A celebration of 007: Bond Week
By The Prodigal Fool, published on 2 August 2010
If ever one man truly lived the Prodigal lifestyle it is James Bond.
The cars, the food, the gadgets, the travel, the watches, the – eh – nocturnal activities: everyone’s favourite gentlemen spy had the life we all aspire to. Or do we? The truth is that if you’ve ever actually tried to match Mr Bond Martini for Martini, filet mignon for filet mignon, cigarette for cigarette (and we’ve been known to on rare occasions), you’ll have realised that it’s an exhausting – if not just plain insane – way to live.
Go back to the books and you’ll discover that the man smoked 60-70 a day (“a special Balkan and Turkish mixture with three gold bands on the filter” Fleming tells us “The cigarettes are specially made for him by Morland’s and carried in a wide, thin cigarette case of black gunmetal with room for fifty”) for goodness sake! With all that drinking, eating and smoking, it’s a miracle he didn’t kill himself, let alone that he was still capable of fighting off trained assassins at the end of a hard day. Hell, after 12 hours of it, we barely had the strength for sex with a random stranger.
But we digress. Our point is that the man is a legend and, this week, we’d like to honour him by presenting a series of posts that look at some of the reasons why he is such an enduringly appealing ficitonal hero.
Bond Week is seven days and seven posts with which we hope to shine some light on the myth, the legend, the inspiration that is agent double-O-seven:
- Today – Bond’s creator’s watch: Our latest Prodigal Questionnaire is really rather special. It puts Dell Deaton, the world’s foremost expert on James Bond watches and the editor of JamesBondWatches.com, on the couch to ask him about his Rolex Explorer (reference 1016), a watch so close to Ian Fleming’s own that you’ll barely believe it.
- Tuesday – Bond’s cars: Straight-Six will be comparing two of Bond’s more evocative sets of wheels – the Aston Martins DB5 and DBS – and offering his take on which he prefers and why.
- Wednesday – Bond’s drink: Patito takes you for a trip to Dukes of St James, the spiritual home of Bond’s beloved Martini. Patitio is ever the professional journalist and we think this may be the most thoroughly researched post you’ll ever read.
- Thursday – Bond books: No, no, not the Fleming stories – those are well known. Instead we’ve got some more recent sources of Bond information and photos: a couple of coffee books that Bond aficionados won’t want to be without.
- Friday – Bond’s watch: Yes, we’re back to watches because 007 has had nearly as many of them as women in his time. (We said nearly!) His love affair with Rolex and Omega is well-documented, but what of the other brands that have adorned Bond’s wrist over the years? It’s often forgotten that the likes of Seiko, Hamilton and Breitling have all been strapped to 007′s wrist at some point in his career. In a guest post, Dell Deaton will examine some of the more interesting ones.
- Saturday – Bond’s future: As production of Bond 23 lies in limbo because of MGM’s financial problems, The Prodigal Fool takes the opportunity of offering his suggestions as to how Bond should be kitted out on his next outing.
- Sunday – Bond’s past: We’ll leave the last word to you at the end of the week, asking you to look back on 007′s career to-date and take part in a good old fashioned Bond Girl poll. Who’s the best Bond’s had?
Welcome to Bond Week. Before you get stuck in to the posts, why not take a moment to remind yourself of how it all began: one of the most famous introductions in movie history. In Dr No, we meet Bond for the first time: at the baccarat table at Les Ambassadeurs in London, smoking, gambling and flirting. Enjoy.
A celebration of 007: Bond Week
If ever one man truly lived the Prodigal lifestyle it is James Bond. The cars, the food, the gadgets, the travel, the watches, the – eh – nocturnal activities: everyone’s favourite gentlemen spy had the life we all aspire to. Or do we? The truth is that if you’ve ever actually tried to match Mr [...]
7 Responses to “A celebration of 007: Bond Week”
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The funny part is that Ian Flemming actually lived as hard as the character. From his gorgeous hangout in Jamaica as well. If I remember correctly he died at a fairly early age (63 perhaps) of organ failure (heart via liver) but man did this dude live it up!
I understand he was quite generous as well. Guess my point would be that the author is as interesting as the character if you can dig up the details, do publish them -
If you’re interested in Fleming, you may find Andrew Lycett’s biography a good read.
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Flight of a Virgin virgin « The Prodigal Guide
15 August 2010
[...] Prodigal House we are dedicated and loyal fans of British Airways. This is much in the same way as we love (unconditionally) 007 and Aston Martin. BA encapsulates to us the very best of British. OK, so we know BA does not [...]
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A Prodigal August « The Prodigal Guide
6 September 2010
[...] Explorer reference 1016 – Our latest Prodigal Questionnaire coincided with the beginning of Bond Week so who better to put on the couch than Dell Deaton, the world’s foremost expert on James Bond [...]
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Michael
13 September 2010
Why is it that everyone forgets Ian Fleming has Bond driving a Bentley?
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We don’t forget, Michael. Did you see our post on Bond’s future? We specifically request that the producers put 007 back in the car he belongs in: a Bentley.
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Dell Deaton, JamesBondWatches.com
2 August 2010
Very exciting news, indeed, this series. And yet I must respectfully differ on “where it all began.” There is a certain elegance, appropriateness to the written word of Ian Fleming with which he started it all in his 1953 novel, Casino Royale.
“The scent and smoke and sweat of a casino are nauseating at three in the morning.”
One wonders how Daniel Craig might have delivered this scene in his first outing as James Bond, Agent 007, in 2006. Why, we might even be here looking at it presently via YouTube tribute instead.