Bond 1. Stanley Baker (1962 - 1966)
A little experiment on my part ...
1. Stanley Baker
Bond (Stanley Baker) and Mathis (Giorgio Albertazzi) in 'From A View To A Kill' (1962)
Time in Role: 1962 - 1966
Life: 1928 - 1976
First Film: From A View To A Kill (1962)
Last Film: Thunderball (1966)
How He Got The Role:
Stanley Baker was an unexpected lead contender for the role of James Bond in 1962. Producers had offered the role to Cary Grant, who provisionally accepted but would only commit to a single film and the studio insisted on a contract for three. A competition in a newspaper saw the top two contenders as Sean Connery and Peter Anthony - but the latter was more model than actor and the former was scruffy when turning up for a screencast.
In the end, the producers turned to Baker who had recently had a minor role in The Guns of Navarone. He was avaliable, not unrealistically expensive and would agree to a three movie contract, with options on a fourth.
The Baker Era:
Baker would debut in 1962's 'From A View To A Kill'. Based on the short story of the same name from the 1960 short story collection 'For Your Eyes Only'. The story was expanded upon by Ian Fleming himself - set primarily in France and Greece, it saw Bond team up with Mary-Ann Russell (Julie Christie, aged 22) an agent from Station F, to thwart a Russian plan to steal secret documents from an MI6 motorbike courier in France and deliver them to the traitorous Colonel Rattray (Laurence Harvey, who also starred in that years The Manchurian Candidate) in Greece.
The follow-up to 'A View To A Kill' was 1963's 'For Your Eyes Only' which had, like the first film, been adapted by Ian Fleming from another short story. The two adaptations had been written simultaneously when the producers were unsure which movie would be the first produced.
'For Your Eyes Only' would see Bond travel to Cuba and Brazil to track down a Nazi hitman called Von Hammerstein (James Mason) who has killed a British diplomat, Sir Timothy Havelock. In a twist of fate, when Bond eventually tracks him down, he has already been murdered by the diplomats daughter Claudia (a relatively unknown Jane Fonda, renamed from the short story's Judy) and the pair team up to track down the Soviet mastermind who had ordered the assassination.
The final movie in Baker's original contract would be 1964's adaptation of 'Casino Royale' - but unlike the previous two films, this had not been adapted by Fleming himself but by his fellow writer, Len Deighton. It was the first to combine two Fleming tales - with elements from the short story 'Risico' combined with the plot of 'Casino Royale'.
Le Chiffre (Anthony Dawson) was revealed to be the financier for the Soviet organisation behind Rattray's attempted theft of documents in 'A View To A Kill' and the assassination of Sir Timothy Havelock in 'For Your Eyes Only' who had invested vast sums of money in a drug smuggling operation run by one of two men. When Bond, aided by his old friend Rene Mathis (Giorgio Albertazzi, returning to the role) and Vesper Lynd (Daniela Bianchi), determines which of the two - Kristatos or Columbo - is behind the drug smuggling, he demolishes their operation and then moves on to ruin Le Chiffre .
With the release of 'Casino Royale' in 1964, Baker's initial contract had run its course. There remained an option for him to agree to a fourth, but producers were keen to sign him on a second three picture deal. Baker agreed to a fourth but refused a second three movie contract - his terms for staying in the role? An increased salary and his choice of adaptation.
He selected 'Thunderball' which would be released in 1966 from a script by Ian Fleming, Jack Whittingham and Kevin McClory, and revised by Len Deighton, who grounded the plot in order to match the first three films. A hastily filmed scene was attached to the end of the cinema release of 'Casino Royale', introducing the character of Ernst Stavro Blofeld (Charles Grey), it saw the villain being informed of the passing of Le Chiffre and their income stream having been eliminated.
BLOFELD
Next time we meet, I expect Mr
Bond to kindly die ...
Even with several drafts by Len Deighton and a pass by Roald Dahl, 'Thunderball' was a marked contrast to the previous three films. It saw Bond trying to stop Blofeld from using stolen nuclear material to hold the NATO countries hostage. It combined the characters of Count Lippe and Patricia into a femme fatale called The Countessa (Luciana Paluzzi), had Angelo Palazzi steal the material after undergoing hypnosis and removed the familial connection between Angelo and Domino (Faye Dunaway) to make her a colleague sent to help Bond instead.
The villains plot to detonate containers of radioactive water during a NATO conference in the Bahamas would later inspire the group, "Days of Omega" to make a similar threat in Spokane, Washington, ten years after the films release. At the conclusion of the movie, Bond appears to die and the audience watch his funeral - but this is a plot to fool Blofeld (Charles Grey, returning to the role) and the Soviets, as Bond is shown to be watching his own funeral with Domino from a nearby clock tower.
The credits roll. The Baker Era comes to an end, but a final surprise for the audience - a title card at the end of the credits, promising that James Bond would return in 'Diamonds are Forever'.
Succeeded By Robert Campbell
1. Stanley Baker
Bond (Stanley Baker) and Mathis (Giorgio Albertazzi) in 'From A View To A Kill' (1962)
Time in Role: 1962 - 1966
Life: 1928 - 1976
First Film: From A View To A Kill (1962)
Last Film: Thunderball (1966)
How He Got The Role:
Stanley Baker was an unexpected lead contender for the role of James Bond in 1962. Producers had offered the role to Cary Grant, who provisionally accepted but would only commit to a single film and the studio insisted on a contract for three. A competition in a newspaper saw the top two contenders as Sean Connery and Peter Anthony - but the latter was more model than actor and the former was scruffy when turning up for a screencast.
In the end, the producers turned to Baker who had recently had a minor role in The Guns of Navarone. He was avaliable, not unrealistically expensive and would agree to a three movie contract, with options on a fourth.
The Baker Era:
Baker would debut in 1962's 'From A View To A Kill'. Based on the short story of the same name from the 1960 short story collection 'For Your Eyes Only'. The story was expanded upon by Ian Fleming himself - set primarily in France and Greece, it saw Bond team up with Mary-Ann Russell (Julie Christie, aged 22) an agent from Station F, to thwart a Russian plan to steal secret documents from an MI6 motorbike courier in France and deliver them to the traitorous Colonel Rattray (Laurence Harvey, who also starred in that years The Manchurian Candidate) in Greece.
The follow-up to 'A View To A Kill' was 1963's 'For Your Eyes Only' which had, like the first film, been adapted by Ian Fleming from another short story. The two adaptations had been written simultaneously when the producers were unsure which movie would be the first produced.
'For Your Eyes Only' would see Bond travel to Cuba and Brazil to track down a Nazi hitman called Von Hammerstein (James Mason) who has killed a British diplomat, Sir Timothy Havelock. In a twist of fate, when Bond eventually tracks him down, he has already been murdered by the diplomats daughter Claudia (a relatively unknown Jane Fonda, renamed from the short story's Judy) and the pair team up to track down the Soviet mastermind who had ordered the assassination.
The final movie in Baker's original contract would be 1964's adaptation of 'Casino Royale' - but unlike the previous two films, this had not been adapted by Fleming himself but by his fellow writer, Len Deighton. It was the first to combine two Fleming tales - with elements from the short story 'Risico' combined with the plot of 'Casino Royale'.
Le Chiffre (Anthony Dawson) was revealed to be the financier for the Soviet organisation behind Rattray's attempted theft of documents in 'A View To A Kill' and the assassination of Sir Timothy Havelock in 'For Your Eyes Only' who had invested vast sums of money in a drug smuggling operation run by one of two men. When Bond, aided by his old friend Rene Mathis (Giorgio Albertazzi, returning to the role) and Vesper Lynd (Daniela Bianchi), determines which of the two - Kristatos or Columbo - is behind the drug smuggling, he demolishes their operation and then moves on to ruin Le Chiffre .
With the release of 'Casino Royale' in 1964, Baker's initial contract had run its course. There remained an option for him to agree to a fourth, but producers were keen to sign him on a second three picture deal. Baker agreed to a fourth but refused a second three movie contract - his terms for staying in the role? An increased salary and his choice of adaptation.
He selected 'Thunderball' which would be released in 1966 from a script by Ian Fleming, Jack Whittingham and Kevin McClory, and revised by Len Deighton, who grounded the plot in order to match the first three films. A hastily filmed scene was attached to the end of the cinema release of 'Casino Royale', introducing the character of Ernst Stavro Blofeld (Charles Grey), it saw the villain being informed of the passing of Le Chiffre and their income stream having been eliminated.
BLOFELD
Next time we meet, I expect Mr
Bond to kindly die ...
Even with several drafts by Len Deighton and a pass by Roald Dahl, 'Thunderball' was a marked contrast to the previous three films. It saw Bond trying to stop Blofeld from using stolen nuclear material to hold the NATO countries hostage. It combined the characters of Count Lippe and Patricia into a femme fatale called The Countessa (Luciana Paluzzi), had Angelo Palazzi steal the material after undergoing hypnosis and removed the familial connection between Angelo and Domino (Faye Dunaway) to make her a colleague sent to help Bond instead.
The villains plot to detonate containers of radioactive water during a NATO conference in the Bahamas would later inspire the group, "Days of Omega" to make a similar threat in Spokane, Washington, ten years after the films release. At the conclusion of the movie, Bond appears to die and the audience watch his funeral - but this is a plot to fool Blofeld (Charles Grey, returning to the role) and the Soviets, as Bond is shown to be watching his own funeral with Domino from a nearby clock tower.
The credits roll. The Baker Era comes to an end, but a final surprise for the audience - a title card at the end of the credits, promising that James Bond would return in 'Diamonds are Forever'.
Succeeded By Robert Campbell
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