LIFE's 50 Years Of James Bond

MI6, the James Bond web site, not the intelligence agency, previewed LIFE's new coffee table book on the 50 years of Ian Fleming's iconic character in cinema.

Fifty years (and five billion dollars in ticket sales) ago, the dashing Scottish actor Sean Connery declared suavely that he was "Bond, James Bond." Thus began a cinematic series unlike any other. In November 2012, Skyfall, the 23rd movie in what is seen as the authorized line of Bond films, will be released, with Daniel Craig (the sixth Bond) again in the lead role. The world will once more stream to the theaters for another dose of Bond. LIFE was on the scene in the swinging '60s when James Bond became a cultural icon (in fact, when LIFE put the gold-painted actress Shirley Eaton on the cover in 1964, they helped him along), and now LIFE tells the whole story in this commemorative book.

 

You can read the rest of the piece via th below link:

 

http://www.mi6-hq.com/sections/articles/literature_life_50_years_of_james_bond_preview.php3?t=&s=&id=03265

You can also read my piece on the Ian Fleming and James Bond phenomenon via the below link:

http://pauldavisoncrime.blogspot.com/2010/06/casino-royale-revisited-film-that.html