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I guess in the 60s there were more Italian films being shown internationally? Giallo and Spaghetti Westerns and all that (although I guess they were dubbed so no ciao). I guess in the ten years before there were some bigger American films which showed Italy and were shot there which I guess hadn’t really been seen by as many viewers in the US/UK prior (off the top of my head I’m thinking of Roman Holiday - can’t remember if they jokingly say ciao or anything). That and I guess international air travel/holidays were becoming more prominent….
I don’t know if people widely said ciao in the 60s, but if I were going to guess it’d come down to factors like that as to why Bond says it in the early 60s.
EDIT: Wiki tells me Hemingway’s A Farewell to Arms used the phrase and that’s credited to introducing it into English. I don’t know how true that is, but I reckon it’d been a term around in English and ultimately popular culture for a while.
By the 1960s, "ciao" had been adopted into English usage, particularly in informal contexts, serving as both a greeting and a farewell. Its integration into the English language was influenced by cultural exchanges and the global spread of Italian cinema, fashion, and cuisine during the mid-20th century.
In Great Britain, the 1960s were marked by significant social and cultural transformations, including the rise of youth culture and increased interest in continental European trends. While "ciao" was recognized and occasionally used, it did not achieve widespread popularity as a common greeting or farewell in everyday British vernacular during that decade. The British populace primarily continued to use traditional English salutations such as "hello" and "goodbye."
In other Western societies, particularly in countries with substantial Italian immigrant communities, such as the United States and Australia, "ciao" saw more frequent usage. Its adoption varied depending on regional cultural dynamics and the extent of Italian cultural influence.
Overall, while "ciao" was present and understood in Great Britain and other Western societies during the 1960s, its usage was more prevalent in regions with closer ties to Italian culture.
That makes sense. Here in Belgium, or at least where I live, we have a very present Italian community and no-one will look up if you use ciao. I do it myself quite often tbh.
YOLT has Connery, the late 60's aesethic, the gorgeous Japanese vistas, but little nelly and the "turning Japanese" sequence is more silly than cool. TSWLM has less bad moments, but is more overt on the comedy side, and the fashion of the seventies just wasn't quite as cool as the 60's.
Depends on what you mean by cool... I guess from that very broad nostalgia/aesthetic perspective, yeah, you can argue YOLT is the answer as it's very much a height of Bondmania film... but I'm not sure if the film itself is necessarily one of the more fondly remembered Bond movies in practice, or is at least more middling in this area than many would suspect (I'm a bit biased because it's far from one of my favourites and would argue it drags in places. I think it gets points because a lot of the imagery has become iconic - the volcano lair, Pleasance's Blofeld etc. To be fair aesthetically and in terms of cinematography/set design it's pretty great. But I have talked with people who simply don't like the film and I can understand that).
I have heard people call the parachute jump in TSWLM really cool. But yeah, depends...
Hard to say, although right now I'm leaning more towards TSWLM. All depends on how we are to interpret the word "cool", I suppose.
YOLT assembles many great parts, but I'm not sure I'd call them "cool". The sets and locations are spectacular, the score and theme song are exceptional, and some film elements, like Blofeld, are charming and iconic. The film also has messy bits that deserve a bit of polishing. Yet none of that registers as either "cool" or "uncool" in my mind. YOLT seems defiant of any relation to the word. Yes, it's a sixties Bond, but neither set in hip, swinging London, nor inviting the rock 'n' roll of the times. In that sense, GF comes closer to being a"cool" Bond, I guess.
TSWLM does better. It has that "cool" Union Jack moment, a very "cool" helicopter-car chase, an incredibly "cool" duo of lairs for the villain in the Liparus and Atlantis, and perhaps one of the "cooler" henchmen in scary Jaws. In the absence of a clear definition of the word "cool", my gut feeling says that TWSLM is the cooler of the two films.
Which one is cooler? I don't think one can beat Japan in the 1960's. Something so magical about it. An volanco lair for the villain we hadn't seen but only heard of? A cigarette rocket gun? Come on, this has cool all over it. I am choosing YOLT for coolness factor. Spy is a slicker film with a great deal of fun.
Regarding '60s Japan, yes, it all looks great. But cool? Again, we may all have a different interpretation of the word, so I'm not willing to die on that hill. ;-)
(Especially since I find CR67 a "cool" flick, but for all the wrong reasons.)
As for the answer to the question, TSWLM for me without a doubt, mainly because I think “Little Nellie” doesn’t really come across as “cool” in the way that the Lotus Espirit does.
You know, I never really analysed it that closely, but I think you could be right. That is very interesting, even after years scrutinising these films there's still fresh insights to uncover.
I mean Dalton was great, but could you class him as 'cool' in the role. I've never given that aspect of it really that much thought. A great match at the time for what Fleming intended there can be no doubt, but guess it's how you define the terminology of coolness. Lazenby had it in abundance and all this for only one feature appearance.
Nobody does it better.
Boom.
He was a complete deck in TMWTGG.
When he slaps Anders in the hotel room and twists her arm, they were obviously trying to harden up
Rog.
It doesn't work on any level.
Straightening his tie and saying "What a helpful chap!" just after he kills Sandor was pretty cool in TSWLM. Moore bond saying "As you say, such good sport" just after shooting the tree assassin in MR is another good example of effortless cool. I also agree with @Benny above about the OP backgammon scene and the way he never even looks at the dice as he knows they're loaded. That's very cool too. I'm sure there are plenty of other examples though. Moore made playing Bond look effortless but it was all down to his sheer sadly often unrecognised talent as an actor.
It could’ve become quite boring had Bond displayed the union flag in the next film to.
A reminder of Bonds Britishness should be used sparingly.