While Dr. No was being filmed in Jamaica, Fleming penned On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, and was motivated by the casting of Scottish actor Sean Connery to give Bond Scottish ancestry. Fleming did not give Bond a more comprehensive sense of family background until the penultimate novel, You Only Live Twice, in which he used a fabricated obituary, reportedly from The Times, to give Bond a more complete sense of family background. Bond’s parents were Andrew Bond of Glencoe and Monique Delacroix of the Canton de Vaud, according to the novel. The book was the first to be written after the film Dr. No was released in theaters, and Connery’s portrayal of Bond influenced Fleming’s vision of the character, giving Bond a sense of humour not seen in prior stories. Because of his father’s job as a Vickers armaments business agent, James Bond spends most of his early life abroad, becoming bilingual in German and French. James is orphaned when his parents are murdered in a mountain climbing accident in the Aiguilles Rouges near Chamonix.
Bond lives with his aunt, Miss Charmian Bond, in the village of Pett Bottom, where he completes his early schooling after his parents die. Later, at the age of “12 or thereabouts,” he attends Eton College for two half until being withdrawn due to girl trouble with a maid. Bond is sent to Fettes College in Scotland, his father’s institution, after being sent down from Eton. Bond loses his virginity during his first visit to Paris at the age of 16, and subsequently reminisces on the event in “From a View to a Kill.” Fleming based Bond on himself, with Bond mentioning briefly attending the University of Geneva (as did Fleming) before being taught to ski by Hannes Oberhauser in Kitzbühel (as did Fleming), who is later slain in “Octopussy.”
According to a Russian dossier about Bond in From Russia, with Love, Bond joined the Secret Service in 1938. He and the Deuxième Bureau spent two months in 1939 in the Monte Carlo Casino watching a Romanian group cheat before shutting them down. Bond joined “a branch of what was later to become the Ministry of Defence” in 1941, according to his biography in You Only Live Twice, and advanced to the rank of principal officer. He joined the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve as a lieutenant the following year and rose through the ranks to become a commander by the conclusion of the war.
Bond is already a 00 agent at the start of Fleming’s first novel, Casino Royale, after killing two enemy agents, a Japanese spy on the 36th floor of the RCA Building in New York City (then housing the headquarters of British Security Co-ordination – BSC) and a Norwegian double agent who had betrayed two British agents; Bond scholar John Griswold suggests that these were part of Bond’s wartime service. Bond is awarded a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George in either 1953 or 1954, according to Bond’s obituary in You Only Live Twice.
Is M the mother of James Bond?
Ian Fleming did not give Bond a feeling of familial background until the penultimate novel, You Only Live Twice, in which he used a fabricated obituary, reportedly from The Times, to do so. The book was the first to be written after the premiere of Dr. No in theaters, and Sean Connery’s portrayal of Bond influenced Fleming’s vision of the character, giving Bond a sense of humour and Scottish roots not seen in prior stories. Bond is the son of a Scottish father, Andrew Bond of Glencoe, and a Swiss mother, Monique Delacroix of the Canton de Vaud, according to the novel. James is orphaned when his parents are killed in a catastrophic mountain climbing accident in the Aiguilles Rouges near Chamonix.
What is the real name of James Bond?
Many elite spies throughout history have been referred to as the “genuine” James Bond. But, aside from the ornithologist who he found so boring, it’s difficult to say who exactly served as Fleming’s main inspiration.
There’s Dusko Popov, a mysterious Serbian international figure whose gambling legends may have inspired Casino Royale’s enormous bets. That is the first Bond novel. Popov, according to USA Today, was ruthless, attractive, and a master of the game of Baccarat. Popov’s mastery on the Baccarat table was supposedly noticed by Fleming. Popov, on the other hand, wasn’t only a daring gambler. His colorful life narrative includes rumors of working for MI5, MI6, the German Abwehr, the FBI, learning about Pearl Harbor but being disregarded by J. Edgar Hoover, and even deceiving the Nazis about D-Day, according to USA Today.
James Charles Bond
Then there’s a Welshman named James Charles Bond. He was a spy who worked for Fleming during WWII, thus the author must have known about him “Bond’s surname is Bond. A BBC article from April 2019 details James Charles Bond’s family’s decision to place him in a mental institution “On their grandfather’s tombstone, they spelled out “007.” According to a family member who spoke to the BBC, “When my cousin Jenny was a teenager, Grandfather held her hand in his and told her, “Believe me when I tell you, I am the genuine James Bond.” ‘Nothing was spoken after that, and no questions were asked.'”
Is M’s son Raoul Silva?
Last year, not long after the fantastic James Bond film, “When “Skyfall” was published, I wrote a piece claiming that an anagram at the center of the picture showed that a crucial subplot had been deleted. Several e-mails were sent to me, wondering why I hadn’t revealed what I thought I knew. The answer is that I couldn’t explain the anagram without giving away too much information. Now that the United States has been open for a year (November 9, 2012), I believe it’s time to explain what I meant. (Spoiler alert: there are some spoilers below!)
The crucial anagram is the mysterious message Silva provides to M just before the chaos begins: “THINK ABOUT YOUR MISTAKES.” The language is so stylised that I knew there was a message hidden inside the words from the moment they showed on M’s laptop screen. After the movie, I was already scribbling anagrams on a piece of paper in the vehicle on the way home. But, even with the help of the Internet Anagram Server, I couldn’t figure it out until I remembered three peculiar characteristics of the film. (Warning: spoilers ahead.)
First and first, why did the screenwriters bother to inform the viewer that Silva had been detained in Hong Kong and was believed to be still imprisoned there rather than, say, being moved to the Chinese mainland, as a British spy would be? Second, why was Silva’s hatred towards M so personal, with so many heartbreaking moments? Third, why, after pledging vengeance and spending the whole film seeking it, did he find himself unable to murder her in the last scene?
All of a sudden, it all made sense. M’s son, Silva, was assumed to be in Hong Kong – potentially adopted, but unquestionably her son. (How did you come to be adopted? Because else, M’s remark to Bond that orphans are the best recruiters makes no sense. Although Bond was an orphan, the poignancy and distant stare with which M says the words indicate that she is thinking of someone else.)
The steeliness with which she sacrifices agents at the start of the film (including, we believe, Bond himself) becomes more vital to her character after we learn that Silva is her son. She’s been tough because it’s the only way she can keep the memories of what she’s done alive. Her death at the end of the film appears more contrived than tragic without the information that she let her own son suffer in prison for the purpose of the Secret Intelligence Service.
As moviegoers struggled to comprehend the emotional impact of the film’s last scene, there were rumours in the blogosphere that we were supposed to assume Silva was M’s son. But none of them mentioned the crucial clue: M’s laptop’s anagram.
That, then, is my theory about what was removed from the final cut: The anagram was supposed to be translated for us, with the Silva-M family connection made clear. I’d love to hear from the filmmakers if they have a reaction.
Is Judi Dench the mother of Bond?
Following a long gap between Licence to Kill and GoldenEye, the producers brought in Dame Judi Dench to replace Robert Brown as the new M. Stella Rimington, the real-life chief of MI5 from 1992 to 1996, inspired the character. Dench’s M in GoldenEye is icy and rude, and she dislikes Bond at first, calling him a “sexist, misogynist dinosaur, a relic of the Cold War.” Given her reputation at the time for relying on numbers and analysis rather than spontaneity and initiative, Tanner, her Chief of Staff, refers to her as “the Evil Queen of Numbers” during the film.
Following Pierce Brosnan’s retirement from the character of Bond, Dench reprised his role as M in the 2006 film Casino Royale, which relaunched the franchise with Daniel Craig as Bond at the start of his career. M has been working for MI6 for some time in this new continuity, remarking at one point, “Christ, I miss the Cold War.” M was previously in head of MI6’s activities in Hong Kong during the 1990s, according to Skyfall. Her ability to run MI6 has been called into question on several occasions: in Casino Royale, she is investigated after Bond is caught on camera shooting an unarmed prisoner and blowing up a foreign embassy; in Quantum of Solace, the Foreign Secretary orders her to personally withdraw Bond from the field in Bolivia and to halt any investigations into Dominic Greene’s eco-terrorist organization; and in Skyfall, she is investigated after MI6 loses a computer hard drive. Dench made her sixth appearance as M in Skyfall, in which she is pursued by former MI6 agent Raoul Silva, whom she handed over to the Chinese in exchange for the lives of six other operatives. She helps Bond set up booby traps in advance of Silva’s soldiers arriving to Skyfall, Bond’s old family estate in Scotland. She is shot and wounded throughout the film before succumbing to her injuries, making her the only M to perish in the Eon Bond films. In Spectre, Dench’s M makes a final appearance in a video will, giving Bond one last order to find and kill someone, which leads him to the film’s namesake criminal organization.
Dench’s M is briefly seen in a portrait at M’s office (Ralph Fiennes) in No Time to Die (2021), opposite a portrait of Robert Brown’s M.
M’s family has also been mentioned briefly: in GoldenEye, she answers to Tanner labeling her the “Evil Queen of Numbers” by assuring him that she will listen to her children when she wants to hear sarcasm. Dench’s casting, according to director Marc Forster of Quantum of Solace, gave the character parental connotations in her Bond relationship, overtones that were rendered overt in Skyfall, when Silva frequently refers to her as “Mother” and “Mommy.” She is shown to be a widow in Skyfall.
Is there more than one 007?
The 00 idea is introduced in the first novel, Casino Royale, and the 2006 film adaptation, and indicates “that you’ve got to kill a chap in cold blood in the course of some task,” in Bond’s words. Bond’s 00 number (007) was given to him after he was twice killed while carrying out assignments. (This is distinct from non-00 agents using lethal force in self-defense or offensive action; also, many MI6 agents in the novel’s original time framethe early 1950swould have recently served in the military.) The 00 number designates a prior killing in the second novel, Live and Let Die; it is not until the third novel, Moonraker, that the 00 number designates a license to kill. Following that, the novels are split on whether a 00 agent’s license to kill is limited, with Dr. No, Goldfinger, and The Man with the Golden Gun all giving different accounts.
According to Ian Fleming’s Moonraker, 00 agents must retire at the age of 45; nevertheless, John Gardner’s novels feature a fifty-year-old secret agent. M gives Bond the option of when to retire in Sebastian Faulks’ Devil May Care.
In total, Fleming only names five 00 agents. James Bond is the most senior of three 00 agents, according to Moonraker; the other two are 008 and 0011. The three guys share an office with Loelia Ponsonby, a secretary. Two more 00 agents are mentioned in later novels: 009 in Thunderball and 006 in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. The 00 agents have been explored and expanded upon by other authors. While they are likely to have been sent on perilous missions like Bond, little is known about the majority of them. Several have been named, both by Fleming and subsequent authors, along with passing references to their service records, implying that agents (like Bond) are mostly recruited from the British military’s special forces.
Is Blofeld Madeleine’s biological father?
These remarks are meant to raise suspicions that Madeleine has betrayed Bond, using her Mr. White link to suggest Swann is a heritage SPECTRE agent. The dialogue, however, does not reflect Swann’s biography as we know it. To begin with, the “daughter of SPECTRE” statement seems odd. Blofeld’s recruits don’t normally refer to one another as “sons” and “daughters,” and Mr. White proved to be a replaceable cog in the SPECTRE machine, so referring to Madeleine as a “daughter” of James Bond’s bad guy club after White’s fall from favor seems oddly extravagant. “Your father would be extremely proud,” for example. Blofeld and White weren’t exactly great friends in White’s final days. Madeleine’s father had left SPECTRE with a vengeance and was constantly threatened by his former colleagues. Anyone who claimed Mr. White would be pleased with Madeleine’s service to SPECTRE had never met the Pale King.
How did Bond come upon Mr White?
Now that Craig’s James Bond storyline has come to an end, it’s strange to reflect on how influential the role of Mr. White, played by Jesper Christensen, was. Mr. White initially featured in Casino Royale, where he brought Lord’s Resistance Army Steven Obanno to major villain Le Chiffre (Mads Mikkelsen), but after the former loses the latter’s money, Mr. White is assigned to personally assassinate Le Chiffre. This saves Bond from Le Chiffre’s torturous torture, but White subsequently blackmails Vesper into swapping money for 007’s life, resulting in Vesper’s murder and Bond’s hardening to the realities of the spy game.
M betrayed Silva for what reason?
Raoul Silva had a profound admiration for the future MI6 head when he worked under M, to the point of considering her a mother figure, and as a result, her betrayal was a significant trauma for him, resulting in his determination to play with her before killing her with his own hands (he even refused to let one of his subordinates do it in his place). This tragedy instilled in Silva a childish rage that drove him to dedicate his life not only to returning the wave to M, but also to his country, which he had vowed to protect and whom he now held responsible for the agony he had endured during his captivity.
Silva was a strong, feared, and merciless terrorist in the present whose only goal was to see M die, even if it meant endangering his own life. He did, in fact, frequently show an apparent concern for his own safety, allowing himself to be apprehended by SIS in order to inflict revenge on M. Though he harbored a deep animosity for the MI6 director, he was torn between his feelings for her. He was certain that he had lived long enough to “see intoeyes one more time.” Silva became increasingly furious and insane during their meeting in the MI6 cell room where he was confined following his original capture, refusing to express any sorrow or regret for her conduct, especially when she refused to mention his real name. He also hated M personally for forcing him into a road that could easily kill him when he first met Bond, despite his own willingness to do so. Silva repeatedly addressed her as “Mommy” or “Mother,” and he eventually couldn’t bring himself to murder her – even when he had her in the grip of a revolver and couldn’t bring himself to squeeze the trigger. During their battle of wits, he used his sarcastic wit against Bond, even using Bond’s own words against him. Silva was also a man with a flare for theater who was extremely dramatic, flighty, flamboyant, unusually odd, and colorful.
Despite his chaotic techniques, Silva kept a calm demeanor and often handled situations with ease; even after his men were killed by Bond and afterwards held at gunpoint by the latter, Silva remained completely reserved, even mocking him. He was a joyful, polished individual who spoke in a pleasant and falsely compassionate manner. Silva also appeared to enjoy classical music, particularly Charles Trenet’s Boum. He had equipped his assault aircraft with nearly a dozen loudspeakers especially for the purpose of blasting rock music throughout the attack (particularly Boom Boom, by The Animals), for the sake of intimidation and being a nuisance, during his attack on Skyfall Lodge. He “always makes an entrance,” as Bond phrased it. He was charismatic and clever, planning every part of his strategy and striving not to leave anything to chance, or he was a natural improviser. Silva was a brilliant mind who could outsmart not only M, but also Q and Bond, going so far as to utilize them as part of his scheme while playing with their anxieties. Silva was hailed as a “great agent” by M, who has always been critical of Bond. Despite the fact that he was supported by Ernst Stavro Blofeld, Silva demonstrated that he was a master puppeteer. He wasn’t a puppet, even if he was a pawn. Finally, he appeared to be sexually ambiguous; he kissed Sévérine and made significant overtures toward Bond, though it’s unclear whether he meant it and was bisexual or was just playing with him.
Silva was suspected of having borderline personality disorder, which is marked by strong fear of abandonment, emotional extremes, and an insecure sense of self. He has exhibited sociopathic behavior, such as a lack of compassion for even his allies (particularly Sévérine, whom he killed without remorse after his betrayal), and, above all, he was particularly sadistic towards M – before blowing up MI6, he sent a computerized message mocking her, and later taunted her by releasing names of NATO agents on YouTube to emphasize the fact that she had failed.