It’s been over 13 years since The Henry Ford museum in Dearborn Michigan hosted the then-travelling “Bond, James Bond” gallery.
Scroll down to the very bottom of its page titled “Past Exhibits” and you’ll see it mentioned. No photographs, no links. Just the dates (June 20, 2003-January 11, 2004) and a one-sentence description.
Behind-the-scenes exploration of the world-class production processes that made Bond films an international phenomenon.
Several years after “Quantum of Solace” was first published as a short story in the May 1959 issue of Cosmopolitan, it would appear that Ian Fleming had in mind to brand the name even more broadly.
… I have a basic alternation to propose in our tax laws, which will call, so that it looks properly portentous on the statute books, the Quantum of Solace Clause. Briefly, this will allow tax relief to those who, as judged by an independent tribunal, have given the maximum amount of pleasure to their fellow citizens. Most beneficiaries will, of course, come from the creative arts—acting, writing, painting, music, etc.—but they will also come from sports, politics and medicine. Such a clause would, I believe, have the blessing of the general public, it would greatly encourage the arts and it would serve to keep creative ability within our shores (copy to Inland Revenue for action!).
Penguin Decades is scheduled to reissue From Russia with Love in paperback this coming April.
So this seemed a good time to look back at a particular point in the original. No, not the 1957 Jonathan Cape first edition; even further back than that.
As I get further and further into my own original research on Ian Fleming, it’s started to amaze me at just how much biographical substance is available to the general public.
In “Playbill,” the page that introduces the March 1960 Playboy magazine, editors provide context for the first appearance of a James Bond short story contributed to that issue by Ian Fleming.
Sean Connery provided the following insights into what Branding, James Bond Branding fundamentally argues is the critical role of product placement in 007 stories.
He had great energy and curiosity and he was a marvelous man to talk to and have a drink with because of the many wide interests he had. What made him a success and caused all the controversy was that his writing was such good journalism. He always contrived extraordinary situations and arranged extravagant meetings for his characters, and he always knew his facts. He was always madly accurate, and this derived from his curiosity. When he was discussing anything, like how a truck worked or a machine or a permutation at bridge, there was a brain at work and an enormous amount of research involved; it wasn’t just a lot of drivel he was talking. That’s what I admired most about him — his energy and his curiousity.
It can be difficult to separate history from myth in nailing down the particulars of the James Bond icon. There’s also an element of timing when considering first-hand research versus relying on the initiatives of others.
Playboy magazine is an invaluable resource when it comes to the James Bond legacy. At once, it captures snapshots in context, and provides that to researches for the most part, as said.