All posts tagged ian fleming
My name is Bond. James Bond.
about cinematic 007
Covers of Triad/Panther edition James Bond books from 1977 to 1982.
(Source: barefootmarley)
Jamaican Airport Named After Ian Fleming
Author Ian Fleming will be honored with his very own airport. Jamaica is set to name its third international airport after the novelist who created James Bond.
(Source: shelftalkersanon)
Time for another author side-by-side: this time, it’s Ian Fleming and Noel Coward — Coward on the left, and Fleming (in a portrait drawn by Coward), on the right.
I absolutely love Noel Coward (especially his plays Private Lives and Blithe Spirit), but comparing his writing style to Fleming’s seems a little like comparing Tony Kushner to Tom Clancy. Fleming’s books are driven by plot and the sheer magnetism of his leading man. Coward’s plays and short stories sparkle with dialogue: lots of well-dressed ladies and gentlemen drinking cocktails and lobbing bitchy witticisms at one another. Coward’s The Wooden Madonna is the closest thing I can think of to a Bond-type story (intrigue, exotic locales, espionage), which is in a terrific short story collection called To Step Aside.
Though one wrote thrillers and one wrote plays, Fleming and Coward were great friends in real life. Coward was a witness to Fleming’s marriage to Ann Rothemere in 1952. In Jamaica, they were neighbours — Coward first fell in love with the island while staying at Goldeneye, Fleming’s estate. He bought his own property, Blue Harbour, just a few miles up the beach from Goldeneye.
In addition to being a playwright and composer, Coward was also an actor. It seems incredible, but Coward was actually Fleming’s first choice to play metal-handed Julius No in 1962’s Dr. No (the role went to Joseph Wiseman instead). Coward turned down the role via telegram, writing:
Dr. No? No! No! No!
Baccarat chemin-de-fer is the favoured game of Ian Fleming’s secret agent creation, James Bond. He can be seen playing the game in numerous novels – most notably 007’s 1953 debut, Casino Royale, in which the entire plot revolves around a game between Bond and SMERSH operative Le Chiffre (the unabridged version of the novel includes a primer to the game for readers who are unfamiliar with it). It is also featured in several filmed versions of the novels, including Dr. No, where Bond is first introduced playing the game; Thunderball; the 1967 version of Casino Royale (which is the most detailed treatment of a baccarat game in any Bond film); On Her Majesty’s Secret Service; For Your Eyes Only; and GoldenEye.
In the 2006 new movie adaptation of Casino Royale, however, Baccarat is replaced by Texas hold ‘em poker largely due to its great popularity at the time of filming.
Chemin de Fer - french baccarat
This was the original version of Baccarat when it was introduced to France and is still the version that is popular there. The name “Chemin de Fer” (railroad) came about because the cards were placed in an iron box.
Six decks of cards are used, shuffled together. Players are seated in random order, typically around an oval table; discarded cards go to the center. Play begins to the right of the croupier and continues counterclockwise. At the start of the game, the croupier and then all players shuffle the cards in play order. The croupier shuffles a final time and the player to his left cuts the deck.
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read more on Wikipedia
(via literarybond)
Differences between the Film and the Novel
- In the novel, we’re given an extensive background on who Dr. No is, and the motivation behind his scheme. Dr. No is presented as not only insane, but also as determined, hard working, and able to overcome physical hardship, all qualities which have inspired his evil passions.
- Like with Dr. No, in the novel, we’re given more background on Honey. In the film, Honey is a naive girl whose father is a biologist, so she’s out collecting shells because she’s naive and being silly. In the novel, her character is more complex. She was orphaned, and collected the shells so that she could survive. Honey develops as a character in the novel, and we see little of this development in the films. As with most women in Bond novels, Honey is strong and independent. She doesn’t need Bond to rescue her.
- As with most of the novels, Bond’s character is much more complex than in the films. Bond struggles with his passion for Honey in the novel, while in the film, she is the first in a long line of conquests. Bond and Honey grow together in the novel and Bond waits to sleep with her until the end of the novel, after she’s lost some of her naivete and is in a safe situation. Bond truly cares for her, making sure that he’s set her up with a good job and loving support network (in the Pleydell-Smiths) before he leaves for England. He also discourages her from getting surgery on her broken nose because he wants her to see the beauty in people’s “flaws”. Bond isn’t the stereotype of masculine dominance in the novel that he is in Connery’s portrayal of him in the film.
- Professor Dent does not appear in the novel.
- Quarrel is much more of Bond’s peer in the novel than in the film. Quarrel was Bond’s trainer in Live and Let Die, and they share a much more equal relationship in the novel. Bond seldom orders Quarrel around in the novel and genuinely asks Quarrel for advice, which he tends to heed.
- One of the most powerful scenes in the novel is the “obstacle course” designed by Dr. No and Bond’s struggles in mastering it. This scene does not exist in the film. The electro-shock grate is all that’s left of Dr. No’s course in the film. This is one of Bond’s most physically challenging episodes in all of the novels, and serves to help define Bond as a fundamentally inwardly-focused individual, capable of drawing incredible strength from within. Again, we seldom see these kinds of struggles in the films.
- Dr. No’s death is much less climactic in the novel, as he’s buried alive in bird dung. In the film, Bond and Dr. No have an epic struggle to the death over a nuclear reactor cooling pool.
- In the novel, Dr. No is a medical doctor, while in the film, he’s a nuclear physicist. In the novel, there’s no mention of nuclear power on Crab Key or radiation, which is the reason why Strangways was investigating Dr. No. Likewise, Strangways’ house is destroyed in the novel, while in the film, Bond searches Strangways’ house for a lead that will take him to Dr. No. In the novel, Crab Key seems to be a mysterious place where people keep disappearing. That’s the only lead Bond gets. He initially sets out to investigate the island. In the film, Bond knows that he’ll find Strangways’ killer on Crab Key, so he enters the situation knowing that there is going to be trouble.
- Dr. No is working for the Russians in the novel, while he’s working for SPECTRE in the film.
- The poison fruit does not appear in the film, and the spider that Professor Dent places in Bond’s bed is changed from a centipede.
- There is no direct connection between the beginning of Dr. No and the end of From Russia with Love in the films.
from James Bond wiki
Reference Library (Dr. No)
Bond himself is not exactly a bookworm, but Fleming often alludes to other books and writers. I am in the midst of cataloguing them here:
Doctor No
According to Ian Fleming’s James Bond: Annotations and Chronologies by John Griswold, M makes reference to Live Longer and Enjoy It! by Dr. Peter Steincrohn when talking to Sir James Molony. M also alludes to The Anatomy of Courage by Lord Moran, wherein he claims “courage is a capital sum reduced by expenditure.”
In Jamaica, Bond is seen reading The Handbook of the West Indies while he eats dinner alone.
To celebrate the 100th year anniversary of the birth of Ian Flemming, publishing powerhourse Penguin recently commissioned the very talented British born, San Francisco painter Michael Gillette to paint iconic covers of 14 James Bond novels. Amazing work. His sexy interpretation of the infamous Bond girls, with a striking minimal colour palette overlayed with interlocking 60′s inspire type treatments are so good they’re sure to bounce off the shelf.
Penguin: Covering Bond (May 08, 2008)
First edition cover of Dr. No, Ian Fleming’s sixth James Bond novel, originally published by Jonathan Cape, London in 1958. Illustrated by Pat Marriott.
