Ajay Chowdhury: In August 1977 on a rainy holiday in Caernarfon, North Wales I became a James Bond fan. My parents took their three restless sons to the cinema to watch The Spy Who Loved Me; when Bond cascaded off a mountain, only to be saved by his Union Jack parachute, I fell with him. From Luxor to the Lotus to the Liparus, I was led into the world of 007. Jaws’ first appearance cloaked in shadow was genuinely terrifying. And, to cap it all, Roger Moore as James Bond finally gave me a hero I could respond to – audacious, assured, brilliant and, uniquely, British. Other things struck me, too: Ken Adam’s gun-metal genius, Marvin Hamlisch’s disco Bond ’77 theme and the ingenious gadgets (I have never looked at ordinary objects in the same way since). I was six years old and too young to appreciate the libidinous delights of the film – that came later – but I was thoroughly entertained. Over the next few years I would enjoy Star Wars, Star Trek and Superman, but nobody did it better than Bond, as Moonraker proved. My theory is that we become Bond fans after the second Bond film we see. This is because we connect the dots and see the similarities between films. The gun barrel, the music, the titles, ‘M’, ‘Q’, Moneypenny – they all trigger a sense of connectivity, which inspires us to follow the journey of all 007’s adventures.
Matthew Field: In July 1987 I went to the cinema for the very first time; the venue was the Poole Arts Centre and the film was The Living Daylights. I, too, was six years old and loved every minute of it. Later that year, following minor surgery, I woke to discover a gift at the foot of my hospital bed: Sally Hibbin’s THE OFFICIAL JAMES BOND 007 MOVIE POSTER BOOK. I read it from cover to cover and, like every cereal packet reader, even digested the copyright notice. But, it would be an agonising eight years before I got to experience another 007 film in the theatre – what felt like a whole lifetime’s wait. When Licence to Kill was awarded a 15-rated certificate this eight-year-old was left gazing at the poster outside the cinema, unable to watch it. Finally when GoldenEye arrived in 1995 I remember seeing it with ten of my classmates. We were the GoldenEye generation. From then on it became a ritual to see the new Bond film at the cinema, except girlfriends and wives now accompany us and on the last occasion, the Odeon Bournemouth was replaced by the Royal Albert Hall, when we attended the première of Skyfall together.
Field and Chowdhury: Being a James Bond fan is a akin to supporting a sports team; when you see a Bond film at the cinema it is like watching your team play a match. However, the game is only part of the fun. Sports fans speculate on players, who will be transferred, whose performance was good or bad. Bond fans speculate on the actors chosen and critique their suitability. Sports fans follow the coaches, the managers and specialist trainers – the behind-the-scenes staff are increasingly under the spotlight. Bond fans follow the film-makers, directors, writers, designers and stunt teams – noting their influence on the resulting picture. The importance of ownership and investment is reported more these days as sports teams have become huge franchises. For the Bond series, studio shenanigans have similarly affected the spy’s performance. Team appreciation is often handed down from one generation to another and the family spirit of Bond has passed through, what in showbusiness terms, are eons. While the Bond team has cherished its star players from Sean Connery to Daniel Craig, we have also cherished our team founder Ian Fleming and our managers from Harry Saltzman and Cubby Broccoli to Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli. Without these people James Bond would not return.
We started out as James Bond fans and owe a huge debt of gratitude to the Bond community whose work we have admired and, in some cases, with whom we have formed friendships.
We stand on the shoulders of the following James Bond heroes: Ross Hendry, Richard Schenkman and Bob Forlini who founded the earliest James Bond fan clubs. John Pearson, John Brosnan, Steven Jay Rubin, Raymond Benson, Lee Pfeiffer, Philip Lisa, Dave Worrall, Andrew Lycett, Alan Barnes, Marcus Hearn, John Cork, Bruce Scivally and Paul Duncan – the authors of our favourite James Bond bibles.
We would also like to thank the following individuals from the global fan community who have added to our knowledge of 007: Oliver Bayan, Michael van Blaricum, Remmert van Braam, Heiko Baumann, Luc Le Clech, Jeremy Duns, Brad Frank, Tim Greaves, Markus Hartman, Charles Helfenstein, Jerome Nicod, Thomas Nixdorf, Edward Coffrini Dell’Orto, Laurent Perriot, Andrew Pilkington, Doug Redenius, David A. Reinhardt, Pierre Rodiac, Graham Rye, Panos Sambrakos, Robert Sellers, Dr. Siegfried Tesche and Wolfgang Thuerauf.
In a professional capacity, we have both become involved in various aspects of the entertainment industry and so began to appreciate the work of the producers in a more professional context. We went from Bond fans to Bond scholars. As we delved deeper into the Bond mythos we realised there were many untold tales from many unsung heroes who played key creative roles in the series. We gained a renewed respect for not only how the series was founded but also how a Rolls Royce standard has been maintained.
This book was written to accompany the DVDs and the trove of Bond treasure already in the public domain. We have deliberately refrained from reviewing each film because every fan has their favourites and their guilty pleasures. This book is not a definitive ‘making-of volume’, but hopefully offers an insight into the reasons behind some of the creative and commercial decisions made. We are huge fans of the Ian Fleming Bond books and continuation novels, and encourage people to read a Bond adventure. However, the literary tale of Bond was not the remit of this volume.
We have sought to accurately cite our sources and provide a contextualised story of events. Over the years so many errors have entered the narrative, which have then been repeated as fact. We hope to rectify some of those myths with this book. Where stories have differed and recollections have been contradictory we have used our judgment to decide the version of events related. Where we have erred we do encourage the reader to contact us with any corrections by email: somekindofhero007@gmail.com.
This manuscript was conceived, in some form, over two decades ago, but the book you are reading is extremely recent. We have deliberately chosen to end our tale at the announcement of the 2015 film, SPECTRE. As you read this we hope you have digested the twenty-fourth Eon Bond film, then discussed – or probably argued over – it with friends and family. SPECTRE will undoubtedly be another great chapter in the remarkable story of the James Bond films.
In preparing this book many unlikely events occurred. In 2010 we attended the Edinburgh International Film Festival of which Sir Sean Connery was a patron. We found ourselves at a private festival party – a traditional Scottish ceilidh. We spent the evening plotting how to engineer an introduction to our carefully guarded host, Sir Sean. Many ideas were considered, from the sublime to the ridiculous. During our deliberations we were interrupted by an apologetic festival publicist, who politely enquired whether we would mind awfully posing with Sir Sean with a glass of red wine on behalf of the drinks sponsor. Generously we consented; five years later it was time to ask Sir Sean to repay that favour.
After contacting his fellow Bonds we wrote a lengthy plea to Sir Sean requesting an interview for this book. No response. We then sent a personal note to his home in the Bahamas. Nix. We telephoned his team but got nowhere. We planned trips to New York, Scotland and the Bahamas to finesse the interview but all came to naught. Finally, as our deadline approached, we gave it one last try and telephoned Sir Sean’s home in the Bahamas. After negotiating with an intermediary, miraculously, we were put through. The world’s most famous voice came on the line. A rather bad line. Sir Sean explained, ‘I cannot be responsible for the mail in this country because it goes to Jamaica first. We have a phone system and a mail system not to be envied.’ Sir Sean excused himself as he had a pressing engagement. He was open to rearranging an interview at a later date. Too late for this book!
SOME KIND OF HERO will return.
Matthew Field and Ajay Chowdhury
London, August 2015
The authors share a glass of wine with 007 – Sean Connery.