Charlie Higson, with his On His Majesty’s Secret Service book, has delivered a James Bond oasis for 2023. The cinematic Bond isn’t close to another movie adventure. Ian Fleming Publications, overseen by the heirs of the author, is mostly dealing with Kim Sherwood’s “James Bond without James Bond” trilogy. Higson’s novella — written and published quickly to coincide with the coronation of King Charles III — is what James Bond fans get for now. Higson’s book is both modestly sized (noticeably smaller than current continuation novels) and a modest page count (161 pages). Yet, Higson captures man ..read more

Ian Fleming, drawn by Mort Drucker, from the collection of the late John Griswold. May 28, 1908 (or 28-May-1908) marks the 115th anniversary of the birth of Ian Fleming. Fleming, of course, was the creator of James Bond. He was also the co-creator (with Norman Felton) of the character of Napoleon Solo, the lead character of The Man From U.N.C.L.E. The latter gets less attention because Fleming sold off his interest for 1 British pound in 1963. Regardless, without Fleming, the 1960s spy craze would never would had happened. One can debate whether there were better versions of the spy craze (in ..read more

Tina Turner in the music video to GoldenEye’s title song Tina Turner, the soul singer whose career lasted decades, has died at 83, according to various obituaries, including one published by The New York Times. Turner’s performances featured “rasping vocals, sexual magnetism and explosive energy” in the words of the Times’ obit. She died today at her home in Switzerland, according to a statement from her publicist. Tina Turner became part of the James Bond film series by performing the title song to 1995’s GoldenEye. A lot was riding on the movie. No Bond film had come out since 1989’s Licen ..read more

Image for the official James Bond feed on Twitter It’s a weird time to be a James Bond fan. In terms of the films, we are — yet again — in another hiatus. This time, it’s entirely voluntary on the part of Eon Productions. Eon killed off the Daniel Craig version of Bond in No Time to Die. Where does it go from here? The message from Eon: Don’t call us. We’ll call you. Put another way: Bond 26? What’s that? In the literary Bond world, Ian Fleming Publications wrapped up a trilogy written by Anthony Horowitz anchored in the Ian Fleming timeline. It’s now emphasizing a timeshifted “James Bond is ..read more

Ice Station Zebra poster Jim Brown, one of the greatest players in the National Football League who went on to a long acting career, has died at 87, according to various obituaries including one published by CNN. Brown retired from the NFL as a running back for the Cleveland Browns at the age of 30. At the time of his retirement, he had the most rushing yards in league history. When Brown played, the NFL had seasons of 12 or 14 games each year. The league now plays 17 games a year. Brown moved to acting, quickly appearing in The Dirty Dozen. The former running back had some appearances in sp ..read more

Ray Austin, who went from being a stunt performer to a director on television programs in the U.K, and U.S., died this week at 90, according to an announcement on his website. As a stuntman, Austin worked uncredited on films such as North by Northwest, Spartacus, and Operation Petticoat, according his IMDB.COM ENTRY. He was also a stunt performer and stunt arranger on TV shows such as The Avengers in the 1960s. He transitioned into being a director on that series as well as its 1970s revival, The New Avengers. Austin ended up helming a variety of shows, including Hawaii Five-O, Barnaby Jones ..read more

Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning Part One, the seventh film in the Tom Cruise series, came out with a new trailer today. The emphasis was on stunts and action scenes. There weren’t many plot revelations. Cruise’s Ethan Hunt is in the midst of a major mission and has enemies who want to do him in. The new trailer repeats Cruise jumping off a mountain on a motorcycle, similar to GoldenEye. A stunt new to this trailer is a fight on top of a train, similar to Octopussy. The movie, directed by Christopher McQuarrie, underwent COV19-related delays. The movie is scheduled for release on July 12. P ..read more

Ian Fleming, drawn by Mort Drucker, from the collection of the late John Griswold. The spring and summer of 1963 was a decisive period for Ian Fleming’s involvement — and in the end non-involvement — in The Man From U.N.C.L.E. Fleming and producer Norman Felton had met just months earlier, Oct. 29-31, 1962. The two had co-created Napoleon Solo. Felton turned over that material to writer-producer Sam Rolfe to do the heavy lifting. Rolfe revamped the previous ideas into a series proposal. It was titled Ian Fleming’s Solo. Rolfe was not happy about that. It was mostly (actually, almost entirely ..read more

Paul Playdon (1943-2023), when he was a child actor, in a memorable episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents in 1957, The Glass Eye with Jessica Tandy. Paul Playdon, who began his show business career as a child actor, then transitioned to being a television writer-producer, has died at 80. His death was reported on Facebook by a friend, Danny Biderman in a detailed post. Biederman has an extensive collection of props from various examples of spy entertainment. Playdon, born in the U.K., had been a child actor appearing in Alfred Hitchcock Presents, in the 1957 episode The Glass Eye. Other perfo ..read more

To listen to an audio version of this post, CLICK HERE. This probably doesn’t need to be said, but apparently, it does….continuation in the 007 continuation novels DOESN’T EXIST. Let’s take a look. Colonel Sun (1968, by Kingley Amis, writing as Robert Markham): This novel by an Ian Fleming admirer, seeks to be tied closely to Fleming’s originals. The Fleming heirs (at least then) wanted to keep the Bond novels going. The Robert Markham pen name was intended for future Bond literary stories. But this initial effort didn’t get beyond Colonel Sun. Anne Fleming, the author’s widow, wasn’t that int ..read more