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• Bond babes and vintage Bonds

Sony Pictures

Daniel Craig earns his license to kill in "Casino Royale," the latest Bond flick, based on Ian Fleming's first Bond novel.

TimesCast

• With Harper, Marques Harper, paying homage to Bond

The Ian Fleming books

• "Casino Royale" (1953)
• "Live and Let Die" (1954)
• "Moonraker" (1955)
• "Diamonds Are Forever" (1956)
• "From Russia, With Love" (1957)
• "Doctor No" (1958)
• "Goldfinger" (1959)
• "For Your Eyes Only" (1960) (five short stories)
• "Thunderball" (1961)
• "The Spy Who Loved Me" (1962)
• "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" (1963)
• "You Only Live Twice" (1964)
• "The Man With the Golden Gun" (1965)
• "Octopussy and the Living Daylights" (1966) (three short stories)
• After Fleming's death, one Bond book was written by Kingsley Amis (as Robert Markham), 16 by John Gardner and nine by Raymond Benson. Two screenplay novelizations were written by Christopher Wood.

It seems odd that the very first James Bond novel, "Casino Royale," should now be dramatized after more than four decades of on-screen Bond mania.

Except, of course, the movie starring Daniel Craig as the newest Bond is not the first treatment of Ian Fleming’s book at all.

No, this is not a reference to the 1967 star-studded “Casino Royale,” which kept a few elements of Fleming’s story but was mostly a spoof that probably made Mel Brooks envious. There was actually an earlier version than that, broadcast 52 years ago on CBS-TV’s “Climax!” series of live shows .

In his screen debut, Bond was portrayed by American actor Barry Nelson as an American agent, Jimmy Bond. Felix Leiter, his CIA counterpart in the books and films (with his first name changed to Clarence), was depicted as a British agent. Linda Christian would be the first “Bond girl,” in the role played by Eva Green in the new movie, and Peter Lorre, the first Bond villain.

This version (once believed lost but rediscovered on an old kinescope of the show) is a far cry from the multimillion-dollar special-effects-laden movies that started in 1963. It had basically three sets, was in black and white, and some actors in the live show muffed their lines.

How far the cinematic James Bond has come.

“Dr. No” was the sixth book in Fleming’s series, but that was the one chosen to launch the movie series. Sean Connery, who had just played one of four villains in “Tarzan’s Greatest Adventure,” was offered another role in the next Tarzan picture, according to the book, “Tarzan of the Movies.” He is quoted as replying, “Two fellows took an option on me for some spy picture, and are exercising it. But I’ll be in your next.”

Instead, Connery went on to play 007, the agent with a “license to kill,” in five more movies in the series and again in the 1983 remake of “Thunderball,” titled “Never Say Never Again.”

From the first, Connery personified the ruthless, hedonistic and womanizing hero who changed the code of heroes forever. In the first movie, he beds a woman knowing he will shortly turn her in to the authorities (checking his watch first to make sure he has time) and calmly guns down a man who has emptied his pistol.

In the movies, Bond becomes the epitome of glamor and glitz — a far cry from Fleming’s original version of a blunt instrument whose name he chose because it seemed dull.

When Roger Moore (late of TV’s light-hearted series about Simon Templar, aka “The Saint”) came on board as Bond in 1973, he retained the mischievous humor elements of the TV character and even expanded them. Moore’s Bond was fond of witticisms, and sometimes seemed to prevail more by blind luck than skill.

Connery and Moore each made seven Bonds. In 1969, George Lazenby substituted for Connery in one, “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service,” with, Diana Rigg, late of TV’s “The Avengers.” A magazine article at the time quoted a friend of the producer who had seen an early screening: “You should have kept her and killed him.”

Timothy Dalton dropped the comedy and became a serious Bond in his two movies, and Pierce Brosnan, coming off the TV series “Remington Steele,” managed to combine both elements stylishly for his quartet of Bonds.

By the time the series got to “The Spy Who Loved Me” in 1962, the producers were keeping only the Fleming titles and concocting their own plots (Christopher Wood even wrote a novelization of the screenplay, so there were two book versions of that title for a while). Fourteen Bond books came out under Fleming’s byline, two of them being short story collections, but nearly twice that number have been written by other authors.

Now, we have come full circle to Fleming’s first James Bond story. It will be interesting to see if it still has the magic.

BEST BONDS

With Friday's release of "Casino Royale," the 21st James Bond film and the sixth big-screen actor to play Bond, it seemed appropriate to ask some local personalities which one has been their favorite.

Roanoke Mayor Nelson Harris: Sean Connery, no contest, and he says this is from a viewer who has watched each James Bond movie at least three times (his wife says that is a very conservative estimate). His pick for the best Bond girl is probably Ursula Andress, who co-starred in "Dr. No," which launched the movie series.

Virginia Tech Head Football Coach Frank Beamer: Sean Connery is his immediate choice as well.

Pearl Fu, executive director of Local Colors: Sean Connery, and perhaps Michelle Yeoh of "Tomorrow Never Dies" as a favorite Bond girl, although Fu, a movie enthusiast from childhood, also likes Andress.

John Carlin, news co-anchor and managing editor at Roanoke's NBC-TV affiliate, WSLS (Channel 10): Roger Moore, mainly because that was the first Bond he ever saw. Later, he caught up with the previous movies and, when he saw Connery's performances, he said he thought, "Well, that's different." But he still gives the edge to Moore.

Fred Eichelman, retired teacher and organizer of media-themed conventions in the Roanoke Valley: Connery and Andress, although Diana Rigg would rate up there, too. Eichelman says he enjoyed the work by some of the Bond villainesses, like Luciana Paluzzi in "Thunderball" who seduces the hero into a trap but ends up getting shot instead (she did similar duty in one of TV's "Man from U.N.C.L.E." episodes).

Diane Oakes, manager of the Blacksburg Movie Gallery: "When it comes to James Bond, it's hard to replace Sean Connery," she said. "Pierce Brosnan does a good job, and I think Sean Connery's done the best." As for singling out a Bond girl, she said, "I watched them but I didn't pay attention much to the girls' names."