James Bond and John F. Kennedy might seem unconnected on the surface, but if it wasn't for the 35th President of the USA, the fate of the English secret agent might've been very different. Few movie franchises boast the same status, longevity and popularity as the James Bond series, and just as 007 seems to be invulnerable to bullets, explosions and extremely slow moving lasers, the series itself has survived numerous cast changes, evolving audience tastes and Die Another Day. Now Bond looks set to weather another storm, with No Time To Die due to finally release later this year after numerous delays.
In 1960, Kennedy was a presidential hopeful, while Ian Fleming had already published many James Bond novels, but the movie rights were yet to be sold and Sean Connery's debut in Dr. No was still 2 and a half years out. Through a mutual friend whose surname might sound somewhat familiar, Marion Leiter, Fleming and Kennedy finally met in person. and to the British author's surprise, JFK was very familiar with Fleming's work, revealing himself as an avid reader of 007's adventures. At this point in Fleming's career, the James Bond books were already going great (golden) guns in the author's home country, but had not gripped the imagination of the American public in the same way. This all changed in 1961 when a magazine article revealed From Russia With Love was one of Kennedy's favorite reads. Immediately following JFK's public outing as a Bond nut, sales of Fleming's novels in the US soared exponentially. With an endorsement from the country's popular new president, Bond was suddenly big in the States after years of underwhelming profits.
The weight of Kennedy’s contribution to 007's international success was not lost on Fleming. Not only did the author write a letter thanking the Kennedy family for the spike in sales, but The Spy Who Loved Me essentially features a scene where Bond proclaims his own support for the premier political clan of the day. The Kennedys may not have needed the plug as much as Fleming's US book sales did, but through the gesture, the pair's mutual relationship was cemented.
Tragically, the Kennedy/Bond connection would take a much darker turn when JFK was assassinated in 1963. Among the myriad of rumor and conspiracy surrounding the Kennedy assassination, it was reported that From Russia With Love was the last film the President watched in the White House before his fateful trip to Dallas. In an even more disconcerting twist, it was revealed that two Bond novels were found among the possessions of his murderer, Lee Harvey Oswald. Whether Oswald had the books because he knew Kennedy was a fan or because he himself enjoyed reading them is not known, but the parallel is unsettling and, for better or worse, contributed to the relationship between JFK and James Bond.
This begs the question: how much did Kennedy's influence affect the success of the James Bond movie series? On one hand, it's entirely possible that 007 could've charmed his way to movie stardom even without Kennedy's intervention. After all, Fleming had already clocked the cinematic potential of his character and was actively looking to get a live-action adaption in production as early as the 1950s. However, Bond's cinematic career didn't begin properly until US-based movie producer, Harry Saltzman, bid for the propety's rights in 1961. It was reading Goldfinger that first convinced Saltzman of 007's big screen potential, but even so, would a Hollywood producer have made such a significant financial investment if Fleming's books hadn't been so popular in the US that same year?
While it's impossible to be sure without the use of a TARDIS, Fleming's sales in the US likely wouldn't have improved without Kennedy's help, and this surely would've limited interest from the various producers and studios of LA. Even if the familiar duo of Saltzman and Albert Broccoli still purchased the rights to 007, the lack of American readership might've prevented the US-funded production getting off the ground, even if only for a couple of years. In this alternate version of movie history, maybe Sean Connery isn't available for Dr. No, another actor is hired and fails to make the same impact. Without that strong start, James Bond might not be killing baddies and romancing women in 2020, but instead be remembered as a cult spy movie that failed to make a lasting impact.
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