There are several people without whom we would not be taking
on the Bondathon challenge. We will highlight some of them in the upcoming
weeks, but it seems only right to start with the creator of Bond: Ian Fleming
Fleming was born in London on
28 May 1908 and was educated at Eton
College, editing a school
magazine whilst there. After a failed attempt to join the Foreign Office,
Fleming started working for Reuters News Agency in 1931 as a sub-editor and journalist,
spending time in Moscow
during 1933. He worked as a banker and stockbroker before becoming personal
assistant to Rear Admiral John Godfrey, Director of Naval Intelligence in May
1939. He was commissioned into the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve in July of
1939, initially as a lieutenant and then as a commander.
During the Second World War, Fleming worked out of Room 39
at The Admiralty, excelling in administration as Godfrey’s personal assistant
and writing memoranda that would have an impact on the course of the war. In
1941-42, Godfrey placed Fleming in charge of Operation Golden Eye which would
maintain an intelligence framework in Spain in the event of a German
takeover. In 1942, Fleming formed a unit of commandos known as No. 30 Commando,
30 Assault Unit or (more informally) his ‘Red Indians’. The unit would be near
the front line of advance in order to seize enemy documents from previously
targeted headquarters.
Also in 1942, Fleming attended an Anglo-American
intelligence summit in Jamaica
and liked the place so much, he decided to live there once the war was over. For
a sum of £2000, Fleming purchased land on the north shore at Oracabessa and a house
was built, which he named… Goldeneye. Upon his demobilisation in May 1945, Fleming
became the Foreign Manager in the Kemsley newspaper group, which at the time
owned The Sunday Times. His contract allowed him to take three months holiday
every winter in Jamaica.
He worked full-time for the paper until December 1959, but continued to write
articles until at least 1961
Fleming had mentioned to friends during the war that he wished
to write a spy novel, and- in 1952- he achieved this, writing Casino Royale
within two months in Jamaica.
The main character of Casino Royale was an officer in the Secret Intelligence
Service (MI6) and a commander of the Royal Naval Reserve. His name? Bond. James
Bond.
Taking the character’s name from a real-life ornithologist (the author of Birds Of The West Indies),
Fleming explained that ‘I wanted the simplest, dullest, plainest-sounding name
I could find… Exotic things would happen to and around him but he would be a
neutral figure - an anonymous blunt instrument wielded by a Government Department.’
Published by Jonathan
Cape in 1953, such was
the popularity of Casino Royale that three print runs were needed to cope with
the demand.
After Casino Royale, Fleming used his annual three-month
sabbatical at Goldeneye to complete another Bond novel. The next novels
published were Live And Let Die (1954), Moonraker (1955), Diamonds Are Forever
(1956), From Russia With Love (1957), Dr. No (1958) and Goldfinger (1959). For
Your Eyes Only (1960) is a collection of five short stories- ‘From A View To A
Kill’, ‘For Your Eyes Only’, ‘Quantum Of Solace’, ‘Risico’ and ‘The Hildebrand
Rarity’- whilst Thunderball (1961) is a novelisation of a film script written
by Fleming along with Kevin McClory and Jack Whittingham.
Further Bond novels
included The Spy Who Loved Me (1962), On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1963)
and You Only Live Twice (1964). The Man With The
Golden Gun was published posthumously, along with a collection of stories: 'Octopussy' and 'The Living Daylights'. Originally comprising these two stories,
further paperback editions have also included the short stories ‘The Property
Of A Lady’ and ‘007 In New York’.
Aside from the Bond novels and stories, Fleming published
two pieces of non-fiction- The Diamond Smugglers (1957) and Thrilling Cities
(1963)- and the children’s novel Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang, which was also published
posthumously. Fleming died on 12 August 1964 at the age of 56 from a heart attack; his final recorded words were an apology to the ambulance drivers for inconveniencing them.
Fleming was ranked fourteenth in The Times' 2008 poll of 'The 50 Greatest British Writers Since 1945' and his Bond novels are amongst the best-selling book series in the world. John F. Kennedy revealed that From Russia With Love was one of his ten favourite books. Whatever you may think of his writing style or manner, his literary achievements are undeniable.
Whilst Julian Glover never really convinces as a great
threat as the villain Kristatos, he gives a solid enough performance. Topol is
strong as Greek smuggler Milos Colombo whilst Carole Bouquet is fantastic in
the role of Melina. Strong and determined, she is more than prepared to take
matters into her own hands to avenge the deaths of her parents. The characters
of Bibi Dahl and her ice-skating coach Jacoba Brink don’t add much to the main
plot and could have easily been excised. There’s something quite awkward about
seeing the very young Bibi throwing herself at the much older Bond. The MI6
scenes also suffer from the absence of Bernard Lee, who sadly passed away
before starting filming.
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