My James Bond journey

In preparation for seeing "Skyfall," I have set myself the task of watching all 22 James Bond films to see how the series has morphed over the 50 years since "Dr. No" debuted.

That's not such a hard task when you subscribe to Netflix, although the vagaries of the system make it onerous to watch them in their exact order. There's what Netflix calls a "very long wait" for the first two films. ("From Russia with Love" was the second.)

The Bond series is the longest continually-running series in film history.

The British secret agent with a license to kill, created by spook-turned -novelist Ian Fleming, took the world by storm in 1962. I was in college, and we all thought that Bond was absolutely the coolest spy who ever was. We'd line up to see the latest film at one of the downtown movie "palaces." I seem to remember most of them played in those days at the Loew's Theatre on Grace Street, now Richmond's CenterStage.

In the past few days, I've seen "Thunderball," "You Only Live Twice," "Goldfinger" and "Diamonds Are Forever." ("Dr. No" was shipped to me today, and "From Russia With Love" is now at the top of my Netflix queue.)

At this point, "Diamonds Are Forever" is my clear favorite, followed closely by "Goldfinger."

Why?

First off, both have title songs sung by venerable Welsh recording artist Shirley Bassey. (She also sang the title song for "Moonraker," but that was yet to come.) Nobody can belt a Bond theme like Bassey.

Both feature Sean Connery as Bond -- although it must be said that Connery was the only actor to have played Bond at the time "Diamonds" was filmed.

Both feature strong, evil antagonists -- Auric Goldfinger in "Goldfinger" and Ernst Stavro Blofeld in "Diamonds."

And both films feature strong supporting casts.

In "Goldfinger," Toshiyuki Sakata created one of the series most memorable thugs, Oddjob, who famously used his sharpened, steel-brimmed bowler hat to gruesome effect before Bond used that same hat to turn the tables. Oddjob's final scene is one that those who have seen "Goldfinger" will not soon forget.

Both have strong and tenacious female characters whom Bond manages to seduce in one way or another. In "Goldfinger," it's Honor Blackman. In "Diamonds," it's Jill St. John.

But what's come to be so clear to me as I rewatch these old favorites is the punchiness, the naughtiness and the crispness of the dialogue.

In "Goldfinger," when Blackman's character introduces herself to Bond as "Pussy Galore," Bond says, almost as an aside, "I must be dreaming."

In "Diamonds," in which St. John plays a diamond thief, she pops in and out of her first scene in a blonde wig and then as a brunette before confessing that she is a redhead. "Which do you prefer?" she asks. Bond replies, "Well, as long as the collar and cuffs match...."

And when Bond meets a woman at a casino craps table, she introduces herself as "Plenty O'Toole." Bond's reply? "Named after your father perhaps?"

And it's not just the women who have the good lines. And the memorable lines are not all naughty. Some are chilling.

In "Goldfinger," as Bond is strapped to a table with a laser cutter moving toward the family jewels, Bond asks Goldfinger, "Do you expect me to talk?" Goldfinger says, "No, Mr. Bond. I expect you to die."

But what makes "Diamonds" stand out for me is the two inseparable smugglers who might just be the oddest characters in the whole series. Putter Smith plays Mr. Kidd, and Bruce Glover plays Mr. Wint. Neither has ever had a better film role. They play dangerous and quirky bad guys who, from first frame to last, try their damnedest to kill Bond -- in fascinating ways. They meet their own ends at Bond's hands in the final setpiece, in which they try -- but fail -- to bomb Bond with a bombe glacée.

Yep, "Diamonds" and "Goldfinger" are my favorites -- so far.

But it's only four down, and 18 to go. It might be a while before I get to "Skyfall." And I might change my mind about my favorites.