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Anyone who believes that would have to completely dismiss On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, the novel he started to write in the early months of 1962. Widely accepted as one of his best 007 stories. And, as I’ve argued elsewhere, that book, along with his next one, evidenced clear interest in at least partially rebuffing efforts by some at the helm of the Dr. No movie (which filmed concurrently that same year) to wrest total control of his nascent gentleman agent. Ian Fleming had also determined that James Bond be timeless. Much as Fleming is remembered for From Russia, with Love, compelling plotlines were not dependent on a perpetuating Soviet Union for adversaries; SPECTRE easily replaced SMERSH, for example. An ongoing book-Bond, then, meant continuation authors someday following him at the keyboard. With no disrespect to the new-original Bond scribes that did come along, starting with Kingsley Amis, the motion pictures marginalized them. One might even ask, why bother? Through EON Productions, movies survived lead-actor changes. Multiple legal battles. The Harry Saltzman and Albert R. “Cubby” Broccoli partnership split. And an end to The Cold War. But it strikes me that something changed after World Is Not Enough in 1999. The juggernaut lost its momentum. The James Bond brand seemed to lose its most important, future-assuring asset: Its unique James Bond branding. Die Another Day missed almost every mark, coming across as resentfully forced in tying to its own legacy. Then the guy inside the tuxedo changed in 2006. Hell -- reboot the entire series. Casino Royale swung the pendulum to deliver an upper-tier Bond film. But it was followed by Quantum of Solace, again swinging things back over, to one of the worst. As someone who’s loyally followed the Ian Fleming books and EON Productions films since the 1960’s, I attribute this to an inexplicable philosophy of “change for the sake of change.” Any change, pell-mell. More than distain for the old: Revise and invalidate it. Don’cha know? Q-Branch never issued to James Bond a then-dealer-showroom-current Aston Martin “with modifications” for his investigation of Auric Goldfinger. Bond won an admittedly identical DB5, albeit, now only able to be presented as a four-plus-decades-old classic automobile owned by an eccentric thug. Disrespectful as I find such slights, more obviously misguided is the gratuitous sexual inversion. Seriously, guys: Have James Bond audience demographics really changed that much since Fleming last controlled the typewriter? To a point where it’s important that Skyfall spokespersons have “guaranteed Javier Bardem and Daniel Craig will be taking their shirts off quite a lot”? Punctuated with a “Damn right!” That is preferable to Ian Fleming’s design, circa 1955 and this bit of reflection on Bond-girl Gala Brand in Moonraker? “Her rather severe evening dress was in charcoal black grosgrain with full sleeves that came below the elbow. The wrap-over bodice just showed the swell of her breasts, which were as splendid as Bond had guessed from the measurements on her record sheet….” Jeffery Deaver got it right in Carte Blanche. Not just demonstrating the ongoing appropriateness of a literary Bond next to the movies, but underscoring their necessity as present-day blueprint across-the-board. His Ophelia Maidenstone (Philly) enticingly reposes on par with Fleming’s Gala Brand. “She sat forward, crossing her legs, and Bond believed he heard the appealing rustle of nylon.” Capturing such fundamentals doesn’t require round-peg-forced-into-square-hole dedication to each and every early style element. Deaver’s Bond is smarter than Fleming’s Bond. Traces of Jeffery Deaver’s own established protagonist Lincoln Rhyme seep into the way Bond thinks. Elsewhere, the person of Q is neither recognizable as a man one could imagine in an offstage supporting role for the 1954 Live and Let Die, nor as portrayed for EON Productions by John Cleese or the late Desmond Llewelyn.
Carte Blanche works because Jeffery Deaver genuinely respects the legacy upon which he is building. This is in contrast to post-1999 Bond elsewhere, which has stumbled because there is no clear identity with which to connect, nor established loyalty to leverage in the new direction of “just not Bond.” Ironically, the last few James Bond plots have inexplicably sought to emulate flash-in-the-pan Jason Bourne, the lead actor for which has nothing but contempt for Agent 007. Adding core insult to injury, “the new M” seems primarily to have been designed to perpetuate similar distain for James Bond in the movies and in PSAs. Perhaps the result of Hugo Drax having become head of H.R. and leadership training for MI6? I’ve heard fans bristle at biographies reporting that Ian Fleming created and continued with his James Bond thrillers above all else for money. Kudos to him for it. “James Bond” could benefit from a more strategically professional management of the brand across all of its deliver mediums right now. Jeffery Deaver unabashedly talks about his own strictly business philosophy that governs all of his writing projects. In his book promotion talks, he’s gone so far as paralleling it to product development ala Proctor & Gamble. In a nutshell, deliver what the customer wants. There is a formula for Bond, and Jeffery Deaver has shown how well it still works. I think Skyfall can make it work, too. It was welcome news and a good start to hear director Sam Mendes say that his upcoming EON Productions 007 film “doesn’t connect with the last two movies….” There is no doubt in my mind that Jeffery Deaver should write the next original James Bond book. Ian Fleming Publications benefits from the sort of continuity he portends. It’s a reliable insurance policy against future studio stumbles and the new face undoubtedly coming for James Bond in the next three to five years. Akin to those reading this article and me, Jeffery Deaver likes the James Bond character. You know -- the icon that’s unique in its ability to celebrate a continuously active 60-year history in 2012. We need more of that.
Copyright © 2011 JamesBondWatches.com and Dell Deaton |
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