When Ian Fleming introduced his cold war hero in Casino Royale with his like of food and drink served just so, he was ahead of the times; it wasn’t until the following decade that mainstream society began to embrace the casual sex found in Fleming’s thrillers.
However, by the time Dr No was released in 1962, things were starting to change, and the films that followed coincided with the swinging sixties.
Despite what many would have you believe, the early Bond girls weren’t glossy bimbo types. Take Honey Ryder for example; while she makes her entrance in a bikini – a shot famously replicated by Daniel Craig in Casino Royale – she certainly knows how to stand up for herself. And while the gloriously named Pussy Galore puts up no more than token resistance for 007’s charms, she does know how to look after herself too.
It is true that many of the Bond girls from the Roger Moore era seem to serve little purpose except act as the damsel in distress, ready to be rescued and bedded by Bond. But even in the Moore years there are exceptions – think of Melissa Havelock in For Your Eyes Only for example. And by the time of Timothy Dalton the Bond girls were once again on the ascendancy, which continued throughout the Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig films.
