AT THE MOVIES (March 2, 2023)

The Sicilian Storyteller,

Welcome to “The Rhythm Section”, a new site shared between The Sicilian Storyteller in the U.S.A., Mr. Bump in the U.K. and DA Whittam in Australia. We are here to entertain you with great music videos, give you some super interesting information, exchange thoughts and comments about music but mostly we just want to have fun.

As you follow our new site you’ll see us take turns posting about themes of great interest to us individually and as a team. And as a little bonus feature, we will invite you to play along by tackling our question of the day at the end of each post.

Today I’m kicking things off with a very cool category – “At The Movies”. As you can undoubtedly guess by the name, this is all about songs from hit movies (and possibly a few bombs as well!) and let me tell you – there’s A LOT of movie music to choose from!

Who doesn’t enjoy going to the movie theater or watching a movie at home on TV? I know I love a good movie! How about you? Are you ready? Let’s get our popcorn and find a good seat for one of my favorite movie personas – James Bond.

While 007 fans may debate the best James Bond opening theme, many would likely point to Shirley Bassey’s “Goldfinger” as an all-time classic. With booming orchestration and Bassey’s roaring voice, the song conveyed the cold nature of the eponymous villain. In 2013 Bassey performed the song at the Academy Awards, celebrating 50 years of James Bond films – that’s quite a run.

Thanks for joining us today; I hope you enjoy our new site. I’m The Sicilian Storyteller, and I’ll see you next Thursday “At The Movies”! 📽️

  • Released: 1964
  • Performer: Shirley Bassey
  • Songwriters: John Barry, Leslie Bricusse, Anthony Newley
  • Producer: George Martin
  • Columbia United Artists

Wow! What a set of pipes on her!

Now for our question of the day:

Of all the actors to portray James Bond, which one was your favorite: Sean Connery, David Niven, George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan or Daniel Craig?

Take a second and add a comment or a video of your own, if you wish. We can’t wait to see what you have to say and remember … it’s all about having fun!

Mr. Bump will be hosting on Saturday with a very special and unique post. You won’t want to miss what he’s got planned.

I’ll be here on Tuesday with a totally new segment of The Rhythm Section and again on Thursday talking about another great movie song.

Catch you next week and don’t forget your popcorn! Have a great weekend! 🍿

See you on the flip side.

I’m The Sicilian Storyteller

NAR © 2023


– Music: John Barry
– Lyrics: Leslie BricusAnthony NewleyNow for the movie question of the day: Of all the actors who have portrayed James Bond, and there have been more than you think, who is your favoriteNAR © 2023

Published by The Sicilian Storyteller

Married with 2 adult sons and 4 grandchildren, my greatest pastime (other than being with my family) is writing and building my website. I'm a contributing author to the #1 Amazon bestseller "Wounds I Healed: The Poetry of Strong Women and have been published on MasticadoresUSA, Spillwords and The Writers Club. My parents were born in Sicily and instilled in me a great love of family, friends, food and music. I am a singer and also play the piano and organ. One of the most exhilarating experiences of my life was seeing The Beatles – the greatest group to ever grace this planet. 🎶

45 Comments

  2. Sean Connery was Bond. All others distant place getters and, on behalf of all Australians, our sincere apologies for George Lazenby. The great Shirl was always known her as Burly Chassis.

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  7. Reblogged this on Mister Bump and commented:

    Well, the big day is finally here! You know I mentioned last week that I was becoming involved in another music blog? Well, today I can introduce The Rhythm Section.

    It’ll be a blog hosted by three of us. There’s me, of course. Then there’s Nancy, The Sicilian Storyteller, who posts today. And there’s Deb, the artist formerly known as NopeNotPam, and between us, we hope to bring an eclectic mix of music to brighten everybody’s day.

    Nance has focussed today on James Bond. And what better way to start the blog than to be shaken, not stirred? I might even have to respond to the question myself, but later. First, I’m going to get some coffee in me and enjoy Nancy’s post!

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  8. Ρυθμός…no coincidence then you used the hi-hat as an ID for your new blog.
    And now that your baby is out in the world and took its first b(assey)reath, you can relax cara and enjoy the ride.
    Looking forward to the posts from the three of you.

    Q: Sean is obviously beyond just an actor…and he will be the overwhelming choice for the question you asked.
    I will take another route though, Nancy.
    Daniel Craig. Why you ask?
    Two reasons:
    _He managed to reenact the all familiar persona of Bond and add his stamp, while being in the shadow of formidable predecessors.
    _He added an aspect of vulnerability, especially at Skyfall and No Time to Die.

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  9. Pingback: Shaken, Not Stirred – Mister Bump

    1. After reading Bump’s post, I can see why. As this is a music post, my emphasis was on the song. In light of Bump’s remarks, my apologies to anyone who is anti-Bond. We need to remember this is a music blog. Thanks, Misk!

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  11. My favourite James Bond actor: Daniel Craig. He brought an element of humanity that the others lacked. I went off James Bond movies when the writers thought I enjoyed watching sadism. Who needs that – I don’t need that. One of my favourite movies is “What We Did On Our Holiday” with David Tennant, Rosamund Pike, and Billy Connolly. But that says more about me than James Bond.

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      1. I don’t think an apology is due to anyone, Nancy. If you can generate discussion and draw in readers, then you’re on the right track, but discussion means you’ll find people have differing opinions. And that’s good. It makes people think.

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  13. After reading some of the comments (Mr. Bump) about James Bond being womanizing and the movies putting women in a poor light, I need to reiterate … this is a music blog and my emphasis was on the song and not the character. I’m very glad I only wrote one post about James “Fucking” Bond! 🎶

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    1. It was clear Nancy what the focus of the post was. Nevertheless, an artist should not shy away from a subject just because it may be controversial.
      And any good-will participant will engage in conversation (non toxic).

      (Btw, since Fucking is his middle name, let’s make it a bit more Birmingham Peaky Blinders way…James “Fokin'” Bond🤣

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      1. Thanks, Nick! I love the smell of Sicilian controversy in the morning! 🤣 😎

        Seriously, I do agree with what you and Mr. Bump said and I thank you both. I see the two sides and acknowledge them equally.

        I’m happy people are reading and commenting on our new blog. It will only get better from here! 💫

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  15. I think everyone most closely associates Bond with Connery. After seeing his disastrous interview with Barbara Walters, I was never able to respect him again, so while I can acknowledge his talent as an actor, I prefer to look for an alternative. I guess I’ll go with everyone’s least favorite Bond, Pierce Brosnan. I’ve been a fan of his since Remington Steele.

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  16. Oh dear, I’m ashamed to say I’ve never watched a Bond movie, but I’ve always enjoyed the theme music! I do a good impression of Sean Connery though – The namesh Bawned, Jamesh Bawned.

    Congrats on the new blog!

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  19. Hi Nancy. I stopped reading the comments after a while. Wow! Well, it’s a lot of fun and you got people involved, so just focus on that. For the record, I’ve never really watched Bond films but of course Sean Connery is hard to go past. But I first became aware of Daniel Craig when I saw him in a war film about partisans or some such living in the forest. Something about him, or the character, intrigued me, and he has kept my attention since. Not that I saw Skyfall or the other one either.

    Now. Bassey. Apart from her fabulous voice and exuberant mouth movements which seemed to become even more pronounced over time, her enunciation is superb. I defy anyone to get any of the lyrics to Goldfinger wrong.

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  20. Yes, it is hard to top Sean Connery. However, Daniel Craig rather exceeded my expectations, as the most updated of the 007 characters. He made it his own, for sure!

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  21. Yes, Sean Connery was hard to top. He WAS Bond! However, Daniel Craig rather exceeded my expectations, as the most updated of the 007 characters. He made it his own, for sure!

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  22. If you read Ian Fleming’s books and then saw the early James Bond movies, then in your heart Sean Connery is James Bond. There is no other. All the others were just play acting no matter how much they tried. When Sean Connery left the role, James Bond left the movies.

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  23. I must admit, I’ve only watched the last few Bond films as I’ve never been a huge fan of those types of films (although I LOVE the opening credits and the beautiful women who always sing the intro song). I’d have to say I love the latest Bond (spoiler if you’ve not seen the latest film). I also love Billie Eilish’s song for “No Time To Die.”

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    1. I’ve seen them all except for the last one. I’m a Bond girl from way back, even having read the books. As I just replied to a gray’s comment, there’s only one Bond for me and that’s Sean Connery. If someone put a gun to my head, my second choice would be Pierce Brosnan but he will remain in Connery’s shadow, as will all the others. 😎

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