"James Bond," TNN announced on it’s website, "has been synonymous with cutting-edge action, thrilling adventure and suspense-filled action. His suave, cool demeanor and reputation rival that of any other man.

    "Since exploding onto the screen forty years ago," TNN continued, "Secret Agent 007 has become the most famous hero in the world, the key figure in the most successful film franchise in history. The New TNN celebrates with Agent 007 during the holiday season with a seven-day marathon featuring 14 classic Bond films."

    As 2002 comes to a close, one has to say that the year has been a good one for Ian Fleming. 2002 is the 40th anniversary of the James Bond films and the 50^th anniversary for the novels, which were recently re-released by Penguin Classics, as I’ve covered in a previous column.

    Not only are the Connery/Lazenby/Moore films being shown on TNN, but you can also view the more recent Bond films, staring Timothy Dalton and Pierce Brosnan as James Bond, on WTBS and other channels. The current Bond film now in theaters, "Die Another Day," is breaking box office records and the product placement and Bond merchandising is selling very well, thank you very much.

    My stepson bought me "Dr. No" and "Goldfinger" in DVD format for Christmas, although I don’t yet own a DVD player. I’ve heard the movies look and sound so much better in DVD, so I have to buy one now.

    My teenage daughter gave me a 12-inch James Bond collectible figure from Sideshow Toys as a Christmas gift. The limited collectible, which is one of only 17,500 made, is based on Sean Connery (but of course) from the first Bond movie, "Dr. No." He is dressed in a black tuxedo, which was how he was attired when we first glimpsed Connery when he introduced himself to the woman he was playing against in a London casino.

    "I admire your courage," he said, after she made a bold bet. "Miss...?"

    "Trench, Sylvia Trench," she said. I admire your luck, Mr...?"

    "Bond," he said as the camera focused on him lighting his cigarette like the most confident man in the world. "James Bond."

    The figure is defiantly not a doll, as I have repeatedly (and jokingly) explained to friends and relatives who have stopped over during the holidays. The figure has a number of accessories; including his Walther PPK and Beretta handguns, his shoulder holster, a bottle of vodka, glass and martini shaker for his favorite drink, shaken, not stirred, as we all know. My Bond figure will take his place on one my bookshelves in my basement den.

    Although I have the entire James Bond film series in my VHS video library, I found myself flicking back and forth to the Bond movies when I had a free moment this past week.

    I even watched some of the horrible Roger Moore films, again realizing that he was dead wrong for the role. If you go to the Ian Fleming novel, "The Spy Who Loved Me," you will find a passage where a young woman, the narrator of the tale, is being held prisoner by two hoodlums who plan to "torch" the closed-down motel she was hired to oversee by the owner. The owner, who wanted to burn the motel for the insurance money, also hired the hoodlums.

    Despite the "No Vacancy" sign, someone rings the doorbell. One of the hoods tells her to answer the door and to get rid of the visitor. When she opens the door and sees James Bond, she sighs and says, "Good God, it’s another one of them." – meaning another killer like the two who are holding her prisoner.

    Would she say this of Roger Moore? I think not.

    Ian Fleming also wrote that there was something very "un-English" about Bond. Moore is the perfect English gentleman. Although Bond has good manners and knows something about fine food and wine, there is always a rough undercoating – he is, after all, a professional killer in the service of his country.

    Moore was more suited to lighter fare than the previous Bond films, so the producers made his films light and silly. His films were more comedic than thrilling. Moore has a good sense of humor about it all and he wrote a small book about his experiences making his first Bond film, "Live And Let Die."

    In the amusing book, he tells a story of when his then young son asked if he knew James Bond. Bond, Moore explained, was a fictional character he was just playing in a movie.

    "No," the son said. "I mean the real James Bond – Sean Connery."

    Moore also recounts in the book when he was invited to a private screening of "On Her Majesty’s Secret Service," with George Lazenby in his one and only time as Bond.

    The director, the late, great Peter Hunt, was faithful to the Fleming novel, even breaking from the formula Bond ending, with Bond safely in the arms of the film’s heroine. Hunt went with the novel’s downbeat ending, where Bond marries Tracy (Diana Rigg) and she is then killed by Bond’s archenemy, Blofeld.

    Moore said that someone told the Bond producer, Cubby Broccoli, that he made a big mistake.

    "You should have killed Lazenby and kept the girl."

    I caught a bit of Lazenby in "On Her Majesty’s Secret Service" on TNN. The then unknown Australian model was fortunate enough to be directed by Peter Hunt, who had previously served as director Terence Young’s editor in all of the earlier Bond films.

    Hunt knew the film formula, the novels and the character well. He surrounded Lazenby with outstanding actors like Diana Rigg, George Baker and others, who carried the first-time actor through the film. He also bolstered Lazenby’s performance in the editing room. I liked Lazenby and wished he had grown into the role in later films. He looked like Bond and he did the fight scenes very well.

    The film did not make the kind of money the Sean Connery films made, so the great Scot actor was coaxed into playing Bond once more in "Diamonds Are Forever." Connery was given a sweetheart production deal for three films of his choice and the producers made a sizable donation to Connery’s favorite charity, the Scottish Educational Fund.

    Most Connery fans blame Moore for the degeneration of the Bond films from thrillers to comedy-action films, but it was actually Connery’s "Diamonds Are Forever" that started the trend.

    The 1971 film came out around the same time as "The French Connection." This film, for my money one of the best crime thrillers ever filmed, had a car chase through New York City that had people on the edge of their seats. "Diamonds Are Forever" also had a car chase through the streets of Las Vegas, but that chase was played strictly for laughs. Most of the movie was silly and unbelievable and was saved only by the presence of Connery.

    Connery retired again from the Bond role and Moore picked up the Walther PPK. Moore then led Bond down the comedy brick road. Moore is simply not a very good actor. He raised his eyebrows to express joy, surprise, fear and even anger. He played the role for laughs and a generation came to see James Bond as a comic book character. Moore looked unnatural and stiff in the fight scenes and I don’t think anyone ever bought Moore as a killer.

    Finally, thankfully, Moore gave up the role. Timothy Dalton, a serious, Shakespearean actor, took over the role. He brought Bond back to be the thriller genre. He played Bond a second time in "License To Kill" and I thought it was one of the better films in the series. Robert Davi was very good as a villain in the film.

    Unfortunately, a lawsuit concerning Bond copyrights ceased film production for several years. When the lawsuit was finally settled and the series went back into production, Dalton was out and Pierce Brosnan was in.

    The four Brosnan films have made great strides to stay fairly faithful to the Fleming character and the older Connery/Bond films, so I’m thankful for that. A friend read my previous column, where I stated that Brosnan was no Sean Connery, although I thought "Die Another Day" was a pretty good film.

    My friend, also a Sean Connery fan, said that we have to accept the younger actors playing our favorite character, even though they don’t stack up to Connery. I reluctantly agreed. After all, I said, how many actors have played King Lear and Othello over the years?

    Brosnan has grown into the role of Bond and although he will never truly replace Connery, he is pretty good as Bond. He has said that he will play James Bond in at least one more film.

    As I said at the top of the column, 2002 was a pretty good year for Ian Fleming’s James Bond character. May he rule for another 50 years.