Ian Fleming's creation, secret agent James Bond, was not an overnight success. Although the novels made money for author Fleming (1908–1964) and his publisher, they were not bestsellers (see entry under 1940s—Commerce in volume 3) at first. Nine years elapsed between the first Bond novel, Casino Royale (1953), and the first movie in the series, Dr. No (1962). The film did well enough so that its producers, Harry Saltzman (1915–1994) and Albert Broccoli (1909–1996), decided on a sequel. The release of From Russia with Love in 1963 was given a big boost in the United States by the news that Fleming's novel was one of the favorite books of President John F. Kennedy (1917–1963). The third film, Goldfinger (1964), was a financial blockbuster. The "James Bond craze" was under way.

James Bond—Agent 007—was played in the first five films by little-known Scottish actor Sean Connery (1930–), who followed Goldfinger with Thunderball (1965) and...