The year before the first ever Bond film “Dr. No” started production, Connery cut a dash as a London gangster in the British film noir “The Frightened City”.

Seduction, guns, judo, and drinks – with hindsight it makes perfect sense that Cubby Broccoli would want to cast the vital Scotsman as Bond after seeing Connery steal this tale of London crime gangs and protection rackets.

2022 marks 60 Years of Bond

With Shirley Bassey performing the bombastic theme song, “Goldfinger” was to follow with Avenger Honor Blackman, plus Shirley Eaton & Margaret Nolan; then “Thunderball” with Earl Cameron and a belting theme sung by Sir Tom. Ostensibly Connery’s final Bond film, “You Only Live Twice” featured Tsai Chin & Ric Young, before the hunt was on for a new actor to take on the part.

It’s a testament to Connery’s performances that he helped firmly establish the film series which is still entertaining audiences 60 years on.

Regarded by many to be the best Bond film of the classic era, “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service” has it all – Diana Rigg, Joanna Lumley, Anouska Hempel, Jenny Hanley, Sylvana Henriques, Julie Ege, George Baker, Panton lighting, a mountain-top lair, a Christmas song, a beautifully poignant love song by Armstrong which still influences & resonates to this day, and arguably the best John Barry soundtrack ever.

Appearing in the final Bond film of the 1960s, Lazenby got a mixed response at the time (one critic of Lazenby’s wrote that they should have have let Diana Rigg continue as Bond, Tracy Bond) but the film has stood the test of time and endures as an influential & inspirational classic.

The longest-running Bond film, until “Casino Royale” with Daniel Craig was released, “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service” was the first film directed by Peter Hunt who had previously worked as the editor or second unit director on films including “Dr. No“, “Goldfinger”, & “The Ipcress File” with Michael Caine.

As a classically trained performer, who returned to the Royal Shakespeare Company after The Avengers, Diana Rigg makes the viewer believe that Bond could very easily fall in love with Contessa Teresa di Vicenzo.

From 1962 until 1969, “The Saint” is one of the most productive 1960s British television series, second only to “The Avengers” in the amount of episodes.

Both shows were made at Elstree Studios and Roger would frequently visit the set of “The Avengers” to have a cup of tea with his good friend Patrick Macnee or surprise Linda Thorson.

Debonair and charming, it’s no surprise that Moore was approached to take on the role of Bond when Connery had decided to move on, but it wouldn’t be until after George Lazenby had a go and Connery had reprised the role that Moore would step into the part in 1973 for “Live & Let Die” with Madeline Smith and Gloria Hendry.

Fresh from “The Wicker Man“, Christopher Lee & Britt Ekland reunited to join Moore in “The Man with the Golden Gun” (Maud Adams also appeared in the film and would return in “Octopussy”), which was followed by the barnstorming success of “The Spy Who Loved Me” with Caroline Munro, George Baker, & Valerie Leon.

The classically trained actor is renowned for his theatre work, as well as cult projects such as playing Prince Barin in “Flash Gordon”, and brought a different dimension to the role in an era of the “new man”.

When the time came to bring Bond back to the screen, Pierce Brosnan stepped into the spy’s shoes for “Goldeneye”, essentially the first film of the Barbara Broccoli & Michael G. Wilson era.

The film’s tone and action impressed cinemagoers and marked a more physical yet emotionally-complex spy. (Keep an eye out for 60s supermodel Veruschka at the casino table).

The stylish “Quantum of Solace” followed (David Arnold’s score during the opera sequence influenced a new era of film soundtracks), after which “Skyfall” and “Spectre”, which featured Naomie Harris, led to even more critical praise and box office success.

Portraying the character from 2006 until last year’s release of “No Time to Die” with Lashana Lynch, out of all the six Bond actors, Daniel Craig has been Bond for the longest time. Craig was awarded the CMG yesterday in the 2022 New Year list, an honour normally reserved for real-life spies & diplomats, mirroring the CMG that Bond was awarded in Ian Fleming’s canon.

Future Bond?

With the end of Daniel Craig’s tenure as Bond, speculation is rife as to who will don the spy’s tuxedo.

Many names have been posited, from Robert Pattinson & Tom Hardy (it was impossible not to think of Bond with Pattinson in a sharp suit during the action scenes of “Tenet”, or with Hardy during the snow scenes of “Inception”) to Henry Cavill (a superman from UNCLE) & Rupert Friend (who has already successfully demonstrated his spy skills in “Homeland” & “Hitman: Agent 47”, coupled with the debonair smile of Moore).

Home to the films since the very beginning, the studios have grown with Bond’s production needs, adding sound stages, water tanks, and screening theatres to accommodate the film behemoth.

The studios’ close link with Bond is everywhere you turn at Pinewood, including the Bond sound stage on Broccoli Road, The Roger Moore Stage, Goldfinger Avenue, and the John Barry Theatre.

Heatherden Hall, Pinewood’s grand white building, has featured in Bond films over the years, including “From Russian with Love”, “Goldfinger”, and “Octopussy”.

Pinewood was home to Ken Adam’s stylish sets for the films, and the studios enabled the production designer to take filmmaking to new heights.

Literally in the case of the volcano lair for “You Only Live Twice” as it was one of the largest sets ever to be built at the time (45 metres tall with room for a helicopter to land in it) and could be seen from miles.

“Never Say Never Again” (which starred Barbara Carrera, Valerie Leon, & Max von Sydow) with Connery reprising the role 12 years after “Diamonds Are Forever”;

1967’s “Casino Royale” which saw Peter Sellers & David Niven both play the secret agent.

The cast of the madcap bonkers film included Orson Welles, David Prowse (in his film debut), Ronnie Corbett, Bernard Cribbins, Duncan Macrae, & Caroline Munro, with Burt Bacharach’s classic music played by Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass.

The first Black actress Sylvana Henriques appeared in “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service”, the trailblazer of a select group of groundbreaking women who featured in one of the largest and most successful British film franchises. Whilst it was a non-speaking role, Sylvana‘s inclusion was an important step in representation given the impact the Bond films had, and still have, with audiences globally.

Further roles with more responsibiliy were to follow for pioneering Black actresses in the Bond films, with Trina Parks as the first Black actress with a speaking role in “Diamonds are Forever”; Gloria Hendry as the first Black actress to portray one of Bond’s love-interests; and Grace Jones taking control in “A View to a Kill”, a stand-out character in the film and in Bond history.

Naomie Harris is the first British Black actress to appear with Bond, and sets the record for the most Bond-film credits by a Black actress appearing as Eve Moneypenny in the final three Daniel Craig films.

The final Daniel Craig film “No Time to Die” saw Lashana Lynch take on the role of a British secret agent who is assigned Bond’s legendary code number, very much an equal to Bond.

Lynch’s assured performance embodies the progress Black actresses have made through the years, not just in the film franchise but also societal – it’s quite feasible that Nomi could headline her own spy film set in 00-branch.

Given the success of Bond, it’s no real surprise, and in many ways a complement, that the Carry On team turned their sights on the spy.

“Carry On Spying” parodied spy films, including “The Third Man” and Bond, with Charles Hawtrey’s character called Charlie Bind.

There’s some crossover with the Carry On films, which is the most prolific British film series (yes, more films than Bond) – Margaret Nolan, Madeline Smith, and Valerie Leon appeared in both Bond and Carry On, glamourous actresses who could also do comedy.

Bond and the intelligence departments are always working on behalf of Queen & Country, operating as part of Her Majesty’s secret services. The ministerial symbols & grand architecture of British institutions appear in the films, which contrast with the concrete minimalist lairs of Bond villains.

From Lazenby raising a drink in apology to a portrait of The Queen in “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service” to Buckingham Palace appearing in “Die Another Day”, the Monarchy and State are ever-present even when not directly referred to.

The first Royal premiere of a Bond film was for “You Only Live Twice”, attended by The Queen. Since then, there has been a royal premiere of all the Bond films (apart from “Tomorrow Never Dies” & “The World Is Not Enough”) with Prince Philip, Princess Anne, Prince Charles, Princess Diana, Harry, and the Duke & Duchess of Cambridge attending over the years.

The Queen also attended the premieres of “Die Another Day” & “Casino Royale”.