The James Bond Bedside Companion (80 page)

After the announcement of Dalton's casting was made, Eon Productions refused to acknowledge the controversy surrounding Pierce Brosnan and his TV series. The publicists stated that Brosnan had "never been officially cast" and that Dalton had always been Eon's first choice. In fact, Dalton had been offered the part in 1968, after Sean Connery first left the series.

Dalton graciously refused the part on the grounds that he was too young, and that it would most likely be "suicide" to step into Connery's shoes at that point in history. (Considering George Lazenby's reception by the public, Dalton had a bit of foresight.) Apparently, Dalton was offered the role a second time around 1978, when there was a dispute over Roger Moore's contract. But Dalton was unavailable at the time, so the producers worked it out with Moore.

Once Dalton was secure in the saddle, production began on
The Living Daylights
, Eon's fifteenth Bond film, appearing twenty-five years after the company's first motion picture,
Dr. No
. As filming began in Gibraltar in the fall of 1986, a worldwide publicity effort was planned to celebrate James Bond's twenty-five years on screen.

When 1987 rolled around, it was evident that it would be a significant year in the history of the James Bond phenomenon. First, in the spring, John Gardner's sixth 007 novel was published. Titled NO DEALS, MR. BOND, it appeared in the U.S. from Putnam, and in the U.K. from Cape/Hodder & Stoughton. The jacket for the British edition was once again designed and executed by Trevor Scobie, featuring a set of headphones lying on a European map. The Gardner Bonds showed no signs of waning, for NO DEALS, MR. BOND outperformed the previous effort in terms of sales and appeared on the New York Times best-seller list for seven weeks. As a result, Glidrose Publications signed the author to write three more.

In May, "Happy Anniversary 007" aired on ABC in America, and on the BBC as "James Bond—License to Thrill." Hosted by Roger Moore, it was an hour-long celebration of James Bond on screen. Besides the many film clips from the entire series, audiences got their first glimpse of Timothy Dalton as Bond in a preview from the upcoming film.

In June, the Museum of Modern Art in New York City opened an exhibit entitled "25 Years of James Bond—A Gift of Albert R. Broccoli." The Museum, which keeps an extensive film library, acquired prints of the fifteen Eon James Bond films, donated by Broccoli himself. The prints were unique in that they were
struck directly from the original negatives of the movies—not from internegatives, like regular release prints. To celebrate the occasion, the museum featured a display of props from the films, production design renderings, theatrical posters, and blown-up stills. In addition, a video monitor ran pre-credits and main title sequences on a continuous basis.

On June 29, 1987,
The
Living
Daylights
premiered in London at the Odeon Leicester Square, attended by the Prince and Princess of Wales. The event raised $400,000 for The Prince's Trust, which aids England's socially and economically deprived youth. The film became an immediate hit in Great Britain (grossing £7,240,762 in nine weeks!), and the box-office reception in Europe was just as enthusiastic. The film opened in America on July 31, and had the biggest opening three-day weekend—a record $11 million—in Eon's history
(A
View to
a Kill
has the record for a four-day weekend).

Critical reaction was surprisingly mixed, especially in America. There was even a diversified reception among hard-core Bond fans. Many critics in America complained that Timothy Dalton and the film were "too serious." But
The
New York Times
defended Dalton, saying, "He has enough presence, the right debonair looks, and the kind of energy that the Bond series has lately been lacking. If he radiates more thoughtfulness than the role requires, maybe that's just gravy."

One thing is definite—fans of the Ian Fleming books
embraced
Timothy Dalton as Bond, for his characterization was, in many eyes, the most literal interpretation of the role ever seen on screen.

Eon actually expected a mixed reaction for their film. It was more serious, tougher, and more in the spirit of Ian Fleming than any of the Roger Moore pictures. Eon's publicity machine knew from previous experience that it always takes one or two pictures for audiences to become accustomed to a new Bond. It was only a matter of time.

In America,
The Living
Daylights
to date has made a disappointing $26,600,000, but, curiously, it did outstanding business in Europe, England, Australia, and the Far East The film was by no means a failure, for worldwide rentals promise to keep the movie on the same level as the high-grossing Roger Moore blockbusters.

The literary James Bond arrived at a thirty-fifth anniversary in 1988, and producer Kevin McClory made a surprise announcement in the February 10 issue of
Variety
. The article stated that McClory had made plans to issue a series of James Bond films based on the original "Film Scripts" which served as the basis for
Thunderball
and
Never Say NeverAgain.
An unnamed Dutch company was collaborating with the producer, and no further details were given other than that plans were also underway to mount a series of animated "James Bond vs. SPECTRE" stories for television. No additional details on McClory's projects were available when this 1988 update went to press.

On April 11, Sean Connery won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his role in Brian De Palma's
The Un
touchables.
At the Academy Awards ceremony, Connery received two standing ovations—a testament to his stature in the eyes of his peers that he truly represents a hero.

That same month, Eon Productions announced that the name of their sixteenth 007 film would be
License
Revoked,
the first one not based on an existing Fleming title. Production on the film is to begin in July with locations in Mexico and Florida and is set for a summer 1989 release.

Additionally, John Gardner's seventh 007 novel, SCORPIUS, will be published in May in America by Putnam and by Hodder & Stoughton in the U.K. The British publishers will also manufacture as a publicity gimmick the "Avant Carte" credit card, which figures prominently in the book's plot.

Even the two fan clubs are thriving. Richard Schenkman's James Bond 007 Fan Club gained many new members as a result of the twenty-fifth film anniversary, and the James Bond British Fan Club has shown a burst of energy under the new leadership of Graham Rye and Andrew Pilkington.

The James Bond phenomenon will apparently never die.

You can't keep a good man down.

J
ohn Gardner has continued 007's literary saga with four books, ROLE OF HONOR (1984), NOBODY LIVES FOREVER (1986), NO DEALS, MR. BOND (1987), and SCORPIUS (1988). With the newest set, it is evident that the author is improving. It is a much better quartet of yams than the first three. This is mainly due to the increase of Gardner's successful attempts to make the James
Bond character more human. In all four novels, Bond's adventures are much more personal. This is the element that made winners out of Ian Fleming's books—no matter how much fantasy there was in the story, a very human, very real James Bond made it all credible.

In ROLE OF HONOR, Dr. Jay Autem Holy, a noted computer expert, and "Rolling Joe" Zwingli, a fanatical U.S. general, have disappeared in a plane crash over ten years before. Sources have revealed that Holy is alive and well and working undercover at a computer software company in Oxfordshire. Holy's ex-wife, Persephone (Percy) Proud, gives Bond a crash course in computer programming before he infiltrates the company as a potential employee. Bond soon discovers that Holy is in cahoots with Tamil Rahani, the new leader of SPECTRE. Holy and Rahani are concocting a computerized plan to knock out the U.S.'s and the Soviet Union's nuclear capabilities.

The reigning 007. Timothy Dalton amidst a James Bond milieu: The new Aston Martin Volante (seen in
The Living Daylights
), the AcroStar jet from
Octopussy
, the gravestone of Bond's wife Tracy (seen in
For Your Eyes Only
), and other assorted props from the James Bond films. (Photo by Dave Gamble, copyright
©
1987 Time, Inc. Courtesy of Life Picture Service.)

The new 007 and his new women: Timothy Dalton with leading lady Maryam d'Abo and the new Miss Moneypenny, Caroline Bliss, at a publicity function for
The Living Daylights
. (Wide World Photo.)

The new Bentley Turbo R, the latest version of the Bentley Mulsanne Turbo, which James Bond currently drives in the John Gardner novels. (Photo courtesy of Rolls-Royce Motors, Inc.)