Bond, Jimmy

In the first two feature films Woody Allen wrote. What s New Pussycat (1965) and What s Up Tiger Lily (1966), the reaction to James Bond is explicit. In his third film Casino Royale (1967), where was hired as an actor, he ad-libbed many of his lines, he actually played Janies Bond, or rather his nephew Jimmy. There he defines himself in reaction to his feelings of inferiority toward his uncle. In What s New Pussycat , Dr. No s Ursula Andress, while wearing a snakesldn body suit, falls, ala Goldfinger, out of the sky. She parachutes into the lead character s car. Later in a crowded hotel room, the therapist Dr. Fassbender is embracing Andress when his wife conies in. To excuse his behavior, he says to her, This is a personal friend of James Bond. ... 

The hrst important early sale went to CBS television in 1954, shortly after the publication of the novel in America. The rights were sold to make a one-hour adaptation for the network s Climax , a dramatic series of mystery and suspense adaptations taped live in the studio. Broadcast in October of that year. Casino Royale starred Barry Nelson as American Jimmy Bond, Peter Lorre as the villain Le Chiffre, and Linda Christian as the hrst Bond girl. Vesper Lynd. Needless to say, Nelson s television character had little to do with Fleming s literary creation other than he liked martinis and was an excellent card sharp. The teleplay, however, faithfully followed the novel s plot, albeit toned down for American audiences and the network censors. 

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