For nearly forty years, the Cold War occupied the major world powers on several distinct, yet often interrelated, fronts. The political, ideological, economic and social struggles between the Soviet Union, the People's Republic of China, the United States and Great Britain influenced developments of American and British popular culture. Film writers, directors, and producers of this period were significantly affected by the international political conditions of the Cold War. The series of James Bond films produced between 1954 and 1965 provides an interesting study of the degree to which the political events and atmosphere of the Cold War and the corresponding popular culture were interconnected. This paper and a subsequent paper in the next issue of the International Journal of Instructional Media will discuss how the early Bond films, taken collectively, constituted an evolutionary saga, which adapted as the world changed around