Saab, once 007’s ride, is on the endangered list

Back in March, we ran an article on how the literary James Bond once drove a Saab and how that Swedish brand was facing tough times.
Things haven’t gotten easier for Saab. In fact, Bloomberg is reporting that General Motors Co. may close Saab after sports-car maker Koenigsegg Group AB canceled a planned acquisition of the [...]

Conference seeking 007 material

The is seeking authors to write studies and commentaries about James Bond movies and novels. Some of the suggested topics from a Web page by the group:
Quantum of Solace hit the theatres and many criticized it as being too much like the Jason Bourne movies? Is this accurate?
Raymond Benson or James Gardner as Bond [...]

Happy 89th birthday, (literary) James Bond

Nov. 11 is the birthday of the literary James Bond, as set by author John Pearson in his “biography” of 007, with a birthdate of Nov. 11, 1920.
So much that could be said, but we’ll suffice with happy birthday, Mr. Bond.

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 [...]