27 Feb Fleming: The Man Who Would Be Bond
(2014) Fleming: The Man Who Would Be Bond is a four-part BBC America miniseries which covers the career of Ian Fleming up to the point when he begins to write his first book about “James Bond.”
In preparation, I first watched Spymaker: The Secret Life of Ian Fleming, a 1990 made for television movie starring Jason Connery, son of Sean, the first actor to play James Bond. I also watched, today in fact, a Smithsonian Channel documentary, The Real Story: James Bond. You can find it on Netflix.
So how about the four part series? There is lots of action. The documentary tells us that Ian Fleming really didn’t go on the dangerous escapades. He planned them. He came up with many creative schemes that if they weren’t used by British Intelligence still ended up in one of his books.
His superiors thought he knew too much. If the Germans caught him they would have a field day.
He did have escapades, however. And many of them involved beautiful women. He ended up marrying Ann O’Neill after she divorced the man she was married to while they carried on their affair.
BBC America’s description of the series describes it as “sexually charged,” “racy,” “unconventional sexual relationship.” There is no doubt in my mind that Fleming’s sexual adventures were all of that and more. I didn’t care for the scenes that portrayed them so vividly. They reminded me of an HBO adult movie.
Maybe it’s an age thing. My age.
UPDATE: April 5, 2014 – After reading this article from the Daily Mail I guess I have to admit that this BBC series was less vivid than it might have been.
Fleming: The Man Who Would Be Bond (TV Mini-Series) at amazon.com
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