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Collecting 007: The James Bond Movie Posters

ean Connery, George Lazenby, Roger
Moore, Timothy Dalton, Pierce
SBrosnan, and Daniel Craig have one
thing in common: Bond. James Bond.
The character has been on the silver screen
for more than six decades, and while fans wait
for the announcement of who will be
the next to play Ian Fleming’s secret agent 007
of His Majesty’s Secret Service, it’s nearly
impossible to imagine a more ubiquitous
introduction in cinema.
The character first appeared in hardcover
in the novel Casino Royale in 1953 and by
1954 the CBS television network had sensed
enough potential to have it adapted as an
episode of its anthology series Climax! That
TV version of Bond, which starred Barry
Nelson, is just a footnote to those beyond the
most serious 007 enthusiasts, and for several
years the property didn’t go any further.
But the stage was set.

Although the famous image of the “Bond pose” with the gun is correctly attributed to Robert McGinnis
from Thunderball, artist Renato Fratini did a brilliant job depicting the attitude that Sean Connery b
rought to James Bond in his second outing as Ian Fleming’s superspy in From Russia with Love.
The wide format British quad poster gave Fratini room to highlight not only Bond,
but Bond girl Daniela Bianchi and the other women in the film.

When producers Albert R. “Cubby” Gert Frobe/Sean Connery exchange from
Broccoli and Harry Saltzman cast Sean Goldfinger (Bond: “Do you expect me to talk?
Connery in the role of Bond for 1962’s Dr. Goldfinger: “No, Mr. Bond, I expect you to
No, they put both the character and the actor die.”), and so much more. They’ve been the
on the map. The suave, sophisticated, British subjects of books, including James Bond: 50
secret agent with a duty to queen and country, Years of Movie Posters, which was released in
a passion for women, a wry sense of humor, 2012 along with the film Skyfall.
and a license to kill quickly became an Given the franchise’s globetrotting, inter-
institution for movie-goers. national flavor, and long-term success, it’s not
Eventually, Connery gave way to George surprising that there are many distinct and
Lazenby, who gave way to Connery again, highly collectible variations of posters from
who gave way to Roger Moore, who gave way countries around the world, but that’s not to
to Timothy Dalton, who gave way to Pierce downplay the appeal of the U.S. versions,
Brosnan, who gave way to Daniel Craig. For which have often had their own variations.
more than 50 years, James Bond films have Among the oddities, Casino Royale certainly
One of the truly iconic teaser images from
the entire film series is the 1974 U.S. spawned action, adventure, romance, gadgets, has to top the list since it has actually had three
“Christmas teaser” one-sheet from The Man and some truly collectible movie posters. incarnations. After the CBS television
with the Golden Gun, Roger Moore’s second They’ve included superb artwork by the production in 1954, the film rights were held
outing as Bond. The poster depicts the assembly from likes of Robert McGinnis and Bob Peak, great separately from the others. This resulted in the
a pen, cigarette lighter, and a cuff link into the photo images such as the lobby card of the 1967 comedy spoof version which starred
deadly tool of the assassin Francisco Scaramanga.

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