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Back to Podcast EpisodesIan Fleming, Creator of James Bond (Part 2)
Ian Fleming proved that a great deal of fiction is factual
Acquiring a name for his protagonist was simple enough. When cosmopolitan visitors to Goldeneye found themselves a little bored by the repetitive, tropical languor, Fleming suggested some bird watching accompanied by the book Macmillan’s Field Guide to the West Indies by James Bond, a volume that sat prominently on a shelf near Ian’s desk. Fleming deliberately wanted a simple name for a character that he described as “an anonymous blunt instrument wielded by a Government Department.”
Most likely, this aspect of the annual Jamaica sojourn did not go well, as Ann Fleming would return home in less than a month. It was probably about this time that Fleming returned to his philandering ways, involving himself with an exotic, wealthy Jamaican neighbor, Blanche Blackwell, a formerly platonic friend who had at some indistinct moment became his lover. Blanche’s family was among the most prominent of Jamaica’s colonial hierarchy and she was the carefree counterpart to Fleming’s wife’s combative tension. Part of Ann’s discomfort, hostility and early return to Britain may have been her acknowledgement of this situation.
Ian Fleming stayed out of most of the major decisions revolving around the production of Dr. No. He had no interest in composing the script and while he suggested first David Niven and then Roger Moore as the leading man, Broccoli had other ideas. As Bond, he cast a relative unknown Scot, Sean Connery and plucked Ursula Andress out of total obscurity for the role of Honey Ryder.