Happy anniversary, Mr. Bond!

MANILA, Philippines - Fans of British Secret Service Agent 007 James Bond will have three reasons to celebrate this 2012.

First, it is the 60th year of the creation of James Bond by Ian Lancaster Fleming (1908-1964) who first wrote the novel Casino Royale (filmed twice — in 1967 as a comedy with David Niven, and in 2006 as a more faithful version with Bond essayed by Daniel Craig) from Feb. 17 to March 18, 1952. (See Henry Chancellor’s James Bond: The Man and His World: the Definitive Companion to Ian Fleming’s Creation from John Murray Books available at National Bookstore and Fully Booked).

Second, it’s the 50th year of James Bond as a cinematic hero. Doctor No, starring the iconic Sean Connery, debuted Oct. 5, 1962.

And third, the 23rd “official” James Bond film Skyfall will premiere on Oct. 31. It marks Craig’s third reprise of the 007 role, and if rumors proved to be true, Ralph Fiennes (of The English Patient) will play 007’s arch-nemesis Ernst Stavro Blofeld of SPECTRE (the Special Executive for Counterintelligence, Terrorism, Revenge and Extortion).

My first (and all-time favorite) James Bond film was You Only Live Twice from 1967, the fifth one to star Connery. My mom took me to see it when I was nine (it was re-released here in the Philippines at the time). It was certainly a surprising intro to the life of the world’s most famous secret agent — how many films at the time began with the hero’s apparent assassination, as seen in the pre-credit teaser before Nancy Sinatra’s rendition of the title song?

As I was (and still am) interested in outer space (I remember both The Six Million Dollar Man, who’s a former astronaut, and Space: 1999 still playing at the old RPN Channel 9 at the time), the story of 007 investigating the disappearances of US Space Capsules piqued my interest, and opened me to the world of spies and espionage.

An advantage of Fleming’s James Bond as opposed to other “more modern” pop culture spy characters (i.e. Jack Bauer of the series 24 or Jason Bourne of the Bourne films and novels) is that 007 and his allies (such as American CIA contact Felix Leiter) are clearly seen as the good guys/protagonists, minus the moral ambiguity or “shades of grey” used to justify the actions of today’s heroes. In the Bond films as well as classic shows like Mission: Impossible, the audience is clearly told who the good guys are.

So it is in You Only Live Twice where Bond meets his MI-6 contact Mr. Henderson (Charles Gray, who, ironically, would portray SPECTRE’s Ernst Stavro Blofeld in Diamonds Are Forever), and later Japanese Secret Service head “Tiger” Tanaka (Tetsuro Tamba) and the female agent Aki (Akiko Wakabayashi) and later, Kissy Suzuki (Mie Hama). It is quickly established that the space incidents are part of a scheme by a nation (implied as Red China; one more cool thing about the early Bond films, no “political correctness” nonsense and “sensitivity issues”) to initiate a war between the United States and the then Soviet Union. These are being masterminded by SPECTRE (led by Blofeld played by Donald Pleasance) via its front Japanese firm, Osato Chemicals and its head Mr. Osato, and SPECTRE Agent 11 Helga Brandt (Karin Dor).

Later on, 007 learns how Osato smuggles needed rocket fuel for SPECTRE and with Q’s (Desmond Llewelyn) inventive Little Nellie Gyrocopter that is showcased in a spectacular aerial battle against SPECTRE’s helicopters, gathers enough evidence to be suspicious of SPECTRE’s lair, an apparently dormant volcano. With Tiger and Aki, Bond is introduced to the concept of the Ninja, the art of surprise and concealment; in fact, the novel and film versions of You Only Live Twice became one of the first to showcase Ninjas in Western culture.

Later, with Kissy Suzuki’s help (posing as Bond’s wife, as seen in a sequence that highlights Japan’s wedding ritual at the time), 007 infiltrates Blofeld’s lair and a spectacular battle ensues when Kissy, ordered to leave to inform Tiger of their findings by Bond, returns with Tiger and his Ninjas who face off against SPECTRE’s forces. Tiger even saves 007 from being shot by Blofeld, allowing Bond to complete his mission and halt WWIII before it can start.

When I first saw You Only Live Twice, it got me interested in reading the original Bond novels. My mom got me young adult versions of Dr. No, Goldfinger and Live and Let Die from an old Alemar’s Bookstore for P1 at the time, and in due course, I managed to complete a set of the original books. I must admit that it took me awhile to reconcile the events of the real 007 novels from the movie versions. Still, given the liberties taken by the films, the spirit of the original books shone through (NB: From Russia With Love, Thunderball, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service and For Your Eyes Only were mostly faithful to the books). And I remained a James Bond fan.

You Only Live Twice helped inspire me to be a reader and later to be an aspiring writer. It made me aware that a novelist such as Ian Fleming or Tom Clancy needed discipline to get a novel done, and lots of research and attention to detail to get the facts right. Fleming’s original novels are rich in detail, from character descriptions to citing the nuts and bolts of vehicles, equipment and weaponry used. It made writing a challenge but a fun one as I am now creating my own secret agent characters.

And You Only Live Twice helped grow my interest in espionage, both fictional and real. It helped me become a fan of spies such as Clancy’s John Clark, Napoleon Solo (The Man from UNCLE, another spy created by Fleming; check the Wikipedia), Jack Bauer and even spies in animé such as Sam, Clover, Alex and Britney of Totally Spies! and Scarlett in GI Joe. And it made me more interested in learning about the spy world for real, as I try to purchase such books when they’re on sale, such as the Dictionary of Espionage by Henry S.A. Beckett, The World’s Greatest Spies and SpyMasters. (They can get pricey.) 

It is said that You Only Live Twice was the zenith of Connery’s tenure as James Bond, as cited in FHM’s James Bond Supplement back in 2002, and I believe it. For all the spectacular stunts, the exciting action and the daredevil thrills, Connery made James Bond an accessible character to the audience. He not only had a strong physical resemblance to Bond (shared only by Timothy Dalton in The Living Daylights and License to Kill) but he portrayed him in a way that made viewers like and care for him as both a man and as a secret agent. 

Thanks for the inspiration, 007. Happy Anniversary. 

(About the author: Monzon, who graduated from University of the East, Caloocan Campus, is a big fan of action/thriller reads, as well as sci-fi and animé.)

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