Those of us old enough to have seen the first James Bond film Dr. No when it was released in 1962 tend to view Sean Connery as the best Bond of all, even though good arguments can be made for some of the others who came later. And so the announcement of his death today will bring with it a tinge of sadness as yet another film icon of our era leaves us. I was surprised that he was 90 years old. I guess that is because you tend to think of the actors who dominated in one’s youth as getting older but not becoming that old. Roger Moore, who also acted in numerous Bond films and brought a lighter, more comedic touch to the role, died three years ago, also at the age of 90.
Although he acted in many other films of note, Connery will always be identified with the Bond character. The author of the books Ian Fleming though that Connery was wrong for the role and the fact that he was Scottish did not help with those who felt that Bond epitomized suave Englishness. The actor Christopher Lee who was friends with Fleming said that he thought Pierce Brosnan came closest to the Bond that existed in Fleming’s mind.
Here is the scene from Dr. No when Bond first says his name in the way that has since become endlessly parodied.
The actor Eunice Grayson who asks him his name in that scene said that he had great difficulty in getting it right.
Gayson said in 2012 that filming the scene had not been easy as Sean Connery struggled with the line.
She said: “He had to say Bond, James Bond, but he came out with other permutations like Sean Bond, James Connery. ‘Cut! Cut! Cut!'”
At the instigation of the director, Terence Young, Gayson took Mr Connery for a drink, and he returned to deliver it perfectly.
A bit of trivia is that it is not Grayson’s actual voice that is heard in the film. The voice of voiceover artist Nikki van der Zyl was used for her and for many of the other female leads in the early Bond films.
The Bond franchise seems to be with us permanently and it will be interesting to see who takes over from current occupant Daniel Craig. The rumor that a woman is being considered to take over his number 007 if not his name remains just a rumor.
I’m from 1963 but that doesn’t really matter; I’ve seen quite a few movies made earlier. Some of my all time favourites are the German pre-Hitler movie M and Seven Samurai.
In my youth I was already averse to hypes. As a result I never have seen any Star Wars movie nor Jaws, nor Grease and indeed no James Bond movie with either Sean Connery or Roger Moore. I’ve only seen fragments; as a result I never felt any urge. It was more or less by accident that I saw my first Bond movie -- with Pierce Brosnan. It was to my surprise that I liked it; I think they are comedies.
However I very much like Sean Connery as an actor post James Bond. I immensely enjoyed The Man who would be King and The First Great Train Robbery. I even loved the only dramatic scene in the otherwise stupid The Rock. In that scene Connery totally outplayed Nick Cage. Wonderful.
It should not be forgotten that Connery was in favour of beating women.
Connery was a large part of why The Last Crusade was the best of the Indiana Jones movies.
He’s in heaven beating the angels now…
Fleming’s description of Bond had him resembling Hoagy Carmichael -- so I guess Pierce Brosnan was in that ball park.
Hot take: Timothy Dalton was the most authentic Bond.
I’m not by any means saying the best; Connery is unsurpassed, but after Roger Moore created a much more parodic, humorous character, Dalton tried to go back to the source material. His Bond even smoked, which Moore had long done away with. I think Dalton’s Bond is much more the dour -- frankly boring -- character of the books, and I say this as someone who read most of the books as a boy.
Brosnan is much more likeable -- but owes more to his Remington Steele character than to Ian Fleming (as Moore’s Bond owed much more to The Saint).
It’s just that Connery’s movie Bond was so much more likeable and engaging than the literary Bond, so that is the standard that producers have aspired to ever since.
P.S.
Pierce Brosnan is Irish. So… :-/
Too young for Dr No, so Goldfinger was my first Bond film.
For me James Bond is Sean Connery.
As a child I had the Corgi Toys model of Bond’s gold Aston Martin. You could press buttons to make the ejector seat work, and make the machine guns and bullet proof shield appear. What a wonderful toy, I wish I still had it.
I’ve often fancied the idea of becoming a Bond villain, so if anyone knows of an extinct volcano that I could turn into a top secret headquarters I would be interested to hear from you.
One of the actors considered to replace Daniel Craig is black (I forget who it was).
One of the objections raised was -- Bond can’t be black, he’s Scottish.
Idris Elba would be great if he wasn’t already to old.
As for “rumours” -- Lashana Lynch is 007 in No Time To Die. We’re way past rumour with that. (she’s the one in the trailer who threatens to shoot Bond in the knee… “the one that works”. I detect the hand of PW-B in that line)