Sean Connery and his screen character James Bond - Essay Example

Sean Connery and his screen character James Bond are icons of British Cinema. I choose Sean Connery as the actor who best portrays the British as a person and institution. He has won an Academy Award and has been knighted, which tells us that he is recognised in the U.S., as well as his homeland, the U.K. He is the first actor to play the role of James Bond on film. Connery has a distinctive Scottish accent which adds to his popularity as a British actor. Although he only found fame when he started acting as James Bond in 1962 at the age of 32, Connery was admired for his good looks. His fan base has remained loyal to him throughout his James Bond film career from 1962 - 1983. At his last unofficial Bond film, Never Say Never Again, he was older than most male movie star sex symbols but he still commanded great screen presence. Fans from all over the world were introduced to Britain, and all things British because of James Bond. Connery is a world icon in his representation of the British Secret Service agent. He has acted in seven Bond movies: Dr. No (1962) From Russia With Love (1963). Goldfinger (1964). Thunderball (1965). You Only Live Twice (1967). Diamonds Are Forever (1971). Never Say Never Again (1983). (This is a non-Bond movie.) In accordance with the screen image of Bond as the world's super intelligent British Intelligence Secret Service agent, the scripts were written to include locations world- wide. I have chosen to examine From Russia With Love in detail because the bulk of the setting was located within Britain, namely, its capital, London. The producers of the Bond films started with a very small budget for their initial Bond movies so this second Bond movie was filmed mainly at their home ground, Britain. Connery was signed on because he was relatively unknown at that point of his career and he was not too proud to put forth demands or break his contract with his British studio, EON Productions, based in London, as well as Pinewood Studios in England. Another reason why I choose Connery and his James Bond character to represent the image of British is because the fictional Bond character was also British. Bond was created by the true blue Briton, Ian Fleming. Ian was an active serviceman during World War II. He worked in the intelligence division. He put his skills and experience to good use in writing his James Bond novels. The British world of Britain's top British fictional character had such a realistic and elaborate architecture that there have been many writers who have cashed in on reconstructing this fictional and yet realistic world in books. One such writer is Griswold. (Griswold 2006). It was because of Fleming's careful construction of his fictional world of Bond and its relative realism that made Bond so successful as a fictional character. Whenever we think of Bond, we think of the British too. The public identify the image of Bond with the image of the British. Connery came under the tutelage of British film director, Terence Young, who took great pains to teach him how to move gracefully to polish up his suave image for the Bond role. Connery, Fleming and Young are all British and they have put in great effort to present Bond as a British character worthy of praise. However, after the fifth Bond film, Sean called it quits from playing the Bond character. He said he was tired of the repetitive similar plots, the seeming lack of character development for Bond, the overwhelming violation of his privacy from the public and his fear that his career was stalemate being stereotype cast as Bond. In a way, he was so entwined with the Bond character that Connery feared he was being taken over Bond. EON Productions then hired another actor, George Lazenby, for On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969). The continuity of the Bond character was severely disrupted when George quit even before the movie was officially released. There were different accounts of why he quit but we can understand from this that it was difficult working and standing in the shoes of James Bond. The public's confidence in the all of the British Bond movie making industry was shaken. The producers decided that they had to restore the British and foreign faith in their Bond films so they made an important move. They offered a staggering 1.2 million pounds for Sean to resume his role in a new Bond movie. The British producers broke the record with one of the highest salaries ever offered to a British actor. Sean accepted and made it his last curtain call for his role. Later, he ventured to do an unofficial Bond remake, Never Say Never Again, but finally quit the Bond scene after that. It has been about forty-five years since Sean first started presenting Bond to the world as a British icon of good fighting over evil. He still has a huge vote of popularity for his role as Bond. Despite his Bond successors like Roger Moore, Pierce Brosnan, Timothy Dalton and Daniel Craig, the public preferred Connery's portrayal of Bond the best. Conneryhad the charisma, charm and British Englishness to carry his role well. During his Bond career, Sean also acted in other British movies like Marnie, A Fine Madness, and The Hill but these were not well received. It was as though the public refused to seem cast in any other role than Bond. To the public, they identified Connery as Bond. Connery is such a famous British actor who played Bond that even the American director, Steven Spielberg, has been recorded as praising him when he said that; ''There are seven genuine movie stars in the world today and Sean is one of them."' (McCabe 2007, 1). Connery was honoured by the British royalty when he was knighted as Sir Sean Connery in 2005. Sometimes, being British worked against James Bond. Miller wrote that initially, Bond was not popular in America until Ian Fleming wrote in parts for his Bond to participate in American culture like touch football, baseball and other American social activities. Thereafter, the Bond movies and books sold more in quantities. (Miller 2000, p.25). I had chosen to discuss in detail, From Russia With Love, independently even before reading that it was also Connery's personal favorite Bond movie, which he revealed during an interview with Sam Donaldson for ABCNews.com. (Wikipedia "Sean Connery"). This was Connery's second Bond film. The success of the British movie self- propagated its progeny. The British production crew was so proud of it that they organised a world premiere for it in London, in 1963. It was only the second Bond movie and it had already become nationally acclaimed and internationally applauded that it could command centre stage and merit a world premiere. The British were very proud of their 'homegrown' talents and products. In 2005, From Russia With Love was recreated into a video game and with Sean Connery's image and voice in it. This showed that Connery was so closely associated to his screen identity, Bond, that the video game was made using his voice so that the product would carry his image as a brand and marketing strategy. From Russia With Love was made during the Cold War between the superpowers and EON Production, being British and wishing to exercise British diplomacy, changed the original novel's script to exclude casting the Russians as villains. They did not want to antagonise the Russians as that might lead to bad consequences. Instead, an agency named SPECTRE was made the bad guy. This was like a typical British manipulation to avoid a direct confrontation although the original author of the novel, Ian Fleming, did not beat around the bush and wrote that his novel, From Russia With Love, was a cold war spy thriller and in which the Russians were the villains. Hamamoto wrote that Fleming's novels like From Russia With Love had used humour to mock the Cold War power politics. (Hamamoto 1994, p.117). This Bond movie made the records in several ways. It was the first British film to incorporate the pre-credits. It was also the first British film to use a popular singer to lend her voice and popularity to help promote the movie. In a way, a British icon was used to promote another British icon and this mutual help was supposed to be a characteristic trait for the British. It was all part of the British patriotism. Connery as Bond was endearing to the public because he was modest and had a self depreciating sense of humor. From Russia With Love had one scene where Bond confided in his superior, a too secret agent, identified by just the initial M, about his inadequacy to ensure that the SPECTRE spy / defector Romanova would be persuaded to accommodate his request to hand over her coverted Lektor secret device. Bond asked; "'Suppose when she meets me in the flesh I don't come up to expectations"' His superior answered in the usual dry manner of the British; '"Just see that you do."' We see a variety of cultural and conditioned responses that are typical of the British. The British are never the type to succumb to traps although they might engage in challenges to prove their worth. The British director made Bond aware of the potential trap the beautiful Romanova has set up for him. Romanova might be pretending to be in love with Bond so that she could trap him and make him fall into her clutches. The British producer and director did not want a dumb hero so they made Bond intelligent enough to foresee Romanova's trap. This subplot reflected what the British suspected the Russians of doing; to entice and seduce their Secret Service agents and turn them into double agents and work for Russia. The British also took pride in their technological developments. The director never failed to introduce fanciful gadgets that were the stuff of dreams. Maybe those sophisticated gadgets were already old inventions in the Secret Service but to the average man on the street, they were fantastic gadgets, irrespective of whether they were practical for use. In this movie, the scientist and developer of secret weapons, Boothroyd from Q division, showed off yet another of his creations; a special suitcase with many weapons. This was also a British way of warning the enemies that they had advanced weapons and systems. The Bond movie reflected the British national pride in their country. In the opening scene, the villains from SPECTRE were discussing their evil schemes when they agreed that the British were indispensable. SPECTRE's Number Five said that; '"We need the services of a female member of the Russian Cryptograph Section in Turkey and... the help of the British Secret Service. Neither the Russians nor the British will be aware that they are now working for us."' The British producer conveyed the message that their British Secret Service was so efficient that even the villains wanted to enlist their help. The British portrayed their Bond character as being alert and nothing seemed to elude his observant eye. This was a trait of a good secret agent. In Istanbul, Bond was being chauffeured by a driver when he observed that his car was being tailed. We see how the British agent Bond has been commended for his good, observant qualities. When Bond was cornered by a SPECTRE villain, he used all his quick thinking on his feet to save his own skin. He bargained with the villain and offered to pay him double his fee. When Bond was asked to make a promise on his words, Bond said; 'As an English gentleman' When the villain refused, Bond tried to offer immediate gratification in the form of gold sovereigns which he had in his bag of tricks. Thus, the simple minded greedy villain succumbed to Bond's superior intellect and hidden gadget in the coin. James Bond was such a devoted agent that he worked beyond his official working hours and went beyond his official duties to forge friendships. That was how Bond explained his friendship and networking with Romanova. Near the end of the film, Romanova said to Bond; '"But as I said before, we won't always work on the company's time, will we"' At this, Bond gave a short and meaningful reply; '"No."' We see how Bond responded in a wide spectrum of circumstances with the good guys as well as the bad ones. He was always polite, witty and the perfect gentleman. His duty came first before his personal interest. Initially, he might have been compelled to feign a love interest in Romanova because she was the first one to profess her romantic interest in him and he felt obliged to return her affections in order to secure the possession of the Lektor machine. Connery had played his role convincingly and portrayed Bond well I think that Sean Connery and his screen character James Bond are perfect emblems of the British. Whenever I think of either of them, I think of Britain and her British social, political and cultural institutions. The end. Works Cited. Drew's Script-O-Rama. "From Russia With Love Script" (http://www.script-o-rama.com/movie_scripts/f/from-russia-with-love-script.html) Drew's Script-O-Rama, Feb. 28, 2007. Fleming, Ian. (2007). From Russia with Love (James Bond Novels). USA: Amazon.com Griswold, John. (2006). Ian Fleming's James Bond: Annotations and Chronologies for Ian Fleming's Bond Stories (New Edition). USA: Amazon.com Hamamoto, Darrell. (1994). Monitored Peril: Asian-Americans and the Politics of TV Representation. USA: University of Minnesota Press. ISBN 0816623686. McCabe, Bob. (2007). Sean Connery: A Biography. USA: Amazon.com. Miller, Jeffrey. (2000). Something Completely Different: British television and American culture. USA: University of Minnesota Press. ISBN 0816632405. Wikipedia. "Sean Connery" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sean_Connery), From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, Feb. 28, 2007 Wikipedia. "From Russia with Love (film)" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/From_Russia_with_Love_%28film%29) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, Feb. 25, 2007. Read More