Portrayal of James Bond in film
James Bond is a fictional character created by the British novelist Ian Fleming in 1952. The character first appeared in a series of twelve novels and two short story collections written by Fleming and a number of continuation novels and spin-off works after Fleming's death in 1964. Bond's literary portrayal differs in some ways from his treatment in the James Bond films, of which there have been twenty-seven in total, produced and released between 1962 and 2021.
Fleming portrayed Bond as a tall, athletic, handsome secret agent in his thirties or forties. Bond has several vices, including drinking, smoking, gambling, automobiles and womanising. He is an exceptional marksman, and he is skilled in unarmed combat, skiing, swimming and golf. Bond kills without hesitation or regret; he usually kills only when carrying out orders or acting in self-defence, though occasionally for revenge.
Bond was first portrayed on screen by the American actor Barry Nelson, in a 1954 Climax! television adaptation, "Casino Royale". In 1961, Eon Productions began work on an adaptation of the 1958 novel, Dr. No. The result was a film that spawned a series of twenty-five films produced by Eon Productions and two independent films. After considering "refined" English actors such as Cary Grant and David Niven, the producers cast Sean Connery as Bond in the film. Fleming was appalled at the selection of the uncouth 31-year-old Scottish actor, considering him the antithesis of his character. However, Connery's physical prowess and sexual magnetism became closely identified with the character, with Fleming ultimately changing his view on Connery and incorporating aspects of his portrayal into the books.
Seven actors in total have portrayed Bond in film. Following Connery's portrayal, David Niven, George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig have assumed the role. These screen versions have retained many traits from Fleming's depiction, although some of Bond's less politically correct traits have been phased out. Despite depicting the same character, there have been notable differences among the Bond portrayals. Daniel Craig is the incumbent Bond in the Eon series and has played the character five times, most recently in No Time to Die released in 2021. Connery and Moore have played the character the most times, appearing in seven films each.
Fleming's literary characterisation
A Secret Service agent, James Bond was a composite based on a number of commandos that author Ian Fleming had known during his service in the Naval Intelligence Division during World War II, to whom he added his own style and a number of his own tastes. Fleming appropriated his character's name from the American ornithologist of the same name. Bond's code number 007 comes from one of British naval intelligence's key achievements of World War I: the breaking of the German diplomatic code. One of the German documents cracked and read by the British was the Zimmermann Telegram, which was coded 0075, and which was one of the factors that led to the US entering the war as an ally against the Central Powers. Subsequently, if material was graded 00 it meant it was highly classified. Fleming later told a journalist: "When I was at the Admiralty ... all the top-secret signals had the double-0 prefix ... and I decided to borrow it for Bond."Although James Bond is in his mid-to-late thirties, he does not age in Fleming's stories. Fleming biographer Andrew Lycett noted that, "within the first few pages Ian had introduced most of Bond's idiosyncrasies and trademarks", which included his looks, his Bentley and his smoking and drinking habits: Bond's penchant for alcohol runs throughout the series of books and he smokes up to 70 cigarettes a day.
Fleming decided to underplay Bond's character, observing: "Exotic things would happen to and around him, but he would be a neutral figure." On another occasion, he reinforced his point: "When I wrote the first one in 1953, I wanted Bond to be an extremely dull, uninteresting man to whom things happened; I wanted him to be a blunt instrument."
Films
Sean Connery: 1961–1967, 1970–1971 and 1982–1983
was the first actor to portray Bond in film in Dr. No. A Scottish amateur bodybuilder, he had come to the attention of the Bond film producers after several appearances in British films from the late 1950s. At a muscular, Connery was initially met with disapproval from Fleming, who believed he was an overgrown stuntman lacking the finesse and elegance to play James Bond; he envisaged a suave actor, such as David Niven, playing the role. Producer Albert R. Broccoli—known to all as Cubby—disagreed with Fleming's view, later commenting that "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". Eon's choice of Connery was also based on his looks and sex appeal, an appeal that would later be echoed by Honor Blackman, who said, after appearing with Connery in Goldfinger, "He was exceedingly handsome, virile and sexy and that really was the tenor of what the script was always trying to display". After Connery was chosen, director Terence Young took the actor to his tailor and hairdresser, and introduced him to the high life, restaurants, casinos and women of London. In the words of Bond writer Raymond Benson, Young educated the actor "in the ways of being dapper, witty, and above all, cool".Connery's interpretation of the character differed considerably from Fleming's, being more promiscuous and cold-blooded than the literary version. Connery described Bond as "a complete sensualist—senses highly tuned, awake to everything, quite amoral. I particularly like him because he thrives on conflict". Academic James Chapman observed that, for Dr. No, Connery's interpretation of the character, although not complete, showed the actor "should be credited with having established a new style of performance: a British screen hero in the manner of an American leading man". In his second film, From Russia with Love, Connery looked less nervous and edgy; he gave "a relaxed, wry performance of subtle wit and style". Pfeiffer and Worrall noted that Connery "personified James Bond with such perfection that even Ian Fleming ... admitted that it was difficult imagining anyone else in the part"; academic Jeremy Black agreed, and declared that "Connery made the role his own and created the Bond audience for the cinema". Black also observed that Connery gave the character a "spare, pared-down character ... inner bleakness along with the style". Connery played Bond with "the right mix of cool charisma, violence and arrogance ... against which all others are judged". Raymond Benson perceived that Connery "embodies a ruggedness and an intense screen presence this transcends any preconceived notions about the character". Benson also noted that Bond was witty, but contains "an assured toughness that epitomises the machismo male". Roger Moore agreed with Black and Benson, commenting that "Sean was Bond. He created Bond. He embodied Bond and because of Sean, Bond became an instantly recognisable character the world over—he was rough, tough, mean and witty ... he was a bloody good 007". However, despite his charm and virility, Connery was characteristically laconic in his delivery. Christopher Bray says of him that "in his single-minded, laconic, mocking, self-sufficient vanity, Connery's Bond was the epitome of sixties consumer culture".
File:Sean Connery as James Bond.jpg|thumb|left|Connery in Amsterdam in July 1971, filming Diamonds Are Forever
Interviewed by Oriana Fallaci in 1965, Connery identified where he had altered the character for the films, saying "I said to the producers that the character had one defect, there was no humor about him; to get him accepted, they'd have to let me play him tongue-in-cheek, so people could laugh. They agreed, and there you are: today Bond is accepted to such an extent that even philosophers take the trouble to analyze him, even intellectuals enjoy defending him or attacking him. And even while they're laughing at him, people take him terribly seriously". Connery went on to add that "Bond is important: this invincible superman that every man would like to copy, that every woman would like to conquer, this dream we all have of survival. And then one can't help liking him". After the pressures of five films in six years, Connery left the role after the 1967 film You Only Live Twice saying, "It became a terrible pressure, like living in a goldfish bowl ... that was part of the reason I wanted to be finished with Bond. Also I had become completely identified with it, and it became very wearing and very boring".
After a hiatus of one film—On Her Majesty's Secret Service, in which George Lazenby played Bond—Connery returned to the role for Diamonds Are Forever after David V. Picker, the head of United Artists, made it clear that Connery was to be enticed back to the role and that money was no object. When approached about resuming the role of Bond, Connery demanded—and received—a fee of £1.25 million, 12.5% of the gross profits and, as a further enticement, United Artists offered to back two films of his choice. His performance received mixed reviews, with Raymond Benson considering that Connery "looks weary and bored ... he is overweight, slow-moving, and doesn't seem to be trying to create a credible character". Despite that, Benson considers that Connery "still radiates more screen presence than Roger Moore or George Lazenby". On the other hand, Pauline Kael said "Connery's James Bond is less lecherous than before and less foppish—and he's better this way".
Producer Jack Schwartzman moved ahead with a non-Eon Bond film in the early 1980s, following the controversy over the 1961 novel Thunderball and the subsequent long legal battle; the result was Never Say Never Again. Connery accepted an offer to play Bond once more, asking for a fee of $3 million, a percentage of the profits, as well as casting, director and script approval. The script has several references to Bond's advancing years, playing on Connery being 52 years of age at the time of filming. David Robinson, reviewing the film for The Times, considered that "Connery ... is back, looking hardly a day older or thicker, and still outclassing every other exponent of the role, in the goodnatured throwaway with which he parries all the sex and violence on the way". In 2003, Bond, as portrayed by Connery, was selected as the third-greatest hero in cinema history by the American Film Institute.
| Year | Film | Salary $ |
| 1962 | Dr. No | 0.1 |
| 1963 | From Russia with Love | 0.3 |
| 1964 | Goldfinger | 0.5 |
| 1965 | Thunderball | 0.8 |
| 1967 | You Only Live Twice | 0.8 + 25% net merchandise royalty |
| 1971 | Diamonds Are Forever | 1.2 + 12.5% of gross |
| 1983 | Never Say Never Again | 3.0 + unknown % of profits |