to seduce Bond. | $390M | $135M | $501M | $173.4M | |
| Die Another Day | 2002 | Lee Tamahori | Bond is captured by North Koreans after he kills Colonel Moon. When released, his 00 status is revoked. Bond goes out on his own to discover who betrayed him, teaming up with a female American agent. Moon's henchmen have ties to a mysterious diamond dealer, Gustav Graves | $456M | $142M | $543.5M | $169.2M | |
| Casino Royale | 2006 | Daniel Craig | Martin Campbell | Bond attempts to frustrate the schemes of terrorist financier Le Chiffre by defeating him at a high-stakes game of Texas Hold 'Em at an expensive casino in Montenegro. | $594M | $130M | $632.5M | $138.4M |
| Quantum of Solace | 2008 | Marc Forster | Bond goes after the Quantum organization behind Le Chiffre to get revenge for Vesper's death, while wondering what Vesper's final feelings towards him actually were. | $321M | $230M | |||
| Totals | Films 1–22 | $4,356M | $843M | $11,640M | $1,720M | |||
| Non-EON Films | ||||||||
| Casino Royale (Climax! TV episode) | 1954 | Barry Nelson | William H. Brown Jr | American spy Jimmy Bond attempts to frustrate the schemes of Soviet agent Le Chiffre by defeating him at a high-stakes game of baccarat at an expensive French casino. | Not applicable | unknown | ||
| Casino Royale (parody) | 1967 | David Niven | Ken Hughes and others |
Sir James Bond 007 comes out of retirement to investigate the deaths of international spies. With the aid of Bond impersonators he battles the mysterious Dr. Noah and SMERSH. | $44.4M | $12M | $274.2M | unknown |
| Never Say Never Again | 1983 | Sean Connery | Irvin Kershner | Remake of Thunderball, with added element of Bond coming out of retirement. | $160M | $36M | $331.4M | unknown |
- Total box office-adjusted and budget-adjusted calculated in 2008 U.S. dollars based on U.S. Consumer Price Index.[3]
The end of the Dalton era in the late 1980s marked the end of the era of a common creative team that had worked on the Bond films from the beginning in 1962, including Albert Broccoli as producer, who died shortly after the release of the first Brosnan film. Over the course of 16 Bond films, all had been produced or co-produced by Albert Broccoli, 14 had title sequences designed by Maurice Binder, 13 had been scripted or co-scripted by Richard Maibaum, 11 had been scored by John Barry, and 7 had set designs by Ken Adam. All films except Lazenby's On Her Majesty's Secret Service had been directed by either Terence Young (3 films), Guy Hamilton (4 films), Lewis Gilbert (3 films), or John Glen (the final 5 films). None of these people worked on a Bond film again after the last Timothy Dalton film.
The early Bond films incorporate much of Fleming's storyline, but later ones — especially those featuring Roger Moore — borrow only character names or locales. While the film The Spy Who Loved Me bears the title of a Fleming novel, and A View to a Kill and Quantum of Solace are named after short stories, they use none of the author's original material.
The last film prior to Casino Royale to use the title of a Fleming novel was Moonraker, after which the series used the titles of Fleming short stories until (and including) 1987's The Living Daylights. However, material from the story "Risico" (as well as the title story) is used in For Your Eyes Only, parts of "The Property of a Lady" (and the title story) feature in Octopussy, and elements of "The Hildebrand Rarity" are included in the first original-titled film, Licence to Kill. Although already adapted as a film, unused plot devices from the novel Live and Let Die show up in both the film For Your Eyes Only and Licence to Kill, as do plot elements from the novel Moonraker in the film Die Another Day. The last Dalton film and all four Brosnan films all had original titles, leaving six Fleming titles that had yet to be used in the official series. However, Licence to Kill and The World Is Not Enough are phrases from Ian Fleming novels and GoldenEye was both the name of Fleming's estate in Jamaica and an operation he planned during World War II. As such the only film titles that do not derive from Fleming at all are Tomorrow Never Dies and Die Another Day.
As of 2008, the remaining four short story titles to be used as film titles are Risico, The Hildebrand Rarity, The Property of a Lady and 007 in New York. Prior to the announcement of the title of the 22nd Bond film, media reports from sources such as Variety and other entertainment industry publications speculated at that Risico and The Property of a Lady were being considered for what was eventually titled Quantum of Solace; Property of a Lady was also a title considered for Timothy Dalton's planned third Bond film.[4]
Development
Top: Sean Connery, George Lazenby, Roger Moore.
Bottom: Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan, Daniel Craig.
First Bond film
Previous attempts to adapt the James Bond novels resulted in a 1954 television episode of Climax!, based on the first novel, Casino Royale, and starring American actor Barry Nelson as "Jimmy Bond". Ian Fleming desired to go one step further and approached Alexander Korda to make a film adaptation of either Live and Let Die or Moonraker, but Korda was not interested.[5] On 1 October 1959, it was announced that Fleming would write an original film script featuring Bond for producer Kevin McClory. Jack Whittingham also worked on the script.[6] However, Alfred Hitchcock and Richard Burton turned down roles as director and star respectively.[7] McClory was unable to secure the financing for the film, and the deal fell through. Fleming used the story for his novel Thunderball (1961).[6]
In 1956, producer Albert R. Broccoli expressed interest in adapting the Bond novels, but his colleague Irving Allen was unenthusiastic. In 1961, Broccoli, now partnered with Harry Saltzman, purchased the film rights to all the Bond novels (except Casino Royale) from Fleming.[6] However, numerous Hollywood film studios did not want to fund the films, finding it "too British" or "too blatantly sexual".[8] The producers wanted US$1 million to either adapt Thunderball or Dr. No, and reached a deal with United Artists in July 1961. The two producers set up EON Productions and began production of Dr. No.[6]
Sean Connery
A contest was set up to 'find James Bond', and six finalists were chosen and screen-tested by Broccoli, Saltzman, and Fleming. The winner of the contest was a 28-year-old model named Peter Anthony, who, according to Broccoli, had a Gregory Peck quality, but proved unable to cope with the role.[9] The producers turned to Sean Connery for five films. According to one story, Connery had been suggested by Polish director Ben Fisz, a friend of Saltzman. Saltzman viewed Connery in On the Fiddle (also called "Operation Snafu"), the actor's eleventh film. By other accounts, Broccoli first saw Connery in a screening of Darby O'Gill and the Little People (1959).[10] Connery had worked as a milkman, truck driver, bricklayer, coffin polisher, and life guard, among other jobs, before getting a break as a dancer in the chorus line of South Pacific in 1950.[11]
Broccoli and Fleming were cool on Connery, but accepted him after rejecting Richard Johnson, James Mason, Rex Harrison, David Niven, Trevor Howard, Patrick McGoohan, and Broccoli's friend Cary Grant. As Broccoli later said, "I wanted a ballsy guy…Put a bit of veneer over that tough Scottish hide and you've got Fleming's Bond instead of all the mincing poofs we had applying for the job". (Ironically, the rejected David Niven would play an aging Bond in the 1967 parody of Casino Royale in just that mincing way.) Already balding, Connery wore a toupee in all his Bond films. Connery stated that "the character is not really me, after all".[12] Ian Fleming, after seeing the preview screening of the first film, Dr. No, told his research assistant, "Dreadful. Simply dreadful."[13] Dr. No received mixed reviews, some quite hostile, and even received a rebuke by the Vatican.[13] Fleming eventually warmed up to Connery sufficiently to establish a Scottish ancestry for Bond in the late novels.
The role of Dr. No went to Joseph Wiseman, after Noel Coward, Christopher Lee, and Max von Sydow were suggested.[14]. (Both Lee and Sydow played Bond villains later.) With just two weeks to go before filming, the part of the first principal Bond girl, Honey Ryder, had yet to be cast. Director Young had seen a picture of Swiss-born actress Ursula Andress, then wife of John Derek, when visiting Darryl F. Zanuck over at Fox, and he borrowed the photo and showed it to the producers, who quickly approved the deal.[15]
On the next film, From Russia with Love, the producers doubled the budget, and shot locales in Europe, which had turned out to be the more profitable market for Dr. No.[16] Much of the team from the first film returned.[17] The film was the first to feature the pre-title sequence and the first to feature Desmond Llewelyn as Major Boothroyd, now called the Equipment Officer, who finally becomes Q in the third film. Llewelyn appears in a total of seventeen Bond films, the most for any actor playing the same role.[18] The final confrontation between Bond and assassin Donald Grant (Robert Shaw) takes place on the Orient Express and Bond owes his life to Major Boothroyd's deadly attaché case.[19] It is also the second and last film to feature the role of Sylvia Trench, who was supposed to continue through the series as Bond's somewhat regular bed partner between assignments.[20] It is also the only film where the supervillain's face is hidden.[21] The violence of the second film was decidedly pumped up from the previous film, with more than double the homicides.[22]
Adding to the appeal of mounting the picture, From Russia with Love was also cited by President John F. Kennedy as one of his ten favourite books.[23] It was likely the last film Kennedy saw before his death.[24] Some critics still resisted the Bond allure on the second Connery film, branding From Russia with Love "a movie made for kicks", but audiences loved it and some critics raved, such as Bosley Crowther who proclaimed "Don't Miss It!".[25] It is the first of the series to have virtually all the elements that appear throughout the series.[26]
For the next film, Goldfinger, Guy Hamilton took over as director from Terence Young, putting more humour into Bond's character and more double entendres on the table.[27] For the important role of Pussy Galore, Honor Blackman was lured away from her role on the Avengers television series, which later offered up Diana Rigg as well.[28] For Auric Goldfinger, Theodore Bikel was considered but the role went to Gert Fröbe, a well-known actor in Europe, whose heavy accent required that his voice be dubbed.[29]
Goldfinger is the most noted Bond film by popular culture. The use of a menacing laser, newly invented just years before and not widely known to the public, was a cutting edge demonstration of real technology, and a set-up to perhaps one of the most memorable lines of the Bond films:
BOND: Do you expect me to talk?
GOLDFINGER: No, Mr. Bond, I expect you to die!"[30]
The premiere in the UK created a near riot. In America, it became the fastest-grossing film ever to date. It was the first Bond film to win an Oscar (category: Best Effects, Sound Effects). Ian Fleming died before getting to see the film.[27]
The production of the fourth Bond film, Thunderball, was delayed by legal disputes. In a court case, McClory sued Fleming, because Fleming had used Thunderball's story and characters without permission. He won the film rights to Thunderball, so when Broccoli and Saltzman made Thunderball, it was a co-production with McClory. Part of the deal they made ensured McClory was unable to make Thunderball into a film for ten years.[7]
Apart from Connery, the principal parts were hotly contested. For the lead Bond girl, Domino, a slew of top female actresses were considered including Raquel Welch, Julie Christie, and Faye Dunaway but the role went to former Miss France Claudine Auger.[31] Always with an eye toward European audiences, the producers gave the part of supervillain Emilio Largo to popular Italian actor Adolfo Celi.[32] Connery was eager to start but admitted in a pre-production interview that "My only grumble about the Bond films is that they don't tax one as an actor. All one needs is the constitution of a rugby player to get through 18 weeks of swimming, slugging, and necking…I'd like to see someone else tackle Bond."[32]
Connery would later state that Thunderball was his personal favourite performance as Bond (though in later statements, he claims that his favourite is From Russia with Love).[33] Thunderball was the most successful Bond film to date, based on total box office, earning nearly $1 billion (inflation-adjusted to 2008 US dollars). It also inspired other spy films of the 1960s, including the "Harry Palmer" trilogy featuring Michael Caine, the "Derek Flint" series with James Coburn, the "Matt Helm" series with Dean Martin.[34]
For the fifth Bond film with Connery, You Only Live Twice, Bond comes face-to-face for the first time with arch-nemesis Blofeld (played by Donald Pleasance) Number One in SPECTRE, the world's most powerful criminal organization. The title comes from a pseudo-haiku written by Fleming in the book, "You only live twice/Once when you're born/And once when you look death in the face."[35] The Bond films are hugely popular in Japan and when the crew arrived for shooting, they were treated exuberantly.[36] Connery, however, was somewhat resigned to the project, lacking the enthusiasm he sported for Thunderball.[37] Glimpses of Japanese culture were progressive (again a smart bow to Asian audiences by the producers) and the martial arts and ninja sequences novel for the time.[38]
You Only Live Twice is the very first James Bond film to jettison the plot premise of the Fleming source material, although the film retains setting the plot entirely in Japan and the use of Blofeld as the main villain and a Bond girl named Kissy Suzuki. This would be common during the Roger Moore era, but this is the only Connery film to do so this radically.
George Lazenby and Connery's return
After You Only Live Twice, and despite the posters boasting that "Sean Connery is James Bond", Connery announced that it was his last film as Bond. The producers had no desire to give up the franchise. Australian model George Lazenby became the new 007 in On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969). Timothy Dalton, a later Bond, declined: he claimed he was too young for the role. Lazenby had little acting experience beyond a series of chocolate advertisements.[39] His screen tests were satisfactory, and he was offered a contract for seven films. However, convinced by his agent that the secret agent would be archaic in the 1970s, Lazenby left the series after one film.[40]
Lazenby's reviews were generally underwhelming. Many felt that he is physically convincing but looks foolish in his many loud costume changes and delivers his lines poorly.[41] The film also featured the only breaking of the "fourth wall" (the actor talking directly to the audience) in the entire Bond series. Lazenby cracks, in reference to Connery's Bond: "This never happened to the other fellow."[42]
In On Her Majesty's Secret Service, a conscious attempt was made to establish continuity with previous Bond films by showing scenes from several previous Bond films during the title sequence. Furthermore, when Bond is packing up items in his office, several mementos of previous cases, such as the breathing device from Thunderball, are shown, while the score plays musical motifs from those previous films. This device would never be used again in introducing a new Bond actor.
After Lazenby turned down Diamonds Are Forever (1971), the producers decided to return to the formula of Goldfinger. Director Guy Hamilton returned, as well as the regular cast. John Gavin was offered the role of Bond and accepted, but the producers were simultaneously attempting to bring Sean Connery back to the role. In order to clinch the deal, Connery received a remarkable contract: a record US$1.25 million salary, plus 12.5 percent of the gross profits and an additional US$145,000 per week overtime if filming extended beyond 18 weeks. Connery admitted: "I was really bribed back into it...But it served my purpose...Playing James Bond again is still enjoyable."[43] The original idea was to bring back Auric Goldfinger for a sequel, but that was abandoned.[44]
In Fleming's novels, Bond attempts to get revenge for the death of his wife in On Her Majesty's Secret Service in You Only Live Twice. But since the latter had been filmed prior to the former, Blofeld (played by English actor Charles Gray) is put into the story of Diamonds Are Forever to give Bond an opportunity to give Blofeld his comeuppance. This results in expanding Fleming's "Blofeld trilogy" into a tetralogy.
Roger Moore
In early 1972, the search for Connery's replacement began. Jeremy Brett, Michael Billington, and Julian Glover (Franz Sanchez in Licence to Kill) were considered for the next film in the series, Live and Let Die (1973), with the forty-five year old Roger Moore getting the nod.[45] Moore would become the longest-serving Bond, spending twelve years in the role and making seven official films.[46][47] One critic noted, "Roger Moore has none of the gravitas of Sean Connery…he does fit slickly into the director's presentation of Bond as a lethal comedian".[48]
In strong contrast to the laborious attempts to establish George Lazenby as being the same character as Connery via office mementos and short clips from earlier films, Live and Let Die goes to some length to make Moore a different character. He does not drink a Martini that is shaken not stirred. He gets no office briefing from Q, and he smokes a cigar instead of cigarettes. Over the course of the Moore films, classic Bondisms would creep back in. In particular, fans would demand the return of Q.
Roger Moore's third film, The Spy Who Loved Me (1977), became a turning point for the series in two ways: it was the first film produced by Broccoli alone, as Harry Saltzman was forced to sell his half of the Bond film franchise in 1975 for twenty million pounds following huge debts;[49] and also the first to include a completely original storyline, as Ian Fleming had given permission to use only the title of the novel.[50] Production was plagued by McClory, who in 1975 leapt at this chance to create his rival Bond franchise, hiring Len Deighton to write and Connery to star once more. Their script, entitled James Bond of the Secret Service, had to be changed to Warhead because of EON's objections. Filming was to begin in February 1977, and Paramount Pictures would back the film with a $22 million budget. Moore's second film, The Man with the Golden Gun, was a box office disappointment, and Broccoli was determined not to be upstaged. Their battle resulted in SPECTRE being replaced by Karl Stromberg in The Spy Who Loved Me, as McClory claimed ownership of SPECTRE (who were introduced in Thunderball). Nonetheless, Broccoli launched lawsuits against Warhead, and the script was dumped. Eventually, Connery starred in Never Say Never Again (1983).[7]
Moore's fourth film, Moonraker, was the last Bond film to use the title of a Fleming novel until 2006's Casino Royale. The next two films, For Your Eyes Only and Octopussy, used both of the titles of Bond short story anthologies and each incorporated material from multiple stories in those anthologies. The film Octopussy can be read as a sequel to Fleming's short story of the same name.
Moore showed interest in departing the series after 1981's For Your Eyes Only, and a string of younger actors, including James Brolin, Oliver Tobias, and Michael Billington, screen-tested for the part. However, EON eventually persuaded him to return in 1983's Octopussy, due to a non-EON Bond film, Never Say Never Again, being released in the same year.[51] Because he was rather old for the required action and the demands of the character (Moore was 58 at the time), stunt doubles were employed often (over a hundred stuntmen in total), and only the close-ups are surely Moore.[52] Moore would only regret his last film, A View to a Kill (1985), which was poorly received by critics.[53]
In undertaking the challenge of creating his own version of Bond, Moore merged some to the characteristics of his role in his series The Saint with the Bond persona. Critics thought this Bond more of a charmer, more debonair, more calculating, and more casually lascivious in a somewhat detached but amused manner. He appears just as strong physically as Connery (at least in the early pictures), but not quite as graceful in action. Moore's adaptation applied more fantasy and humour than other Bonds. The series managed to stay afloat by adding contemporary material and new characters to shore up the dated Fleming plots.[54]
Timothy Dalton
Originally, Pierce Brosnan was scheduled to take over for Roger Moore, but when his cancelled television show Remington Steele was renewed in 1986, another Bond was required.[53] Several actors were screen-tested, including Sam Neill and Lewis Collins. Timothy Dalton, who had been considered to replace Sean Connery in 1968 was cast for The Living Daylights.[55]
Best known for his stage and television roles and trained in the British Shakespearean tradition, Dalton's Bond differs noticeably from his predecessors. The Guardian remarked, "Dalton hasn't the natural authority of Connery nor the facile charm of Moore, but Lazenby he is not."[56] The film returned to "realism" and a more creditable plot, with less fantasy and less gratuitous humour.
To save on production costs and taxes, Eon decided to shoot the next Bond film, Licence to Kill, in Mexico rather than at Pinewood Studios in the UK. The film's darker and more violent plot elicited calls for cuts by the British Board of Film Classification.[53] Licence to Kill is the first Bond film by EON to not use the title of any Fleming novel or short story (although it uses material from the Fleming short story "The Hildebrand Rarity"). It and subsequent Bond films were novelised. Reviews for the film ranged from negitive to positive. With box office admissions close to that of The Man with the Golden Gun, the worst attended Bond film to date, some thought that replacing the basic style and elegance of a Bond film with "realism" was a mistake.[57]
In 1989, the same year of his second appearance, MGM/UA was sold to the Australian based broadcasting group Quintex, which wanted to merge the company with Pathé. Danjaq, the Swiss based parent company of EON, sued MGM/UA because the Bond back catalogue was being licensed to Pathé, who intended to broadcast the series on television in several countries worldwide without the approval of Danjaq. These legal disputes engendered a six-year hiatus in the series. Nonetheless, official pre-production of another film began in May 1990, in order to be released in late 1991. Generic promotional materials for "Bond 17" were unveiled at the Cannes Film Festival at around the same time. A detailed story draft, widely available online and spread over 17 pages, was written by Alfonso Ruggiero Jr. and Michael G. Wilson. The 'Imagineering' division of Walt Disney Studios were also involved in the film's development at some point, specifically in the development of the high-tech robots prominent in that early treatment.[58]
Owing to the legal disputes, Dalton's third film's production was postponed up to 1994. In an interview in 1993, Timothy Dalton said that Michael France was writing the story for the film, which was due to begin production in January or February 1994.[59] It never began and in April 1994, Dalton resigned from the role.[60]
Pierce Brosnan
To replace Dalton, the producers cast Pierce Brosnan, who had been prevented from taking over the role from Roger Moore in 1985 because of his contract for Remington Steele.[61][62] By then, the world had changed drastically and Brosnan had gone through changes as well. Shortly after Remington Steele was cancelled in 1987, Brosnan's wife was diagnosed with cancer and he cared for her until she died in 1991. In the next three years he worked only occasionally, so by 1994 he was ready to take on the Bond role. He stated his hopes for remaking Bond: "I would like to see what is beneath the surface of this man, what drives him on, what makes him a killer. I think we will peel back the onion skin, as it were".[57] He also relished the fact that Goldfinger was the first film he had ever seen and now he would get to play Bond, "Little did I think I would be playing the role someday."[63]
Although little attention had been paid in the past to the Scottish background of Connery, or the Australian background of Lazenby, or the Welsh ancestry of Timothy Dalton, some British thought there was something odd about an Irishman playing Bond, and some referred to Pierce Brosnan as "James O'Bond". [64]
In keeping with changing times, the new Bond is a non-smoker and he favours Italian-made suits. More importantly, Brosnan's GoldenEye was the first film of the series to be produced since the disintegration of the Soviet Union. This cast doubt over whether Bond was still relevant in the modern world, as many of the previous films pitted him against Soviet adversaries.[65] Gone is state-sponsored criminality, now replaced by Russian mobs and gangsters. Another major change was casting Judi Dench as M, reflecting that MI5 (another UK intelligence agency) was now headed by a female, Dame Stella Rimington. Actress Samantha Bond was cast as Miss Moneypenny.[66]
Some of the film industry felt that it would be "futile" to make a comeback for the Bond series, and that it was best left as "an icon of the past".[67] However, when released, the film was viewed as a successful revivification that effectively adapted the series for the 1990s.[68] The film had the highest admissions since Connery's You Only Live Twice. Tom Shone commented, "Brosnan shares none of Connery's virtues but has also been careful to avoid Moore's vices. It doesn't give him much room for maneuver, but then maneuvering in tight corners is the one thing Brosnan is quite good at." Another critic stated, "The film is located precisely on the cusp between fantasy and near reality. For the first time in a Bond film there is something that could be called emotion." And another, "Bond is back with a bang."[66][69]
After the triumph of GoldenEye, there was pressure to recreate success in its follow-up, Tomorrow Never Dies, also at MGM. The studio had recently been sold to billionaire Kirk Kerkorian, who wanted the release to coincide with their public stock offering, and the worldwide audience. Co-producer Michael G. Wilson said, "You realise that there's a huge audience and I guess you don't want to come out with a film that's going to somehow disappoint them." The rush to complete it meant the budget spiralled to around $110 million.[70] Most of the locales were in Asia. Breaking completely with Fleming, with no direct references to the novels, the plot is nevertheless reminiscent of The Spy Who Loved Me. The incorporation of stealth technology and cruise missiles makes the story somewhat up-to-date.
Brosnan portrayed Bond in two more films, The World Is Not Enough (1999) and Die Another Day (2002), and two video games, Everything or Nothing and Nightfire, before it was announced by EON that Brosnan was no longer required as the film series was about to be rebooted and the search for a new 007 (eventually Daniel Craig) was on. Though strong in its action scenes, production values, and acting, some critics found the final two Brosnan films to be too hyperkinetic with little time to savour the characters.[71]
Following the success of GoldenEye, Kevin McClory also attempted to remake Thunderball again as Warhead 2000. Liam Neeson and Timothy Dalton were considered for 007, while Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin were developing the film at Sony Pictures. MGM launched a $25 million lawsuit against Sony, and McClory claimed a portion of the $3 billion profits from the Bond series. Sony backed down after a prolonged lawsuit, and McClory gave up. In exchange, MGM paid $10 million for the rights to Casino Royale, which had come into Sony's possession after its acquisition of the companies behind Climax! years before.[7]
Daniel Craig
Pierce Brosnan had originally signed a deal for three films, with an option for a fourth, when he was cast in the role of James Bond. This was fulfilled with the production of Die Another Day in 2002. However, at this stage Brosnan was approaching his 50th birthday, and speculation began that the producers were seeking to replace him with a younger actor.[72] Brosnan kept in mind that both aficionados and critics were unhappy with Roger Moore playing the role until he was 58, but he was receiving popular support from both critics and the franchise fanbase for a fifth instalment. For this reason, he remained enthusiastic about reprising his role.[73] Throughout 2004, it was rumoured that negotiations had broken down between Brosnan and the producers to make way for a new and younger actor.[74] This was denied by MGM and EON Productions. In July 2004, Brosnan announced that he was quitting the role, stating "Bond is another lifetime, behind me"; this is thought by some to be a failed negotiating ploy.[75] However, in February 2005 Brosnan officially announced he was stepping down.
Casting involved a widespread search for a new actor to portray James Bond, despite Brosnan having proven to be a very popular Bond. Throughout 2004 and 2005, a whole legion of potential new actors to portray James Bond were speculated on by the media, ranging from established Hollywood actors, such as Eric Bana, Hugh Jackman, James Purefoy, Goran Višnjić, Julian McMahon, Gerard Butler, and Clive Owen, to many unknown actors from a number of different countries, including Sam Worthington, Alex O'Loughlin, and Rupert Friend.[76] At one point producer Michael G. Wilson claimed there was a list of over 200 names being considered.[77] English actor Colin Salmon, who had played the role of MI6 operative Charles Robinson in earlier Bond films alongside Pierce Brosnan, was also considered for the role and raised speculation that he might become the first black Bond.[78] According to Martin Campbell, however, Henry Cavill was the only actor in serious contention for the role. But being only 22-years-old at the time, he was considered too young.[79]
In May 2005, Daniel Craig announced that MGM and producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli had assured him that he would get the role of Bond, but EON Productions at that point had not yet approached him.[80] Later, Craig stated that the producers had indeed offered him the role, but he had declined until a script was available for him to read.[81]
Bolstered by the success of Universal Pictures’ rival Jason Bourne franchise (as well as Warner Bros.’ reboot of the Batman franchise), the decision was made at MGM and EON to "bring Bond back to his roots" by eliminating the increasingly silly gadgets and outlandish fantasy elements that had begun to define the series, and introducing a tougher, darker, and more realistic Bond that was more in line with the Bond of Ian Fleming's original novels than with any of his previous screen incarnations. Thus, the 21st Bond film, Casino Royale (2006), in addition to being the first film adaptation of a Fleming novel since 1974's The Man with the Golden Gun, was to be a reboot of the franchise, establishing a new timeline and narrative framework not meant to precede any previous film.[82] This not only freed the Bond franchise from more than forty years of continuity, but allowed the film to show a less experienced and more vulnerable Bond.[83] As with the previous introductions of new Bonds, the film provided the opportunity to remove production excesses and to get back to basics.
By August 2005, speculation was high that the then 37-year-old Daniel Craig was being seriously considered, although full casting for the role was not actually done until September. Then, on 14 October 2005, EON Productions and Sony Pictures Entertainment confirmed to the public at a press conference in London that Daniel Craig, who would soon become one of the stars of Steven Spielberg's Munich, would be the sixth actor to portray James Bond.[84] Significant controversy followed the decision, as it was doubted if the producers had made the right choice. Throughout the entire production period Internet campaigns such as danielcraigisnotbond.com expressed their dissatisfaction and threatened to boycott the film in protest.[85] Craig, unlike previous actors, was not considered by the protesters to fit the tall, dark, handsome and charismatic image of Bond to which viewers had been accustomed.[86] The Daily Mirror ran a front page news story critical of Craig, with the headline, The Name's Bland — James Bland.[87] However, reviews for Casino Royale were favourable and the film became the highest grossing of the series. Roger Ebert commented, "Daniel Craig makes a superb Bond: leaner, more taciturn, less sex-obsessed, able to be hurt in body and soul, not giving a damn if his martini is shaken or stirred."[88]
As production of Casino Royale reached its conclusion, producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli announced that pre-production work had already begun on the 22nd Bond film. After several months of speculation as to the release date, Wilson and Broccoli officially announced on 20 July 2006 that the follow-up film, Quantum of Solace,[89] would be released on 2 May 2008 and that Craig had been signed to play Bond, with an option for a third film.[90] Quantum of Solace was eventually released on 31 October 2008 in the UK and 14 November 2008 in North America, changed from its original release date of 7 November 2008 after Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was pushed back to summer 2009. Upon its opening in the UK, it grossed £4.9 million ($8 million), breaking the record for the largest Friday opening (31 October 2008) in the UK.[91] The film then broke the UK opening weekend record, taking £15.5 million ($25 million) in its first weekend, surpassing the previous record of £14.9 million held by Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.[92][93] The film grossed $27 million on its opening day in 3,451 theatres in the United States. It was the #1 film for the weekend, with $67.5 million and $19,568 average per theatre.[94] It was the highest-grossing opening weekend Bond film in the US,[95] and tied with The Incredibles for the biggest November opening outside of the Harry Potter series.[96]
Columbia Pictures co-financed and distributed Craig's first two films because they bought MGM in 2005. However, MGM chose to stop having Columbia distribute their DVDs following the success of Casino Royale (which Columbia provided 75% of the budget for). In agreement, Columbia chose to finance one more Bond film, Quantum of Solace.[97]
Future
In January 2009, writers will be hired and begin work on Bond 23,[98] for release in mid or late-2011.[99] The film will be set after Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace, and Daniel Craig will return as James Bond (he is also contracted for a fourth film).[100] Barbara Broccoli has been quoted as saying that the next film will complete a trilogy, and will end with Daniel Craig's Bond being a "whole" character with whom the franchise can do what they want.[101] Broccoli intends Quantum to reappear and hopes Camille Montes will come back as well.[98][102][103] Judi Dench and Jeffrey Wright will probably return as M and Felix Leiter respectively.[104] MGM hoped the film would be out in 2010,[105] but the 22nd film left Michael G. Wilson exhausted. Quantum of Solace director Marc Forster said he will not return to direct.[106] Craig and Barbara Broccoli expressed interest in filming in New York City for Bond 23.[107] Wilson reiterated Q and Miss Moneypenny will only reappear if they serve the plot.[108]
Composer David Arnold will return, and hopes to collaborate with The Killers for the main theme.[109]
Recurring motifs
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Gun barrel sequence
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Main article: Gun barrel sequence (James Bond)
All of the official EON Bond films feature the unique gun barrel sequence, created by graphic artist Maurice Binder.[110] As Bond walks across the screen, he is viewed by the audience through the barrel of a gun trained on him by an unknown assailant. Bond wheels around and shoots directly at the gun/viewer, followed by the assassin's blood spilling down the barrel/screen. This is accompanied by the opening bars of the "James Bond Theme", composed by Monty Norman, orchestrated by trumpeter and composer John Barry and Burt Rhodes. [111] After Maurice Binder's death in 1991, Daniel Kleinman was responsible for the gun barrel sequence up to and including Casino Royale. Design house MK12 supervised the graphics for Quantum of Solace.
There have been several variants of the sequence regarding Bond's attire, posture, the colour of the blood, etc. Starting with the Pierce Brosnan films, the gunbarrel was rendered with CGI allowing the shadows inside the barrel to move. The sequence was traditionally placed at the start of each film until Casino Royale (2006), where it appears after the cold open and is incorporated into the plot; in Quantum of Solace (2008), it occurs at the end of the film. Royale is a reboot of the franchise, establishing a new timeline and narrative framework;[112] and many of the conventions of the series were either omitted or introduced in a new way.
The one non-EON film which is a serious competitor to the EON series is Never Say Never Again. It follows most of the conventions of typical Bond films but lacks the gun-barrel opening as this is copyrighted by EON Productions.
Pre-title sequence
In Dr. No, the gun-barrel sequence is followed by the main titles, but in all subsequent films the titles are preceded by a pre-title sequence or "teaser" that is loosely connected (The World Is Not Enough), fully pertaining (Quantum of Solace) or not at all related (Goldfinger) to the film's plot.[113][114] Since Thunderball the gun barrel sequence segues into the pre-title sequence by having the opening shot be sighted through the barrel.[115] The pre-title sequences are mini-films that set the emotional mood and heighten the anticipation for the action to come. When they are not related to the main story, Bond is usually seen wrapping up a mission, or effecting an extraordinary escape. In three of the teasers, the films' villains are shown committing their evil acts with Bond absent (though Connery plays a Bond impersonator in the pre-title sequence of From Russia with Love). In the late 1970s, cleverly dangerous stunts became standard for all pre-title sequences until Casino Royale. The sequence for The World Is Not Enough is unusually long: at over 20 minutes it is two to three times the length of most others.
Title sequence
The main title sequences incorporate visual elements reflecting each film's theme and often silhouettes of nude or provocatively clad women set against swirling images. Maurice Binder is the title designer for thirteen Bond films.[116] A contemporary artist usually sings during this sequence (starting with Goldfinger), and an instrumental version of the main track may also be featured as a leitmotif during the film, which repeats in various moods (tense, romantic, adventurous, etc.).[117]
The title song does not always match the name of the film. The Spy Who Loved Me featured Carly Simon singing "Nobody Does It Better" (which contained the film's title in one line); the songs for Octopussy ("All Time High" sung by Rita Coolidge), Casino Royale ("You Know My Name" sung by Chris Cornell) and Quantum of Solace ("Another Way to Die" sung by Jack White and Alicia Keys) don't reference the title at all. With regard to the latter Jack White was quoted as saying, 'The title is quite hard to rhyme with!'[118], though there is a single use of the word "solace" during the second verse. John Barry provided the title song music on ten of the eleven films for which he composed the musical score.[119]
Bond's persona
The core of the Bond films are the agent's personality, tastes, and skills, evolved and interpreted from the Fleming James Bond character by the various actors who have played the role. Much of the films' appeal is watching Bond be Bond. In personality, Bond is tough, ruthless, detached, and egotistical — a man of action given to few words. This is similar to the earlier Fleming novels, while in later novels Bond develops a more introspective side which is glimpsed only rarely in the films. Physically, Bond is athletic, graceful, and quick-acting. Aesthetically, he thoroughly enjoys good food, fine liquor, and beautiful women. In appearance, he is stylish and well-groomed. [120]
There are modest variations on a theme between actors, which is attributable to how the script-writers write for the actors. Moore's Bond is slightly softer and a bit more romantic than either his predecessors or successors. Craig's Bond is slightly more stoic and introverted, while Dalton's is particularly cynical and angry, while retaining Moore's romantic qualities.
Bond's prowess as a lover is well-established in the films. There are numerous double-entendres in the series referring to the size and potency of Bond's penis, and his use of aphrodisiacs, especially when he is in the arms of a Bond girl. He is frequently "rising to the occasion".[121] His sexual skills turn enemies into allies, as is the case with Pussy Galore.[122] A few women manage to resist Bond's charms but overall over fifty women have had sex with Bond in the series so far, ranging from one girl (rarely) to three per film.[123]
Flirting with Moneypenny
With the exception of Daniel Craig's first two films, every Bond film has a sequence in which Bond interacts with Miss Moneypenny, the personal assistant to M, Bond's superior. A running joke throughout the film series is Moneypenny's unrequited love for Bond and his playful flirting with her. She flirts back, jokes and sometimes pouts, hoping to wrangle a proposal and a wedding ring out of him. A fantasy sequence in Die Another Day marks the only occasion in the EON film series in which Moneypenny was actually shown in a romantic embrace with Bond. The character was dropped from the reboot film Casino Royale, the first Bond film (official or unofficial) in which Moneypenny did not appear, and the character does not appear in Quantum of Solace either.[124] In many of the films, established in Dr. No, the tossing of Bond's hat onto a coat rack in M's office signals the start of another adventure. There have been several variations on this theme. As Bond leaves the office in Goldfinger, Miss Moneypenny takes the hat from him and tosses it herself, hoping to induce him to stay. In Thunderball, he is cut off in mid-toss when Moneypenny announces that he is late. In On Her Majesty's Secret Service, after Bond is married, he throws his hat, which is caught by a tearful Moneypenny. And when Bond is in Venice in Moonraker, he tosses his gondolier's hat onto a vacant gondola.
Although Casino Royale is the first of the two official films in which Moneypenny does not appear, when Vesper Lynd shows up dressed very glamorously with secret service financing for Bond's high-stakes poker game, she introduces herself saying, "I'm the money", and Bond replies, "Every penny of it."
Lois Maxwell portrayed Miss Moneypenny opposite Connery, Lazenby, and Moore. She was followed by Caroline Bliss and Samantha Bond, who played opposite Dalton and Brosnan respectively. The three have arguably divergent interpretations of the role, as do the six actors who have played Bond.
Getting assignment from M
Once past Moneypenny, Bond is called in to see M in his office to receive his assignment. M is the head of MI6, Her Majesty's Secret Service (MI5, Military Intelligence, section 5, is roughly equivalent to the American FBI and MI6 to the CIA).[125] In several films, Bond receives the assignment at a secret headquarters or out of the office. Bond enters, often finding M in a subdued state of agitation over a new threat to world peace. M typically shows confidence in his/her best agent but feels a need to rein Bond in for his risky methods and often chides him for his indiscretions.[126]
Universal Exports is used as a cover name for the British Secret Service in the films.[126] It has been featured repeatedly in the films in various ways such as a direction sign in Dr. No, the abbreviation "UnivEx" in From Russia with Love, a brass name plate in On Her Majesty's Secret Service, Bond's helicopter in For Your Eyes Only, a building with a sign in The Living Daylights, an identity card in The World Is Not Enough, a folder in Casino Royale, and a business card in Quantum of Solace. Bond has also given his introductions as a Universal Exports employee in You Only Live Twice, Octopussy, Licence to Kill, The World Is Not Enough, and Die Another Day.
The character of M does not appear in For Your Eyes Only, which was made shortly after the death of long-time M actor, Bernard Lee. Bond gets his briefing from the Minister of Defence in this film. Beginning with the Brosnan series, M was a woman played by Judi Dench, a Shakespearean actress well-known for playing authority figures. Altogether, three actors have played M: Bernard Lee for Connery, Lazenby, and earlier Moore films; Robert Brown for the last two Moore films and the two Dalton films; Judi Dench for all the Brosnan and Craig films to date.
Technical briefing with Q
- See also: List of James Bond gadgets and Q
After getting his assignment, Bond is often sent to Q Branch for the technical briefing in which he receives special equipment to be used in his mission. Originally, in the novels, gadgets were relatively unimportant. This did not change in the first bond film, Dr. No. However, they took on a higher profile in the film version of From Russia with Love, and their use has continued ever since, exceptions being On Her Majesty's Secret Service and For Your Eyes Only in which Bond was given few gadgets. In Dr. No, the head of Q Branch is the Armourer, Major Boothroyd (not yet called Q), who instructs Bond on a new firearm, the Walther PPK.[127] Beginning with From Russia with Love the briefings involve various gadgets and technology, and Boothroyd is referred to as Q starting in Goldfinger.[18] Each Bond film thereafter up until Die Another Day contains a technical briefing of some kind, usually given by Q, with the exception of Live and Let Die, in which Q does not appear and Bond himself describes his mission equipment to M and Moneypenny, and On Her Majesty's Secret Service in which Q does not brief 007 but is demonstrating to M.[46]
Q is sometimes shown joining Bond in the field, taking with him a portable workshop and his staff. These workshops are established in unusual locations, such as an Egyptian tomb in The Spy Who Loved Me and a South American monastery in Moonraker.[128] On two occasions, in Octopussy and Licence to Kill, Q takes active roles in Bond's missions. With the 2006 Casino Royale reboot and the subsequent instalment, Quantum of Solace, the character of Q was, like Moneypenny, dropped, and although Bond still receives a supply of mission equipment, no technical briefing is shown on screen.[129][124]
There are several running jokes in the lab. Established in Goldfinger is Q's continuing disgust at how his equipment is often lost, damaged or destroyed by Bond during missions (though Q's expectations of the "pristine" return of his equipment are clearly unrealistic). Another is how easily distracted Bond is in the lab ("Now pay attention") as Q rattles off details about the use of the equipment which Bond needs to commit to memory.[67] Another running joke is Bond's amused reaction to the latest devices and the Quartermaster's indignant response ("I never joke about my work"). There are also sight gags showing prototype equipment. In the field, however, Bond always remembers the details and takes full advantage of the tools supplied.[130]
Desmond Llewelyn played Q in every pre-Craig film except for Dr No (Q's first appearance), and Live and Let Die (from which Q is absent) and Die Another Day in which Q has apparently been replaced. Llewelyn is the only actor to have appeared opposite as many as five actors playing James Bond. However, his death after the release of The World is Not Enough forced producers to find another actor to fill Llewelyn's role as Quartermaster. After appearing as Q's assistant R in The World Is Not Enough, John Cleese appears as an operative now named Q in Die Another Day taking on Q's functions.
Vehicles and aircraft
Throughout the series, Q provides Bond with a variety of useful automobiles. However, 007's most famous car is the Aston Martin DB5, seen in Goldfinger, Thunderball, GoldenEye, Tomorrow Never Dies and Casino Royale. The production team have used a number of DB5s for filming and publicity, one of which was sold in January 2006 at an auction in Arizona for $2,090,000 to an unnamed European collector. It was originally sold for £5,000 in 1970.[131] Bond also shows his taste for aircraft: a gyrocopter features in You Only Live Twice and an Acrostar Jet in Octopussy. Marine vehicles include a submersible Lotus Esprit in The Spy Who Loved Me and others that resemble an iceberg (A View to a Kill) or an alligator (Octopussy).
Off to exotic locales
For the most part, Bond is sent to do his work in attractive, exotic locales.[132] Occasionally he will be assigned to war-torn or gloomy locations, but at some point his villains will be encountered in sunny paradises like Nassau, Jamaica, or Greece, or in exotic places like Istanbul, Thailand, India, or Japan. He averages about three foreign countries per film. In all, Bond's adventures have taken him to over 60 countries (not including the UK), as well as outer space.[133]
Meeting up with allies
Once in the field, Bond frequently meets up with a local ally upon arrival. These can be his foreign counterparts like Tiger Tanaka in Japan, CIA operatives like Felix Leiter, or his own staff in a secret location. Such characters can also be female, some of whom succumb to Bond's charms.[134] Some allies are of only passing help and others are essential to the mission. For example, Tiger Tanaka opens up a world of possibilities to Bond, while secret agent Saunders is a bit inexperienced.
- Felix Leiter
Just fewer than half the films prior to Pierce Brosnan have James Bond teaming up with Felix Leiter. Leiter also plays a smaller role in these films than he does in Fleming novels. Specifically, he appears in four out of the six official Connery films, only the first of seven Roger Moore films, both Timothy Dalton films, and none of the four Pierce Brosnan films, but returned for Daniel Craig. He is also not in Lazenby's sole Bond film. He appears both in Connery's unofficial film, Never Say Never Again (1983), and in the early non-EON television Casino Royale adaptation as Clarence Leiter. In the official EON series, there were no Leiter film appearances between 1973 and 1987 and no Leiter appearances between 1989 and 2006.
In the novels, Leiter gets bitten by a shark and loses his leg quite early in the series. He has a wooden leg in most of the other novels in which he appears. This incident was postponed in the films until the second and last Timothy Dalton movie, after which Leiter was never seen again until the reboot of the franchise with Casino Royale.
Jack Lord played Leiter in the very first Bond film, Dr. No, but was unavailable for Goldfinger, in which Leiter was played by the far older Cec Linder. Since then, Leiter has almost always been played by a different actor, being played by the same actor more than once only by David Hedison prior to Quantum of Solace. Hedison's two appearances as Leiter were years apart from each other: 1973's Live and Let Die and 1989's Licence to Kill. Leiter has been twice played by an African-American actor, for the first time in the non-EON film