The Transformations of James Bond

The period of the production of the early James Bond films involved a crucial transformation in the texts of James Bond. At one level, the form of that transformation seems relatively simple. A number of Ian Fleming’s books were made into films, beginning with Dr No in 1962 and continuing on an annual basis with From Russia, With Love (1963), Goldfinger (1964) and Thunderball (1965). There was nothing new in this. The translation of literary or dramatic fiction could be said to be commonplace in film history. Both Hollywood and the British film industry had ruthlessly looted popular and classical fiction and many heroes of popular fiction, such as Sherlock Holmes and Bull-Dog Drummond, had already made their successful screen appearances. Discussions of this process have tended to devolve upon questions such as whether or not film versions of a book or play remain true to the original author’s intentions or to concentrate on the respective merits of films and the literary texts from which they have been derived.