Licence to swill: James Bond’s drinking over six decades

The peer-reviewed literature on James Bond has delved into his smoking,1 violent behaviour,2 and psychopathology, including 32 extreme behaviours3 and a “dark triad” of abnormal psychology.4 An examination of sex role stereotyping in Bond’s world5 has also been published, and the character Dr No was included in a study of the dermatology of movie villains.6 But investigators of Bond’s alcohol consumption have concerned themselves exclusively with the Bond novels,7 a literary corpus often only tangentially linked with the content of the James Bond movies. As the movie series — the longest running movie franchise in history, and the fourth highest grossing8 — has enjoyed a much larger audience than the novels, we examined alcohol use in the James Bond movie series to date.

Methods

Two of the authors (NK, AT) watched all 24 James Bond movies in the Eon Productions series (1962–2015; online Appendix, table 1). Alcohol-related content was identified, discussed, and recorded on a pre-printed form, and the details then transferred to an Excel file. A third investigator (PS) also watched selected segments when there was uncertainty about coding decisions, with final decisions reached by consensus.

Alcohol use events: Bond

When Bond was seen drinking (the glass or bottle reaching his lips), this was deemed an “observed alcohol use event”. If the alcohol brand or bottle label was not visible, we assessed the beverage as being alcohol on the balance of probabilities. We classified other events as “alcohol use assumed” if actual drinking was not observed but alcohol was on the table in front of Bond and it was likely he had consumed some in that setting. In contrast, we did not assume that alcohol was consumed by Bond if alcohol was present but he was in a dangerous situation (eg, when his drink could be spiked). Examples of inclusions and exclusions are included in table 2 in the online Appendix. To minimise the chance of missing drinking episodes, we cross-checked our data with details in a publication on Bond’s drinking.9

Alcohol use events: the women in Bond’s world

We similarly classified the alcohol use by the lead woman character in each movie — based on the order of the cast list on IMDb (the Internet Movie Database, https://www.imdb.com) — and by his sexual partners. Given the large number of the latter (n = 60),1 we randomly sampled drinking by this group of women (two movies per decade; total of 30 partners).

Estimating peak alcohol intake by Bond

For the two greatest binge events observed, we estimated units of alcohol consumed and Bond’s blood alcohol levels, based on one standard measure of spirits being 25 mL. Blood alcohol concentrations were computed with the routinely used Widmark formula,10 with Bond’s weight assumed to be that of an average British man (84 kg).

Bond’s post-drinking activities

Bond’s activities after drinking were recorded for the period until he was presumed to have gone to sleep for the night. Bond’s post-drinking activities included fights, driving vehicles, gambling, sex, athletic extremes, and operating complex machinery or devices. “Alcohol used as a weapon” described instances in which alcoholic drinks were used as vehicles for drugs, or bottles were used in fights or to start fires (eg, Molotov cocktails).

Alcohol use disorder assessment

The psychiatrist on our team (DH) led the evaluation of the collated quantitative and qualitative data relevant to DSM-5 criteria for alcohol use disorder.11 As we could not interview Bond in person, we focused on his observed behaviour throughout his life (and not just the most recent 12 months, as per the usual DSM-5 criteria).

Alcohol product placement

Data on specific visible alcohol brands (eg, on beverage containers, on advertisements in the background) were collected. Evidence for product placement was cross-checked with a website devoted to product placement in movies12 and with the names of alcohol companies listed in the movie credits.

Results

Bond had a mean 4.5 drinking events per movie (median, 4; range, 2–9), with no statistically significant trends over the six decades (Box 1).

Bond has consumed a diverse range of drink types, indicating that he is happy to drink whatever is readily available. He does, however, show a preference for cocktails and other spirits (55% of all drinks). This class includes a cocktail he designed himself (the “vesper”), for which he provided instructions to a barman in Casino Royale (2006). Also included in this category is his fairly stable level of martini consumption. He was seen to drink beer on only four occasions.

One statistically significant change over time has been the declining use of alcohol as a weapon by any character, including Bond (P = 0.023; Box 1). Alcohol as a weapon mainly involved using bottles in fights, but alcohol was also exploited as a vehicle for drug delivery (eg, chloral hydrate in spiked drinks in From Russia with Love and The Living Daylights) and, on two occasions, for starting fires (Thunderball and A View to a Kill).

Both the lead female characters and the random sample of Bond’s sexual partners had a stable pattern of drinking across the six decades (Box 1). In contrast to Bond, who has not smoked while drinking since 2002, some of his sexual partners have continued to do so (eg, Séverine in Skyfall, 2012).

After drinking, Bond frequently engaged in a wide range of potentially high risk activities (Box 2). These included fights, driving vehicles (including chases), operating complex machinery (eg, flying a helicopter), contact with dangerous animals, and sex. The latter is noteworthy, as it sometimes involved enemies (eg, Fiona Volpe in Thunderball, Helga Brandt/No. 11 in You Only Live Twice), or was undertaken with guns or knives in the bed (eg, Jinx activated a flick knife in bed during a post-coital moment in Die Another Day, 2002). In other movies, Bond was under the influence when escaping a komodo dragon, evading a tarantula, and playing a drinking game with a scorpion on his hand. An example of the extreme complexity of the mix of his post-drinking tasks include a series of contiguous events in Dr. No (1962): Bond operated nuclear power plant machinery, destroyed (almost single-handedly) Dr No’s nuclear/space complex, killed Dr No, rescued Honey Ryder, and escaped the island. Similarly, on another post-drinking occasion he successfully killed the “Man with the Golden Gun”, accomplished the mission goal (retrieving a solex unit), and escaped the island before it was destroyed. On yet another occasion, after drinking at lunch he chased May Day up the Eiffel Tower, jumped on top of a high speed lift, drove a stolen taxi recklessly on footpaths and through the streets of Paris (“violating most of the Napoleonic code” in the process), then jumped about 10 metres from a bridge and through the roof of a barge. Performing these types of activities after drinking has not declined over time, and high stakes gambling by Bond after drinking has indeed significantly increased (Box 2).

Copious qualitative data allowed us to detail the many problematic aspects of Bond’s drinking behaviour (Box 3). For example, Bond’s peak observed binge drinking event involved an estimated 24 units of alcohol (six vespers), leading to an estimated blood alcohol level of 0.36 g/dL, well into the range that can be fatal (≥ 0.30 g/dL14). His next heaviest binge involved about 12 units of alcohol, for an estimated blood alcohol level of 0.18 g/dL. Other notable features include a medical scan that showed that his liver was “not too good” and an MI6 report that stated “alcohol and substance addiction [were] indicated”. Nevertheless, Bond has partial insight into his problem, admitting he drinks “too much” (Spectre, 2015). The only health consequence of alcohol ever discussed by Bond or other people was liver disease (on three occasions) (Box 3).

We classified Bond as having “severe” alcohol use disorder, as he met six of the 11 DSM-5 criteria (Box 4). Three of the female characters also had heavy drinking events (one at levels sufficient to cause staggering and double vision; Box 3).

Bond’s environment contains high levels of alcohol, and the number of product placements for alcohol brands has increased significantly over time (P < 0.001; Box 5). This rise was partly driven by a significant increase in the number of placements of alcohol products that require viewers to be familiar with the product to recognise it, based on the shape and colour of the bottle.

Discussion

It is almost certain from the available quantitative and qualitative data that James Bond has a chronic drinking problem; indeed, it is “severe” according to our application of DSM-5 criteria (Box 4). This drinking problem was also suggested by an analysis of an alternative biographic data source (the James Bond novels).7 This complementary investigation found that his maximal one-day intake was 50 units of alcohol. Consumed over 12 hours, this would achieve a blood alcohol level of about 0.61 g/dL, a level that would be fatal for most people; the highest blood alcohol level measured in a living person among 46 000 patients at a trauma centre was also 0.61 g/dL.14

Despite high chronic alcohol intake and extreme binges, Bond’s health is apparently not overly impaired. Although his liver is “not too good” (Box 3), he shows no dermatologic or other physical signs of alcoholism. Even his teeth are in good shape despite his high level of champagne consumption (high sparkling wine use is associated with dental erosion15). However, given his history of repeatedly being knocked unconscious, he should be aware that alcohol may interfere with recovery from traumatic brain injury.16

Many environmental factors are likely to fuel Bond’s high alcohol consumption. Alcohol products and advertisements seem to be ever present, and at increasing levels (Box 5). We found that 79% of the women with whom he associates drink, his workplace colleagues drink (including his boss M, also while on the job), and the villains with whom he engages also often drink (with the notable exception of Vargas in Thunderball, 1965), as do most of his sexual partners (57%; data not shown), some of them quite heavily (eg, Madeleine Swann, Stacey Sutton, Countess Lisl von Schlaf; Box 3).

Risk reduction strategies that Bond could consider

Ideally, Bond should urgently seek professional help for his drinking. But a few potential interim strategies might minimise his risks in the short term.

He should avoid drinking on the job, in particular when anticipating a gunfight or if he is likely to be drugged (as these are problems he frequently encounters). Complex tasks, including aerial combat in helicopter gunships and deactivation of nuclear weapons, are best done with a zero blood alcohol level.

He should avoid drinking with sexual partners who may want to disable, capture or kill him, as 9 of 60 (15%) have attempted to do so in the past.1 Not drinking can also help when negotiating delicate conversations with new partners about barrier contraception and sharing sexually transmitted disease histories.

Partners who drink should not smoke in bed (eg, Tiffany Case in Diamonds Are Forever, 1971), as this is a fire risk. Further, Bond should neither allow knives in bed (eg, Jinx) nor hide guns under pillows.

Addicts fetishise their object of desire and its context. Bond should therefore be mindful of how he exhibits his encyclopaedic knowledge of alcohol (vintages, design of cocktails etc.) when aiming to project an image as a connoisseur or to show off his expensive tastes. Bond should instead try to cultivate a more detached perspective and to develop alternative interests; eg, his nascent interests in lepidopterology (study of moths and butterflies) revealed when commenting expertly on M’s collection.

Creating a more supportive environment for Bond

Bond’s workplace (MI6) should be a more responsible employer by referring him to work-funded counselling or psychiatric support services for managing his alcohol use disorder. These services should also determine whether he has any post-traumatic stress after killing so many people and having been tortured so often (eg, in Casino Royale, Spectre).

Similarly, the workplace culture needs to change; to start with, M should no longer offer Bond drinks in workplace settings. Further, MI6 management needs to redefine Bond’s job to reduce his stress levels. More field support and a stronger team approach are needed so that his duties do not weigh as heavily upon him. This may reduce his need to take excessive individual responsibility for mission success, and lessen his drive to pursue missions when off duty (ie, as a rogue agent) and personal vendettas. More training in how to negotiate with enemies may also reduce the need for killing them, as might MI6 placing limitations on his “licence to kill”.

Conclusions

There is strong and consistent evidence that James Bond has a chronic alcohol consumption problem at the “severe” end of the spectrum. He should seek professional help and try to find other strategies for managing occupational stress. His workplace (MI6) needs to become a responsible employer and to refer him to support services, and to change its own workplace drinking culture.