>>Franchise. Tent Pole. Re-boot. Sound familiar? Well it all started here Yep, the film that launched the franchise. Timing is everything. In 1961, Life magazine did a profile on JFK that revealed that the new President enjoyed reading Ian Fleming's spy novels. That increased sales of the books and interest in the movie. According to IMDB, the film grossed $16 million in the US, almost $60 million worldwide -- a fabulous return on the initial investment.

And such was the influence of JFK and Jackie. To put that in context, there were whole record albums, even video bits, as here, by comedian Vaughn Meader. So if JFK like Ian Fleming, boom! As you point out, Paul, a nice bit of synchronicity to help launch the James Bond franchise.