Raymond Benson discusses 007

Raymond Benson, whose James Bond continuation novels were published from 1997 to 2002, has done an interview where he discussed what it’s like to write 007 tales. You can read the entire interview by CLICKING RIGHT HERE.
Some excerpts follow.
On the differences between his novels and the novelizations of three James Bond films:
With the first (novelization), [...]

Goldfinger’s 45th anniversary (cont.): “That buzz saw must go”

We’ve previously written about British film historian Adrian Turner’s research into the writing of the film version of Goldfinger. One of the film’s most iconic scenes had its origin with the sentence, “That buzz saw must go.” It was followed by this observation: “It’s the oldest device in cheap melodrama.”
That was part of a memo [...]

Goldfinger’s 45th anniversary: the car that changed everything

Almost 45 years ago, when Goldfinger came out, part of the attraction was James Bond’s super car, the Aston Martin DB 5. The 007 film series was never the same.
In Ian Fleming’s 1959 novel, Bond had a choice of two cars from MI6’s motor pool: an Aston Martin DB III or a Jaguar 3.4. He [...]

Goldfinger’s 45th anniversary (cont.): Adapting the golf match

We’re about 10 days from the 45th anniversary of Goldfinger. One of the keys to the film was adapting an 18-hole golf match between James Bond and Auric Goldfinger. The golf match was one of the reasons why Goldfinger was Ian Fleming’s longest novels. Paring it down would help make the film version the shortest [...]

Ted Kennedy: 007 fan to the end

The Kennedy family has a history with James Bond. When President John F. Kennedy told Life magazine that From Russia, With Love was one of his ten favorite books, U.S. sales of Ian Fleming’s novels soared. It turns out his younger brother, Senator Edward M. “Ted” Kennedy, was also a fan.
Mark Leibovich of The New [...]

James Bond Vs. Matt Helm: a study

We found an academic paper online that compares the literary James Bond and the literary Matt Helm (each with significant differences than their movie counterparts).
Among the comparisons made by the author, Joseph Allegretti of Siena College, about the novels Casino Royale and Death Of a Citizen:
Both Bond and Helm are professionals who find their [...]

Aug. 12, 1964: Ian Fleming passes away

Aug. 12 is the 45th anniversary of the death of Ian Fleming, the creator of James Bond. There’s a tendency to forget Fleming. His last Bond novel was published in 1965 and the movies long ago became the center of the 007 universe. While he lived to see two of his novels turned into movies [...]

A mini-007 tour of New York

One of our intrepid HMSSers was recently in New York and (figuratively) retraced some of the steps that the literary James Bond took.
Sardi’s, 234 West 44th Street: In Chapter 8 of Diamonds Are Forever, Felix Leiter takes Bond to lunch at Sardi’s and they dine in the upstairs dining room. The friends have some martinis [...]

Raymond Benson on Sound Authors podcast

On June 8, 007 author Raymond Benson stopped by the Sound Authors podcast for an interview with proprietor Dr. Kent Gustavson.
After dealing with shoes, and ships, and sealing wax, and cabbages and kings, they got around to the topics of Benson’s new Spike Berenger thriller, Dark Side of the Morgue. It’s a follow-up [...]

Saab, once the literary 007’s ride, facing tough times

When John Gardner began writing James Bond continuation novels in the early 1980s, his choice for 007’s car was a Saab. While Saabs never made the movies, the Swedish brand is part of Bond’s history.
Well, things aren’t going so well for Saab, the Swedish automaker owned by General Motors Corp. Sarah Lyall of The New [...]