So today marked the 60th anniversary of Dr. No’s premiere in 1962. Unfortunately I don’t feel much like celebrating at the moment, yes ding, dong the Craig is gone, but where will the series go from here? To be honest I’m not too hopeful. Well putting all that aside let’s hoist a medium dry vodka martini to the birth of our favorite cinema character and hope despite “Bond’s” death in the previous film it won’t be the death of the franchise.
Addendum: So obviously I slapped the paragraph above last minute out of an obligatory sense of necessity. As I said, I wasn’t feeling much like celebrating and it appears neither does anybody else. Just look at EON production’s favorite lap dogs MI6-HQ (thanks to friend of the blog Jason for alerting me). First off they’re champing at the bit for their overlords to get off their backside and get to work! Guess the collar is starting to chafe? But the biggest take away to me is the dearth of celebration outside of Britain! The article linked above states jolly old England had many an event to commemorate the moment, theatrical releases, concerts, auctions and panel discussions. Here in the states we got nothing, not even a re-release in the myriad vacant theaters dotting the landscape. Compare to last decade’s 50th anniversary, true that is a more monumental milestone than 60, however compared to the cavalcade of tributes and salutations, everyone from the automotive media to fashion magazines were covering the history of the franchise and it’s various artifacts. This time around nothing, crickets, only the home country could be arsed to lift their heads and take notice! That is the sad state of the series on this 60th anniversary.
The series has become more and more irrelevant under Babz regime. The Bond formula was established with Goldfinger and was followed by Cubby throughout the years with great success. There was a way to update the series without abandoning this road map. Thanks for the hat tip DB. Keep preaching the truth.
You’re welcome my friend, I appreciate the research!