Introduction
The James Bond film series is, to date, one of the longest-running major film series in world history, with 23 installments released over 50 years; it is also the second highest-grossing film series in the world, behind the Harry Potter series. Produced by EON Productions, the films have become phenomena of popular culture, and their central character of James Bond has been firmly entrenched in the minds of millions of people throughout the world. Much of that is due to the nature of the character itself - a suave, adventurous ladies' man who lives in luxury while dispatching bad guys with aplomb - but that must be attributed at least in part to the actor who plays him (Chapman, 2000; Spicer, 2003). To date, there have been six actors to officially play the character of James Bond - Sean Connery, George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig - all of which bring unique traits to their characterization. The question remains among film fans: Which James Bond is the best one?
Objectives
The objective of this paper is to answer the question of which of the six James Bond actors to date is the most favored portrayal of the character. Since film and the enjoyment of it is an entirely subjective matter, it is impossible to really take an objective answer to the question; therefore, the answer must fall to popularity among film fans. A survey experiment will be used to determine which James Bond is the best along several factors: performance, adherence to the source material, recognition, and more. Given a sufficient sample size, and the appropriate questions asked, we can at least reach a consensus on which James Bond is the most popular, if not the best.
Literature Review
When evaluating a subjective question such as "Which actor is the best James Bond?" it is necessary to define the word "best." What makes an actor the best actor could be a variety of factors, as there are different (and equally subjective) criteria for constituting acting ability, popularity, appearance, etc. Furthermore, as there is little scholarly or academic study on such a subjective subject, one tailored to the humanities, the majority of literature that exists on James Bond and his accompanying film series consists of cultural and historical literature that discusses the history, making-of, or cultural impact of James Bond. To that end, it is necessary to examine the six actors in detail, in order to show proper context for the options available to participants in the survey sample.
Sean Connery
Scottish actor Sean Connery played James Bond for EON Productions from 1962 and 1971; a relative unknown at the time, the films Dr. No, From Russia With Love, Goldfinger, Thunderball, You Only Live Twice and Diamonds Are Forever made him an international movie star, and the first face of James Bond (Chapman, 2000). As an actor, he has gone on to a long and prodigious career, earning Academy Award wins and nominations for Best Supporting Actor, Golden Globe awards, and BAFTA awards for his acting throughout his career (Jutting, 2007). His was an extremely popular Bond, his fame encouraging him to return to the role in the 1983 Bond film Never Say Never Again (though it was an unofficial Bond film, not produced or endorsed by EON Productions) (Cork and Stintz, 2007). Being the first James Bond, Connery's performance is argued to set the standard for the persona of James Bond, as well as the basic trajectory for the entire film series that followed (Lindner, 2009).
George Lazenby
Following Connery's departure in 1967 after You Only Live Twice, George Lazenby was brought on to the role of James Bond for the film On Her Majesty's Secret Service (Chapman, 2000). A completely unknown actor, Lazenby was an Australian model who merely campaigned hard and played backdoor politics to get the role of James Bond (Lindner, 2009). Audiences at the time (and today) consider him a somewhat unpopular Bond, as it was still his first acting role and audiences were still getting used to Sean Connery's absence (Cork and Stintz, 2007). The lack of popularity of Lazenby (as well as Lazenby's increasing demands to the studio) led EON Productions to ask Connery back for Diamonds Are Forever (Jutting, 2007). While subsequent years have led to OHMSS becoming somewhat of a cult favorite of Bond fans, due to Lazenby's more serious portrayal of Bond and the character's unconventionally romantic relationship with his Bond girl (Diana Rigg), his one performance of the character leaves him often forgotten in the annals of the film series (Lindner, 2009).
Roger Moore
After Connery's final departure from the series, Roger Moore took over as James Bond from 1973-1985, spanning a total of seven films in the series (Live and Let Die, The Man with the Golden Gun, The Spy Who Loved Me, Moonraker, For Your Eyes Only, Octopussy and A View to a Kill), the longest tenure in the role of any of the actors (Chapman, 2000). His era was notable for its increasing reliance on camp and the excessive fashions and trends of the 1970s and 1980s, including blaxploitation homages, use of comedic slapstick and racial stereotypes, as well as the boxy, dated cars and clothing of the time; to that end, he is known as the 'goofy Bond,' and is taken less seriously (Lindner, 2009; Moore, 2012). At the same time, his films enjoyed substantial and incredible box office returns, and is often who many people consider as the quintessential Bond as well (Cork and Stintz, 2007).
Timothy Dalton
Once Roger Moore finished his role at the age of 58, the search for a new James Bond nearly fell into future Bond actor Pierce Brosnan getting the role (Cork and Stintz, 2007). However, due to a television contract reversal, he could not take the role, and noted Shakespearean actor Timothy Dalton took the role for two films: The Living Daylights and Licence to Kill, from 1987 to 1989 (Lindner, 2009). His Bond was a much more serious portrayal, in order to both get closer to the hard-edged James Bond from the original Ian Fleming source material and to distance his Bond from the goofier, campier Roger Moore Bond (Chapman, 2000). The choice was met with mixed results by audiences of the time, as Licence to Kill's grittier, more gruesome elements were seen as a huge departure from what made audiences like Bond (the film was an attempt to cash in on the gritty action films of the late 1980s) (Lindner, 2009). As a result of the film's tepid box office success, the film series went into a six-year hiatus, during which time Dalton turned down offers to reprise the role (Cork and Stintz, 2007).
Pierce Brosnan
Once the film series came back into full swing in 1995, Pierce Brosnan, a television actor most noted for suave investigator Remington Steele, took over the James Bond role for four films from 1995 to 2002: Goldeneye, Tomorrow Never Dies, The World is Not Enough, and Die Another Day (Cork and Stintz, 2007). His Bond became the face of the franchise throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, and his films enjoyed great popularity, reinvigorating the franchise and becoming the actor many modern audiences most associate with Bond (Lindner, 2009). His four films enjoyed respectable box office returns, though his films increasingly received poorer reviews (culminating in the unpopular but financially successful Die Another Day).
Daniel Craig After a four-year hiatus, in which EON Productions attempted to figure out how best to retool the Bond series in the wake of 9/11 and more grounded spy movies like The Bourne Identity, character actor Daniel Craig took over the role, and is the current face of Bond (Jutting, 2007). To date, he has played the role for three films: 2006's Casino Royale, 2008's Quantum of Solace, and 2012's Skyfall. His films have seen increasing box-office success, and his first and latest films have enjoyed critical acclaim (Lindner, 2009). Despite initial reservations about the gritty, rebooted nature of Craig's Bond, audiences and critics have celebrated Craig's portrayal and his films, with Skyfall taking in more than $1 billion in box office returns, making it the 7th highest grossing film of all time (Box Office Mojo, 2013).
Data and Methodology
With the history and popularity of the various James Bonds and their respective films established, it is necessary to use these as the criteria that establish Bond actor popularity. Of these, I have established five categories participants will be surveyed on: Perception of adherence to (S)ource material, (Q)uality of films, (P)erformance of actor, (R)ecognition and (A)ppearance.
(S)ource Material: This category involves the participants' perception of the actor in question's ability to capture the 'essence' of James Bond, as it relates to the source material (Ian Fleming's original novels). This is often used as a metric to determine an actor's 'fitness' for the role of Bond, and so this will be included.
(Q)uality of Films: This category involves the participants' perception of the quality of the films in which that actor portrayed Bond. As the events of the film often determine what the actor must do to impart an impression upon the audience, this criteria will be included as a factor in the quality of a particular Bond.
(P)erformance of Actor: In this category, the participants' perception of the actor's acting skill, particularly as it relates to James Bond, will be evaluated.
(R)ecognition: In this category, the participants' perception of how recognizable or memorable the particular actor is will be evaluated.
(A)ppearance: As the character of James Bond and his popularity is often attributed to his ladies' man status, participants will be asked to evaluate their perception of each Bond actors' physical appearance.
My hypothesis is that, based on the history, recognition and cultural popularity of Sean Connery as James Bond, he will be determined to be the best James Bond. In order to test this, I plan on using an online survey research design, in which a sample of 2000 people, aged 18-65, will be surveyed using the aforementioned criteria. Each participant will be asked to rate the six actors (Sean (C)onnery, George (L)azenby, Roger (M)oore, Timothy (D)alton, Pierce (Brosnan), and Daniel C(R)aig) in order of their fitness for each criterion, 1 through 6. The selection criteria for these participants will be limited, in order to get as diverse a sample size as possible between gender and age. Simple random sampling will be used for the most part to find participants; however, in order to get participants with at least a guaranteed passing knowledge of James Bond, they must have seen at least five of the 23 James Bond films; an encyclopedic knowledge is not required, but five films ensures that a reasonable sampling of the film series has been consumed by the participants, in order to make an informed appraisal of the actors.
Because of the subjective nature of such a research question, there are many threats to validity that I must keep in mind. Firstly, the answer I will reach in the end of the experiment is not to the question 'Who is the best James Bond?" but "Who is the most popular James Bond?", which are two somewhat different criteria. Subjective appraisal of art means that no definitive, research and experiment-based answer to that question can be reached, but a reasonable impression of public perception can be attained through this survey. The use of an online research survey helps to ensure a greater sample size, and easier collection of the data - however, it makes it more difficult to make sure people are not voting multiple times. Furthermore, participants may not give accurate answers, and may not be working strictly from their own memory of opinions (e.g. may look up actors to remember them, or view others' critical opinions of the actor's work, thus influencing them). They may also be untruthful about the selection criteria asked of them (e.g. number of James Bond films watched), thus introducing less informed opinions than anticipated.
Even within this research design, however, there are other threats, including the fact that there may be other factors to their decision besides their appraisal of the actors. For one, as many of my sample participants may not have seen every Bond film (as it is not required), they cannot provide an assessment of each actor's total work in the Bond role and thus are not completely informed of the actor's work. Some of the participants may not have seen any Bond films by a particular actor (a likely problem in the instances of Lazenby and Dalton, with their shorter tenures in the role). Perceptions of attractiveness are just as subjective as quality of films, acting ability and recognition, making it hard to really compare the metrics used by each participant to make those determinations. The perception of adherence to source material may also be difficult, as many may not have an idea of what the original character is "supposed" to be like, unless they have read any of Fleming's Bond novels or have read about them. To that end, the results of this study must be considered small-scale and subjective, and functioning more as an assessment of the public's perception of the actors in the James Bond series.
Once all of the survey data is collected, the numerical values the participants attributed to each actor for each criterion will be averaged to determine the order of popularity/quality of each of the actors based on those criteria. The overall scores for each actor (e.g. the numbers they got for each category) will also be averaged to determine which actor scored highest in overall score; this will be the actor considered the 'best' (or most popular) James Bond actor. Despite the somewhat subjective nature of the research, the results will be evaluated using ANOVA statistical analysis to determine statistical significance.
Expectations of Results
Based on the existing literature, and cultural/historical appraisals of Bond, I have a few expectations regarding the results of the survey:
(S)ource Material: In terms of evaluating how close a Bond actor gets to the source material, I will expect that Daniel Craig will end up dominating this category, as critics and audiences often link his rough, gritty portrayal with the dark James Bond of Ian Fleming's books. While Timothy Dalton was also considered to be closer to Fleming's character, his films do not have the popularity of the Craig films at this time (MacIntyre, 2008).
(Q)uality of Films: In terms of determining which Bond had the best films, it will likely be Connery, as the first three to four Connery films are considered by critics and audiences to be classics of the spy genre (Goldfinger being cited as the quintessential Bond film). However, the critical accolades that the recent Craig films (including Skyfall) have been receiving may make them come second.
(P)erformance of Actor: I believe that Sean Connery will be selected as the Bond with the best performance, as he is a successful actor whose performance is said to have defined the role of Bond. Daniel Craig has also had accolades for his work, but Connery's history will make him more well-considered.
(R)ecognition: Recognition and recognizability of an actor will likely go to Daniel Craig, as he is the current Bond, and a contemporary movie star; audiences will recognize his face most often. However, Connery may also be in contention for this criterion, as is Brosnan.
(A)ppearance: In determining the looks of a James Bond actor, Connery will also win this category, if only for his youthful looks in his first three to four films. Brosnan was also considered an attractive Bond, and Craig is considered to be unconventionally attractive, but Connery's image may lock him into this category.
I will keep these expectations in mind when evaluating my results, in keeping with my hypothesis. Due to dominance of at least three categories, I have reason to believe that Sean Connery will emerge as the survey's result for best/most popular James Bond actor, according to the random sample of participants I will recruit for this survey. I wish to also mention in my results section the winners of each individual category, as well as each actor's average rankings in each category, to provide a more complex cross-section of how each Bond actor rates against each other.
Appendix A
Figure 1: Sample Survey Form
Thank you for your participation. The purpose of this survey is to gauge participants' perceptions of the six actors to date who have played James Bond (Sean Connery, George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan, Daniel Craig).
Have you seen more than five James Bond films at the time of your filling out this survey?
Y_____ N_____
If you answered YES to the preceding question, please fill out each table according to its criteria, ranking each criterion 1 through 6, 1 being 'best' and 6 being 'worst,' in a discernible order.
Category Key:
(S)ource Material: the participants' perception of the actor in question's ability to capture the 'essence' of James Bond, as it relates to the source material (Ian Fleming's original novels).
(Q)uality of Films: the participants' perception of the quality of the films in which that actor portrayed Bond.
(P)erformance of Actor: the participants' perception of the actor's acting skill, particularly as it relates to James Bond.
(R)ecognition: the participants' perception of how recognizable or memorable the particular actor is.
(A)ppearance: Your perception of each Bond actors' physical appearance.
References
Chapman, James. (2000). Licence to Thrill: A Cultural History of the James Bond Films. Columbia University Press.
Cork, John; Stutz, Collin (2007). James Bond Encyclopedia. London: Dorling Kindersley.
Jütting, Kerstin (2007). "Grow Up, 007!" - James Bond Over the Decades: Formula Vs. Innovation. GRIN Verlag.
Lindner, Christoph (2009). The James Bond Phenomenon: a Critical Reader. Manchester University Press.
Macintyre, Ben (2008). For Your Eyes Only. London: Bloomsbury Publishing.
Moore, Roger (2012). Bond on Bond. London: Michael O'Mara Books.
Skyfall (2012). (2013). Box Office Mojo. Retrieved from http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?page=main&id=bond23.htm.
Spicer, Andrew (3 October 2003). Typical Men: The Representation of Masculinity in Popular British Cinema. London: I.B. Tauris.
