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Real people named James Bond open up about sharing a name with the fictional secret agent in the new documentary The Other Fellow.
The James Bond-centric documentary The Other Fellow has gotten a release date. The film does not focus so much on the actual Bond books or movies, instead following real-life people with the name James Bond — who don’t share any other similarities with the fictional superspy. It is coming to theaters and On Demand outlets starting on Feb. 17, 2023, and you can get an early peek by watching an official trailer below, via Gravitas.
Matthew Bauer directed The Other Fellow. In the doc, Bauer details how British author Ian Fleming wanted to choose a “really flat, quiet name” for this superspy character he was creating for a new book series. Fleming drew upon one of his favorite books, Birds of the West Indies, which refers to a Philadelphia ornithologist who just happened to be named James Bond. Seventy years after the name was picked for that first Bond story, which would launch a tremendously successful franchise, The Other Fellow introduces viewers to real-life Bonds from different parts of the world.
One of the Bonds featured in the doc is New York theatre director James Bond, a gay man who finds the name to be a “reoccuring hindrance.” Also showcased is the strange story of a murder case in South Bend, Indiana, with a Black man named James Bond Jr. serving as the prime suspect and awaiting trial; meanwhile, a white man named James Bond in the same town finds himself caught up in the ensuing media frenzy. Another story explores one British woman’s troubled past with an abusive ex-husband named James Bond. Going full-circle, the doc also introduces viewers to the ornithologist Bond who inspired Ian Fleming to use the name in the first place, with the original Bond and his wife traveling to Jamaica to “finally confront Ian Fleming about an identity theft that is challenging the lives of all James Bonds across the globe, including theirs.”
The Name’s Bond, James Bond
Also in The Other Fellow is Swedish James Bond superfan Gunnar Schafer. Viewers get to see the collector’s James Bond Museum with Schafer explaining why the fictional character means so much to him. As the son of an escaped Nazi who vanished after World War II, Schafer “now sees James Bond as a replacement father figure and immerses his life in all things 007.”
The official logline for the documentary is as follows:
Via Vancouver, Toronto, London, Denver, Guyana, Europe, the US and Baghdad, The Other Fellow paints a rich picture of the worldwide digital and cultural footprint of cinema’s most famous spy. And what being in that looming shadow actually means for people when it creates an identity crisis like no other.
The Other Fellow will be released in select theaters and On Demand on Feb. 17, 2023.
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