Who Did James Bond Look Like According To Ian Fleming?

Above, Ian Fleming.

Ever since Sean Connery became super-secret agent James Bond 007 of Her Majesty's Secret Service in 1962, and through the ensuing years of Roger Moore to Daniel Craig, people have wondered how author Ian Fleming envisioned what Bond looked like.

According to Wikipedia, Fleming envisioned that Bond should resemble American singer/songwriter Hoagy Carmichael and...himself.

Their source?

One source was the novel, Casino Royale in which Vesper Lynd is quoted, "Bond reminds me rather of Hoagy Carmichael, but there is something cold and ruthless."

The second source was in the novel, Moonraker where Special Branch officer Gala Brand thought that Bond was "certainly good-looking ... Rather like Hoagy Carmichael in a way. That black hair falling down over the right eyebrow.  Much the same bones.  But there was something a bit cruel in the mouth, and the eyes were cold."

Baby-boomers and later generations probably have no idea what Hoagy Carmichael looked like. So, not to keep anyone in suspense, here is what Carmichael looked like:

Above, Hoagy Carmichael.

Some present-day fans feel that actor Daniel Day Lewis (Lincoln) resembles Carmichael and would be an ideal James Bond.

Can you picture James Bond looking somewhat like Hoagy Carmichael? Yes, when a facial scar is added (in the Fleming books, Bond has a facial scar down his right cheek).

James Bond Is Back In "Solo"

Since the death of James Bond creator Ian Fleming, other writers have written novels featuring MI6's top secret agent. They were authorized, of course, by the Fleming estate.

A new James Bond novel hits London bookstores tomorrow.

According to The Mainichi:

LONDON (AP) -- William Boyd has left James Bond stirred, if not shaken. 

The British writer has taken on the fictional spy in "Solo," a new 007 novel that balances fidelity to Ian Fleming's iconic character with subtle changes. 

Bond fans will find much they recognize, along with some surprises -- one of which is that in Boyd's mind, James Bond looks like Daniel Day-Lewis. 

Boyd says Fleming once described the spy as "looking like the American singer-songwriter Hoagy Carmichael. Daniel Day-Lewis looks like Hoagy Carmichael." 

"Solo" is set in 1969, and takes the suave British spy from London's plush Dorchester Hotel to a war-ravaged West African country and on to Washington on a perilous lone mission. 

Boyd steers Bond away from his big-screen action-hero image and back toward the complex and conflicted character of Fleming's novels.

To read the full article, go here.

"Lincoln" and "Flight" Mini-reviews

Yesterday, I watched two good movies via "award screener" DVDs.

The first was Steven Spielberg's Lincoln with Daniel Day Lewis in the title role.  The movie focuses on the final months of President Abraham Lincoln's life and the end of the Civil War.

The movie was well done and Lewis was probably the best movie Lincoln ever and Sally Field was great as Mary Todd Lincoln.

I am disappointed at how the assassination at Ford's Theater was glossed over.  Every Lincoln movie I've seen (dating back to D. W. Griffith's 1930 Abraham Lincoln) re-enacted the assassination.  This movie didn't.  They did depict Lincoln's moment of death in the rooming house across the street from Ford's.  The room was bigger than the actual one (I should know, I've been in it.)

Other than those quibbles, it was a fine movie.  If one is not into political history, they may find the movie long and boring.  There is one other actor who is in the movie who once also played Lincoln.

My grade: A.

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The second movie I watched was Flight, starring Denzel Washington.

Washington plays an heroic airline pilot but his alcoholism causes him trouble when federal investigators look into the circumstances surrounding the crash of the plane he was piloting.

Flight is a riveting movie and Washington's portrayal of an heroic, but flawed pilot was excellent.  Nadine Velazquez provides some eye-candy early on in the movie.

My grade: A+.