007 Code Words

Deborah Lipp wrote "The Ultimate James Bond Fan Book". She's counting down to "Skyfall" with us via 007 about 007 Lists -Editor

One of the coolest moments in any spy movie is when the code words are exchanged. You'll see it parodied, but for me, the beauty of taking it seriously (or semi-seriously) remains. These exchanges are a rarity in Bond films, but as it happens, they have occurred exactly seven times, making this the perfect subject for one of our 007 about 007 lists.

001 In From Russia With Love, we see the following exchange twice:

Agent 1: Can I borrow a match?
Agent 2: I use a lighter.
Agent 1: Better still.
Agent 2: Until they go wrong.

Unfortunately, Bond's enemy, Red Grant (played by Robert Shaw), overhears this code exchange and uses it to successfully fool Bond—for a little while.

002 In You Only Live Twice, when Bond asks for the code sign, he's told I love you, without any counter-sign. The first time, Bond says it to Aki, and she responds, I have a car nearby. The second time, Bond asks Tiger Tanaka, How do you feel about me? and Tiger responds I love you, to the obvious discomfort of both men.

003 For Your Eyes Only has one of my favorites, as old-school is the one in From Russia With Love; this kind of serious spy stuff is rarely found in a Roger Moore movie. Bond is meeting an agent he knows only as Ferrara:

Ferrara: The snow this year is better at Innsbrook.
Bond: But not at St. Moritz.

004 In Octopussy, Bond is looking for his contact in India. A cornier Roger Moore film, this exchange opens with the contact, Vijay, playing the Bond theme on a snake-charmer's flute.

screencap via b+movieblog

Bond: Charming tune, do you take English money?
Vijay: Only gold sovereigns.

005 A View To a Kill was Roger Moore's last Bond film, and overall relied on silliness, but this exchange was done seriously, at the San Francisco wharfs:

Lee: Looking for something special?
Bond: Yes, soft shell crabs.
Lee: I might have some in the back.

006 GoldenEye was Pierce Brosnan's first outing as Bond. In St. Petersburg, he meets up with CIA agent Jack Wade (Joe Don Baker), who doesn't like to play by the rules.

Bond: In London, April’s a spring month.
Wade: Whereas in St. Petersburg, we’re freezing our butts off.

(Somehow, Bond doesn’t regard this as correct.)

007 Finally, we come to Die Another Day. Here, Bond has a long exchange in Cuba, awakening a sleeper agent who has been in place for twenty years. It's obvious that the Delectado cigar is a code word, and also, apparently, the Volado tobacco. How much of the entire exchange is coded is not clear:

Bond: I’m here to pick up some Delectados. [No recognition from the man at the desk.] Universal Exports. Check with your boss.

[After having been taken to see Raoul…]

Raoul: I come to think the Delectados would never be smoked. They are particularly hazardous to one’s health. Do you know why, Mr…?
Bond: Bond.
Raoul: Mr. Bond. Do you know why?
Bond: It’s the addition of the Volado tobacco. Slow burning—it never goes out."

If you had to exchange code words with Bond, what would it sound like?

A Handful of Link

Pop Elegantarium Alexa's Rosemary's Baby costume she was hinting at the other day in her Curio column. Well done!
/Film new images from Django Unchained
In Contention interviews the production designer of Moonrise Kingdom Adam Stockhausen
Big Thoughts From a Small Mind has a mea culpa about Sidney Lumet in 12 Angry Men. Confession: I myself have never seen this movie but I have seen productions of the play so I am unschooled in the furious dozen

 

Unreality reminds us that with that Star Wars purchase, Disney now also owns a certain fedora wearing archaelogist adventurer 
Monkey See predicts several headlines that will appear when the new Star Wars film is released in 2015. Hee
Awards Daily wonders if the lack of the DGA before Oscar nominations, might throw off the usual correlations
Vimeo if you're already missing Halloween -- it was kind of unsatisfying here on the East Coast without the usual festivities -- here's a creepy impressive 30 second short called "Rot" 

And we end with a very well cut fan vid 'James Bond Death Match,' all six Bonds fighting it out for supremacy.

I demand another rematch.

007 Songs

Deborah Lipp, author of The Ultimate James Bond Fan Book, is counting down 007 Favorite Things while we await Skyfall during this, the 50th anniversary year of Bond, James Bond.

It started with Goldfinger. Shirley Bassey belted out a bold, brassy, remarkable title song that changed everything. Oh, sure, Matt Munro had sung From Russia With Love, but over the end credits, not over the titles. Besides, a sweet-voiced crooner delivering a pretty but bland love song was not about to make movie music history! No, it was Shirley who turned the tide, busting her vocal chords on Newley and Bricusse’s lyric while she busted the charts. From then on, a Bond film had to have a great (at least in theory) title song, and the rest of the movie industry sat up and took notice — movies sell songs, and songs sell movies.

Bond songs usually play over the title and reflect them. There's a new double CD out called "Best of Bond... James Bond 50th Anniversary Collection" and I've included a track listing at the bottom of the post so you can play along in choosing your 007 favorite Bond songs.  

Trivia Alert: "Nobody Does It Better" was the first Bond song with a different title than the film, although it name-checked The Spy Who Loved Me in the lyrics. "All Time High" made no effort to name-check Octopussy—can you blame it? Other than those two, every Bond song has reflected the film's title until we get to the Daniel Craig era. Adele's song, at first reported to be called Let the Sky Fall, appears to be a real title song; "Skyfall".

Deborah's Favorite 007 Bond Songs after the jump...

Click to read more ...

007 Femme Fatales

Deborah Lipp, author of "The Ultimate James Bond Fan Book" continues her countdown to "Skyfall" with lists of 007 things!

Author Ian Fleming, creator of the James Bond series, had no interest in the archetype of a femme fatale—a seductive, beautiful, dangerous woman. The femme fatale is Freud's ultimate woman, combining sex and death. Fleming's women were either love interests, usually fragile and in need of rescue, or—if villains—hideously ugly. But the Bond films introduced us to the sexy villainess. As it happens, there have been exactly seven such villainesses in the course of Bond film history.

In chronological order, then, here's a run-down of the femmes fatale that have passed through Bond's films and bed...

Miss Taro

001 Miss Taro, Dr. No (1962)
A secondary villain, Miss Taro sleeps with Bond to keep him at her house long enough for compatriots to come and kill him. Unfortunately, he knows her plan, and in a rare gesture of mercy, has her arrested. She's the only character on our list who survives the encounter! She's also not terribly interesting; she seems uneasy in her role as villainess and the film relies far too heavily on "inscrutable Asian" stereotypes.  

What should I say to an invitation from a strange gentleman?"
-Zena Marshall as Miss Taro 

Fiona Volpe

002 Fiona Volpe, Thunderball (1965)
This one's the best, ladies and gentlemen, the prototype, the mold upon which all other seductresses are based. 

Click to read more ...

Reader Ranking Announcement: James Bond!

I meant to follow up February's very popular Meryl Streep Reader Ranking with another participatory countdown that's turned over to you! But I've been slow about it. Here's a perfect opportunity. Let's do everyone's favorite spy, James Bond. Deborah has been listing her favorites as we count down to Daniel Craig's third outing as 007, Skyfall on November 9th. 

The official James Bond films as a reminder... 

1. Dr. No (1962) Connery 
2. From Russia With Love (1963) Connery 
3. Goldfinger (1964) Connery 
4. Thunderball (1965) Connery 
5. You Only Live Twice (1967) Connery 
6. On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969) Lazenby
7. Diamonds Are Forever (1971) Connery 
8. Live and Let Die (1973) Moore 
9. The Man With the Golden Gun (1974) Moore
10. The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) Moore 
11. Moonraker (1979) Moore 
12. For Your Eyes Only (1981) Moore 
13. Octopussy (1983) Moore 
14. A View To a Kill (1985) Moore 
15. The Living Daylights (1987) Dalton 
16. License to Kill (1989) Dalton
17. Goldeneye (1995) Brosnan 
18. Tomorrow Never Dies (1997) Brosnan 
19. The World is Not Enough (1999) Brosnan 
20. Die Another Day (2002) Brosnan 
21. Casino Royale (2006) Craig 
22. Quantum of Solace (2008) Craig 

Confession: I have a soft spot for Octopussy (1983) which most people think is terrible, because it's the first Bond I ever saw.How to play along: 

• Send me a ranked list of every James Bond film you've seen by November 1st with "BOND RANK" in the subject line. Your list could be as short as 3 films or as long as 22 -- I'll take any size list but the lists are weighted to prioritize the readers who've seen the most (just like we did with Streep). If you need help remembering which film is which here's a handy compendium.
• Bonus Points: If you include a list of your 7 favorite Bond Girls in the e-mail, I'll add more weight to your film rankings if you do.
• Feel free to include soundbytes. I might publish them if they're relevant to the final rank.
• Feel free to include links to something you've written about the franchise if you have a blog. I might link them if it's relevant to the final writeup.
• Depending on your enthusiasm we'll know how Bond crazy we should get in early November when Skyfall premieres.