Bond's 50th Anniversary, Part 1

On Friday, the latest installment of the James Bond franchise opens. But we've come so far from the original James Bond. It's hard to believe that the original James Bond movie opened 50 years ago, and the first novel was published almost 60 years ago. The trademark of the Bond movies has been to have an action-packed movie,  female "companion", a eccentric and/or maniacal villain, an irritated boss, gadgets, and an old man to give the gadgets. Almost sounds cliche. The recent set of movies have been trying to change some of that (little more on the irritated boss, a little less on the gadgets at times, little more on the action...), but the real question is if the books were written in the 50's, how can there be technology as advanced as what we see in the novels?

The fact is the Bond novels were written in the 50's and 60's by Ian Fleming, and the movies were begun in the early 60's, mostly out of Fleming's control. At the time, Kennedy was President, and he released a top 10 favorite books list, and listed "From Russia with Love" on the list. MGM wanted to make the movie, but it isn't exactly full of action, so instead, they chose to make "Dr. No", which actually is the book after "From Russia with Love". But with the success of "Dr. No", people would watch anything with Bond in it. From there, the titles for the movies came from the books, but out of order from the books. There were some loose threads that went from book to book and some character changes (the best example is in "Live and Let Die", the 2nd book, Felix Leiter is partially mauled by alligators and has a hook hand for the rest of the series). As the movies continued on, two things happened: 1. they ran out of titles to use, 2. they used less and less content from the books they were named after. By the 80's, they were being titled after short stories that Fleming had written, and by the 90's, they were completely original names. There was almost always some element that was borrowed from a Bond novel/story, but for the most part, they were separate from the books.

So, if you're a fan of the Bond movies and wonder what the difference is in the order of the books and movies, here's your list:

1962 - Dr. No movie released, named for novel of same name, published 1958, sixth novel.
1963 - From Russia with Love movie released, named for novel of same name, published 1957, fifth novel.
1964 - Goldfinger movie released, named for novel of same name, published 1959, seventh novel.
1965 - Thunderball movie released, named for novel of same name, published 1961, eighth novel.
1967 - You Only Live Twice movie released, named for novel of same name, published 1964, eleventh novel.
1969 - On Her Majesty's Secret Service movie released, named for novel of same name, published 1963, tenth novel.
1971 - Diamonds Are Forever movie released, named for novel of same name, published 1956, fourth novel.
1973 - Live and Let Die movie released, named for novel of same name, published 1954, second novel.
1974 - The Man with the Golden Gun movie released, named for novel of same name, published 1965, twelfth novel.
1977 - The Spy Who Loved Me movie released, named for novel of same name, published 1962, ninth novel.
1979 - Moonraker movie released, named for novel of same name, published 1955, third novel.
1981 - For Your Eyes Only movie released, named for short story of same name/also name of compilation of short stories, compilation published 1960, first compilation.
1983 - Octopussy movie released, named for short story of same name/also co-name of compilation of short stories, compilation published 1966, second compilation.
1985 - A View to a Kill movie released, named for short story "From a View to a Kill" from the For Your Eyes Only compilation, published 1960.
1987 - The Living Daylights movie released, named for short story of same name (from compilation "Octopussy and the Living Daylights"), compilation published 1966.
1989 - License to Kill movie released, original name.
1995 - Goldeneye movie released, named after Fleming's home in Jamaica, original name.
1997 - Tomorrow Never Dies movie released, original name.
1999 - The World Is Not Enough movie released, original name.
2002 - Die Another Day movie released, original name.
2006 - Casino Royale movie released, named for novel of same name, published 1953, first novel.
2008 - Quantum of Solace movie released, named for short story of same name (from compilation "For Your Eyes Only" compilation, published 1960.
2012 - Skyfall movie released, original name.

If you're a true Bond fan, you might be wondering if any movies are missing. These movies are the "official" Bond movies from MGM/United Artists. There have been two other "unofficial" Bond movies made.

1967 - Casino Royale, spoof movie, named for first novel.
1983 - Never Say Never Again, original name.

Check back in Part 2 for more expendablenlightenment!