SYSK’s Summer Movie Playlist: What's the deal with Bond, James Bond? | STUFF YOU SHOULD KNOW

Hey everybody, it's me Josh and I'd like. to welcome you to the Stuff You Should. Know summer movie playlist. It's. summertime and we thought what better. way to kick off one of the four greatest. seasons of the year with a focus on. movies because what screams summer more. than a nice darkened cool aironditioned. theater and a great movie playing right. in front of you. So, we're going to. start the whole thing off with our July. 2010 episode on what's the deal with. Bond. James Bond. Hope you enjoy.

Welcome to Stuff You Should Know from. how stuffworks.com. Hey, and welcome to the podcast. I'm. Josh Clark. Uh, hi. With me is Charles. W. Chuck Bryant. Bryant. Charles Bryant. How is it going, Chuck? It's an odd way. to introduce yourself, don't you think? Not if you're a super spy. Are you a.

super spy? Actually, I wouldn't say. James Bond was even a spy. Secret Service. Is that a spy? Really? No, he was an assassin. And yeah, just. general plot disruptor, I would say. He. was a blunt instrument of the crown. Yeah, if you wanted the job done and you. couldn't if you didn't have time to. worry about, you know, the politics or, you know, diplomacy, that kind of thing,

you sent James Bond. Yeah. Get JB on the. phone 007. Yeah. He'll he'll take care. of business like Elvis. You could call. him on his car phone long before any car. had a phone. Yeah. All right. Oh, yeah. He he was always predating uh. technology. Yeah. As a matter of fact, there's a James Bond theory of. entrepreneurial innovation. I believe. that uh in from Russia with Love 1963, he um talked I can't remember who he. talked to, but he was in his car using.

the phone. Yeah. That was in his car and. audiences went nuts for it. Oh yeah. They were like, "Oh my god, he's on a. telephone, right? In a car." But that's. what they sounded like in England. though. Oh yeah. Well, sure. Possibly. Ghana, right? Uh, so Josh, where do we start here? We. can't we can't not start with uh Ian. Fleming. Ian Fleming. That's where we got to. start. Let's do it. No, that was there. was a colon after that. Oh, Ian Fleming.

Colon was, as everyone knows and and if. you didn't, you need to get out from. under your rock that you reside uh in. right now, the creator of James Bond, right? In novel form. He was also uh. originally a journalist and a stock. broker and uh World War II starts to. come around and he joins the naval re. naval volunteer Royal Navy. Royal Navy. um and he was actually Chuck did you. know assigned as a spy himself in.

Washington DC? Yeah, sort of a spy you. could call it. He um he was in. intelligence and he would occasionally. have he was an administrative guy, but. sometimes they would send him out to do. field work where he would take secret uh. pictures of documents just like in the. movies. Do you know who was assigned to. his spy unit? James Bond? Yeah. No. Well, the guy who. was the inspiration for James Bond, his.

name was William Stevenson, aka. Intrepid, right? Yeah. One of many. inspirations, right? But and in in an. interview in the Times in 1962, Fleming said, you know, James Bond is. this romanticized version of a spy. Uh. Bill Stevenson is the real thing, right? Well, romanticized version of himself. to an extent. Sure. Um, another member. of that spy ring was a guy named Rald. Doll who uh wrote uh James and the Giant.

Peach and Charlie and the Chocolate. Factory. Yeah. And a bunch of body. books, right? He also had the. non-children's books that were a little. racier. Yes. Not many people know that. So, Chuck, let's talk a little bit more. about Ian Fleming. Like, give it to us, buddy. Yeah. I mean, he, like I said, he. was he sort of James based James Bond on. kind of I think who he wanted to be. He. was a playboy. He was an island hopper, an adventurer, an adventurer, a skier. He he dove with Jacqu Kustoau and uh you.

know snowk skied from the tops of. mountains in Switzerland and had a place. in Jamaica where he actually wrote all. these books, right? He uh he named the. place Golden Eye and every year he would. go to Jamaica and write a book and I. just want to dig him up and throttle him. for that because I mean what a what a. life. Yeah. You know. Yeah. Oh, it's. time for me to go to my estate in. Jamaica and write a book that's going to. just make me millions more. Yeah. Which.

he did. And uh he reportedly picked the. name James Bond because he wanted the. most boring name he could find for his. super secret agent. I think he didn't. want the name to compete with the actual. character. Like, why bother giving him. some fancy name? Just name him James. Bond and have him kick butt, right? You. know what the opposite of that is? Hacksaw Jim Dugen. Yeah, he should have. named him that. Yeah. Well, then it. would have competed with the character.

Dugen. Hacksaw Jim Dugen. I could hear. that. Um, so yeah, he wrote uh See, the. article says 13 novels. Well, he wrote. 13 books. I got 14. What's the 14th? Well, I've got 12 novels plus two short. story collections. for your eyes only. and octopusy in the living daylights was. another collection. Right. So, it seems. like it'd be easier to find this out, but I literally saw two different sets. of information. Huh. So, are we going to. go with 14? Because you are quite the uh.

sniffer. Let's let's go with 14 total. Okay. 12 novels. All right. But, uh he. he wrote um I think he wrote the novels. first, maybe. Or did he write the short. story books like in between? Yeah, they. were they were in between. They were. toward the end. Okay. But when he was. getting fat and lazy in Jamaica. Yeah. Interestingly though, or maybe it's not. that interesting, they made the movies. way out of order. Yeah, they did. Uh the. Dr. No was the first film, but that was.

the sixth novel. Right. But did you know. that they originally the people who made. the official Bond movies originally. wanted to make Thunderball? Thunderball. was a story that Ian Fleming came up. with with another guy who um who wanted. the rights to make a movie out of it. Oh, really? That fell through, but Ian. Fleming went ahead and wrote the story. anyway that they come up with as. Thunderball. The guy sued his pants off. and actually gained custody, gained the. rights to the book Thunderball, which. tied it up and um made them opt for Dr.

No to go first instead. There was a lot. of litigation over the years in the Bond. franchise. Yes, there was. I guess when. you have a franchise that long and that. vast, there's going to be people suing. people over something. Well, plus it's. legendary. He's a legendary character. and, you know, he's made a lot of money. for a lot of people. Absolutely. Uh, the. other interesting thing I thought just. before we move on was that Moonrakaker. was written in 1955. That was the third novel. That is. insightful. And of course, there wasn't.

a space shuttle like they they changed. the setting and all that stuff, but it. did involve like a nuclear weapon. So, you know, kind of odd. And uh Man. with the Golden Gun, which was the uh. Roger Moore's. second film, was the final novel, and it. was released after his death. Huh. So, it was way out of order. And in that. one, he predicted Herve Viche, which. nobody saw coming except Ian Fleming. Yeah, you're right. Yeah, it's weird.

Let's talk about um James Bond a little. bit, Chuck. The character James Bond. So, um, it turns out James Bond had a. Scottish father, which he didn't. originally. No, that came about because. of, uh, Shan Connelly. Yeah. Ian Fleming. was not a big fan of Shan Connory. At. first, and then, uh, Sean Connory was. like, "Check this out." And he made, uh, one pec go up while the other went down. a bunch of times. And Ian Fleming just. like clapped and squealled and that was. that. Right. Right. Um, he was a big fan.

and he said, "You know what? You are. James Bond." And um he actually went. back and changed James Bond's history. Yeah. To kind of match Sean Conry a. little bit because he came to see like. this guy is Bond, right? Yeah. So he. gave James Bond to Scottish father. Andrew and his Swiss mother Monnique. Delroy. And Nice. Yeah. And they both. died uh mountain climbing, right? Yes. When uh little James was 11 years old. and he went to the orphanage. And he.

went to an orphanage. He was supposedly. born on November 11th, 1920, but there. are different accounts of his birthday. and when he was born. And clearly when. you have a franchise with Daniel Craig. playing him in 2008, he can't be born in 1920. Yeah. Because. bodies the exhibition wasn't showing in. in Miami in like 1958 or anything. So, uh yeah, there's a sliding scale there. obviously to make it viable. But um. James, much like his uh author namesake. Ian Fleming, not namesake.

and James Bond, much like the author Ian. Fleming was um went to the Royal Navy in. World War II, rose to the rank of. commander. Yes. After the war, that's. when he entered the SIS known as MI6, right? Which is the sixth branch of the. military intelligence directorate. You. got that, buddy? Right. And his first. two assignments, Chuck, yeah, were two. tabs, weren't they? assassinations right. off the bat. So he that's apparently you. have to kill two people to get a double. O status which is the license to kill.

and he got him like you say right off. the bat. Yeah. And he was the seventh. dude to get him. So that's where 007. comes from. Right. The seventh agent. I. shouldn't say dude because there were. were there female agents? Yeah, there. were female agents. Okay. I'm pretty sure. Uh oh. And we should. probably take the time here to explain. I like James Bond. I know that you like. James Bond movies, too. Yeah. Is this. the disclaimer? Yeah. We're gonna get. killed here. Um, we are not members of.

James Bond fandom, I would say. Right. I. mean, I've seen all the movies, but no, I haven't studied the books. I've never. read any of the books. I don't think. I've seen all the movies. Yeah. And um, but I do like them in a very. recreational manner. So that being said, we are not going to get every single. thing right here, right? We are going to. walk right past information that we just. don't know exists. Yeah. So in a very.

friendly manner, if there is anything. that you have to say that can round this. podcast out even further, the more we. love knowing new things that that's So. please let us know, I guess, is what. we're saying, right? Oh, they'll let us. know. They will. Except for the like. three dudes that just turned it off and. went, "Well, they have no business even. attempting this thing, right?" And then. they go give us a one-star rating on. iTunes. So, back to Bond. He um, as we. all know, is a sharp dresser and he. loves fast cars. He loves his martini.

Shake stirred. He loves women. Yeah. And. do you know if you shake a martini. instead of stirring it, you pretty much. ruin it? I disagree. I shake all my. martinis. Dude, how does it ruin it? It. um feathers it. I think. What does that. mean? It means it's screwed up. What. does that mean? I like a good dirty martini myself. Oh, you like them dirty? Oh, yeah. Gross. Jared just said word. I like my martinis. so light it's basically just a vodka. rock. So you just like the vermouth.

bottle just waved near the glass pretty. much. I like just a little vermouth, little olive juice, but no olives. No. olive juice. I'll put an ol I'll put. three olives in usually. Really? Yeah. All right. But then I I eat them so fast. that they have no time to taint the. martini. Well, that's why you're not a. super spy. No. So, Josh, uh, James Bond, a couple of the other traits we should. just mention. He is a a martial artist. He's a gifted man with his fist and feet. or if you're Roger Moore, a karate chop.

Yeah, he loved the karate chop. Oh, yeah. Yeah, that was a big deal in the. 70s. And he um carried a famously. carried a Walter PPK handgun 32 caliber. Yeah. And that's a little guy. Have you. ever seen him? Oh yeah. They're small. And I've played Golden Eye and I've. played Best game. I guess I just played. Golden Eye. It is a great game. Yeah. And you know they're bringing that back. for Wii. I've heard Matt Frederick of uh. Coolest Stuff on the Planet told us that. they are bringing that back because it's.

still sort of the standard for. first-person shooters like 15 years on. Yeah, it's still a great game. So, they're bringing it back as is like. completely as it was but with better. graphics. That's going to be fantastic. for the Wii. Yeah. Pretty exciting. Back to the real life. Yes. Of the fake. life of James Bond. That's what we. should have titled this podcast. The. real life of the fake life. Yeah. How about uh let's talk about some of. the enemies. Dr. No. He was the first.

one to appear in the films. Dr. Julius. No. Right. He's an atomic scientist. Yeah. He he was clearly Joseph Wiseman. played him and he was a great great. villain. Uh Goldfinger. You can't talk. about Bond without talking about. Goldfinger. Yeah. He was eh You don't. like him? No, not really. I was a big. Goldfinger guy. Were you? He tried to. laser the crotch of James Bond. Oh, yeah. That's right. Pretty hardcore. Yeah. It's like Max Scorpio. Yeah. In that Simpsons where Oh, yeah.

Homer ends up going to work for the. super villain, right? Yeah. He's like, "No, Mr. Bond, I expect you to die and. be a very cheap funeral." Uh, Odd Job. was one of my favorite. He was one of. Goldman's henchmen, the big guy. I loved. him, too. Asian guy with the bowler hat. that he could cut like the head off a. statue. Yeah. With his hat. Huge. Yeah. Very big dude. Yeah. Uh, Jaws. We grew. up with Roger Moore, so he can't not. talk about Jaws. No, he was great, too. He was in two of them, right? He was in. Moonrakaker and The Spy Who Loved Me. I.

thought he might have been more than. that, but he he definitely No, I looked. it up. He was only in two. Two. Really? God, he made quite an impression. Yeah, he did. He found the girlfriend in in. Moonreaker, I think. Right. Falls in. love or something. Yeah, the little like. nerdy girl. And then he pops up again in. Happy Gilmore. Was he in that? Yeah. I. didn't see that. Yeah, he uh was Happy. Gilmore's boss like on the construction. site and he ends up becoming a fan. Wow. Did he have the teeth? No, he didn't. have the teeth just for the movie. But. uh he was a big guy. Yes. Uh lately. we've had more recent villains that I.

don't think the new villains compare. personally. No, they kind of come and. go. You know, there's like uh in um. Casino Royale. Yeah. I mean, they're. okay, but they're all tell you who the. villain was. Yeah. that that like. they're all decent, but they're not like. iconic characters like they used to be, right? Like Blofeld. Yeah. Well, Blofeld. was the. sort of legendary. I don't know how many. movies he was in, but he was played by. like Telly Savalis. Donald Pleasants. Yeah, Donald Pleasants was my favorite. version. He was good. And Max Vancidal.

played him, I think, in Never Say Never. Again, maybe. Nice. Max Von. He's a. class act. Yeah, I was What did I watch. the other day? Oh, Shudder Island. He's. in that. And I told I leaned over to. Emily. I was like, you know, I want to. see Max Van Cidal play like a kindly. grandfather in a movie. I don't think. you can slow it off. Anytime that dude. pops up in the movie, you're like, "Oh, well, he's the evildoer, right? He's the. villain." Or so you think. Until Shutter. Island falls apart at the end. Don't. ruin it. Yeah.

Yes. That was Blofeld. He was the bald. guy and he was the head of Spectre, which was the special executive for. counter intelligence, terrorism, revenge, and extortion. Right. Great uh. villainist title there, which that's not. only like a great name, that's your. mission statement. Yeah. You know, all. wrapped up into one. Um, one of my. favorites, Max Zoran, played by the. great Christopher Walkin. He was a um he. was the dude. I know you love that. movie. One of the best Bond movies ever,

but that had the worst Bond woman ever. Grace Jones. No, Tanya Roberts. I don't. remember her. She was the Bond girl. I. don't remember. She was the lady from. the 70s show that was like uh one of the. late Charlie's Angels replacements. Tanya Roberts. Yeah. Yeah. Who cares? It. was the 80s. Nobody was paying that much. attention, but it was a good song. It. was. And uh Christopher Walkin was in. it. Grace Jones was in it. She was. pretty scary in it. Yeah, she was. excellent. Um talk about a martial. artist. Um but Max Zoran is Did you know.

he was the product of genetic. experiments by Nazis? walking was well not walking Max Zoran. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I don't I don't. remember that. Yeah. And um one of the. unintended side effects was he was a. complete psychopath. I thought you were. going to say one of the side effects was. his use of punctuation. You are good, man. Everybody does. walking. I can't do a walkin. Let's hear. it.

My No, it's really just an altered John. Travolta. Why you so weird, dude? That's. great. thing. Of course, Chuck, there's. 006, Alec Trevlin. Yeah. What was he in? That was one of. the Pierce Brosen ones, wasn't it? Yeah, I think. Yeah, which I don't remember. those. I love Pierce Brosen. Like, he. back that like he wasn't James Bond. earlier. He's like, "Oh, yeah. You're. going to cast Timothy Dalton, are you? Well, I'll go be Remington Steel.".

Jerks. Yeah. And um then they tried to. get him again, right? I think so. And he. was committed to Remington Steel, which. was sort of like James Bond for TV. Oh, so did he do Remington Steel first? Oh, yeah. He did Remington Steel. Well, it. goes back and forth. There was like. Timothy Dalton was offered the role. before Roger Moore. Did you know that? No, I didn't. When he was 21 years old, really, he was going to replace Shan. Connory. Wow. And Dalton said, "I'm too. young to play James Bond." And then he. comes around years later just like to. just like uh Broman did. Okay. But I am.

glad that Pierce Brosman went in. I just. happen to think that those his period of. movies were unfortunate. I thought they. were pretty good. I didn't like them. I'm really happy with Daniel Craig's. stuff so far. Well, you know, my. statement on that is that was the only. direction they could take that. franchise. After the Jason Bourne. movies, you couldn't have a guy like. winking at the camera like Roger Moore. and like slapstick sounds and uh sound. effects. You had to take him in like a. real bad bad direction. Yes. You mean.

like Simo High? Yeah. Um, so 006 Alec. Trevalin, he is I think he informs the. character Alex Krychek from XFiles. You. think so, huh? Very nice, Josh. Thanks. All right, so. those are some of the villains. Clearly. not all, but um we should also talk. about some of the people that James Bond. had working on his side at MI6, right? Which we will call from here on out. the.

superfluous characters. No, dude, they're great. M Q. Yeah, M was the head of MI6 and. there were several M's. M was just a. title and uh M was the one that's always. frustrated with Bon yet he knows that. he's the blunt instrument of choice, you know, pretty much in every movie, right? Uh Q, I you should say he or she. for M. True. Dame Judy Dench took over. Yeah. Oh, man. She's doing a great job, too. Uh Q is the head of the Q branch.

Judy Dench, did you hear that? Chuck. just said you were doing a great job. So. keep it up. Keep it up, Dane. Judy. Dench. Dame. Dane. Dame. Dame. Yeah, she's a dame. Q is the head of the Q. branch, MI6's research and development. branch. And Q, as you might know, is the. guy who in all the films gives James his. uh gadgets. There's always that great. scene where James goes into the. laboratory and starts messing around. with the gadgets and exasperates Q.

because he's burning something or he's. firing a missile inside and he shouldn't. be. That's Q. Right. And he's uh now. been replaced by his former assistant R. Right. Now, is R John Cle? Yeah. Yeah. He's doing a good job. But he's the new. Q. He just used to be R. Well, because Q. died, right? Lou Ellen. Yes. Chuck, that. was the actor that played the original. Q. Is that right? Or the the Roger Moore. Q that I loved, right? Who else we got? Felix Lighter, who I like. Jack Lord,

Jeffrey Wright, both played him. Oh, yeah. CIA agent. And then there's. another guy named Hayward Wade. Well, is. he CIA? Yeah. I thought they said they. didn't know if he was DEA or CIA. He was. around before the DEA was, was he? Yeah. All right. Um, and then you've got, I. think Jack Wade is his name, and he was. actually played by a couple people, including Joe Don Baker in Oh, yeah. Pierce Broman ones. Yeah. Yeah. He had a. couple of American counterparts. That's. a good point. And little known fact, Joe.

Baker was in Oh, I can't remember the. name of the movie, but it was one of the. greatest Mystery Science Theater 3000s. Oh, really? Yeah. Bad movie. [Laughter]. Uh, and then of course we have to. mention Money Penny, who was uh M's. personal assistant. And Money Pennney, you always knew Money Penny because. James would come in and flirt very much. with her. And I always got the sense. that if James were to ever settle down. with anyone, which he clearly won't, it. would have been Money Penny. Sure. Or at. least he made her think that, right?

Every day was Secretar's Day when James. Bond was around. He was always just so. nice to her and bringing her things from. his travels, shot glasses and stuff, right? Spoons. She had an extensive. spoon collection. Refrigerator magnets. Chuck Josh, let's talk about the movie, shall we? Yeah, sure. Well, let's talk. about James Bond on screen because it. wasn't necessarily just relegated to the. movies. Oh, yeah. Good point. So, James. Bond first appears on screen on the.

small screen on a CBS TV series called. Climax with an exclamation point. Really? Yeah. Wow. Uh, and he was first. played by a guy named Barry Nelson. And. Barry Nelson, you may recognize as Mr. Olman, the manager of The Overlook in. Kubrick's The Shining, who tells Jack. Torres the ropes. That's the first guy. to ever play James Bond. Wow. Was he. English? No. American. Yeah. CBS TV. series. So, we've had a Scotsman, quite. a few Englishmen, an American, and an.

Australian. And what? What do you mean Australian? I. mean someone from Australia. That was. George Lammy. He was Australian, was it? You know what happened to him? Well, he. wasn't much of an actor. Well, it wasn't. just that. He after the success of his. Bond movie, I mean, he played James Bond. and it was, you know, filmed and and. produced and released on Her Majesty. Secret Service, right? Was the movie He. was like, "Holy cow, I'm James Bond and. I'm going to buy a boat and sail around. the world for a while." and he came back.

and his star had already faded because. he did one thing and that was that. Oh, really? Yeah. He kind of blew it. He. wasn't much of an actor either. It. wasn't But it wasn't just that. It was. Yeah. It was a combination of those two. things. He was a bad dude, though. Like. he he got the role apparently because he. impressed Ian Fleming because he uh had. a faux fight scene with a wrestler to. for his audition and he actually punched. the guy. Wow. Like got mad and punched. him and Fleming's like, "This is our. dude." Wow. Yeah. Yeah, because Fleming. wrote the Bond character is much darker.

Yeah, the the novel character for sure. Like Roger Moore took it in a very awful. direction, specific direction, you know, that was not the least bit like how uh. Ian Fleming had written him. You're the. ultimate Roger Moore apologist. I love. Roger Moore. He's good in The Saint and. that's why I got the the role, I think. Okay. The TV show The Saint. Sure. It's. a good one. All right. So, Chuck, let's. get back to the beginning again. So, we. talked about Barry Nelson and on the big. screen, the first Bond ever was Sean.

Connry, right? In Well, they did they. did a pilot though on TV as well. That's. the Barry Nelson one. Oh, it was called. Casino Royale though. No, right. It was. based on Casino Royale for Climax. Okay. Which I think you know how they used to. do like um they would they would have. the name of the series, but then there. there'd be like different like uh like. Wonderful World of Disney. Yeah. It was. like the name of the series, but then. there were different like documentaries. or cartoons or whatever. Okay. I think. it was like that and that flopped and it. got they didn't know what they were. doing with TV back in the day. They had. no idea. So, yeah, you're right. Dr. No.

was the first uh film in 1962. and there's been 22 in total. No. Yes. And we're waiting. And that's. official Bond films because they. parodyied him and other things. Woody. Allen played him for heaven's sake. Yeah. uh in in the parody he did of. Casino Royale. Yeah. Um there's also a. an unofficial Bond film with an official. Bond, right? Let's hear it. Never Say.

Never Again. Yeah, that was Connory's. that was also fraught with uh uh. lawsuits as well. You know, that was. based on the Thunderball lawsuit. Yeah, they they remade Thunderball, right? And. they named it Never Say Never Again. because Connor had said after 1971 that. he'd never play Bond again. Yeah. because he played Bond what for the. first like six movies something like. that. Uh one, two, three, four, five, and then George Lenby. Then he came back. and did Diamonds or Forever and then.

after that came Roger Moore. Yes. And. then Roger Moore had a pretty good run. So So Shan Connory stops playing Bond. George Lazenby comes along, does it. once, leaves, Shan Connory has to come. back another time. After Shan Connory, they get Roger Moore. In the midst of. Roger Moore's run. Yeah. Sean Connory. makes another Bond film. That's when we. were kids, too. 12 years after the last. one he'd made. Yeah. Right. And Yeah. Kim Basinger was the Bond Chick in that.

one. Yes, she was. And they called it. Never Say Never Again because he'd said. that he would never play Bond again. Never Tbec. That's what he said, right? Timothy. Dalton. I guess we might as well venture. into his years. Yeah. I I I saw those. when they first came out like in the. theaters and I didn't think anything of. them. I don't know if they were over my. head or whatever, but I didn't like. them. They were pretty good. Living. Daylights and License to Kill. They were. both Are they good? Really? Yeah. I. mean, they were It was definitely a more. novelistic bond. Like he was darker and.

a little more bad dude. And that I mean. it might have had something to do with. it was coming off the heels of Roger. Moore in his vaudeville act that he. brought to Bond. And Dalton had a two-picture run and. then was replaced by who everyone. thought should have been Bond before. Dalton, Pierce Brosman for one, two, three, four films, right? And then they. went the inevitable direction with a. blonde Bond. with Daniel Craig. Is that inevitable, you think? Well, I meant the inevitable. way of making him a a tough dude, but.

yeah, the his blondness was not. inevitable. You know, you make fun of. Roger Moore, but he had a seven picture. stint as James Bond. Yeah. I mean, and. that was our childhood. Trust me, dude. At the time, I loved it. But then when I. got older, I revisited all the Shan. Connories and then I saw the. buttkickingness of Timothy Dalton and. now Daniel Craig. And now I'm kind of. like Roger Mo was kind of a joke to me. No, you still stand by it. I do. All. right. I like Roger Mo. Uh Sam Neil was. considered at one point. I could see him.

as James Bond. Yeah, he would have been. bad. He was great in Dead Calm. Uh yeah, that was a good movie. You know, I don't. know that this even qualifies as a um. podcast. People are gonna be like, "You guys are. just kind of chitchatting, right, Chuck? There's also theories. Tons of them. Best one, actually. The only one I could. find really is the code name theory. Have you heard this?" I have not. cracked got a lot of publicity for it by.

um it's a fan theory that basically says. James Bond is a it's a name that goes. along with 007 and there's each actor. was playing an actual different person. who had assumed this undercover name. James Bond really which explains the. changes in personality. Yeah. Uh, it it. explains why Sean Connory was so suave. and Roger Moore was so goofy. Sure. Uh, it explains why Daniel Craig and Timothy. Dalton were so violent. Right. Right.

Um, it explains a lot of stuff actually. It explains George Lmbbee's departure. because his wife, the only time James. Bond has ever been married, died in that. one honor on her majesty's secret. service. Yeah. He had a wife. Most. people don't know that. And she was. killed by Blofeld. Right. Yeah. So he. leaves after that. That explains that, right? Absolutely. There's actually. holes in that theory. Do you know them? I know a couple. Like for example, George Lasenby recognized gadgets that.

were debuted during Shan Connory's. tenure. If he was a new person, he would. it would be new to him. He'd be like, "What's this dart gun?" Exactly. Right. Um, and uh, I think uh, The Spy Who. Loved Me, Roger Moore, is recognized. from his college days at Cambridge as. James Bond, which would mean that he was. using the name before then, but it's. still a pretty cool theory. If you want. any cool theory shot down, I recommend. you go to commanderbond.net, mi6.co.uk,

or jamesbondwiki.com. Those are some good sites. I'm going to. retract my Roger Moore bashing a little. bit. Okay. I actually liked like four. out of seven of his films. Okay. See, so. you're right. I I for sometimes I forget. about the awesomeness of Live and Let. Die and Man with a Golden Gun for Your. Eyes Only. Those are all pretty good. It. was like Octopusy. Moonrakaker was. really silly. Does not age well at all. And uh View to a Kill. I just can't get.

behind that. You to a Kill is awesome. What about um The Spy Who Love Me? That's the one with the underwater. lotus. Yeah. Yeah. Great, great movie. Um, and I have one last fact. Are you. ready? Oh, yeah. The legendary Bond. producer, co-producer, Albert Cubby. broccoli. Yeah. His family invented. broccoli. They crossed cauliflower with. Rae and invented broccoli. And he. actually left the family farm to go to. Hollywood to pursue his fortune when he. was like 18. Are you making this up? I. am not. He invented broccoli. His family.

did. His like parents, grandparents. That's a pretty good fact. Broccoli. Very cool. Good for him. They're in. trouble now though because MGM is in. trouble. Yeah, but they're saying like. it's just a blip on the radar. If you. listen to any anybody who's attached to. the Bond 23 Oh, it'll happen at some. point, but it's like it's fine. Yeah, it's being delayed big time though. because MGM and over their heads. financially. If you know anything about. um MGM, if you're an insider MGM, we. want to hear from you. Let us know. what's going on with Bond. That's funny.

Uh we should we got to talk about Bond. girls. That's one of the hallmarks of. Bond films. And uh usually there's two. Bond girls at least. There's like a hot. villain and like a hot uh an aid that. helps him out in some way. Sometimes she. turns out to be a villain, but there's. usually two Bond girls and he's equally. attracted to both. Like Grace Jones. Yeah, he's attracted to her for some. reason. Uh they are fim fatal. Like I said, Bon.

cannot help but fall for them, even. though they it might mean he has to. eventually kill them after he makes. sweet love to them, right? And uh I'm. going to go ahead and ask you what your. favorite Bond girl is. I just um. recently realized that Carrie Lel uh was. a Bond girl and I used to have the. biggest crush on her when I would watch. um Wild Orchid. No. Uh, Law and Order. reruns on A&E. Yeah. They used to show.

like Law and Order for like eight hour. blocks on A&E and I'd be like, I'm not. going to class today. I'm just gonna. watch Law and Order. And she was on a. lot of them. And she Yeah. She would be. my favorite Bond girl. I'm going with. Ursula Andress. Yeah. She was hot, dude. Back in the day. She played Honey Rider. And that's another uh hallmark of the. Bond women is they usually had really. awful names that hinted at sexual. innuendo. Yeah. You know, Plentyo Tool, Honey.

Rider, Galore. Uh. actually, Solitaire, Jane Seymour, she. was pretty good in Live and Let Die like. that. She was actually a really good. actor. Okay. Uh, Moonrakaker, of course, uh, had Holly Goodhead and, uh, A View. to a Kill had Tanya Roberts. as Stacy Sutton. They didn't even give. her a cool name. So, Chuck, what's the. best Bond theme song? Well, let me take. a wild guess. I I'm gonna say Live and Let Die is.

probably my favorite because, you know, I would put thousand dollars on that or. um, what's her name? Uh, Carly Simon, Spy Who Love Me, Nobody Does It Better. Love that song, dude. Best Bond theme. song. If it's not Dance, you to a Kill. Oh, okay. If it's not that, it is Nancy. Sinatra singing You Only Live Twice. Yeah, that was awesome. Yes, it was. Um, Shirley Bassie, just another little. factoid. She did two. No, she did more. than that. She did Goldfinger. She did.

Diamonds Her Forever. She did. Moonrakaker. Moon Raker. That's That's three total. Uh I was also a big fan of Sheena. Eastston's For Your Eyes Only. Yeah, she. did a good one. And Rita Culage, alltime. high from Octopusy. Didn't Tom Jones do. Thunderball or something? He did. Yeah, he did Thunderball. Quite a guy. And uh. since we're talking about the songs that. have really gotten lame in recent years, like the Chris Cornell and Garbage. You.

probably didn't even remember they did. songs. Garbage did the one for um World. is Not Enough. Oh, okay. Pierce Broden. Yeah. And Cheryl Crowe did one. Did she. really? Yeah. Wow. It is lame. And. Madonna did one. And And now it's gotten. to the point where they're just like. like the last one they put Jack White. with Alicia Keys. Up next is Miley. Cyrus. Oh god. Say it ain't. So Bond 23. Uh what else do we have here? This is. the podcast that won't die. No, I do.

have It's like James Bond. It just goes. on. I do have a couple of more facts. Okay. Well, first of all, before we move. on, if we're going to talk about the. songs, we need to talk about the opening. sequences, the title sequences. When. you're a young Baptist boy and there are. naked, silhouetted women jumping on. trampolines. Yeah. It's very titillating. and arousing and arousing for a young. boy named Chuck. I'm titilated and. aroused. And then the opening sequence. of the films typically is some awesome. action scene and then the title sequence. comes up. There'll be like a.

seven-minute action scene, right? They. call that a cold opening, buddy. A cold. opening. Uhhuh. Yeah. It's very nice. And uh just got a couple of more facts. for you, Josh, and then I'll let you put. this to bed. All right. With what would. you say is the highest grossing Bond. film of all time? Adjusted gross. Adjusted gross. I would say Casino. Royale. No. Top two all time, Thunderball and Goldfinger. You're a. liar. Adjusted gross. You know, Casino. Royale Worldwide netted like almost $600.

million so far. Bunch of money. Thunderball and Goldfinger did more. Did. they really? Yeah. Thunderball in 1965, dude grossed $141 million. What? And. that Wait, is that worldwide or US? That's worldwide. Okay. And that is. close to what. License to Kill grossed in 1989. That. gross like 150 something. and. Thunderball, you know, 30 years more. grossed 141 million, right? But what I'm.

saying is. Casino Royale grossed 600 million. Well, I mean, yeah, that's not an adjusted. gross, though. You can't compare. You're. figuring inflation in. Yeah, that's why. it's called an adjusted gross. And that's about it. I mean, we could. say the cars he used real quickly, the. Aston Martin, obviously. My favorite is. the Lotus. the Lotus, the Alfa Romeo, and then that new Audi. That's pretty. cool. Do you like the Audi? Yeah, I. mean, it looks awesome. Okay. But I do.

miss the Lotus and the fact that it. could also be a submarine, right? And. lastly, Chuck, I would like to say to. all the kids of our generation, if you. ever noticed a similarity between. Inspector Gadget and James Bond, you are. dead on. Yeah. You think so? Yeah. All right. So, that's about it. If you want to know. more about James Bond, um like I said, there are three at least three really. good websites for um all things Bond. fandom. You can check out our website by.

typing James Bond brings up a bunch of. stuff in the handy search bar. And now, if you can believe it, it is time for. listener mail. Yes, Josh. I'm going to call this uh. Samurai stuff from Thomas. Guys, I'm a total samurai geek. I. practice Japanese sword-based martial. arts, Kendo, and Ayad. I've read all. this material about samurai, and your. podcast was a very good introduction, and I thank you for it. However, I'm.

kind of surprised you did not mention. the greatest samurai of all time, Miamoto Mousashi. This guy was the. epitome of everything samurai were. supposed to be. A dedicated soy soyvent, a poet, a painter, a calligrapher, a. philosopher, a general, and an allround. kicking killer. Not only did he write. The Book of Five Rings, he also killed. 60 men in single combat before age 40, not to mention all the guys he killed in. warfare. At one point in your podcast, you talked about the wooden katana. called Bokong in Japanese. Uh, yes, it.

was a practice sword, Josh, but it was. also a weapon in its own right. Because. Japan is such a wet climate, swords were. sometimes destroyed by rust. Bulken were. cheap and easy to replace. And Mousashi. was famous for winning some of his. greatest battles with the wooden sword. Ow. I know. Can you imagine, dude? Ow. God. Uh, getting smacked to death. Well, he says instead of cutting someone's. heads off, he would brain them, which I. guess means like you crack their skull. open. Yeah. Until their brains come out.

Um, also he was a big fan of using two. swords at one time. Sometimes two. katana, sometimes the short and the. long. Whatever it took to do the job. You guys rock. I love your show. I'm. grateful for the samurai show from. Thomas. Well, thank you, Thomas, for the. extra information. As I said, we are. always interested in knowing everything. we possibly can about a subject. So, if. you have anything to tell us about James. Bond that we missed, that we got wrong, that we need to know, we want to hear. it. Wrap it up and send it in an email.

Don't forget to spank it on the bottom. And maybe serve it a uh dry martini, shaken, not stirred. Address it to. stuffpodcast@ousstuffworks.com. [Music]. For more on this and thousands of other. topics, visit housestuffworks.com. Want more how stuff works? Check out our. blogs on the howstuffworks.com homepage.