Posted on October 2, 2009 by The HMSS Editors
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), [...]
Filed under: James Bond Books | Tagged: James Bond Books, Novelizations of James Bond movies, Raymond Benson, Raymond Benson interview | Leave a Comment »
Posted on September 11, 2009 by The HMSS Editors
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 [...]
Filed under: James Bond Books, James Bond Films | Tagged: "The buzz saw must go.", Adapting Goldfinger to the screen, Goldfinger's 45th anniversary, Goldfinger's laser beam sequence, James Bond Books, James Bond Films, Paul Dehn, Richard Maibuam | Leave a Comment »
Posted on September 8, 2009 by The HMSS Editors
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 [...]
Filed under: James Bond Books, James Bond Films | Tagged: James Bond Films, Ian Fleming, Goldfinger, James Bond Books, Ken Adam, John Stears, Goldfinger's 45th anniversary, Aston Martin DBV, The car that changed the 007 film series | Leave a Comment »
Posted on September 7, 2009 by The HMSS Editors
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 [...]
Filed under: James Bond Books, James Bond Films | Tagged: James Bond Films, Goldfinger, James Bond Books, Richard Maibuam, Paul Dehn, Goldfinger's 45th anniversary, Adapting the Goldfinger golf match for the screen, Hawker | Leave a Comment »
Posted on August 29, 2009 by The HMSS Editors
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 [...]
Filed under: James Bond Books, James Bond Films | Tagged: Ian Fleming, James Bond Books, James Bond Films, Kennedy family relationship with 007, President John F. Kennedy, Senator Ted Kennedy, Ted Kennedy's last days | 1 Comment »
Posted on August 23, 2009 by The HMSS Editors
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 [...]
Filed under: James Bond Books, The Other Spies | Tagged: Academic look at James Bond and Matt Helm, Donald Hamilton, Ian Fleming, James Bond Books, James Bond Vs. Matt Helm, The Other Spies | Leave a Comment »
Posted on August 11, 2009 by The HMSS Editors
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 [...]
Filed under: James Bond Books | Tagged: 45th anniversary of Ian Fleming's death, Ian Fleming, Ian Fleming discusses his greatest creation, James Bond Books | 1 Comment »
Posted on August 6, 2009 by The HMSS Editors
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 [...]
Filed under: James Bond Books | Tagged: 007 dining in New York, Diamonds Are Forever, Felix Leiter, James Bond, James Bond Books, Tiffany Case | 1 Comment »
Posted on June 9, 2009 by The HMSS Editors
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 [...]
Filed under: Friends of HMSS, James Bond Books | Tagged: A Hard Day's Death, Dark Side of the Morgue, Dr. Keith Gustavson, James Bond Books, Metal Gear Solid books, Raymond Benson, Sound Authors podcast, Spike Berenger, Splinter Cell books, Writing James Bond | Leave a Comment »
Posted on March 22, 2009 by The HMSS Editors
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 [...]
Filed under: James Bond Books | Tagged: General Motors Corp., James Bond Books, John Gardner, Literary Bond's cars, Saab | Leave a Comment »