007 Profile #1 - Sean Connery

The first actor to play James Bond in the EON Productions film series was, of course Sean Connery who is still arguably the most popular Bond actor. Indeed, he is my own personal favourite due to the way he captures the character of Bond so well - handsome, but deadly. Charming but with a cold, cruel streak.

Sean Connery was apparently picked out by Dana Broccoli, wife of producer Cubby after he appeared in 'Darby O'Gill and the Little People'. He appeared as Bond in the first film, Dr. No and went on to appear in the first five films. After missing the sixth film, Connery returned for his last hurrah as Bond in 1971's Diamonds Are Forever.

My own personal favourite Sean Connery performance is From Russia With Love. The character is slightly more developed than he was in Dr. No, as well as Sean Connery clearly being more relaxed in the role, which serves to increase the charisma of the character. The film itself has one of the best plots and everything in the film seems to fit in place and work very well. Robert Shaw plays opposite Connery as arguably the series greatest henchman. The fight between the two of them in the railway compartment is one of the classic Bond fight scenes.

While enjoying great success as Bond, Connery was tired of the extreme amount of publicity he received, and he quit the series. His performance in You Only Live Twice is probably his weakest, undoubtedly as a result of his frustrations. He did return in Diamonds Are Forever, and was in fine form, despite having put on a few pounds.

He also acted in the unnoficial Bond film, Never Say Never Again. In my opinion it was a weak film, although this is not due to Connery's performance which is up to the standards of his YOLT and DAF performances.

Connery has appeared in many films over the course of the last six decades, including many of my personal favourite films, such as: The Longest Day, A Bridge Too Far and Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade.

Quantum of Solace - Jinxed?

When filming the tanker chase for Licence To Kill on a dangerous stretch of road in Mexico, the crew reported various strange happenings which led to suggestions that the area was haunted or jinxed as a result of the number of people killed on that road.

Well, it might be a stretch to call the roads near Lake Garda in Italy jinxed, but there have been a couple of accidents in the last few days which have a hint of some sort of curse on the film! Firstly, an Aston Martin DBS being driven to the filming locations went off the road and plunged into the lake. Then an Alfa Romeo being driven by two stuntmen crashed while filming the chase, landing one of the stuntmen in intensive care. In another incident, a man was reported to have a heart attack and die while watching the filming!

There is a precedent for bad luck to strike in the making of Bond films so there is nothing new here. In fact, when we start talking about vehicles plunging into lakes - the same thing happened on FRWL, except it was a helicopter and it was carrying the director, Terence Young! The film that resulted was in my opinion the best Bond film ever, bad luck doesn't necessarily mean the film will be bad. So hopefully the current Bond unit will be able to rise above adversity and produce a classic film.

Bond and Blood in Vienna

It is with great pleasure that I announce that my latest James Bond fan-fiction is available to download on AJB007 (see link below). Set in Vienna, 'Wienerblut' which is literally translated as 'Viennese Blood' this short story sees Bond relaxing after a succesful but exhausting assignment. Bond's leave will shortly be disrupted as a bizarre set of circumstances unfolds.

This short story was inspired by a trip to Vienna in September 2007. Many elements from the story are closely based upon my own experiences in Vienna. The awful weather that I experienced, for instance is replicated in the story. The story also contains refers to a real life character that I met in Vienna: Mr Fischer, the proprietor of the Altwiener Schnapps Museum. One of his beverages lends its name to the title of the story. Mr Fischer is seen here with a bottle of 'Wienerblut'.

Also referred to in the story is the Riesenrad ferris wheel at Prater park. This ferris wheel has a Bond history all its own as it appeared in the 1987 film, The Living Daylights. It also famously appeared in the 1949 noir classic, The Third Man. As you can see in the photo, my coat gives an indication of the type of weather I experienced! Nonetheless, riding this famous ferris wheel was a great thrill, being a big fan of both films that it has appeared in.

Also included is a second short story, set in Paris called 'A Chance to Die'. The fan fiction can be downloaded at http://www.ajb007.co.uk/fanfiction/wienerblut.php . After you have read it, why not post your comments on the ajb007 forum or here on the blog.

Travels With 007 - Piz Gloria, Switzerland

On a pristine winter's morning we set out from Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland for a trip to the summit of the Schilthorn, and the revolving restaurant called Piz Gloria. The restaurant gets its name from the fictional based of Ernst Stavro Blofeld in Ian Fleming's novel On Her Majesty's Secret Service. The reason that this alpine restaurant has inherited the name is that it doubled for Blofeld's lair in the 1969 film.

After a morning's skiing at Birg, which was also featured in the film, we made our way further up cable car way to Piz Gloria itself.

The building was partly constructed when it was found by the filmmakers, and they apparently contributed financially to its completion. The revolving section allows diners in the restaurant to view a full 360-degree panorama in about an hour. Apparently the size of the restaurant section was increased in the 1990s, but it still retains the style and looks of the original.

Upon entering the building, I noticed the de Bleauchamp family crest, a memento from the film. I had already eaten lunch, but I wanted to enjoy the 360-degree view from the restaurant, or alpine room as it called in the film. I sat with some friends and snacked on some french-fries (Ian Fleming was probably turning in his grave!). The menu was 007 themed, and contained such interesting items as James Bond Spaghetti Bolognaise (?!?).

After admiring the view from inside, we proceeded out onto what was the heli-pad in the film, now an observation deck. It may have been bright and sunny but it was pretty cold - hence the large jacket in the photo!

Then it was back inside and into the heart of the building where we found a small theatre which played a collection of clips from the film. It was quite incredible watching the film in the very place that it was filmed all those years ago. In the gift shop, the walls were adorned with portraits of Lazenby, Rigg and Savalas and there were Bond items everywhere. The owners of Piz Gloria certainly milk the James Bond connection for all it's worth!

In the surrounding area there are more locations to check out, such as the town of Murren further down the cableway. Also, the railway station at Lauterbrunnen was the setting Bond's arrival in Switzerland and his meeting with Irma Bunt.

If you are ever in Switzerland, particularly in the Interlaken/Lauterbrunnen area then Piz Gloria should definitely be visited. If you want to visit a Bond location, there is none more picturesque!

'No Deals' is a Good Deal from Gardner

After having read John Gardner's first Bond novel, which was a typical formula Bond story, I proceeded with 'No Deals, Mr Bond'. I had read that this was a less 'typical' Bond story, and according to a review on www.universalexports.net, this story would appeal to those who enjoy Ian Fleming's 'From Russia With Love'. As FRWL is my favourite Fleming novel I eagerly began NDMB while on a flight from Durban to Cape Town.

From the outset I found this to be a novel which didn't stick so much to the formula and delivered more surprises than most of Gardner's novels that I have read. This is one of those Bond stories where some of the people you think are the allies are actually villainous and vice-versa.

This novel is also one quite realistic by Bondian standards, and reads more like a serious spy thriller, than the more overblown, film-inspired novels that Gardner and others have written. The fact that the villains of this novel work for the organisation that used to be called 'SMERSH', gives this a nice link to the earlier work of Fleming.

Proabably the best, and most tense scene in the novel comes when the villain has Bond pursued by so-called 'Robinsons' (live targets used in training exercises) in the pitch black as a sort of training exercise for the 'Robinsons', and an exercise in survival for Bond. Armed with such gruesome weapons as a fighting mace, the 'Robinsons' prove to be no match for Bond. The only complaint that I have with this scene is that Bond's survival is due more to his gadgets than him outwitting the 'Robinsons'.

All in all, a good solid spy thriller which kept me eagerly reading to the very end. In fact, of the Gardner novels that I have read so far, this is my favourite. Just for clarification so far I have read, Licence Renewed, No Deals Mr Bond, Scorpius, The Man From Barbarossa, Goldeneye, COLD.

Just before reading NDMB, I read Gardner's novelisation of the 1995 film, 'Goldeneye', which I enjoyed merely because the film is one of my favourites. But Gardner doesn't bring anything new to the story - he merely adds a thin layer of backstory to the characters, and equips Bond with an ASP 9mm pistol with Glaser ammunition. Aside from that there was nothing unique to the story. For me, the best James Bond novelisations are the ones which use the screenplay as a basis for the story and then create something more literary than just a straight rehash of the film. Christopher Wood's novelisations of The Spy Who Loved Me and Moonraker are good examples.

007 has his 'Licence Renewed' by John Gardner

Until very recently my experience of John Gardner's Bond novels was restricted the latter half of his tenure has a continuation author. Having stumbled across some of his earlier novels in a charity shop, I have begun to explore his earlier work, starting at the beginning with 'Licence Renewed', published in 1981.

I won't go into the obvious changes that were made by Gardner when trnsporting Bond into the 80s without the man ageing, rather I would just like to say how that I enjoyed the novel very much. It worked well as a Bond thriller, with interesting characters such as Caber the Scottish henchman. The scene at Ascot racecourse I particularly enjoyed - it seemed quite Fleming-uesque. However, I never really liked the character of Lavender 'Dilly' Peacock - I guess it was because I felt that since this was the 80s Bond must be a fairly veteran character by now, and Dilly seemed a bit young for somebody of Bond's 'experience'. Perhaps, I should instead regard Bond as a 'timeless' character in future, but it did seem a bit like Roger Moore and Lynn Holly Johnson in 'For Your Eyes Only' (interestingly, released the same year as Licence Renewed was published - perhaps that sort of thing was in fashion that year?)

The plot of the novel is not particularly inspired or original, but the story still works well thanks to the quality of Gardner's writing, and it appears that he was a little more enthusiastic here than he was in his later Bond novels. I certainly enjoyed this more than the later Gardner novels that I have read previously. Although this novel was never made into a film by EON productions, they do appear to have lifted a couple of scenes from this novel and used them in later Bond movies.

I am currently half way through 'No Deals, Mr Bond', and I shall post my analysis when I am finished. So far - I have enjoyed the tale immensely, it seems a more down to earth spy thriller which appeals to me more than the over the top Bond adventures.

Golrush's 007 Blog - Reflections (of a Bond fan) in a Double Bourbon

As the title suggests, this blog will just be the random thoughts of a Bond fan. When I have random thoughts about Bond, I'll post them.

Hopefully they might make interesting reading.