on her majestys secret service Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Even as the franchise began to shed staples with 2006's Casino Royale and tomorrow's Quantum of Solace, the James Bond series is still known for several keystones across twenty other films: girls, gadgets, guns, martinis, silhouettes of female figures thrusting about during the credits, and so on. Some would say that these were the traditions that helped lead James Bond down the path that would end in 2002's Die Another Day, which some would say made them want to take a top hat to their own throats. (Me? I didn't hate it.)

Among these recurring touches were the last lines, often cheeky turns of phrase that seemed to suggest that everything was going to be just fine between Commander Bond and that chick who we'd never see or hear about ever again. So, out of twenty-one films, I humbly offer up my picks for the seven best of the bunch. I'll leave you to find out if Quantum ends more along the lines of Royale's "The name's Bond... James Bond", or with something a bit sexier...

• Ted Key (1912-2008) - Cartoonist and Screenwriter - Wrote the screenplay for Disney's The Cat from Outer Space and the stories for Gus and The Million Dollar Duck. He also created the characters "Sherman" and "Peabody" for The Bullwinkle Show. He died of bladder cancer May 3, in Tredyffrin Township, Pennsylvania. (News From Me)

• Henry Brant (1913-2008) - Composer - As an orchestrator, he worked on Cleopatra, Cheyenne Autumn, The Devil's Brigade, Carny, Good Morning, Vietnam and Pare Lorentz' The River and The Plow That Broke the Plains. He also wrote additional music for Carny and was a music technical assistant on Robert J. Flaherty's Louisiana Story. More recently he won the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 2002 for his 20-minute organ concerto "Ice Field." He died April 26 in Santa Barbara, California. (Washington Post)
• Alvin Colt (1915-2008) - Costume Designer - Created costumes for the original stage production of Li'l Abner, which were later used in the 1959 screen adaptation. He also designed costumes for the 1954 comedy Top Banana and the 1969 hitman movie Stiletto. He won a Tony Award in 1956 for the costumes for Broadway's Pipe Dream. He died May 4, in New York City. (Playbill)