The suave ladies man, film star and high-ranking Commando officer in WWII? He also probably knew one end of a cocktail onion from the other, and could tie a proper bow-tie.
Ian Fleming said that he imagined James Bond as looking like Hoagie Carmichael:
I get the suave part, but he doesn’t project the dangerous persona to me
Why, it’s almost as if he seems more like a well-dressed company representative, as per his business card from Universal Exports, than a secret agent.
Sinatra did play a retired cop who broke all the rules to find the killer of his granddaughter (I think - it’s been awhile). This was as a guest star on an episode of Magnum, P.I. He was pretty good, and definitely seemed like an aging Dirty Harry type. He was supposed to reprise the role in a later episode, but he died before they could get around to making it.
In an older thread it was argued http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=8619533&postcount=14 that around this time following the Manson murders Hollywood rebounded from the hippy-era “cops are pigs” meme and rehabilitated the image of cops as smart and tough enough to take down the psychopaths out there. Eastwood worked in this role, Sinatra was too last-generation.
In the Bond movie nobody ever saw, Casino Royale (1967), Niven was James Bond. Peter Sellers and Woody Allen were as well, but Niven was the original, called out of retirement. It was all part of a clever plan to confuse SMERSH.
The movie has only a faint resemblance to the Saltzman/Broccoli produced films and even fainter to the book.
I spose it wouldn’t sound as good goin, “Go ahead, make it - myyyyyyyyyy daaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyy…”
If you think the 1967 Casino Royale has little resemblance to the book or the rest of the movies, then what about the 1954 version of it?:
That’s my favorite Bond film. Parachuting Indians, bunches of seals (ork! ork!), Ursula Andress - what’s not to love? And the explosive LSD cloud. But I want to see the LEGO version.
“You’re crazy! You are absolutely crazy!”
“They called EINSTEIN crazy!”
“…that’s not true; no one ever called Einstein crazy.”
“Well, they WOULD have, if he’d CARRIED ON LIKE THIS!”
There were seven people dubbed James Bond in that movie, none of whom were played by Woody Allen. All were MI-6 agents (well, I guess Moneypenny’s daughter wasn’t technically an agent) of some stripe. Not all were 007 designated either.
Allen played “Jimmy Bond” who was the original 007’s (i.e. Niven’s) nephew. He was not MI-6