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How 'patriotic' should James Bond (and Bond 26 beyond) be?

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  • LudovicoLudovico
    Posts: 15,622
    007HallY wrote: »
    I suppose there's something weirdly 'un-English' about Bond, at least in the quintessential 'posh gentleman' sense. It's there in Fleming with the description of him walking into Blades with his slight suntan and cold eyes/scar. He even calls himself 'a Scottish peasant'. Connery had his Scottish accent, and Lazenby an unplaceable one. Moore was more on the gentlemanly side, although I always say I find him more a pastiche of a David Niven type - much more tongue in cheek and ironic, and of course more overtly sexual and even tough. Dalton in LTK looks a bit haggard and even let a bit of his Northern twang slip, Brosnan had his Transatlantic voice/vibe, and Craig had a sort of Steve McQueen, harder edged coolness about him... and called his mobile phone a 'cell phone' in his early films!

    I'm not sure if it's possible to go into outright American and for the portrayal to still be Bond. But I don't think it's a hard rule that the actor should be British either (in the sense that it's been broken twice).

    Anthony Burgess said there was something continental about Bond, more European than British. He said the same thing about Sherlock Holmes.
  • GerardGerard
    Posts: 6,142
    Well, Bond has swiss roots, and Holmes had a cousin in France, so...
  • LudovicoLudovico
    Posts: 15,622
    Gerard wrote: »
    Well, Bond has swiss roots, and Holmes had a cousin in France, so...

    I need to reread the argument, I'm not sure Bond's mother was mentioned.
  • AnotherZorinStoogeAnotherZorinStooge Bramhall (Irish)
    Posts: 294
    Ludovico wrote: »
    007HallY wrote: »
    I suppose there's something weirdly 'un-English' about Bond, at least in the quintessential 'posh gentleman' sense. It's there in Fleming with the description of him walking into Blades with his slight suntan and cold eyes/scar. He even calls himself 'a Scottish peasant'. Connery had his Scottish accent, and Lazenby an unplaceable one. Moore was more on the gentlemanly side, although I always say I find him more a pastiche of a David Niven type - much more tongue in cheek and ironic, and of course more overtly sexual and even tough. Dalton in LTK looks a bit haggard and even let a bit of his Northern twang slip, Brosnan had his Transatlantic voice/vibe, and Craig had a sort of Steve McQueen, harder edged coolness about him... and called his mobile phone a 'cell phone' in his early films!

    I'm not sure if it's possible to go into outright American and for the portrayal to still be Bond. But I don't think it's a hard rule that the actor should be British either (in the sense that it's been broken twice).

    Anthony Burgess said there was something continental about Bond, more European than British. He said the same thing about Sherlock Holmes.

    He was right, you know?
  • mtmmtm United Kingdom
    Posts: 18,009
    Interesting thought about Holmes, I can see it with Bond but less so Holmes.
  • GoldenGunGoldenGun Per ora e per il momento che verrà
    Posts: 7,482
    Ludovico wrote: »
    007HallY wrote: »
    I suppose there's something weirdly 'un-English' about Bond, at least in the quintessential 'posh gentleman' sense. It's there in Fleming with the description of him walking into Blades with his slight suntan and cold eyes/scar. He even calls himself 'a Scottish peasant'. Connery had his Scottish accent, and Lazenby an unplaceable one. Moore was more on the gentlemanly side, although I always say I find him more a pastiche of a David Niven type - much more tongue in cheek and ironic, and of course more overtly sexual and even tough. Dalton in LTK looks a bit haggard and even let a bit of his Northern twang slip, Brosnan had his Transatlantic voice/vibe, and Craig had a sort of Steve McQueen, harder edged coolness about him... and called his mobile phone a 'cell phone' in his early films!

    I'm not sure if it's possible to go into outright American and for the portrayal to still be Bond. But I don't think it's a hard rule that the actor should be British either (in the sense that it's been broken twice).

    Anthony Burgess said there was something continental about Bond, more European than British. He said the same thing about Sherlock Holmes.

    I can see that. At least with Bond, with Holmes I'm not sure.
  • LudovicoLudovico
    Posts: 15,622
    GoldenGun wrote: »
    Ludovico wrote: »
    007HallY wrote: »
    I suppose there's something weirdly 'un-English' about Bond, at least in the quintessential 'posh gentleman' sense. It's there in Fleming with the description of him walking into Blades with his slight suntan and cold eyes/scar. He even calls himself 'a Scottish peasant'. Connery had his Scottish accent, and Lazenby an unplaceable one. Moore was more on the gentlemanly side, although I always say I find him more a pastiche of a David Niven type - much more tongue in cheek and ironic, and of course more overtly sexual and even tough. Dalton in LTK looks a bit haggard and even let a bit of his Northern twang slip, Brosnan had his Transatlantic voice/vibe, and Craig had a sort of Steve McQueen, harder edged coolness about him... and called his mobile phone a 'cell phone' in his early films!

    I'm not sure if it's possible to go into outright American and for the portrayal to still be Bond. But I don't think it's a hard rule that the actor should be British either (in the sense that it's been broken twice).

    Anthony Burgess said there was something continental about Bond, more European than British. He said the same thing about Sherlock Holmes.

    I can see that. At least with Bond, with Holmes I'm not sure.

    It's been a long time since I've read it, but grosso modo, if I remember correctly, he said Holmes' way of reasoning and overall attitude was not British and it was part of his appeal to the British readership. Both Holmes and Bond were invented by outsiders of sorts: Doyle was a Catholic Scot in London, Fleming a British expat living in Jamaica.
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