James Bond Unmasked - All 6 Bond actors interviewed

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  • 0BradyM0Bondfanatic70BradyM0Bondfanatic7 Quantum Floral Arrangements: "We Have Petals Everywhere"
    Posts: 28,694
    So do you have a favorite Bond, and if so, what is your favorite Bond film that he was in?
  • I'm a bit strange in that my favorite Bond is Connery but my favorite film is OHMSS.
  • 0BradyM0Bondfanatic70BradyM0Bondfanatic7 Quantum Floral Arrangements: "We Have Petals Everywhere"
    Posts: 28,694
    I'm a bit strange in that my favorite Bond is Connery but my favorite film is OHMSS.

    Sean is my favorite too (great taste by the way), and yet my favorite Bond film is Casino Royale, so I guess we're both strange. ;)
  • edited May 2012 Posts: 3,494
    It was a glorious time to be a kid at the movies. And I vividly remember telling Bond to grab that electrical wire during his fight with Oddjob.

    I KNOW, I thought the same thing, fry the bastard!

    I actually made it through Thunderball but remember falling asleep not long after the YOLT PTS. Thankfully my Dad fully encouraged my younger brother and I in our fandom and he found places where he could take us to see the rest even if he had to drive 10-20 miles from home, and of course he always enjoyed seeing them again himself. Goldfinger however, was the last one I got to see, that wasn't until 1970 because it didn't show up again on the big screen until around the time OHMSS came out and he wanted to see the new movie and "the new guy" first. I remember being not impressed with George and for years wouldn't own the movie but came to realize that while my opinion of George's acting has never changed, I was dead wrong about how awesome the film otherwise is.

    My son is 11 and a 4th generation fan going back to my Dad's father. He likes Craig, Connery, Dalton, Brosnan, Moore, and Lazenby in that order- which I did my best not to influence, but it goes to show that the generational thing is at it again. I am taking him to a rare (for the Philly area) big screen showing of Goldfinger in Bethlehem on 6/17 and it will be the first time he's seen Bond on a screen larger than my 46" flat screen. I find it very appropriate that the movie remains my favorite to this day, but then it is the one that started "Bondmania" and established the key elements of Bond that Bond fans worldwide welcome to this very day.

  • Posts: 299
    @jamesbondunmasked, I wonder if you always felt that way about OHMSS? If you grew up in that era I'm going to guess that you probably didn't. And yet, the years have indeed been kind to OHMSS, as I too consider it the best of the films, even though it wasn't always that way for me.
  • edited May 2012 Posts: 1,497
    I'm a bit strange in that my favorite Bond is Connery but my favorite film is OHMSS.

    Totally agree there! Thanks for posting about the book, I'll be sure to pick up a copy here in the US, and thanks for being so gracious in answering all our questions!

    Will you be participating in any 50th Celebrations?

  • No, it was love at first sight for me -- an emotionally riveting way for Bond to end the '60s, despite the departure of Connery. I went with my mom and returned the following week with my dad. My kids are third generation fans: my boys, 11 and 9, like Craig a lot and Dalton and Moore a little; my 5-year-old daughter, however, likes Connery. She plopped down on the couch while I was watching the Goldfinger Blu-ray for the book and was hooked. They don't get Connery, but she does.
  • Nothing I can confirm as of yet.
  • edited May 2012 Posts: 1,497
    Nothing I can confirm as of yet.

    Ok. Please keep us posted when you can! I know there will be some screenings of the classic films coming up here in LA. Do you know if the book will be available for purchase in stores? Thanks.
  • Posts: 11
    What exactly has GL been spending his time
    since OHMSS? (I don't mean to be vulgar, but
    how has he earned his living?)

    I can answer this to a degree, After GL left Bond, he did 2-bit action movies in Japan for sometime, never really making it into the Mainstream as he hoped. I also read somewhere times got so rough for GL that he had to move back in with his mother. Im sure Wikipedia has all the information you need on him, past and present.

    Wasn't it chinese? I heard he was going to be in Game Of Death with Bruce Lee before he died (I suppose he's glad he didn't do it in the end because the film turned out crap).

    Note that the film that turned out to be game of death was a whole lot different to what bruce originality wanted... I know he wanted Lazenby to be the actual boss of the film
  • Sorry, I meant that my boys like Brosnan, not Dalton, after Craig.
  • I have an article in Variety's current Bond 50th supplement about the directors' imprint, with quotes from my book: http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118053312
  • NicNacNicNac Administrator, Moderator
    edited May 2012 Posts: 7,582
    I haven't bought a new Bond related book for many years, but this one really does capture my imagination, because the one thing that interests me about the films, over anything else is the actors themselves and their interpretation of the character.
    How Bond has changed over the decades, not only as a reflection of current society, fashions, tastes etc, but how each actor sees him.
    So, this is the book for me :)
  • edited May 2012 Posts: 41
    For anyone still confused, you can order now from Amazon in the U.S.
  • James Bond Unmasked is now available on Amazon in the UK, Canada, Germany, and Japan.
  • Posts: 11,189
    Orderiiinnngg!!!
  • I just started reading. I have mixed feelings

    The good: cool intro followed by an equally great into to the Connery era.....

    The bad: are you just summarizing every Bind movie, with quotes from the actors few and far between? I know what happens in the movies....
  • Hi Britishchap,

    Glad you enjoyed the intro and the Connery intro.

    By the way, the interviews are transcribed in full in the final chapter. But given the nature of the interviews, I found the best approach was to apply the material as a roadmap in constructing a narrative: to contextualize the experience and chronicle the evolution, actor by actor and film by film, supplying my own descriptive analysis along the way. How is each Bond different yet the same? I've come away with a better grasp and I hope it's informative to readers as well.
  • Hi Britishchap,

    Glad you enjoyed the intro and the Connery intro.

    By the way, the interviews are transcribed in full in the final chapter. But given the nature of the interviews, I found the best approach was to apply the material as a roadmap in constructing a narrative: to contextualize the experience and chronicle the evolution, actor by actor and film by film, supplying my own descriptive analysis along the way. How is each Bond different yet the same? I've come away with a better grasp and I hope it's informative to readers as well.

    Well I'll keep reading (don't want to read the transcripts because Idont want to spoil the contextualized bits. I love when Craig suddenly comments on Dr. No, for instance). As noted, great effort us far, but perhaps with a bit of fluff.

    Ps. My iPad is convinced Bond shoukd be Bind.
  • Just received my copy from Amazon.com, it arrived in 2 days! And to Canada no less (thru Pt. Roberts). Going to grab a cup of tea and start on it now and will comment further as I read through it.
  • My first book signing will be Friday, June 8, 6:30 pm, at the Egyptian for the launch of The American Cinematheque's 007 at 50: The Complete James Bond Retrospective! (Dr. No/From Russia with Love). http://www.americancinemathequecalendar.com/content/dr-no-from-russia-with-love-0. My second signing will be Father's Day, Sunday, June 17, 6:30 pm, at the Aero preceding The Living Daylights/Licence to Kill: http://www.americancinemathequecalendar.com/content/the-living-daylights-licence-to-kill
  • Posts: 5,745
    My first book signing will be Friday, June 8, 6:30 pm, at the Egyptian for the launch of The American Cinematheque's 007 at 50: The Complete James Bond Retrospective! (Dr. No/From Russia with Love). http://www.americancinemathequecalendar.com/content/dr-no-from-russia-with-love-0. My second signing will be Father's Day, Sunday, June 17, 6:30 pm, at the Aero preceding The Living Daylights/Licence to Kill: http://www.americancinemathequecalendar.com/content/the-living-daylights-licence-to-kill

    Congratulations! I wish I could join you!
  • Posts: 1,778
    @jamesbondunmasked. My copy arrived in the mail earlier today. I've just started reading it. Very interesting so far.
  • Posts: 1,497
    My first book signing will be Friday, June 8, 6:30 pm, at the Egyptian for the launch of The American Cinematheque's 007 at 50: The Complete James Bond Retrospective! (Dr. No/From Russia with Love). http://www.americancinemathequecalendar.com/content/dr-no-from-russia-with-love-0. My second signing will be Father's Day, Sunday, June 17, 6:30 pm, at the Aero preceding The Living Daylights/Licence to Kill: http://www.americancinemathequecalendar.com/content/the-living-daylights-licence-to-kill

    I'll try to be there on the 17th for the Dalton double feature! The American Cinematheque runs Bond films about once a year, but this is the first time they have done the entire series as long as I can remember. So it's very exciting. Do you know if Steven Jay Rubin will be emceeing?

  • Let me check with the Cinematheque who's hosting.
  • KronsteenKronsteen Stockholm
    Posts: 783
    I own no books about the Bond phenomon (except the Bond on Set), I just don't find it that interesting. But this one looks so interesting, I've never been this excited about this kind of book. Ordered it today, looking forwards reading it :)
  • AgentJamesBond007AgentJamesBond007 Vesper’s grave
    Posts: 2,632
    Anyone want a larger image of the cover?

    j_is_for_james.jpg
  • Posts: 1,370
    Thanks, my first exposure was Goldfinger in '65. I was 7 or 8. Not sure what month it was.

    One thing that I'm curious about - and SirHenry can answer this too - is how odd is it to have Bond be the man that you want to grow up to be when you're younger, then watch an actor the same age as you play the part, and then finally see someone younger than you play the part?

    When I watch the early Connery films or OHMSS I can't get my head around the fact that I'm watching a man younger than me play Bond. I'm so conditioned by all the times seeing the films as a kid that I still see them as "older". Likewise, watching Craig I find it hard to believe that I'm watching someone who is my age. I can't imagine how strange it will be to see someone, say, ten years younger than me being cast as Bond.

    There was a great line from a review of CR where the reviewer - who was the same age as Craig - said "For the first time since I was a kid I thought that I want to be that guy!". What's the reaction when watching a younger Bond? Wistfulness? A sense of wishing you had done those things when you were younger? Or was "being Bond" something that was a "dream" but something that you'd never get close to in the real world?



  • This looks terrific, I'll definitely be picking this up soon
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