John F. Kennedy statue in Fort Worth, Texas James Bond became BIG in the United States in the early 1960s. Ian Fleming’s 007 novels had been published since the early 1950s. But Playboy publisher Hugh Hefner began serializing Bond short stories and novels in the early 1960s. And, of course, John F. Kennedy, elected as U.S. president in 1960, made it known he was a 007 fan. Life magazine published a list of the new president’s favorite books. Most were heavy history and biographies. But one was a popular tale, Fleming’s From Russia, With Love novel. Hefner and Kennedy provided the literary Bon ..read more

Kevin Feige of Marvel Studios A decade ago, the blog examined how Marvel (the corporate model of filmmaking) compared with Eon Productions (the family model). In its early years, Marvel actually adapted Eon’s model. Early Marvel films kept costs in line. It was similar to how Eon co-founder Albert R. Broccoli would be willing to pay big for a Bond actor but supporting actors got relatively small pay. The likes of Bernard Lee, Lois Maxwell, and Desmond Llewelyn received modest wages. As Marvel became a big success, budgets expanded. A cost of $200 million or more became common. But, hey, when ..read more

Poster for Avengers: Endgame (2019), the high point for Marvel Studios Four years after Marvel Studios had a huge hit with Avengers: Endgame, the unit of Walt Disney Co. is having a tough time. Marvel hasn’t come close to Endgame-level box office (almost $2.8 billion) with subsequent movies. The studio has reached deep into the Marvel catalog of characters for movies such as Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings ($432.2 million), The Eternals ($402.1 million), and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (currently at about $462 million). Such movies haven’t generated Avengers-level box office w ..read more

Cover to the Signet U.S. paperback edition of The Spy Who Loved Me (1962) Five years ago, the blog published a post that described The Man With the Golden Gun, Ian Fleming’s final novel, as “the runt of the litter” for Fleming’s original tales. But, for many Fleming fans, The Spy Who Loved Me is really the runt of the litter. It’s a very unusual novel. Fleming, in his 50s at the time, wrote a first-person story from the perspective of a woman in her 20s. Context: Fleming had been writing Bond novels for roughly a decade when The Spy Who Loved Me was published The author took a major detour f ..read more

Barbara Feldon with Don Adams on a TV Guide cover Over the past week, some of the actresses of the 1960s spy craze celebrated notable birthdays. Barbara Feldon (b. 1933): She is best known for co-starring in Get Smart (1965-70). Agent 99 was, well, smarter than CONTROL’s Maxwell Smart (Don Adams). But she loved the guy and eventually, 99 and Max got married. Feldon has had a long career. The TV season before Get Smart, Feldon was a guest star on The Man From U.N.C.L.E. in The Never-Never Affair. Feldon played an U.N.C.L.E. employee who yearned for adventure. The episode, written by Dean Hargr ..read more

The Ian Fleming Publications 007 logo Ian Fleming Publications unveiled a “new look” for Fleming’s Bond books and other works. The announcement came shortly after IFP said it was scrubbing offensive bits from the author’s James Bond novels. That move stirred controversy about being “woke” and censorship. In today’s announcement, IFP said Webb & Webb Design Ltd. had come up with new covers. Besides Fleming’s James Bond works, IFP unveiled new covers for The Diamond Smugglers and Thrilling Cities. Footnote: Thrilling Cities caused Ian Fleming to (briefly) become involved with The Man From U ..read more

Nature abhors a vacuum. With that in mind, here are some modest questions concerning Bond 26. Time to lighten up? Over the past five Bond films made by Eon Productions there has been a lot of angst. Bond losing his lady love (Casino Royale, based on Ian Fleming’s first novel). Bond out for revenge (Quantum of Solace). Bond not able to save M (Skyfall). Bond discovers his foster brother was his greatest enemy (SPECTRE). Bond getting blown up with missiles (No Time to Die). The Daniel Craig era of Bond films (which started over from the previous 20 movies) was often very serious. That era was ..read more

Topol (1935-2023) Chaim Topol, the Israeli actor best known for playing Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof, has died at 87, according to various reports, including The New York Times. His death was announced on Twitter by Isaac Herzog, the president of Israel. The actor “was one of the most outstanding Israeli stage artists, a gifted actor who conquered many stages in Israel and overseas, filled the cinema screens with his presence and above all entered deep into our hearts,” Herzog wrote, according to a Google translation of the tweet. The actor starred in the 1971 movie version of Fiddler on the ..read more

Phoebe Waller-Bridge Screenplay credits in movies can be elaborate and that was certainly the case with 2021’s No Time to Die. Four people got a piece of the credit, including actress and scribe Phoebe Waller-Bridge. As you may recall, Waller-Bridge’s participation caused quite a bit of fuss. Among the many articles written was a September 2019 Daily Mail article by Baz Bamigboye. That piece quoted an executive the scribe didn’t identify as saying, “Phoebe’s contribution was great — far greater than we’d anticipated. She’s the savior of Bond, really. She was across the entire script.” (Bamigb ..read more

No Time to Die teaser poster March 4 is the third anniversary of a No Time to Die event, the first time the 25th James Bond film made by Eon Productions, was delayed because of COVID-19. Context: COVID-19 was spreading across the globe, causing major health problems. No Time to Die had already been delayed multiple times, from fall 2019 to April 2020 because the original director, Danny Boyle, had departed the project. Now, a virus was going to have an impact. At the time, there was no vaccine. People were dying. Here is one social media form of the announcement: MGM, Universal and Bond pro ..read more