Focus Of The Week: Sylvia Trench

“Willowy, exquisitely gowned with a classic, deceptively cold beauty.” This is how the Dr. No (1962) screenplay describes Sylvia Trench (Eunice Gayson). Elegant and intelligent, Sylvia became the first woman to catch the cinematic James Bond (Sean Connery)’s attention. She also sets up one of the most iconic lines in cinema history.

Sylvia first meets Bond at the exclusive Le Cercle casino at Les Ambassadeurs club in London. Battling over a game of Chemin de fer, she introduces herself as “Trench, Sylvia Trench” and he responds in his now trademark manner (“Bond, James Bond”), playfully mimicking Trench’s own delivery.

Sylvia loses the game but finds herself intrigued by Bond. When Bond receives a call from a secret service operative and leaves the table, she follows suit. Bond suggests dinner and golfing the next day. Taking his card, she informs she will let him know in the morning. However, when Bond returns to his apartment that evening, he is greeted with Sylvia practicing her putting into a bowler hat sporting his pyjama top. The couple spend a passionate night together before Bond heads to Jamaica.

Sylvia reappears in the next 007 adventure From Russia With Love (1963), sharing a lazy picnic with Bond by the river. A call from Moneypenny (Lois Maxwell), informing Bond to meet with M (Bernard Lee), interrupts their idyll sending him on a mission to retrieve a decoding machine from the Russians. It seems, when it comes to James Bond, Sylvia can never catch a break.