The James Bond franchise turns 50 years old this year, but the thing about James Bond is that he never really ages, does he?
For 23 movies now, the 007 series has survived not on consistent quality but on consistent character. It’s a genre unto itself, one that branded itself from the beginning and never looked back.
Although Bond never aged, he became a mirror of the times as well as a look back at a simpler one. When “Star Wars” was the new hit, Bond went to space. When Japan championed Bond, Bond went overseas. When he needed a makeover, Bond started from scratch. When a new generation of video games was born, he became a First Person Shooter staple.
I first knew Bond as Pierce Brosnan. He came to the series after a six year gap in the franchise (the longest in its history). This Bond had to be reinvented to find his place after the Cold War. Because although the 007 movies were never political, they let us know who our enemies were and just how dangerous a nuclear threat could be. Bond put minds at ease in knowing that there was a hero this cool protecting the world.
You can first see these traces in “From Russia With Love,” a movie that very boldly asserts the presence of a secret shadow government named SPECTRE. Before Bond even shows up, we’re taken to an absurd training facility where they use “live targets too.” The Russian Adonis Grant was precisely the nonchalant face that could so easily be the enemy in disguise. What’s more, this film introduced the absolutely brilliant screen villainy that was SPECTRE’s Number One, a faceless entity who stroked a white cat with ominous delicacy.
As modern as these fears were, Bond first belonged to the classical age of Old Hollywood. Had “Dr. No,” “From Russia With Love” or “Goldfinger” come out after 1967, the campy violence and lack of R-rated sex might’ve made the Bond franchise irrelevant.
But here Sean Connery proved to be an update on the Cary Grant archetype. Connery became an instant star after “Dr. No” because although he had a cool demeanor and suave fashion sense, he also had a steely glare that let you know when he meant business. He wasn’t all camp the way Roger Moore or Brosnan was. He had the power to take who was essentially a blonde Hitchcock girl and turn her into a sex icon. Continue reading “Bond at 50: A look back at Sean Connery classics”