I remember the early Bonds were very popular. I'm old enough
to have read
them in the mid sixties, but don't remember any great public
stir about
Helm. Why the difference in popularity? Was it only because
the Bonds were
first? Why is Bond a well known figure now and Helm
forgotten?
There are a lot of possible reasons. It was widely known JFK
read the
Fleming books. The first Bonds had the glamorous locations of
the Riviera
and the Caribbean as opposed to the US and Norway for the
Helms. Helm's
plots were "small" It much longer for Helm to have to save
the world. The
product placements we have discussed made the Bonds seem more
immediate.
Helm is a lot harder edged. Flemings' villians had much more
flair were very
distictive.
While the first movie made of both series was a parodiy, the
Helms kept
their tone and stuck with the woefully inadequate Dean
Martin. The Bond's
soon had Sean Connery in movies that took the action
seriously. I'm sure
there are a lot of reasons I've missed. Any ideas?
Mark Blumenthal
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