So the latest James Bond film, Skyfall, is out. Everyone is telling me it is the best Bond film in years, and that I really, really need to go and see it. I probably will go soon, but before I do I will probably go pick up one of Ian Fleming's books that were the inspiration for all of the Bond movies.
Before writing the Bond series, Fleming was a British intelligence officer in World War II. He was involved in planning military operations and creating intelligence units. So once the war had ended, and he began writing, he definitely knew what he was talking about. Fleming wrote eleven novels with James Bond as the central character, which would become one of the most popular fiction series in history.
Fleming's first novel, Casino Royale, was first published in 1953 and became a major success. It begins as Bond is assigned to take down the paymaster of the Communist group, SMERSH, and is sent to play in a fifty million dollar game of baccarat. This novel has all of the action and intrigue the Bond novels and films are known for and started the Bond craze.
In 2006, Casino Royale was made into a film with Daniel Craig as James Bond. This was the highest grossing Bond film to date, even though the most recent installment, Skyfall, just surpassed it. So check out the trailers below. The first is for Casino Royale, which you can check out from our libraries, and the second is for Skyfall.
Casino Royale Trailer:
Skyfall Trailer:
Ian Fleming's novels have been on my list a long time, and I am finally going to pick one up. (Though I will probably go see the new movie before I finish it!)
There was a 1967 version of Casino Royale -- a silly spy movie spoof starring David Niven, Ursula Andress and Peter Sellers. It isn't available at the library, but Netflix has it available for streaming -- maybe it will show up on TV sometime.
ReplyDelete