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The Search For
Bond: How The 007 Role Was Won And Lost (History Press, RRP £20)
opens on a strange and somewhat sour note. In a preface in which he
explains the genesis of the project, Sellers notes that the book began
life “sometime around 2007” before being “abandoned” and “left on a
memory stick”. He then adds: “Imagine my surprise when many years
later I was able to interest a publisher into releasing the book”.
However, what Sellers does not mention is that major portions of the
book have been published before, and by 007 MAGAZINE no less –
part 1 appeared in issue #55 in
August 2012, and two further instalments appeared online in June 2023.
From a commercial perspective, perhaps Sellers and his publishers felt
it would be ill-advised to inform someone who has just paid £20 for a
book they could have accessed significant portions of gratis – and
still can in fact – via the 007 MAGAZINE website:
THE SEARCH FOR
BOND
I have no personal
axe to grind with Sellers – who I have never met, corresponded with,
or crossed social or professional paths with – but I find his failure
to reference the role of 007 MAGAZINE in his book’s genesis as being –
at best – graceless and – at worst – somewhat disingenuous.
This significant omission to one side, let’s turn our attention to the
book itself, and its value for the discerning 007 fan, which is
considerable. |
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Sellers’ form-line when
it comes to 007-related scribing is promising – his controversial tome
The Battle For Bond shed fascinating light on the cinematic origins of
007 and the protracted Fleming-McClory-EON saga, uncovering much new
information and insight along the way. Furthermore, his 2019 effort
When Cubby Met Harry: The Story Of The James Bond Producers eminently
readable, albeit not exactly groundbreaking.
Sellers’ strengths as a writer are his doggedness and his willingness to
put in the hard research yards. These virtues, showcased in his previous
two 007-related books, are once again amply showcased in The Search For
Bond, which contains material from an impressive range of interviews
that the author himself conducted – more than 50 by my count. In addition,
he has diligently scoured other sources for supplementary information and
material, all of which is impeccably sourced and referenced.
While Sellers is a more than able historian in terms of research, where he
comes somewhat unstuck is in a lack of ability to critically evaluate the
sources and information at his fingertips. Throughout the book he fails to
offer detailed, or indeed at times any, comment on the veracity or
reliability of those he has interviewed or those who claim to have come
close to being cast as Bond. By neglecting to question or evaluate – for
example – any of his subjects’ recall or accuracy, he leaves us none the
wiser about some of the intriguing nuggets of information he has uncovered
– a case in point being the revelation that American muscleman Steve
Reeves was (perhaps?) offered the role of 007 before Sean Connery was cast
in Dr. No. The oft-repeated claim that Timothy Dalton was
approached in connection with the 007 role ahead of On Her Majesty’s
Secret Service is also once again repeated by Sellers. It’s a claim
the veracity of which I doubt, given that principal photography on
OHMSS began nine days before Dalton’s debut film The Lion In Winter
was even released. (It’s far more likely, in terms of timelines, that
Dalton was seen or approached in connection with Diamonds Are Forever
or Live And Let Die).
Sellers is also no stylist – his prose rarely rises above the prosaic, and
his creative decision to end the book with an extended quotation by Rikki
Lee Travolta, an extremely marginal one-time ‘candidate’ to play Bond is
bizarre in the extreme. It’s also a shame that he neglects to include
Australian model Finlay Light’s eye-popping and amusing claim – made in a
rare interview last year – that when Barbara Broccoli interviewed him for
the 007 role ahead of The Living Daylights he could tell that, “…she
wanted me to make love to her”.
These caveats aside, The Search For Bond is a very readable
addition to any 007 aficionado’s bookshelf and a book with many merits.
Definitive or essential? No, but certainly the most complete account thus
far assembled of how the 007 role has been filled, and not filled, over
the years. |
