It's not often I can recall my movements of five days ago, let alone five decades, but I do know that 50 years ago this week, I was standing in a long queue on a miserable wet night in my home town of Reading. The reason for this odd behaviour was the opening of the very first Bond film, Dr No, which was showing at the less than glamorous Reading Odeon.
It's a bit scary to think it was all those years ago. Nobody knew then, but it was the launch of the most successful film character of all time.
It is hard to explain the impact of that first Bond film, suffice to say it was different than anything else.
It was fast-paced, slick and humorous. Even the theme music was a bit special. There was also what proved to be that essential mix for any successful film in the following decades - violence and sex.
There was a lot of excitement amongst us schoolboys as the word got around about the iconic scene in which Ursula Andress emerges from the sea in her white bikini, observed by an understandably impressed Sean Connery. That became the leading topic of conversation in school for the next six months. Anyone who had not seen Dr No was a social outcast.
A real honey
What is often forgotten is that bikinis were not a common sight in those days - well, not in my part of England anyway. I can safely say I had never seen any of my neighbours wearing a bikini, thank goodness. In 1962, bikinis were still regarded as a bit naughty, but after Dr No bikini sales soared although sadly not everyone wearing them looked like Ms Andress.
To think that the first Bond girl is now 76 years old. But in 1962 Andress, as Honey Ryder, was a real stunner. I bet she still is. Because of her strong accent her lines were dubbed, as was her singing on the beach, but that didn't bother us spotty teenagers.
In 1965, Andress posed in a state of total undress for Playboy magazine. When asked why she did it the Swiss actress replied somewhat indignantly ''because I am beautiful''. Well, you couldn't get a more honest answer than that.
There have been a lot of Bond girls since, some of them more notable for their quirky names than their acting _ like Pussy Galore, Chew Me, Holly Goodhead, May Day and the splendid Plenty O'Toole.
Which brings us to Mary Goodnight.
Brief encounter
One of the Bond Films, The Man With The Golden Gun, was partly shot in location in Thailand back in 1974. Roger Moore was in the 007 role and Bangkok Post colleague Tony Waltham was selected to be Moore's stand-in. Tony, who had longish hair at the time, was told to get a haircut, shave off his moustache and report at the Oriental hotel to be fitted with a Moore wig.
When he arrived at the ''James Bond Suite'' the door was ajar and Tony walked in only to find a beautiful blonde reclining on the bed.
Being an English gentleman he immediately apologised for his intrusion, but the woman simply smiled, said ''Hi, I'm Britt Ekland'' and held out her hand.
Unfortunately, showing a horrible sense of timing, the wig-fitter arrived and Tony was unable to pursue his conversation with the delectable star who played Ms Goodnight. But it was nice while it lasted.
Not shaken or stirred
Despite enjoying the early Bond films, especially Dr No, I gave up on them after a while because they had become rather silly. Well, OK, they had always been silly, but early on they had a certain novelty value.
Fast forward to 2006 when I went along to see what kind of job the new Bond, Daniel Craig , made of it in Casino Royale. I was pleasantly surprised, more with Craig's interpretation of Bond's character than the film itself. He's got a great face for a start, looking a bit like someone who's just remembered he left the kettle on at home.
Craig's 007 is vulnerable and messes up and he also gets beaten up. He hasn't got much time for all that saucy double-entendre that littered the earlier films. It's a Bond who doesn't give a damn whether his martini is shaken or stirred. This Bond can actually act. Admittedly I couldn't understand the plot of Casino Royale, but that's nothing new. In the follow-up, Quantum of Solace, I couldn't even understand the title. Coming soon we have Skyfall, the 23rd Bond film. Now that's not bad going for what Time magazine once called a ''blithering bounder''.
The bookworm
About the time Dr No was released I was watching BBC television with my mother when Bond author Ian Fleming was being interviewed.
Mum was always complaining that I did not read enough books, so I seized on this opportunity to impress.
''I've read a lot of his books mum,'' I said enthusiastically. ''They're really good.''
Right on cue the interviewer then asked Fleming: ''There's always a lot of graphic sex in your books. How do you justify this?'' Following the withering look from mother I hastily retreated upstairs to hide all the 007 tomes before they ended up on the bonfire.
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