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Home , A View to a Kill, For Your Files Only, Harry Saltzman, John Glen (director), Licence to Kill, Octopussy

CULTURE

'The target of my books lies occasioned by working on somewhere between the Bend Below something that is not unequi- solar plexus and the upper vocably 'right on'. After all, thigh', said of The Belt these are films which the his novels, Left regards as sexist and neatly summing up their at- James Bond returns this month with . Sally racist and stemming directly traction and intention as well Hibbin, a confirmed , explains the fascination of from, and maybe even fuel- as that of the films. Fle- the long-running series of films ling, the cold-war climate. ming's novels were imme- But to write them off in that diately popular in England way is too easy because I, when they came out in the like I suspect many other 50s but only made it interna- readers of Marxism Today, tionally when John F Ken- thoroughly enjoy the Bond nedy included them in a list films. They are exciting to of his favourite, presidential watch and eminently satisfy- bedside reading. The films, ing. beginning with Dr No in There are, of course, those 1962, have become the most who will quarrel with even successful movie series of that. The Bond films, they all time. argue, are too predictable, It is estimated that over too similar to each other to half the world's population be interesting. If you've seen has seen a Bond film at one one you've seen them all. But time or another, and this wi- these critics are missing the thout the films ever having fun of the series. Sure, we all been distributed in Eastern know that Bond will defeat Europe or China. James the enemy, Western civilisa- Bond is part of our culture, tion will once again be saved practically an institution. and, of course, he will get the Watching the series over the girl. The point is that the years, you can follow the satisfaction comes from see- shifts and developments in ing how they work it all out popular consciousness and this time around. What great, the way they reflect some of new will they pull? the complexities and ambi- How will the villain differ valences of contemporary from previous villains? Will politics. the heroine be more modern, , the third film of more independent? These the series established the are formula films and the essential formula: a fast- audience know the territory moving, action-packed story when they step into the ci- which rarely pauses for nema. Liberties may be breath, an evil villain bent on taken with the rules of the world destruction or world formula but the essence re- domination with a seemingly mains the same. Each film invincible henchman, the hi- Bond 1989: Exercising a licence to care fulfills our expectations of it, tech, somewhat unlikely sometimes a little more, gadgetry, the beautiful girls sometimes a little less. and exotic locations and, of In the free-wheeling 60s, course, the knowing humour Bond File the Bonds were new and which creates an immediate Bond first exercised his license to kill in Fleming's dynamic. Pacey and stylish, sympathetic bond between in 1953. In 16 films over 27 years he's they combined a thriller ele- the film-makers and the au- saved us from various villains and there's no sign of ment with a sense of humour. dience. him stopping now: Nothing quite like it had 'Cubby' Broccoli and DrNo 1962 been seen before. Sean Con- Harry Saltzman, the series' From Russia With Love 1963 nery's casual charm and wit- original producers, once Goldfinger 1964 ty one-liners not only pro- called the special mix of 1965 duced a charismatic hero, Bond ingredients 'total cine- You Only Live Twice 1967 they also created an antidote ma', pure entertainment that On Her Majesty's Secret Service 1969 to the more violent elements anyone can enjoy. Diamonds Are Forever 1971 of the films. He could never Three years ago, I was com- 1973 kill without adding a caustic missioned to write a history The Man With The Golden Gun 1974 comment that would raise a of the Bond films and last The Spy Who Loved Me 1977 laugh, keeping death within year I became the first jour- 1979 the realms of acceptability nalist ever to have free rein For Your Eyes Only 1981 to a family audience. In a on a Bond film set while writ- 1983 classic scene in the pre-title ing another book about the 1985 sequence of Goldfinger, making of Licence To Kill. At 1987 Bond kills his opponent by first I suffered from all the Licence To Kill 1989 punching him into a bath and familiar crises of confidence then throwing an electric

35 MARXISM TODAY JUNE 1989 CULTURE

fire in after him. As the Nightmare On Elm Street would-be assassin frazzles, draw the crowds, the films Bond mutters to himself, have changed tack again. 'Shocking ... simply shock- Under director , a ing', thus distancing us from veteran action-sequence the death and giving us a director of films like The licence to laugh. Wild Geese and The Sea Even in the early films the- Wolves, and with Timothy re was a significant move Dalton taking over the lead, away from the terrain of the there is a conscious move to Fleming novels. In the books, a grittier, harsher feel. Re- the enemy had always been ality is the watchword of the SMERSH, the undercover filming and 'dangerous' the wing of the KGB. The films most often used adjective in substituted SPECTRE, a the publicity. ('His bad side freelance organisation with is a dangerous place to be' world domination in sight. proclaim the posters.) For SPECTRE, the Special Exe- the first time in the series' cutive for Counter Intelli- history, the PG certificate gence, Terrorism, Revenge rating of the film was in and Extortion, clearly takes doubt. the films one step further But with Dalton there also into a world of fantasy where comes a distaste for the ine- the good can be good and the vitable killing that accompa- bad unequivocably bad. This, nies the spy's job. Bond may now classic, transformation continue to do exactly what has been exploited to the full is necessary but he does not in films like Star Wars where have to like it anymore. His the villains can be uni- Bond is not so callous. He versally hated because their reveals a caring side, even only essential quality is that towards his women. The they are evil. 'love them, use them and lea- In the more self-reflexive ve them' philosophy of pre- 70s, when many films con- vious Bonds was so watered sciously took other films as down in The Living Daylights their reference points, that the tabloids began spec- 's tongue-in- ulating about whether Bond cheek, bordering on camp had moved into a post-Aids style kept the series in tune era. While Licence To Kill, with . In Moon- the first film to be written raker, the most outrageous especially for Dalton, has a of the Roger Moore Bonds tougher more active core, it with its climactic battle tak- also has more sensitive over- ing place in outer space, the- tones. It is a very 80s ambi- re are references to other valence. films from the period. A But while the subtleties coded bell push echoes the have changed, the essence never-to-be-forgotten, four- remains what it always was. note call sign from Close En- Bond - both the films them- counters Of The Third Kind, selves and the filming of and the theme music from them, every aspect of which The Magnificent Seven is is covered avidly in the tab- heard when Bond rides loids - is a fantasy world of across Brazil in a poncho. glamour, action and intrigue. Moonraker remains the big- Its hero, full of charm and gest box-office hit of the ser- sophistication, has an ability ies. While it was being made to handle any situation, or detente was also in vogue any woman, in his own ini- and the Bond scenario re- mitable fashion. The films flected this with the British, play on the fascinating in- the Americans and the So- terplay of sexuality, seduc- viets joining forces in va- tion and power, a fascination rious combinations to pro- which is heightened further tect the always-fragile world when Bond is teamed with peace. The new world of more powerful women. This glasnost presents an inte- world might not always be resting challenge to the way critically stimulating, but it future Bonds play out their hits the exact target at which political conflicts. Fleming and the inheritors In the tougher 80s, in a of the Bond institution so world where Death Wish and consciously take aim. •

37 MARXISM TODAY JUNE 1989