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Licence to Thrill: a cultural history of the James Bond films
JAMES CHAPMAN, 1999
LB. Tauris, Cinema and Society
pp xiv + 325, illus., L14.95 (paper)
As James Chapman points out in the Preface to this lively and insightful study, somewhere between one-quarter and a half of the population of the world have seen a James Bond film. The films have consistently ranked as among the top box office draws of the years they appeared. Bond films changed the way in which films are made and become their own genre in the process. They constitute a fascinating window both on the changing nature of the British film industry and the shifting cultural and political concerns of the years in which they were made.
Chapman teases many fresh nuances from the origins of the Bond cycle. He locates the films in the tradition of imperial spy thrillers, directing particular attention to the Dick Barton radio serials and such adventure films as Q Planes (1939), which also inspired the creation of Avengers hero John Steed. Chapman provides a detailed treatment of Ian Fleming's literary creation, revealing a complex relationship between the films and their source books until the screen Bond ultimately leaves the novels behind and heads off into territories new under the wing of the indefatigable producer Cubby Broccoli.
We learn that Bond first appeared on the small screen in 1954 in a 1 hour CBS television adaptation of Casino Royale. In that...