Here's George Lazenby as Bond from On Her Majesty's Secret Service:
Of course,Sean Connery, who is a Scot,was the inspiration for making Bond a Scot.
The real James Bond was an Ornithologist: a Caribbean bird expert and author of the definitive field guide Birds of the West Indies.
It was seeing the name James Bond on Birds of the West Indies that provided the name for 007.I'm not sure how the ornithologist would have looked in a kilt!
"Since the gunloons fixate on Bond's toys--in particular the firearms."
ReplyDeleteI don't know anyone that is all that giddy over a small caliber Walther.
Oh, come on, FWM, you can't think of at least one person?
ReplyDeleteI could give you a hint, but won't after the recent temper tantrum by another commenter.
I think we have amply demonstrated that a .22 round is more lethal than many credit. It was the caliber of some notable assassinations, including Robert Kennedy.
ReplyDeleteSometimes size matters, LOL, and other times it is skill that is more significant.
FatWhiteMan:
ReplyDeleteC'mon, dude, you know you wanted that cigarette with the mini-rocket from Dr. No.
Actually DG- the walther is usually chambered in .32. Although, they have made versions in .22 and .380 as well.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I liked the Lotus Espirit, until I found out how small they really are.
I suffer from claustrophobia--especially after my incident in the Exeter acquaduct!
It got smaller and smaller, and darker and darker, and wetter and wetter. But, what really scared me was the embarassment of the possibility that the fire brigade might be sent in to rescue me if I did get stuck!
They were truly dwarves in the middle ages.
"FatWhiteMan:
ReplyDeleteC'mon, dude, you know you wanted that cigarette with the mini-rocket from Dr. No."
Oh, absolutely I would. Just not a big Walther fan.
"I suffer from claustrophobia--especially after my incident in the Exeter acquaduct!"
I would really like to hear that story sometime.
Nothiing much--it was an open day in the medieval acuaducts in Exeter, England.
ReplyDeleteThere was one section that was still as it was in the middle ages (read no lights). Toward the opening it was tall enough that a normal person could walk, but it gradually got smaller (and darker). It only got to the point where I was on my hands and knees crawling in the mud. Fortunately, the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel appeared!
But, I did worry it might get even smaller.
Totally irrational fear (what fear is rational?). I don't think the people running the tour would let people go and get stuck in their acquaduct.
But, it was that walls getting closer and closer in the dark.
FatWhiteMan:
ReplyDeleteI did think it was a little silly for 007 to be shooting at what was essentially a small armored vehicle with his PPK in Dr. No. Not quite as ridiculous as the fight at the space station in "Moonraker", but close.
I want to point out that Andrew Marr took apart the 007 series in his "History of Modern Britain". Bond's champagne tastes (as described by Fleming) seem rather mundane by today's standards.
ReplyDeleteI should also add about the acquaduct incident that it would have been really humiliating had it happened I was stuck. I kept imagining the headlines on the local paper!
An aside about the PPK. Since the things are really concealable (I think that's their only good point), the British Army used them when I was in for when people were not in uniform, or needed a concealed self-defence weapon. After all, the old Hi-Power is a bit big.
ReplyDeleteIt was called the "disco gun".
Anyway, we used to take the line from Major Boothroyd in Dr. No:
"Walther PPK. 7.65 ml., with a delivery like a brick through a plate glass window. Takes a Brausch silencer with very little reduction in muzzle velocity. The American CIA swear by them."
And changed it to:
"Walther PPK. 7.65 ml., Couldn't stop a charging hamster at point blank range. The American CIA swear at them."
Fleming actually said about firearms that he was not an expert in the field and “Quite honestly, the whole question of expertise in these matters bores me. Obviously, I want to know the facts. If a Gaylord holster is better than a Berns-Martin, I want to know about it, but there is where my interest rather ends."
BTW, Shortly before the publication of From Russia, with Love in 1956, Fleming received a fan letter from an author and gun collector, Geoffrey Boothroyd. He told Fleming that he admired the Bond novels apart from the hero's choice of weapon. Boothroyd felt the Beretta 418 was "a lady's gun" with no real stopping power.
Hence, the name Major Boothroyd as the armourer who went on to become Q in later films.
I just learned the bit of trivia here while looking up the quote from Dr. No.
FWM denies it, but I've known people who love that little Bond gun.
ReplyDeleteI have a Radom P-64 that is a copy of the PPK design. It's chambered in 9mm Makarov. I use it as a backup sometimes or as a primary when I need something that will hide in my pocket easily. Of course, now that I have a Kel-Tec 9mm Luger, the P-64 gets much less use.
ReplyDeleteThis is to say that the PPK is a good gun, so long as its limitations are understood.