On This Day

RichardTheBruce

2017: ChiDunnit in Canada publishes the paperback version of Licence Expired: The Unauthorized James Bond, editors David Nickle and Madeline Ashby. (Originally published 23 November 2015.)

2022: The Smithsonian presents an evening lecture/seminar 60 Years of Bond, James Bond.
Available on Zoom for a fee.

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Smithsonian Event
60 Years of Bond, James Bond
Evening Lecture/Seminar

See the complete article here:

https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/254483?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2022FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&tmssource=260966

Thursday, July 14, 2022 - 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. ET
Code: 1K0273
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$35 - Non-Member
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Materials for this program

James Bond Handout
https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/attachments/254483/1/pdf/60-Years-of-Bond-James-Bond-Handout

Sean Connery on location in Amsterdam shooting Diamonds Are Forever
(Dutch National Archives/License: CC BY-SA 3.0 NL)

In 1953, former World War II British naval intelligence officer Ian Fleming published his first novel centered on charismatic espionage agent James Bond. Under the employ of MI6, England’s Secret Intelligence Service, Agent 007 was literally given a license to, well, do whatever it took to reign in sinister forces posing a challenge to Her Majesty’s government and the planet at large.

Bond favored gadgetry, martinis (shaken, not stirred), and short-term flings with beautiful female associates and adversaries. The dashing agent’s 1950s literary adventures included Casino Royale, Live and Let Die, Diamonds Are Forever, Goldfinger, and From Russia, with Love. It was only a matter of time before Hollywood recruited Bond, James Bond.

Bond received his first screen assignment Dr. No in 1962—the year of the Cuban Missile Crisis—and a relatively obscure Scottish actor named Sean Connery soared to international stardom. Even SPECTRE could not stop the 007 franchise (before the term entered the movie industry lexicon) from encircling the globe, despite Agent “Double-0 Seven” morphing into George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan, and Daniel Craig.

Join film historian Max Alvarez for a multimedia presentation—unredacted and for your eyes only!—where the mission is to crack the code behind the high-tech glamour and globetrotting excitement of the 007 film cycle. Alvarez shares selections from popular Bond adventures as well as archival and behind-the-scenes production material, including visual breakdowns of legendary 007 stunts and astonishing production design achievements. The occasion calls for a toast with a very British, Bond-inspired martini (recipe below).

James Bond's Vesper Martini with Recipe
Cocktail historian Philip Greene, author of The Manhattan: The Story of the First Modern Cocktail, recreates the drink that Bond instructs a bartender to make in Ian Fleming’s Casino Royale. The cocktail is named for the fictional double agent Vesper Lynd, and though Bond originally called for Gordon’s Gin, Greene favors Tanqueray, since “Gordon’s nowadays is not what it used to be and Tanqueray is about what Gordon’s was in 1953.” Libations change. Bond and his Martini are eternal.

Recipe

• 2 1/4 oz Tanqueray
• 3/4 oz Absolut Vodka
• 1/3 oz Lillet Blanc

Shake well with ice, strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with lemon peel.

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2024: Bastille Day, La Fête nationale in France.

Fire_and_Ice_Returns

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RichardTheBruce

July 15th

1932: Nina van Pallandt is born--Copenhagen, Denmark.

1963: From Russia With Love films the final scene on location in Venice.
1967: The You Only Live Twice soundtrack debuts in the US eventually topping at #27.

1975: Bond comic The Black Ruby Caper finishes its run in The Daily Express.
(Started 19 February 1975. 2781–2897) Yaroslav Horak, artist. Jim Lawrence, writer.

http://spyguysandgals.com/sgLookupComicStrip.aspx?id=1014




https://www.mi6-hq.com/sections/comics/tbrc.php3




https://www.popoptiq.com/double-oh-comics-009-black-ruby-caper/




Swedish Semic Press 1976
https://www.mi6-hq.com/sections/comics/semic_1976.php3?s=comics&id=01835

Kodnamn: Svart Storm
("Codename: Black Storm" -
The Black Ruby Caper)

Tamil Star comics https://www.comicsroyale.com/foreign-reprints#/star-comics/

Danish 1977 http://www.bond-o-rama.dk/en/jb007-dk-no41-1977/

James Bond Agent 007 no. 41: “The Black Ruby Caper” (1977)
"Kodenavn: Sorte Storm"
[Codename: Black Storm]

1983: Comic strip Polestar ends its run in The Daily Express, mid-way through the story. (Began 23 May 1983. 625-719) Complete versions eventually published in non-UK media. John McLusky, artist. Jim Lawrence, writer.

Swedish Semic Comic 1984
https://www.mi6-hq.com/sections/comics/semic_1982.php3?s=comics&id=02218

Projekt Polstjärnan
(Project Polestar -
The Paradise Plot [Part 2])

1986: The National Broadcasting Company exercises the sixty-day option on Pierce Brosnan's contract to add another season to its (previously cancelled) television show Remington Steele.

1989: The Orlando Sentinel prints critic Jay Bahar's review of Licence to Kill--"New Bond Has the Old Touch 'Licence' Reminiscent of Cool, Cool Connery."

NEW BOND HAS THE OLD TOUCH
'LICENCE' REMINISCENT OF COOL,
CRUEL CONNERY

See the complete article here:

Jay Boyar, Sentinel Movie Critic | THE ORLANDO SENTINEL | July 15, 1989

At the Hemingway House in Key West, agent 007 has his famous "license to kill" revoked for insubordination.

Our hero wants to track down a vicious drug dealer who has fed the legs of one of Bond's friends to a shark. But British intelligence has other plans. When 007 refuses to go along with them, his license is pulled and he's told to surrender his gun.

"I guess it's a 'farewell to arms,' " quips Bond - an offhand reference to the house and its history. A moment later, 007 is gone, Walther PPK still in hand, drug lord still on the brain.

All of this happens early in Licence to Kill, the 16th entry (or 18th, if you count the anomalous Never Say Never Again and Casino Royale) in the popular action series that began 27 years ago. This time, Bond is pretty much on his own: a vigilante with a vendetta in the Florida Keys and, eventually, in the fictional Latin American town of Isthmus City.

In Licence (British spelling) to Kill, the producers continue to move away from the cartoonish tone that the series had acquired during the years Roger Moore was the star. For The Living Daylights (1987), they recast the role of Bond with Timothy Dalton, whose effective interpretation of the character as a cool (even cruel) customer was closer to that of Sean Connery, the original 007. In that episode, the producers also began to play down the Indiana Jonesy high jinks.

The new film goes a bit further, putting the sting back into the violence and - Bond's Hemingway quip notwithstanding - de-emphasizing the comedy. Like The Living Daylights, Licence to Kill definitely has its moments. But also like The Living Daylights, the new, two-hour-plus picture goes on too long and is encumbered by a needlessly complicated plot.

Dalton continues to show us a Bond who is ruthlessly efficient. Most of the actor's scenes have a dangerous edge to them, and he handles the action sequences with much more conviction than Roger Moore ever could.

As the drug lord called Sanchez, Robert Davi is an adversary worthy of Bond: Like 007, Sanchez is a professional who sometimes puts loyalty ahead of business. Also making favorable impressions are Desmond Llewelyn (as the wily gadgeteer Q) and Wayne Newton (as an oily TV fundraiser, the role he was born to play).

There are two "Bond girls" in Licence to Kill: former model Carey Lowell as a tough-gal pilot and former Miss Galaxy Talisa Soto as a reluctant Sanchez love slave. These spectacularly beautiful women have more to do than some of their predecessors did, and their roles are rather more interesting than usual.

Sadly, though, neither Lowell nor Soto is especially familiar with the craft of acting. If Bond girls are going to be called upon to function as something more than ornaments, the producers might consider hiring real actresses. (Just a thought.) Licence to Kill was produced by Albert "Cubby" Broccoli (the grand old man of the series) and Michael G. Wilson (who has worked on these films in various capacities since 1972). Wilson, who was listed as a writer on the last four Bond pictures, co-wrote the Licence to Kill screenplay with Richard Maibaum, who has collaborated on 12 previous Bond films.

The director is John Glen, who also directed For Your Eyes Only, Octopussy, A View to a Kill and The Living Daylights. Glen is still a good (if conventional) action man: Whenever Bond is called upon to jump on something, swim to somewhere or fight with somebody, Glen keeps the action brisk and clear. And Glen does elicit decent performances from those members of the cast who are lucky enough to be able to act.

But if the series is ever going to return to its Connery-era glory, it definitely needs some new writers, ones who know how to streamline a story and keep the dialogue tight. Too bad the writer who gave his name to the Hemingway House is no longer available. He'd be perfect.

Fla. flaw: Now that producers are making more movies in Florida, these guys really ought to wake up and realize that down here we don't put tags (i.e., license plates) on the fronts of our cars, just on the backs. The first time I noticed a Florida tag on a car's front was in last year's Running on Empty, and it just keeps happening. In Licence to Kill, James Bond's car has a Florida tag on the front.

Bond's license to kill is revoked in the movie. He's lucky he didn't have his license to drive lifted too.

1993: Hodder & Stoughton publish John Gardner's Bond novel Never Send Flowers, misspelling a main character's name on the dustjacket.

NEVER SEND
FLOWERS

When Laura March, an officer
of the British Security Service,
is murdered in Switzerland,
James Bond is sent to liaise with
the local authorities. He teams
up with the local authorities. He teams
up with the lovely and lively
Flicka von Grősse, a member
of Swiss Intelligence, and
together they discover some
curious information about
Laura's past.

In turn, they become conscious
of a link between the March
murder and four recent,
high-profile assassinations,
in Rome, London, Paris and
Washington. They also discover
a further connection between
the assassinations and the
internationally famous actor,
David Dragonpol, who has
retired early from a spectacular
career and now lives in a castle
on the Rhine, in which every
room becomes a bizarre step
into the past.

But the past is dangerous, to
Dragonpol, Bond and Flicka,
and it leads them to a deadly
game of hide and seek, following
a sinister shadow across the
world, from Athens to Milan,
to Singapore, the United States
and back to Europe for a
denouement in the most
unlikely setting of EuroDisney
outside Paris.

JOHN GARDNER was educated
in Berkshire and at St John'ss
College, Cambridge. He has had
many fascinating occupations
and was, variously, a Royal
Marine officer, a stage magician,
theater critic, reviewer and
journalist.

As well as his James Bond novels,
most recently The Man from
Barbarossa and Death is Forever,
Gardner's other fiction includes
the acclaimed Herbie Kruger
trilogy and, more recently, The
Secret Generations, The Secret
Houses and The Secret Families.

2002: Vogue reports on a new Bond Girl brand of perfume and cosmetics.

News

COSMETIC BOND-ING

See the complete article here:

https://www.vogue.co.uk/article/cosmetic-bond-ing

By Vogue | 15 July 2002 | Conde Nast

AS WELL as sweet-talking his way into the affections of some of the world's most beautiful women, James Bond will now provide the rest of the female population with a Bond Girl brand of perfume and cosmetics. Work on the range, which is to be fronted by such past Bond stars as the original Bond Girl,** Ursula Andress**, and ** Sophie Marceau ** from The World Is Not Enough, has been going on in secret for months. It will be launched during a massive marketing campaign linked to the release of the forthcoming 007 film, Die Another Day. "There will be a number of products around the Bond Girl brand," Keith Snelgrove, senior vice-president of global business strategy at Danjaz (sic), the American arm of Eon, the company that makes the Bond films, told the Sunday Express. "The Bond girls have really changed over the years, they're very different now from the Bond girls of 40 years ago. They are strong female characters in their own right and we believe a Bond Girl cosmetics range will have widespread appeal." (July 15 2002)

2010: Activision releases the trailer for Blood Stone.

James Bond 007 Blood Stone | launch trailer (2010)

2019: Esquire reports the return of Christoph Waltz as Blofeld(!) in BOND 25.

Christoph Waltz will return in Bond 25 as Blofeld

See the complete article here:

https://www.esquireme.com/content/36742-christoph-waltz-will-return-in-bond-25-as-blofeld

Because you can't keep a good baddie down

James Bond, Daniel craig, Bond 25, Christoph Waltz
15 July 2019 | Esquire Editors

Christoph Waltz will join the cast of Bond 25, reprising his role as the villainous Ernst Stavro Blofeld, according to Variety.

The iconic criminal mastermind has been played by actors including Donald Pleasence and Max von Sydow over the years, but Waltz took over the role with 2015’s Spectre.

Bond 25—an official title for the film has yet to be released—is currently filming at the UK’s Pinewood Studios. Rumors circulated earlier this year that the film’s working title was Shatterhand. Dr. Guntram Shatterhand is one of Blofeld’s aliases, so it seemed likely that Waltz would be returning to the series.

However, in March Bond producer Barbara Broccoli suggested that the film would have a different title, casting doubts on Waltz’s role in the production. Now we know that Waltz is definitely in, but there haven’t been any updates surrounding the name of the much-anticipated release.

Oscar-winning Bohemian Rhapsody star Rami Malek is also slated to join Bond 25 as a villain, but whether that means that Waltz's Blofeld will be stepping back from Big Bad status is unclear.

The film's release has been delayed until April of next year, thanks in part to production troubles. Director Danny Boyle left the project last August, and was replaced by True Detective's Cary Fukunaga.

In May, Craig was injured on set and production had to be delayed while the star recovered from ankle surgery. And just last month, reports emerged that in separate incidents an on-set explosion injured a crew member, iconic former Bond girl Grace Jones quit the film within moments of arriving on set, and a man had been arrested for placing a camera in the women's bathrooms at Pinewood Studios.

2020: An Instagram post shows James Bond ready for action in No Time To Die.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CCqy4lxo4Qn/?utm_source=ig_embed&ig_rid=c7a537c2-a6d4-41e7-997b-07ef34306b0a

RichardTheBruce

July 16th

1963: Ian Fleming responds to Norman Felton's letter of 8 July, in part on the Solo project.

July 16, 1963

My near Norman,

Very many thanks for your letter and it was
very pleasant to see you over here although briefly
and so frustratingly for you.

Your Pacific islands sound very enticing, it would
certainly be nice to see some sun as ever since you
charming Americans started your long range weather
forecasting we have had nothing but rain. You might
ask them to lay off.

With best regards and I do hope Solo gets off the
pad in due course.

Yours ever,

Ian

1979: Maclean's prints Lawrence O'Toole's review of Moonraker--"007 at Zero Gravity."

007 at zero gravity
MOONRAKER Directed by Lewis Gilbert
July 16 1979 | Lawrence O’Toole

See the complete article here:

https://archive.macleans.ca/article/1979/7/16/007-at-zero-gravity

The only reason to be disappointed in Moonraker is not having stock in United Artists. Number 11 in the 007 series, its predecessors seen already by more than a billion people, it’s the most expensive yet and,during its last half hour, the most inspired and poetic.

The James Bond movies have always been a happy regression: you feel like a kid while you’re watching them—and you don’t want them to finish. Of all the summer movies (compare it to the gross and inept Meatballs for size), Moonraker is the most satisfying entertainment around. The Bonds are textbooks on how to make movies; they’re as reassuring as watching the sun rise.

By now the formula has become an impregnable fortress against failureluxe sets and settings, fantastic schemes and plots, wildly energetic comic-strip violence (killing is never very real), truly gorgeous specimens of the female persuasion, witty dialogue and that smiling sybarite himself, James Bond. This time out Bond (Roger Moore, who has picked up Sean Connery’s sly old grace) is up against one of the world’s richest men, an eloquent fascist named Drax (Michael Lonsdale).

In the tradition of Bond villains, he wants to take over the world with a plan (not to give anything away) that requires setting up a city in outer space. Sexy women pull guns, fast ones and their clothes off and Bond leaves them all dozing like lambs. As always, there’s a special girl, this time Lois Chiles’ Holly Goodhead (yes, that’s the name)—a CIA agent posing as a NASA scientist. “Where did you learn to fight like that?” he asks her after she has rearranged someone’s jaw with her fists. “NASA?” “No,” she answers, “Vassar.” And, as always, the sex is swift and silky, with a few entendres thrown in for good measure: “If it’s ’69, you were expecting me,” he says to her, referring to a bottle of champagne. The Bond films are as sexist as telling someone she looks terrific, and the women, brainy and beautiful, always enjoy his favors. Both genders seem to be having a ball.

Those who turn up their snouts at the Bond series might consider the Wildean wit of Christopher Wood’s screenplay: “Look after Mr. Bond—see that some harm comes to him,” says Drax; later, “At least I shall have the pleasure of putting you out of my misery.”

For those who’ve looked up at the screen in awe before, Moonraker nearly stall-feeds the senses. Besides the wickedly clever gadgetry, there are: (1) a free-fall fight in the air after Bond falls, without a parachute, from an airplane; (2) a jumbo jet blown up in midair; (3) a chase through the canals of Venice; (4) the world’s most expensive glass, Venini, totally demolished, in a scene that’s the last word on the bull in the china shop; (5) a fight atop a sabotaged trolley car above Rio; (6) another boat chase, this time up the Amazon; (7) an underwater battle with a giant snake; and (8) the final confrontation in space.

The series is pure plot. It keeps you thinking, fascinated: how will he get out of this one? How will he escape Jaws (the giant with the steel teeth played playfully by Richard Kiel) this time? The classy locations—Venice, Rio during carnival, the Amazon—are enough to knock you out.

But the classiest location of all is outer space. With John Barry’s brass and woodwind score, the ride there is breathtaking and Moonraker turns into a ballet in the skies. The effects are dazzling—tiny yellow and white figures blasting lasers at each other, the explosion of the space city, Bond and Holly making love at zero-gravity; make-believe has seldom been so magical. And all the while, you know that Bond’s safe and, in a way, that you are too. Moonraker is an example of why some people love movies instead of liking them.

Lawrence O’Toole

1987: 鐵金剛大戰 特務飛龍 (Tiě jīngāng dàzhàn tèwù fēilóng; Iron King Wars Agent Flying Dragon)
Hong Kong release.

1989: Tulsa World prints Dennis King's review of Licence to Kill.

`Licence to Kill'

See the complete article here:

https://tulsaworld.com/archives/licence-to-kill/article_85ea227c-fc7e-5636-9111-6f865ea82a80.html

Dennis King | Jul 16, 1989

Film: "Licence to Kill"
Stars: Timothy Dalton, Robert Davi and Carey Lowell
Theaters: Park Lane, Eastland, Woodland Hills and Cinema
8 (Broken Arrow, Sand Springs)
Rating: PG-13 (language, violence, sexual innuendo)
Quality:3 stars (on a scale of zero to five stars)

Bond ... James Bond has lost his licence to kill. But he
hasn't lost his cool air of menace and sophistication. He
hasn't lost his bag of deadly gimmicks and his flare for
derring-do. And he hasn't lost his way with the ladies.

In "Licence to Kill," the 16th adventure in the stalwart
series, everything we expect of a Bond movie is comfortably
in place. All the familiar rituals are properly observed.
And from the time-honored pre-credit stunt (in which Bond
lassos a swooping helicopter) to that first suave introduction,
"Bond ... James Bond," we know that all the glamour, gadgets,
girls and action that we've come to expect from author Ian
Fleming's Secret Agent 007 will be delivered in this latest
installment.

Much of the pleasure in the Bond films lies in the simple
repetition of those comforting chestnuts - Bond flirting
with Moneypenny; Bond reviewing Q's latest in deadly, high-tech
gadgetry; Bond seducing the latest in a long-running series
of sexy "Bond girls"; Bond infiltrating and eventually
destroying the villain's secret lair.

It's all here. The elaborate stunts are executed with dizzying
daring. The villain (Robert Davi) is as cooly evil and dauntingly
cunning as any Bond has ever faced. The Bond women (Carey
Lowell and Talisa Soto) are the best to come along in years
(Lowell, despite delivering a few wooden lines, even manages
to bring a touch of strength and independence to her role
- something unheard of in past Bond babes).

But there's something more, something that separates this
from the progressively bland outings of the Roger Moore
Bond. It's Timothy Dalton. He's surely the best Bond since
Sean Connery.

In this film, Dalton seems more at ease and self-assured
than he did in his first Bond role, last summer's "The
Living Daylights." With is chiseled features and aristocratic
bearing, Dalton embodies that same cool, ironic detachment,
that suave undercurrent of menace that made Connery's reading
of the character so memorable. That's welcome after so many
years of Moore's effete cartoonishness.

This film's generally trite but serviceable plot has Bond
acting as best man at the Florida wedding of longtime CIA
ally Felix Leiter. But before the honeymoon can begin, Leiter
and his lovely bride are brutally murdered on the orders
of Franz Sanchez (Davi), a vengeful Colombian drug lord.

Because of Bond's personal attachment to the victims, his
superiors revoke his "licence to kill" (the filmmakers
use the British spelling of licence) and order him off the
case. (An interesting side note: this film was originally
titled "Licence Revoked," but it was changed because the
filmmakers reportedly felt most Americans wouldn't know
what "revoked" meant.)

Anyway, Bond sets out on his own to infiltrate Sanchez's
South American stronghold and take revenge for his friend's
murder.

That's pretty much the whole plotline. The rest of the action
covers familiar territory. It's the razzle-dazzle special
effects, the great stunts and the often inspired bits of
visual wit that make the run-of-the-mill story seem fresh.
Among the film's odd surprises is a bizarre appearance by
Las Vegas lounge singer Wayne Newton as a bombastic, sex-crazed
evangelist. It's a strangely close-to-home performance reminiscent
of Richard Dawson's turn as a smarmy game show host in "Running
Man."

"Licence to Kill" was deftly directed by John Glen (working
on his fifth Bond film), and his sureness with the form
shows itself in the eye-popping climactic action scene -
a wild mountain chase involving oil tankers, jeeps, a golf
cart and an airplane - that has to go down as one of the
best Bond chases ever.

In losing his licence to kill, Bond has regained some of
the punch that was missing from his last few films. "Licence
to Kill" puts Bond back in top form.

2010: Activision press release announces James Bond 007: Blood Stone.

http://www.playstationlifestyle.net/2010/07/16/james-bond-007-blood-stone-announced/

Award winning artist Joss Stone goes
undercover in Activision's James Bond
007: Blood Stone (DS version by n-Space)

See the complete article here:

https://gonintendo.com/stories/137509-award-winning-artist-joss-stone-goes-undercover-in-activision-s-j

16 July, 2010 by rawmeatcowboy

Santa Monica, CA – July 16, 2010 – Award winning artist Joss Stone is set to debut as the newest Bond girl in Activision Publishing, Inc.’s (Nasdaq: ATVI) James Bond 007: Blood Stone, an original Bond experience from legendary screenwriter Bruce Feirstein. In addition to stepping into a leading role, Grammy and BRIT Award winner Joss Stone will create original music for the game, luring players into an explosive third-person action adventure where they will unravel an international conspiracy across exotic locales. Players will experience full-throttle, behind-the-wheel action on land and sea while using the most high tech gadgetry known to James Bond 007, the world’s most skilled secret agent.

“James Bond 007: Blood Stone captures the cinematic intensity of a Bond film by immersing players in an intriguing conspiracy that will require them to think and act like James Bond,” said David Pokress, Head of Marketing for Licensed Properties, Activision Publishing. “In addition, the game will feature a diverse array of multi-player modes and debut strategic objective-based gameplay that will allow Xbox 360, PS3™ and PC players to battle as teams of spies and mercenaries through authentic Bond locales.”

James Bond 007: Blood Stone features the likeness and voice talent of Daniel Craig, Joss Stone and Judi Dench and features an epic, original story developed by legendary screenwriter Bruce Feirstein. Players can engage in cover-based firefights, lethal hand-to-hand combat and speed their way through explosive adrenaline-fueled driving sequences as they embark on a global chase leading to action on land and sea through Athens, Istanbul, Monaco and Bangkok. Gamers can also feel what it is like to be a 00 agent, as they take the battle online in several robust 16-person multi-player modes that require skill, teamwork and strategy as players compete in matches that will have spies battling mercenaries.

Joss Stone provides an original musical track to the game titled, “I’ll Take it All” written and performed by her and Dave Stewart of the Eurythmics. The song will be featured exclusively in James Bond 007: Blood Stone.

The James Bond 007: Blood Stone video game is being developed by critically acclaimed developer Bizarre Creations for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system, and Windows PC under license from EON Productions Ltd and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (MGM). Additionally, an original Nintendo DS™ game is being developed from the ground up by n-Space. For more information about the game, visit www.007.com.

"I'll Take It All" performed by Jess Stone and Dave Stewart and The Eurythmics


Blood Stone. 20:29 worth

2013: Science Daily says the CIA mined 007 for ideas.

A close Bond: How the CIA exploited 007 for gadget ideas
and public relations

See the complete article here:

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/07/130716075931.htm

Date: July 16, 2013
Source: University of Warwick
Summary:
The real-life CIA copied outlandish gadgets from Goldfinger and From Russia With Love, according to an analysis of declassified letters and interviews revealing the bond between Ian Fleming and Allen Dulles.

FULL STORY
The real-life CIA copied outlandish gadgets from Goldfinger and From Russia With Love, according to a University of Warwick analysis of declassified letters and interviews revealing the bond between Ian Fleming and Allen Dulles.

However the relationship between the former CIA director and the spy thriller writer went far deeper than raiding the novels for technological inspiration.

Through Dulles, the agency actively leaned on the British author to paint it in more positive light at a time when US film-makers, authors and journalists were silent about the activities of the CIA, fearful to even mention it by name.

Dr Christopher Moran from the University of Warwick has trawled through declassified letters and media reports from the 1950 and 60s for the study, Ian Fleming and the Public Profile of the CIA, published in the Journal of Cold War Studies.

He said: "There was a surprising two-way influence between the CIA and the James Bond novels during the Cold War, stemming from the mutual admiration between Allen Dulles and Ian Fleming.

"This ranged from the copying of devices, such as the poison-tipped dagger shoe in From Russia With Love, to the agency using the 007 novels to improve its public profile.

"It's even more striking that this was going on at time when mentioning the CIA was strictly off-limits for the US media and cultural establishment, whereas Fleming, as a British author, could say what he liked.

"For a long time, the James Bond books had a monopoly on the CIA's public image and the agency used this to its advantage."

Declassified letters between Allen Dulles and Ian Fleming reveal the former CIA boss's strong affection for the Bond novels -- he even persuaded the author not to pension off 007 in 1963.

And in a rediscovered 1964 edition of Life Magazine, Dulles describes his meeting with the 'brilliant and witty' Fleming in London in 1959 where the author told him that the CIA was not doing enough in the area of 'special devices'.

On his return to the US, Dulles urged CIA technical staff to replicate as many of Bond's devices as they could.

The article details how the CIA successfully copied Rosa Klebb's infamous spring-loaded poison knife shoe from the film From Russia with Love.

But it had less luck with the homing beacon device used in Goldfinger to track the villain's car -- the CIA version had 'too many bugs in it', Dulles said, and stopped working when the enemy entered a crowded city.

The letters between Dulles and Fleming also show how the CIA tapped into James Bond for public relations support, with the author agreeing to include a number of glowing references to the CIA in his later novels. He did this out of respect for Dulles, a close friend, but the effect was to promote the image of the CIA. In return, Dulles rhapsodised about Fleming in the American press, even saying on one occasion that his organisation "could do with a few James Bonds."

Dr Moran said: "The early 007 novels, written in the 1950s, introduce millions of readers to the CIA for the first time through the character of its agent Felix Leiter.

"Although Fleming's portrayal of the CIA is largely favourable, readers are left in no doubt that the British intelligence services are the superior outfit.

"In Live and Let Die, for example, Leiter comes across as a bit of a bungler, unable to blend in with the locals and forced to rely on paid informants.

"But in the later books, as the friendship between Dulles and Fleming deepens, a far rosier picture of the CIA emerges.

"For example, in Thunderball, Bond's boss 'M' dispenses with his characteristic economy of words to speak enthusiastically about the way the CIA is selflessly putting itself in the service of freedom.

"And Allen Dulles is even the subject of several honourable mentions in the later books.

"It really does come across as a bit of a mutual appreciation society."

Story Source:
Materials provided by University of Warwick. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.

Journal Reference:
Christopher Moran. Ian Fleming and the Public Profile of the CIA. Journal of Cold War Studies, 2013; 15 (1): 119 DOI: 10.1162/JCWS_a_00310

Cite This Page:
University of Warwick. "A close Bond: How the CIA exploited 007 for gadget ideas and public relations." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 16 July 2013. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/07/130716075931.htm>.

2019: Q the Music offers a live medley from Piz Gloria--appropriately featuring music from On Her Majesty's Secret Service. Live rebroadcast for a limited time.

OHMSS Medley Trailer
Q The Music Show - James Bond Concert Spectacular

https://www.facebook.com/QTheMusicShow/videos/2368439073411730/
July 15, 2019 ·

Coming Tuesday 16 July 2000 London Time:

FULL 20 minute medley from On Her Majesty's Secret Service performed LIVE at Piz Gloria.

The video re-run will be broadcast "live" at 2000 and then taken down shortly afterwards - don't miss it!
https://www.facebook.com/QTheMusicShow/videos/ohmss-medley-trailer

Video will be shown here:
http://thelondonshowband.acemlna.com/lt.php…

Features:

• This Never Happened To The Other Fella
• Try
• Ski Chase
• Over And Out
• Battle At Piz Gloria
• Blofeld's Plot
• Gumbold's Safe

OHMSS50 - On Her Majesty's Secret Service 50th Anniversary Concert Piz Gloria Fan Event.

2020: The Malay Mail reports on author William Boyd's proposal for fictional James Bond's real world flat in London.

Licence to chill: UK author tracks down
James Bond’s home

See the complete article here:

https://www.malaymail.com/news/life/2020/07/16/licence-to-chill-uk-author-tracks-down-james-bonds-home/1885238

Thursday, 16 Jul 2020 08:41 PM MYT

A file picture of Ian Fleming, a British journalist, secret service agent and writer. — AFP pic

LONDON, July 16 — British author William Boyd believes he has discovered the London home of James Bond, after researching the character’s creator Ian Fleming and his famous books for clues.

Fleming wrote a total of 14 Bond books, two of them short story collections, in the 1950s and ‘60s but never revealed exactly where the secret agent lived, other than noting it was in the Chelsea neighbourhood.

But after re-reading all 14 before penning his own Bond continuation novel Solo in 2013, Boyd said he suspects the spy lives at number 25, Wellington Square, in Chelsea.

“That’s where James Bond’s flat was,” the writer said in an essay published today in the Times Literary Supplement, detailing how he settled on the address.

“Obviously, James Bond is a fictional character and didn’t actually live anywhere,” he added.

“However, it is strange how in the case of some fictional characters a kind of reality begins to take over their lives, as if they really did live and breathe, had an actual address and a mortgage.”

Boyd deployed sleuthing skills worthy of Bond himself to hunt down his home.

He began his mission with Fleming’s 1955 novel Moonraker, which describes it as “a comfortable flat in a plane-tree’d square off the King’s Road” — a famous street in Chelsea.

He used those details and some crucial coordinates in Thunderball (1961) — that the flat was a quick drive up the road to Hyde Park — to narrow the choice down to Wellington Square.

Boyd then examined Fleming’s social circle when he lived in London.

The spy who lived here
The Bond creator did much of his writing on the Caribbean island of Jamaica, where he had a house built after World War II.

But he drew on his prior experiences in British Naval Intelligence for some of his novels’ raw materials and was also a foreign editor at the Sunday Times before leaving the UK.

Boyd discovered that a colleague at the newspaper, chief book reviewer Desmond MacCarthy, and his wife owned the flat at number 25, Wellington Square.

The couple were “legendary entertainers and their home became a kind of salon”, according to Boyd, who noted they were also acquainted with one of Fleming’s close friends.

“The circumstantial evidence is compelling. It is highly probable that Fleming went to one or more of the MacCarthys’ parties in Wellington Square,” he added.

Concluding his case, Boyd found the flat matched Fleming’s description of Bond’s home in From Russia, with Love (1957) as having “a long big-windowed sitting room”.

The spy’s sitting room is also described as “book-lined” — which Boyd interprets as a nod to MacCarthy, who was a member of the Bloomsbury Group of 20th-century intellectuals.

In a final coincidental quirk, Boyd discovered Wellington Square is a stone’s throw from Bywater Street, where another famous fictional spy lived: John le Carre’s George Smiley. — AFP

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/the-spy-who-lived-here-author-finds-james-bonds-bolt-hole-v7ct5r2kh

2024: Ian Fleming Publications announces three-way auction winner Zaffre (Bonnier Books UK) to publish mysteries featuring the Q character. And maybe some Bond. First is Quantum of Menace due October 2025.

RichardTheBruce

July 17th

1922: Tetsurô Tamba is born--Tokyo, Japan.
(He dies 24 September 2006 at age 84--Tokyo, Japan.)

Tetsuro Tamba

Japanese actor whose life was a journey from kitsch to cult
https://www.theguardian.com/news/2006/dec/06/guardianobituaries.japan
Ronald Bergan | Wed 6 Dec 2006 04.17 EST

The Japanese actor Tetsuro Tamba, who has died aged 84, was a recognisable face to that large group of film fans from the west who are followers of Asian genre movies. He was seen in every conceivable kind of film - disaster, gangster, samurai, war and horror, as well as a number of art films.

In an acting career that began in 1954, Tamba made more than 200 films; he admitted that he never refused a role, never memorised a script - and never sat through an entire film that he appeared in. One of his most well-known roles internationally was in Lewis Gilbert's You Only Live Twice (1967), the fifth blockbusting James Bond movie starring Sean Connery. Tamba played Tiger Tanaka, head of the Japanese secret service, who helps Bond save the world from destruction. The character is the mirror of Bond-san: he has a witty and sarcastic sense of humour, dresses smartly, is in perfect physical condition and has a taste for beautiful women. When Bond makes contact with him, he uses the password, "I love you."

One of the best exchanges between them is when they are being bathed by Tanaka's women. Tanaka: "You know what it is about you that fascinates them, don't you? It's the hair on your chest. All Japanese men have beautiful bare skin." Bond: "Japanese proverb say 'Bird never make nest in bare tree.'"

Gilbert also directed Tamba in The Seventh Dawn (1964). In the Malaya of 1945, he and William Holden are two pals who fought the Japanese together during the war but are now on opposing sides - Holden, an imperialist rubber plantation owner, and Tamba a communist guerilla. In another English-language film, Tamba played an ideological baddie in Bridge to the Sun (1961), as a militaristic diplomat at odds with a friend who married an American girl (Carroll Baker) before Pearl Harbor.

He was born Shozaburo Tanba (he is sometimes credited as Tetsuro Tanba) in Tokyo, the son of the emperor's personal doctor. After some years under contract to Shintoho studios, he went freelance in 1959 and began starring in films, mostly yakusa, jidai-geki (period) movies and gore spectacles. For example, he was the unheeded professor who predicts The Last Days of Planet Earth (1974). But he also worked with some of Japan's best directors, including Shohei Imamura - Pigs and Battleships (1961), 11'09.01-September 11 (2002), Masaki Kobayashi (Harakiri, 1962), Kwaidan (1964), Kinji Fukasaku (Under the Flag of the Rising Sun, 1972) and Juzo Itami (A Taxing Woman Returns, 1988).

Towards the end of his life, Tamba made a few films for Takashi Miike: The Happiness of the Katakuris (2001), and Gozu, 2003, in the former as a stern grandfather. He also had a cameo role as a harsh art critic in Teruo Ishii's Blind Beast vs Killer Dwarf (2001). In the 1980s, while appearing in around seven films a year, Tamba became leader of Dai Reien Kai (Great Spirit World), a spiritual cult movement, for which he made several propaganda videos based upon his theories of the afterlife. He is survived by his son, the actor Yoshitaka Tanba.

· Tetsuro Tamba (Shozaburo Tanba), actor, born July 17 1922; died September 25 2006

Tetsuro Tamba
https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/tetsuro-tamba/credits/176543/

Actor (24 Credits)

The Twilight Samurai (Movie) Tozaemon Iguchi 2003
11'09"01: September 11 (Movie) Bonze 2002
The Happiness Of The Katakuris (Movie) Jinpei Katakuri 2001
Tokyo Pop (Movie) Dota 1988
Onimasa (Movie) The Big Boss 1982
The Bushido Blade (Movie) Lord Yamato 1982

Hunter In The Dark (Movie) Okitsugu Tanuma 1979
Message From Space (Movie) Noguchi 1978
Karate Bearfighter (Movie) 1977
Tidal Wave (Movie) Prime Minister Yamato 1975
Prophecies Of Nostradamus (Movie) 1974
Under The Fluttering Military Flag (Movie) 1972
The Five Man Army (Movie) Samurai 1970
The Scandalous Adventures Of Buraikan (Movie) Soshun 1970

Goyokin (Movie) Rokugo Tatewaki 1969
Black Lizard (Movie) Show Dancer 1968
Portrait Of Chieko (Movie) Kotaro Takamura 1967
You Only Live Twice (Movie) Tiger Tanaka 1967
Kwaidan (Movie) 1964
Samurai From Nowhere (Movie) Gunjuro Ohba 1964
The Seventh Dawn (Movie) Ng 1964
Harakiri (Movie) Hikokuro Omodaka 1962
The Diplomat's Mansion (Movie) 1961
Bridge To The Sun (Movie) Jiro 1961

Kaiju Shakedown: Tetsuro Tamba

See the complete article here:

https://www.filmcomment.com/blog/kaiju-shakedown-tetsuro-tamba/

By Grady Hendrix on October 6, 2014

Eight years ago last month Tetsuro Tamba went to the After Life World, leaving behind a cloud of contradictions that linger in the air long after his departure, like a zesty aftershave made of man-sweat and punches to the jaw. Simultaneously the best actor in Japan and the worst, a man of refined taste and of no taste at all, a rich kid whose career was either shotgunned from the hip with no planning whatsoever or a carefully wrought piece of performance art, one thing is for certain: Tetsuro Tamba is probably the only man to direct a movie that ends with a dead poodle turning to the screen and saying “Sayonara.”

Appearing in either 268, or 301, or 350 movies, depending on who you ask, Tamba was born rich, descended from Japanese aristocracy, and he lived his life according to the rule he laid out for Sean Connery when he appeared opposite him as Tiger Tanaka in You Only Live Twice (67), “Rule number one—never do anything for yourself when someone else can do it for you.”

The Five Man Army
For Tamba, that meant: never watch your own movies, never turn down a role, and never memorize a line. Whether he was on the stage in Takashi Miike’s Demon Pond or a scientist trying to save the world in The Last Days of Planet Earth (74), Tamba gave his super-serious performances from inside a vortex of notecards and script pages taped up all over the set. Watch him move around his office in The Last Days of Planet Earth delivering a speech about the coming apocalypse and you’ll see him reading his first few lines from a file folder he’s holding, looking inside a desk drawer for the next few, and delivering the clincher from off the back of a lampshade.

That didn’t mean he was a bad actor, but he wasn’t exactly a good actor either. Tamba transcended acting and simply existed, generating a force field made of machismo that fermented into gravitas with age. Whether he was the President of the Earth Federation in Kinji Fukasaku’s Message From Space (78), or a po-faced grandpa killing a bird with a thrown log in Happiness of the Katakuris (01), Tamba was the Troy McClure of Japanese cinema, a man as stiff and reassuring as Charlton Heston, and as rugged and out-of-date as John Wayne.

Happiness of the Katakuris
His father was physician to the Meiji Emperor, and Tamba himself was a pampered aristocrat who lied his way into a job as a translator for Occupation forces after WW II, making up for his total lack of English by taking GIs to all the best whorehouses. In 1951 he won a “New Face” competition at Shintoho studios, and his movie career began. Shintoho had been launched in a burst of optimism four years previously, a splinter group of artists who left Toho over a labor dispute, who cared deeply about cinema, and who vowed to build a brighter future.

Full of potential, Shintoho attracted directors from Ozu to Kurosawa but the one thing it couldn’t attract were audiences. By 1956, it had been taken over by Mitsugu Okura, a circus ringmaster turned theater owner, and he unleashed a tidal wave of sex, horror, and mutilation under its logo. Before Okura, Shintoho released Mizoguchi’s classic Life of Oharu (52); under Okura, it released Nude Actress Murder Case: Five Criminals (57). See what he did there? Tamba clashed with the studio constantly, believing that he came from just as good a family as they did, and therefore they were his equals, not his bosses. Three years after Okura took over, Tamba squirmed out of his contract and went rogue. He took part in high-class pictures like Kobayashi’s Harakiri (62) but his most important role came when he conned his way onto British film, The 7th Dawn (64), again using his nonexistent English. (According to legend he just answered “yes” to every question at the audition). 7th Dawn was directed by Lewis Gilbert, whose next movie, Alfie (66), won a special jury prize at Cannes. Next up for Tamba was Gilbert’s You Only Live Twice.

You Only Live Twice
Set in Japan, Gilbert turned immediately to the one Japanese actor he knew for the role of Tiger Tanaka: Tetsuro Tamba. Putting his machismo into overdrive, Tiger Tanaka’s office is only accessible via a chrome laundry chute, he has a school of ninjas, a bikini beauty bathing squad who wash him, and he gets to admire Sean Connery’s chest hair and utter such immortal lines as, “In Japan, men come first, women come second.”

With a Bond film in his back pocket, Tamba had a license to appear in any movie he wanted and the movie he picked was…all of them. He appeared in Italian spaghetti westerns (Five Man Army, 69), he appeared in the Shaw Brothers' wuxia (The Water Margin, 77), big-budget disaster flicks (Sinking of Japan, 73), Teruo Ishii softcore samurai pictures (Bohachi Bushido, 73), science fiction films (Message from Space, 78), and Buddhist biopics alongside Tatsuya Nakadai (The Human Revolution, 73). He had his own late night talk show, Tamba Club, he was in the movies, he was on TV, he was everywhere, reading his lines off cue cards and tightening his jaw on cue.

The Water Margin
He was also in the afterlife.

In the Seventies, Tamba got interested in the possibility of life after death, and decided to do research, which meant reading a bunch of books. This led him to become leader of the Dai Reikai (Great Spirit World) movement, a new age, afterlife-focused group that appeared in Japan in the Eighties promising to scientifically investigate the afterlife, which apparently involves flying around on a trumpet. Tamba wrote dozens of books on the Great Spirit World, worked on opening a Great Spirit World theme park, gave lectures about spirituality, and made three feature films on the subject, the most infamous of which, Tetsuro Tamba’s Great Spirit World—What Happens After Death (89) features a dead dog who gives the aforementioned “Sayonara” sign-off at the end of the film.

But an interest in life after death didn’t stop Tamba from appearing in plenty of other movies, including Hong Kong’s Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky (91) and Takashi Miike’s Happiness of the Katakuris (01), Deadly Outlaw: Rekka (02), and Gozu (03). In 2006, he passed away at the age of 84, and by all accounts his death was a quiet affair, which seems tremendously out of character. Terrible, amazing, awesome, and awful, Tetsuro Tamba was the very definition of a cinematic icon. Hell, he even gets his own hip-hop track. If that doesn’t guarantee immortality, I don’t know what will.

Deadly Outlaw

Tetsurô Tanba (1922–2006)

Actor (334 Credits)
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0848533/?ref_=nv_sr_1?ref_=nv_sr_1

1944: Catherine Schell is born--Budapest, Hungary.

1959: Laurence Evans from MCA offers advice to Fleming on Bond film deals.

The Battle for Bond, Robert Sellers, 2007.

...Fleming changed his mind yet again and phoned
[Laurence] Evans to tell him the deal with Bryce was done and that he would no longer
be seeking his representation in the matter. But Evans was evidently uneasy
about the status of Xanadu and his client's interest in it and wrote to
Fleming on 17 July offering to have an unofficial look at the proposed terms.
"I am not interested so much with your ultimate remuneration from this
project as with the certainty or otherwise of the film being made." Clearly
Evans was anxious about the viability of Xanadu mounting a Bond film and
with the pending American TV version of From Russia With Love was sure
there would be renewed interest in Bond film rights. "It would be a great
pity if our hands were tied by arrangements which were not clearly defined
and suitably rewarding."

1963: From Russia With Love films the helicopter assault on Bond and Tatiana.
1963: Jonathan Cape's Michael Howard writes Richard Chopping regarding Fleming's opinion for elements of the eventual You Only Live Twice dust cover.

Michael Howard to Richard Chopping:

I have had a talk with Ian about the ideas for the ingredients
of this design. He is very much in favour of the toad ...
but with a suitable array of oriental embellishrangment,
i.e. toad plus Japanese flower arrangements, which he thinks
should be sitting in a suitable piece of Japanese pottery, perhaps
ornamented with a dragon motif. If you could manage a
pink dragonfly sitting on the flowers, and perhaps just one
epicanthic eye peering through them he thinks that
will be just splendid!

1964: Roger Moore plays James Bond on Mainly Millicent.

Mainly Millicent (1964)

Episode aired Jul 17, 1964

Writers | Sidney Green, Richard Hills

Top Cast
Millicent Martin as Sonia Sekova
Roger Moore as James Bond
Leslie Crawford
Peter Diamond
Len Lowe
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2225195/

Sir Roger Moore as Bond 1964?

1965: The Saturday Evening Post features Sean Connery and "The James Bond Cult (Guns, girls, and gadgets)."

1968: Roger Moore is photographed drinking a martini.

1977: BBC2 for the Open University airs its documentary Mass Communication and Society, an in-depth record of The Spy Who Loved Me film production. Eight parts.

007magazine.co.uk/news_tswlm40-2.htm

1990: Putnam and Sons publishes John Gardner's Bond novel Brokenclaw in the US. Hyphenated.

1997: Tomorrow Never Dies films the stealth barge action. Pierce Brosnan splits his lip on a stuntman's helmet, receives eight stitches.

2004: Francis Patrick (Pat) Roach dies at age 67-- Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, England.
(Born 19 May 1937--Birmingham, England.)

Pat Roach

See the complete article here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pat_Roach

Born Francis Patrick Roach, 19 May 1937, Birmingham, Warwickshire, England
Died 17 July 2004 (aged 67), Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, England
Nationality - British
Occupation - Actor, wrestler, author, businessman
Years active - 1960–2004
Height - 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)[1][2]
Television - Auf Wiedersehen, Pet
Spouse(s) - Doreen Harris (m. 1957)
Children - 2

Francis Patrick Roach (19 May 1937 – 17 July 2004) was an English actor, and professional wrestler. During an acting career between the 1970s and the 1990s he appeared in multiple films, usually cast as a support player strongman villain. He appeared in the Indiana Jones cinema, as the West Country bricklayer Brian "Bomber" Busbridge in the 1980s British television series Auf Wiedersehen, Pet, and in the role of Petty Officer Edgar Evans in the television production The Last Place on Earth.

Early life
Roach was born and brought up in Birmingham, West Midlands, the son of Francis "Frank" Roach (born 1905). He was National Judo Champion in 1960, and Midland Area Black Belt Champion in 1962.

Sports career

Roach boxed as an amateur before becoming professional as a protege of Jack Solomons.

He began his professional wrestling career under the name of "Judo" Pat Roach. After his acting career had begun, he continued to wrestle under the name of "Bomber" Pat Roach, having previously been billed as "Big" Pat Roach before receiving affectionate cheering from the audience. He was trained by Alf Kent, his first official wrestling match was against George Selko in 1960. Roach held both the British and European heavyweight championships at one time.

Acting career
Roach made his acting debut as the red-bearded bouncer in the Korova Milkbar in Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange. He worked on another Kubrick film, Barry Lyndon, where he played a hand-to-hand brawler named Toole who engages Ryan O'Neal in fistfight. Roach went on to play a number of strong-man supporting character roles in films in the 1970s, 80s, and 90s, including the nonspeaking role of Hephaestus in Clash of the Titans alongside Laurence Olivier.

He later appeared as Atlas in the story of Perseus and the Gorgon in Clash of the Titans. He also appeared as a SPECTRE-backed assassin in the James Bond film Never Say Never Again, and as bandit-warlord Lord Brytag in the sword-and-sorcery film Red Sonja. He appeared as the skull-helmeted General Kael in the film Willow; the evil wizard Thoth-Amon in Conan the Destroyer and as the Celtic chieftain in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves.

In an alternative from playing strongman villains, in 1985 he played Petty Officer Edgar Evans in the Central TV miniseries The Last Place on Earth about Captain Scott's expedition to the South Pole. Roach was turned down as Darth Vader in Star Wars; however, its director, George Lucas, subsequently cast him as several burly villains in the Indiana Jones film series in the 1980s. In Raiders of the Lost Ark, he played two roles: the first being a giant Sherpa who fights Jones in the bar in Nepal, the second being a German Luftwaffe mechanic who fistfights with Jones before being killed by an aircraft's propeller blades on the airstrip in Egypt. In the next film, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Roach played a Thuggee guard in a mine who fights with Jones before being killed in a rock crusher. His final appearance in the series was as a Gestapo officer in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, he appears only briefly as the character's fight with Jones was cut because director Steven Spielberg considered the scene "too long" and served as a subplot.

Roach played the character of Brian "Bomber" Busbridge in the comedy-drama Auf Wiedersehen Pet, as a West Country bricklayer who appeared in all four of the full length series.

Personal life

Roach's grave in Bromsgrove

Roach married Doreen Harris in 1957, the marriage producing a son and a daughter.

In the 1990s Roach owned and managed a scrapyard in Saltley, Birmingham, he also ran a gym on Gravelly Hill North, Erdington, in North-East Birmingham.

Roach died on 17 July 2004 of esophageal cancer. His body was buried in Bromsgrove Cemetery, Worcestershire.

Pat Roach (I) (1937–2004)

Actor | Stunts
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0730053/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0

2006: James Bond 'Ultimate Edition' DVD Boxed Set Releases.

2018: Final day to object to settlement of a class action suit on the labeling of James Bond DVD/Blu-ray box sets.

James Bond Complete Boxed Sets Class Action Settlement

https://topclassactions.com/lawsuit-settlements/closed-settlements/839004-james-bond-complete-boxed-sets-class-action-settlement/

2019: Dynamite Entertainment releases James Bond 007 #9.
Eric Gapstur, artist. Greg Pak, writer.

JAMES BOND 007 #9

https://www.dynamite.com/htmlfiles/viewProduct.html?PRO=C72513027532509011
Cover A: Dave Johnson
Cover B: Khoi Pham
Cover C: Kano
Cover D: Eric Gapstur
Writer: Greg Pak
Art: Eric Gapstur
Genre: Action/Adventure
Publication Date: July 2019
Format: Comic Book
Page Count: 32 Pages
ON SALE DATE: 7/17/2019

"THE HEIST"
Plan is set. Clock gets tight. Goldfinger bets big.

The modern 007 epic continues from GREG PAK (Batman/Superman, Hulkverines) and ERIC GAPSTUR (The Flash: Season Zero).

2020: Writer William Boyd proposes the fictional James Bond's real world address.

The spies who lived here
How I found James Bond’s precise address
By william boyd

See the complete article here:

https://www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/the-spies-who-lived-here-essay-william-boyd/

Wellington Square, Chelsea, London| J Marshall - Tribaleye Images/Alamy
July 17, 2020

I am in London. In Chelsea to be precise, at the entrance to Wellington Square off the King’s Road, where I am being interviewed for the French radio station RTL – à distance sociale – about James Bond. The reason why we’re at Wellington Square is because this is where James Bond lived. Obviously, James Bond is a fictional character and didn’t actually live anywhere. However, it is strange how in the case of some fictional characters a kind of reality begins to take over their lives, as if they really did live and breathe, had an actual address and a mortgage.

I point out to the interviewer that, a few yards across the King’s Road from where we’re standing, almost directly opposite, is the entrance to Bywater Street. Believe it or not, I tell him, another famous fictional spy, John le Carré’s George Smiley, lived in Bywater Street. This extraordinary coincidence causes some excited consternation and we stop recording and cross the road. In Bywater Street, we start recording again. “George Smiley lived here? Amazing. What number?” the interviewer asks. Number 9, I say. You see what I mean.

I suppose the most famous fictional abode for a character is Sherlock Holmes’s 221b, Baker Street. James Bond’s address and George Smiley’s have yet to achieve the same legendary status, but give them time. When I came to write my James Bond continuation novel, Solo (2013), I set myself the task of re-reading all of Ian Fleming’s Bond novels in chronological order, pen in hand, making notes, with the idea that all the texture and detail in the new novel would be classic Bondiana, sourced in Fleming. One of the first things I noticed was the location of Bond’s flat. I found it odd that Fleming should have given Bond a Chelsea address. In the 1950s, when most of the Bond novels were written, certainly the best ones, Chelsea was not the salubrious area it has become. There were a few wealthy pockets of substantial houses – Cheyne Walk, Chelsea Square, Carlyle Square, Tite Street, the Embankment, Old Church Street and environs – but most of the streets were poor and lived in by poor people. It was almost a working-class district, full of bomb sites from the Blitz, seasoned with a few bohemian types. This was one of the reasons why, when the Swinging 60s arrived, the…

[MORE]

RichardTheBruce

July 18th

1913: Eric Pohlmann is born--Vienna, Austria-Hungary.
(He dies 25 July 1979 at age 66--Bad Reichenall, Bavaria, Germany.)

Eric Pohlmann

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Pohlmann

Born - Erich Pollak, 18 July 1913, Vienna, Austria-Hungary
Died - 25 July 1979 (aged 66), Bad Reichenhall, Upper Bavaria, Germany
Years active - 1948–1979
Spouse(s) - Liselotte Goettinger (1939–1968; her death; 2 children)

Eric Pohlmann (German: Erich Pohlmann; 18 July 1913 – 25 July 1979) was an Austrian theatre, film and television character actor who worked mostly in Britain.

Early life
Born Erich Pollak in Vienna, Austria-Hungary, he was a classically trained actor who studied under the renowned director Max Reinhardt. He appeared at the Raimund Theater, and supplemented his income by working as an entertainer in a bar.

In 1939, he followed his fiancée and later wife, Jewish actress Lieselotte Goettinger (best known in the UK for playing the concentration camp guard in the war films, Odette and Carve Her Name With Pride), into exile in London. There he took part in propaganda broadcasts against the Nazis on the BBC. In order to earn a living, the Pohlmanns temporarily took positions in the household of the Duke of Bedford, Lieselotte as a cook and Eric, as he was now known, as butler.

Career
After the war, he began a career on the London stage. Among other roles he played "Peachum" in Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill's The Threepenny Opera. From the end of the 1940s, Pohlmann was often present in film and television productions, taking supporting roles in various adventure and crime films, and appearing occasionally in comedies. His large frame and massive features typecast him in roles as master criminals and spies, or conversely as police officers or detectives, as well as other authority figures. He was frequently cast in "foreign" roles, portraying Turks, Italians, Arabs, Greeks or Orientals; he also played King George I, King George II in Disney's Rob Roy, the Highland Rogue and King George III twice.

One of his earliest film appearances was in Carol Reed's classic The Third Man (1949). He also played supporting roles in such British films as They Who Dare (1954), Chance of a Lifetime (1950), Reach for the Sky (1956), and Expresso Bongo (1960). He also appeared in US productions, notably Moulin Rouge (1952), Mogambo (1953), Lust For Life (1956) and 55 Days at Peking (1963). Twice he appeared in films directed by Richard Thorpe and starring Robert Taylor - The Adventures of Quentin Durward (1955) and The House of the Seven Hawks (1959).

He displayed his comedic talents in films like Gentlemen Marry Brunettes (1955) with Jane Russell, as a lecherous Arab sheikh in The Belles of St Trinian's (1954), as "The Fat Man" in Carry On Spying (1964) and in The Return of the Pink Panther (1975).

Pohlmann (uncredited) also provided the voice of the unseen head of SPECTRE, Ernst Stavro Blofeld, in the James Bond films From Russia with Love (1963) and Thunderball (1965).

In the 1960s and 1970s, Pohlmann regularly returned to his homeland to play numerous character roles in German and Austrian film and television productions. He had guest roles in the popular crime series Der Kommissar and Derrick, and also appeared in television plays for ORF and Bayerischer Rundfunk, often under the direction of Franz Josef Wild [de]. In addition to The Defence Counsel (1961) with Barbara Rütting and Carl Heinz Schroth, he appeared in Der Kleine Lord (1962) with Albrecht Schoenhals and Michael Ande, as well as The Dreyfus Affair (1968) with Karl Michael Vogler and Bernhard Wicki. In 1962, Pohlmann also appeared in The Puzzle of the Red Orchid starring Marisa Mell, Christopher Lee and Klaus Kinski, a German film adaptation of an Edgar Wallace novel.

Pohlmann's greatest success in German TV drama came in 1970 with an adaptation of Wilkie Collins' novel The Woman In White, one of the most successful television productions of the year which gained over 9 million viewers. Under the direction of William Semmelroth, Pohlmann appeared in the role of the villainous Count Fosco, alongside Heidelinde Weis, Christoph Bantzer, Pinkas Braun and Helmut Käutner. The mini-series has a cult following to this day.

Pohlmann was a regular on British television, taking the role of "Inspector Goron" in the 1952-1954 TV series Colonel March of Scotland Yard with Boris Karloff, and appearing as a guest star in such series as The Saint, The Champions, The Avengers, Danger Man, Department S, Jason King and Paul Temple.

In 1978, he worked with the actor-director Maximilian Schell in an Austro/German film production of Ödön von Horváth's play Geschichten aus dem Wienerwald (Tales from the Vienna Woods). The film was shown at the 1979 London Film Festival. In that year, during final rehearsals for his second appearance at the Salzburg Festival, Pohlmann suffered a heart attack, and died the same day in a hotel in Bad Reichenhall. He was 66.

In 2006, the Turner Classic Movies "31 Days of Oscar" festival was based on the theme of "360 Degrees of Oscar" (based on the game of "Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon") in which TCM chooses an actor who has played a significant role in Oscar history, and builds its entire schedule around him. They chose Eric Pohlmann.

He also appeared on stage (Henry Cecil's Settled Out Of Court is a production this editor remembers seeing him in).

Eric Pohlmann (1913–1979)

Actor
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0688384/

1930: Burt Kwouk is born--Warrington, Cheshire, England.
(He dies 24 May 2016 at age 85--Hampstead, London, England.)

Burt Kwouk obituary

See the complete article here:

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/may/24/burt-kwouk-obituary

Actor best known for his roles in the Pink Panther films and the
BBC’s Last of the Summer Wine
Ronald Bergan | Tue 24 May 2016 12.24 EDT

Burt Kwouk, right, was a regular co-star with Peter Sellers in the Pink Panther films,
including Return of the Pink Panther, 1975. Photograph: SNAP/Rex/Shutterstock

Anna May Wong, the first of the few Chinese actors to gain Hollywood stardom, explained why she retired from the screen: “I was so tired of the parts I had to play. Why is it that the screen Chinese is nearly always the villain? And so crude a villain – murderous, treacherous, a snake in the grass. We are not like that. How should we be, with a civilisation that is so many times older than that of the west?” Burt Kwouk, who has died aged 85, felt the same way but, as he remarked: “I look at it this way – if I don’t do it, someone else will. So why don’t I go in, get some money and try to elevate it a bit, if I can?”

Kwouk, mostly seen in British films and TV, did manage to elevate many of his roles, finally transcending stereotypes such as his celebrated Cato, the foil to Peter Sellers’ bungling Inspector Clouseau in the Pink Panther movies, to become a national treasure, this status being consecrated in 2002 by his joining the cast of the BBC’s longest running sitcom, Last of the Summer Wine.

Kwouk was born in Warrington, Lancashire, “because my mother happened to be there at the time,” but at 10 months old was taken back to the family home in Shanghai. There he remained until he was 17, when his well-off parents sent him to the US to study politics and economics. However, before he was able to graduate his parents lost all their money in the 1949 revolution, and he returned to Shanghai. A few years later, Kwouk took advantage of his dual nationality and returned to Britain, where he took various menial jobs before his girlfriend “nagged me into acting”. Capitalising on his oriental looks, he started getting roles mostly as villainous or comic Chinese or Japanese characters.

One of his first TV appearances was a comic one, in a Hancock’s Half Hour (1957), as a Japanese man presenting two bowls of rice to Tony Hancock, who has won a lifetime’s supply in a newspaper competition. A year later, Kwouk was fortunate, so early in his career, to have one of his better film roles in The Inn of the Sixth Happiness, set in China but shot in Wales. Kwouk, one of the few genuine Chinese people in the cast, played Li, who helps Ingrid Bergman, as the English Christian missionary Gladys Aylward, escape from the Japanese with 100 children. After a long and arduous journey, he is shot and killed by Japanese soldiers when he tries to distract them from the children.

He was soon cast in a couple of Hammer Horror films, The Terror of the Tongs, as one of evil Christopher Lee’s hatchet men, and Visa to Canton (both 1961). Kwouk was subsequently to play the sidekick of Lee’s Fu Manchu in The Brides of Fu Manchu (1966), The Vengeance of Fu Manchu (1967) and The Castle of Fu Manchu (1969). But in The Fiendish Plot of Fu Manchu (1980), Sax Rohmer’s master criminal was played by Sellers, with Kwouk as his manservant. It was a best-forgotten, dismal ending to Sellers’ career, but it did give him and Kwouk a last chance to work together.

Their first chance had come 16 years before in A Shot in the Dark (1964), the second of Blake Edwards’s slapstick comedies featuring Sellers as the extraordinarily maladroit Inspector Clouseau, who seemed unable to cross a room without breaking something. Kwouk played Clouseau’s Chinese “houseboy”, whose sole function was to ambush his master with kung fu attacks at the most unexpected moments from the most unsuspected places. These brilliantly choreographed running and jumping gags, which always resulted in the destruction of Clouseau’s apartment and Cato coming off worst, were the highlights of all the Pink Panther films, which included The Return of the Pink Panther (1975), The Pink Panther Strikes Again (1976) and The Revenge of the Pink Panther (1978).

“Peter and I fell about laughing so much that very often we were unable to complete the day’s work as scheduled, which the producers hated,” Kwouk recalled. “Cato and I are very different. He never stands still. I only move when I have to.” The death of Sellers in 1980 didn’t prevent Edwards from making The Trail of the Pink Panther (1982) by piecing together out-takes and clips from the previous films in the series. Kwouk was seen as Cato, bravely being interviewed about his boss, and again in Curse of the Pink Panther (1983), this time as proprietor of the Clouseau museum. Kwouk’s protracted association with the Pink Panther series ended with Son of the Pink Panther (1993), in which, in various disguises, he attacks villains on behalf of Roberto Benigni in the title role.

Kwouk also appeared in three James Bond movies: Goldfinger (1964), as a nuclear scientist sent to oversee the bomb that China has given to Goldfinger (Gert Frobe) to blow up Fort Knox, but who is later double-crossed and shot; Casino Royale (1967), as a Chinese general; and You Only Live Twice (1967), as one of Blofeld’s gang of Spectre henchmen.

His other roles varied from Chairman Peng of the People’s Republic in Shoes of the Fisherman (1968) to a corrupt Laotian general who’s hoping to save up enough money to buy a Holiday Inn in the US in Air America (1990), to the trustworthy contact in Paris of Jet Li’s Chinese cop in the formulaic martial arts thriller Kiss of the Dragon (2001).

Parallel to his film career, Kwouk made a niche for himself on British television in series including The Saint (1965-68), It Ain’t Half Hot Mum (1977-78), Doctor Who (1982), and as himself in The Kenny Everett Show (1983-84) and The Harry Hill Show (1997-2000). But the role that revealed his underused talents as a dramatic actor was Major Yamauchi, the strict but honourable commandant of a women’s POW camp in Tenko (1981-84).

In contrast was his Mr Entwistle, a philosophical electrical handyman from Hull in Last of the Summer Wine, a part specially written for him by Roy Clarke. “It is a very pleasant and easygoing programme, a lovely gentle comic show,” Kwouk remarked. “There is no one charging around, and even the slapstick is quite gentle – certainly more gentle than I am used to.”

Kwouk’s voice was almost as famous as his face. It can be heard in the video game Fire Warrior, narrating the English version of the Japanese TV series The Water Margin (1976-78), the bizarre “interactive” gambling show Banzai! (2001-04) and in many TV commercials.

Kwouk was appointed OBE in 2011 for services to drama.

He is survived by Caroline Tebbs, whom he married in 1961, and their son Christopher.

• Burt Kwouk, actor, born 18 July 1930; died 24 May 2016

https://filmography.bfi.org.uk/person/223941

Films | Year | Film | Role

1958 Windom's Way (villager)
1959 The Inn of the Sixth Happiness (Li)
1959 Upstairs and Downstairs (Chinese restaurant proprietor)

1960 Expresso Bongo ([Soho youth])
1960 The Terror of the Tongs (Ming)
1960 Visa to Canton (Jimmy)
1962 Satan Never Sleeps (Ah Wong)
1962 The Sinister Man (Captain Feng)
1963 The Cool Mikado ([art teacher])
1964 Goldfinger (Mr Ling)
1965 A Shot in the Dark (Kato)
1965 Curse of the Fly (Tai)
1966 Our Man in Marrakesh (export analysis manager)
1966 The Brides of Fu Manchu (Feng)
1966 The Sandwich Man (ice cream salesman)
1967 Casino Royale ([Chinese Army officer at auction])
1967 You Only Live Twice (SPECTRE No 3)
1968 Nobody Runs Forever (Pham Chinh)
1969 The Most Dangerous Man in the World (Chang Shou)

1970 Deep End (hot dog stand man)
1972 Die Folterkammer des Doktor Fu Manchu (henchman)
1975 Girls Come First (Sashimi)
1976 Return of the Pink Panther (Cato)
1977 The Pink Panther Strikes Again (Cato)
1977 The Strange Case of the End of Civilisation As We Know It (Chinese delegate)
1978 Revenge of the Pink Panther (Cato)

1982 Trail of the Pink Panther (Cato)
1983 Curse of the Pink Panther (Cato)

1990 I Bought a Vampire Motorcycle (Fu King owner)
1992 Carry On Columbus (Wang)
1993 Leon the Pig Farmer (art collector)

2004 Fat Slags (Dalai Lama)

Burt Kwouk (1930–2016)

Actor | Soundtrack
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0477297/

1940: James Brolin is born--Los Angeles, California.

1963: El satánico Dr. No (The Satanic Dr. No) released in Argentina.

1964: Chris Cornell is born--Seattle, Washington.
(He dies 18 May 2017 at age 52--Detroit, Michigan.)

Chris Cornell obituary

See the complete article here:

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2017/may/18/chris-cornell-obituary]

Lead singer of rock bands Soundgarden and Audioslave, and one of
the trailblazers of Seattle’s grunge scene

Adam Sweeting | Thu 18 May 2017 13.29 EDT

Chris Cornell on stage just hours before his death - video report

As the lead singer of the Seattle-based band Soundgarden, Chris Cornell, who has been found dead at the age of 52, had been one of the trailblazers of the city’s grunge movement in the late 1980s and 90s. Having achieved stardom with that band, he went on to further great success with Audioslave in the new millennium, while also developing a flourishing solo career. At the time of his death, Cornell was in the middle of a tour with Soundgarden, who had re-formed in 2010 after a 13-year hiatus, and had just performed at the Fox theatre in Detroit.

Chris Cornell:
rock star who
kicked down the
boundaries of sound

Alexis Petridis

The group was started in 1984 by Cornell, along with guitarist Kim Thayil and bass player Hiro Yamamoto, with Matt Cameron becoming their full-time drummer in 1986. After releasing a single, Hunted Down (1987) on the Seattle-based Sub Pop label, and a debut album, Ultramega OK (1988), for the independent SST, Yamamoto left the band, and was briefly replaced by Jason Everman, formerly of Nirvana, before Ben Shepherd joined on bass. Soundgarden signed to A&M records, and their second release for that label, Badmotorfinger (1991), became a multi-platinum seller in the US, also reaching the Top 40 in the UK. The singles from that album, Outshined and Rusty Cage, received heavy play on alternative radio stations and MTV, and Badmotorfinger earned a Grammy nomination in 1992.

An invitation to open for Guns N’ Roses on their Use Your Illusion tour (1991-93) introduced Soundgarden to huge new audiences in both the US and Europe, as did an opening slot with the heavy metal band Skid Row in 1992. “Our big moment of truth was when we were offered a slot opening up for Skid Row and we didn’t know what to do with that,” Cornell told the music journalist Pete Makowski in 2011. “Was that good or bad? And what happened was we toured with them and their audience all bought Soundgarden records.”

A berth on the 1992 Lollapalooza tour alongside Ministry, the Red Hot Chili Peppers and fellow Seattleites Pearl Jam framed Soundgarden as one of the rising names in American alternative rock. (In 1990 Cornell had joined with members of Pearl Jam to form Temple of the Dog, in tribute to the late Andy Wood of another Seattle band, Mother Love Bone. They released an eponymous album in 1991, and last year reunited for a 25th-anniversary tour.) Cornell also had a solo cameo performance in Cameron Crowe’s 1992 Seattle-based romcom Singles, with his gentle acoustic track Seasons.

Soundgarden’s next album, Superunknown (1994), duly topped the US chart (and reached No 4 in the UK), and went on to sell 5m copies in the States alone. After extensive international touring, Soundgarden started work on their fifth album, Down on the Upside, though Cornell’s desire to lighten the group’s dark, metallic sound with acoustic instruments triggered arguments with his bandmates. When it was released in 1996, it was acclaimed by reviewers but sales fell far short of its predecessor’s. After a further marathon bout of touring, the group announced they were splitting in April 1997.

Cornell released his first solo album, Euphoria Morning, in 1999. This found him exploring a mix of rock, pop and psychedelia, allowing him to use different facets of his impressive vocal range beyond a heavy-rock roar, though again critical enthusiasm did not translate into huge sales. But his solo career was put on hold when he formed Audioslave in 2001, with former Rage Against the Machine members Tom Morello, Brad Wilk and Tim Commerford, who had been recommended Cornell by the producer Rick Rubin.

Over the next five years they recorded three albums, Audioslave (2002), Out of Exile (2005) and Revelations (2006). The first of these was by far the most successful, selling 3m albums in the States and spinning off five hit singles including Cochise, Like a Stone and I Am the Highway. The release of Revelations (which reached No 2 on the US charts and 12 in Britain) was preceded by the appearance of two of its tracks, Wide Awake and Shape of Things to Come, in Michael Mann’s film Miami Vice (2006).

Cornell quit Audioslave in early 2007. This was a significant period in his career, since he had been suffering from problems with drug and alcohol abuse during his later years with Soundgarden, and had made a strenuous effort to overcome them. “It was really hard to recover from, just mentally,” he recalled. “I think Audioslave suffered from that because my feet hadn’t hit the ground yet. I was sober but I don’t think my brain was clear … It took me five years of sobriety to even get certain memories back.”

Born Christopher Boyle in Seattle, to Ed Boyle, a pharmacist, and Karen (nee Cornell), an accountant, Chris had three younger sisters and two older brothers. After his parents’ divorce, when Chris was a teenager, he and his siblings took their mother’s maiden name. He attended a Catholic elementary school, Christ the King, then Shorewood high school, but left education at 16, and worked various jobs (including sous-chef at Ray’s Boathouse restaurant).

In a 1994 Rolling Stone interview he said: “I went from being a daily drug user at 13 to having bad drug experiences and quitting drugs by the time I was 14 and then not having any friends until the time I was 16.” He eventually found his feet as a musician, and it was while performing with the Shemps, a covers band, that he met Thayil and Yamamoto, with whom he subsequently formed Soundgarden.

In 2006, Cornell composed and recorded "You Know My Name", the theme song for the James Bond movie Casino Royale. He put out his second solo effort, Carry On, in 2007, and promoted it with a campaign of touring, both in his own right and as a support act to Aerosmith.

In 2009 he released his next album, Scream, on which he collaborated with the producer Timbaland. It reached No 10 on the US album chart, Cornell’s highest solo chart placing. In 2011 he released the live album Songbook, a document of his solo acoustic Songbook tour on which he played songs from all phases of his career as well as versions of Led Zeppelin’s Thank You and John Lennon’s Imagine. “I felt like I can’t really call myself a musician or entertainer if I can’t pick up a guitar by myself and hold someone’s attention,” he explained of his decision to perform solo.

By now he was working with the reformed Soundgarden, who released the compilation Telephantasm: A Retrospective (2010). Their first new song to go public was Live to Rise, which featured in the 2012 movie The Avengers, and later that year they followed up with an album of new material, King Animal (it reached No 5 in the US and 21 in Britain). Cornell’s most recent solo album was Higher Truth (2015), a mellow, melodic work, which entered the US Top 20.

He is survived by his wife, Vicky Karayiannis, whom he married in 2004, their son, Christopher Nicholas, their daughter, Toni, and by a daughter, Lillian, from his first marriage, to Susan Silver, which ended in divorce.

• Chris Cornell (Christopher John Boyle), singer, songwriter and musician, born 20 July 1964; died 17 May 2017

Note: most sources confirm his death as on 18 May 2017.

1965: 007 contra Goldfinger released in Colombia.

1979: Moonraker released in South Africa.

1983: People Weekly celebrates Bond's Babes.

1988: Licence to Kill filming begins at Churubusco Studios, Mexico City. (Filming ends 18 November.)
1989: The Christian Science Monitor prints David Sterritt's film review "In 007's Latest, Violent Outing Dalton Finds Room to Grow."

FILM REVIEW

In 007's Latest, Violent Outing Dalton
Finds Room to Grow

See the complete article here:

https://www.csmonitor.com/1989/0718/llic.html

July 18, 1989 | By David Sterritt Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor | NEW YORK

HOLLYWOOD movies are usually geared to be popular and uncontroversial, so they can provide clues to what's going on in the American consciousness. A look at the new James Bond picture, "Licence To Kill,'' shows a development worth noticing: the Contras of Nicaragua no longer have the respectability they enjoyed during the Reagan years. Bond's main adversary is a Latin American criminal who purchases Stinger missiles from the Contras so he can threaten to down an American airliner if the Feds don't lay off his drug-running operation. The film assumes that the Contras would sell their weapons to any high bidder, and that they wouldn't care if the bidder happened to be a psychotic criminal.

The bad guy only uses his Stingers during the final shootout with Agent 007, but the other key ingredients of his crookedness - drugs and money - are practically the stars of the movie.

This is another sign of the times, also visible in "Lethal Weapon 2,'' a midsummer hit that arrived slightly earlier. In that picture, two Los Angeles cops chase a South African who uses diplomatic immunity to shelter his narcotics dealing.
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South African officials and Contra-supplied Latins may be new on Hollywood's roster of stock villains, but as characters they're just facile variations on the Nazis, Commies, and other politically aligned antagonists who plagued heroes in bygone melodramas.

Like them, the new breed of heavy serves not only as a foil for the good guy but, more significantly, as a reflection of American xenophobia - a trait that plagues all manner of movies from Indiana Jones epics to back-alley exploitation flicks.

Bond is a "foreigner'' himself, of course, but "Licence To Kill'' minimizes Britishness by transplanting him to the Florida Keys and other locations near the United States, and by teaming him with a former CIA operative. He even resigns from Her Majesty's Secret Service at one point, becoming (just like the "Lethal Weapon 2'' heroes) a vigilante on a purely personal vendetta. The movie also flaunts its America-first leanings with pointless inside jokes, including plays on the names of former President Kennedy and Jacqueline Kennedy.

The other hallmark of "Licence To Kill'' is its violence, which is surprisingly vicious for a warm-weather entertainment with a PG-13 rating. Bond has always been a casual killer, of course, even in the days when Sean Connery played him with a savoir faire that hasn't been equalled. But his nastiness has been escalating, and it reaches an awful height in his new adventure.

One example is a moment when 007 has his antagonist completely subdued and dangling helplessly over a hungry shark. Instead of tempering law enforcement with mercy, Bond cheerfully tosses a heavy suitcase (stuffed with the villain's ill-gotten cash) at the bad guy, deliberately plunging him to a horrible death. All of which gives a chuckle to Bond's sidekick, who promptly remarks, "What a waste - of money!''

Violence and xenophobia apart, "Licence To Kill'' is at least as lively as most other current movies. One comparison is with "Batman,'' which - according to one of my teen-age children - doesn't have enough "bat-traps'' in it (a bat-trap being a fiendish device found in the "Batman'' comic books for killing the hero). By contrast, "Licence To Kill'' has plenty of Bond-traps, from the aforementioned shark to that old favorite, a conveyor belt leading to a deadly machine.

None of them work, of course, and 007 is sure to return for plenty more sequels. They may well feature Timothy Dalton; so I'm happy to report he's more human and less wooden in "Licence To Kill'' than in "The Living Daylights,'' his last outing. As unlikely as it seems, Mr. Dalton actually appears to be growing in the Bond role, which is potentially stifling because its own popularity has so rigidly defined it.

John Glen has directed "Licence To Kill'' with the same dogged energy he brought to four earlier Bond epics. The supporting cast includes such veterans as Desmond Llewelyn, who has played the character called Q in all but two of the Bond pictures, and Robert Brown, who's played M since "Octopussy'' in 1983. Also on board, in his film-acting debut, is singer Wayne Newton as an evangelist who's as oily as he is phony.

Footnote: In one more sign of the times, "Licence To Kill'' is the first movie I know of with a Surgeon General's Warning at the end because of the on-screen use of tobacco products.

While this is a step in the right direction, I have two further suggestions: Leave those tobacco products on the cutting-room floor in the first place, and slap a Surgeon General's Warning on the whole movie - since its eager violence pollutes the filmgoing atmosphere at least as much as James Bond's cigarettes!

RichardTheBruce

2006: Casino Royale films the final action of the chase across the airport, completing principal photography.

2015: Glu Mobile releases menu-based role-playing game James Bond: World of Espionage as a free app for the Android and iOS platforms.

James Bond: World of Espionage (by Glu Games Inc.) - iOS / Android - HD Gameplay Trailer

2018: LEGO releases a 1290-piece Aston Martin DB5.

Channel your inner James Bond with Lego’s Goldfinger DB5

1290-piece Aston Martin recreates film’s iconic car

See the complete article here:

https://www.evo.co.uk/aston-martin/21514/channel-your-inner-james-bond-with-lego-s-goldfinger-db5

by: Lee Stern | 18 Jul 2018

Lego Aston Martin DB58

Lego has uncovered an Aston Martin DB5 based on the car driven by James Bond in Goldfinger. Available from 18 July the model, which costs £129.99, features the weapons arsenal and gadgets fitted to the car in the film.

Measuring 10cm high, 34cm long and 12cm wide, the model is a 1:8 scale of the real car and made up of 1290 pieces. The complexity of the build process has seen Lego brand the kit 16-plus.

To ensure authenticity, the car receives the same Q treatment as the iconic car that starred in the film back in 1964. To that end, there’s the radar tracker and deployable machine guns to locate and neutralise villains, while the bullet-proof screen on the rear deck, revolving number plates and wheel-mounted tyre scythes are there to fend them off.

Along with the radar tracker, the interior is kitted-out with the hidden telephone and all-important (operational) ejector seat. Just like the movie car, the model is finished in silver birch and rides on wire wheels.

Lift the front-hinged bonnet and the DB5 reveals a Lego recreation of the 4-litre straight-six engine, which produced 282bhp in 1964; enough to send the Bond car from 0 to 60mph in around eight seconds and on to a 142mph top speed.


This Aston Martin DB5 model follows on from other Lego recreations, including the orange Porsche 911 GT3 RS that featured a working PDK gearbox, and the 3600-piece Bugatti Chiron.

2019: Albert David Hedison Jr. dies at age 92--Los Angeles, California.
(Born 20 May 1927--Providence, Rhode Island.)

David Hedison, Actor in
'Voyage to the Bottom of the
Sea’ and ‘The Fly’, Dies at 92

https://variety.com/2019/film/news/david-hedison-dead-dies-the-fly-voyage-to-the-bottom-of-the-sea-1203275257/
Mackenzie Nichols, Staff Writer


David Hedison, a film, television, and theater actor known for his role as Captain Lee Crane in the sci-fi adventure television series “Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea” and as the crazed scientist turned human insect in the first iteration of the film “The Fly,” died on July 18. He was 92, and the family said in a statement that he “died peacefully” with his daughters at his side.

“Even in our deep sadness, we are comforted by the memory of our wonderful father. He loved us all dearly and expressed that love every day. He was adored by so many, all of whom benefited from his warm and generous heart. Our dad brought joy and humor wherever he went and did so with great style,” said the family in a statement.

David Hedison, born Al Hedison, was from Providence, R.I. and studied at Brown University where he grew fond of the theater, becoming a part of the university’s theater production group “Sock and Buskin Players.” He then moved to New York, studying with Sanford Meisner at “The Neighborhood Playhouse” as well as Lee Strasberg of “The Actor’s Studio.” In the 1950s, he appeared in “Much Ado About Nothing” and “A Month in the Country,” working with Uta Hagen and Michael Redgrave on productions by Clifford Odets and Christopher Fry, among others.

Shortly after “A Month in the Country,” Hedison first hit the big screen with his role in the 1957 film “The Enemy Below” and in the 1958 film “Son of Robin Hood.” He also played André Delambre in “The Fly,” (1958) which became a cult phenomenon and sparked a remake in 1986 with Jeff Goldblum reprising the role. Hedison then signed with Twentieth Century Fox in 1959 and changed his first name to David, his given middle name. In 1964, he hit his big television break as Captain Lee Crane in producer Irwin Allen’s “Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea,” which ran until 1968.

He also joined Roger Moore in the 1973 James Bond film “Live and Let Die” as well as Timothy Dalton in 1989 with “License to Kill,” becoming the first actor to play CIA agent Felix Leiter twice. In the 1980s and 1990s, he worked on shows such as “Another World,” “T.J. Hooker,” “Dynasty,” “The Love Boat,” “Who’s the Boss” and “The Colbys.”

According to family members, Hedison joked during his final days that “instead of RIP he preferred SRO ‘Standing Room Only.'” They said that he was “tall and strikingly handsome,” and “a true actor through and through.”

Hedison’s wife, Bridget, a production associate on “Dynasty” and an assistant to producer on “The Colbys,” died in 2016. He is survived by two daughters; Serena and Alexandra, an actress and director who is married to Jodie Foster.

Donations may be made to the Actor’s Fund.

http://david-hedison.com/wp/filmography/
Filmography

Confessions of a Teenage Jesus Jerk (2017) Interviewee #2
Superman and the Secret Planet (Video) (2013) ….. Jor El
The Reality Trap (2005) …. Morgan Jameson
“The Young and the Restless” …. Arthur Hendricks / … (50 episodes, 2004)
… aka “Y&R” – USA (promotional abbreviation)
– Episode #1.8018 (2004) TV episode …. Arthur Hendricks
– Episode #1.8017 (2004) TV episode …. Arthur Hendricks
– Episode #1.8015 (2004) TV episode …. Arthur Hendricks
– Episode #1.8014 (2004) TV episode …. Arthur Hendricks
– Episode #1.8012 (2004) TV episode …. Arthur Hendricks
(45 more)
Spectres (2004) …. William
… aka “Soul Survivor” – USA (cable TV title)
Megiddo: The Omega Code 2 (2001) …. Daniel Alexander
… aka “Megiddo” – USA (short title)
Mach 2 (2001) …. Senator Stuart Davis

Fugitive Mind (1999) (V) …. Senator Davis
“Another World” (1964) TV series …. Spencer Harrison (1991-1996, 1999) (unknown episodes)
Sheng zhan feng yun (1990) …. US Ambassador
… aka “Undeclared War” – Hong Kong (English title)

Licence to Kill (1989) …. Felix Leiter
“Murder, She Wrote” …. Mitch Payne / … (3 episodes, 1986-1989)
– Mirror, Mirror, on the Wall: Part 2 (1989) TV episode …. Victor Casper
– Mirror, Mirror, on the Wall: Part 1 (1989) TV episode …. Victor Caspar
– The Perfect Foil (1986) TV episode …. Mitch Payne
“The Law and Harry McGraw” …. Blake Devaroe (1 episode, 1987)
– Mr. Chapman, I Presume? (1987) TV episode …. Blake Devaroe
“Who’s the Boss?” …. Jim Ratcliff (1 episode, 1987)
– Mona (1987) TV episode …. Jim Ratcliff
“The Colbys” …. Lord Roger Langdon / … (9 episodes, 1985-1987)
– Devil’s Advocate (1987) TV episode …. Roger Langdon
– The Honeymoon (1986) TV episode …. Lord Roger Langdon
– My Father’s House (1986) TV episode …. Lord Roger Langdon
– Burden of Proof (1986) TV episode …. Lord Roger Langdon
– The Trial (1986) TV episode …. Lord Roger Langdon
(4 more)
“Hotel” …. Dr. Howard Bentley / … (2 episodes, 1985-1987)
– Pitfalls (1987) TV episode …. Dr. Howard Bentley
– Distortions (1985) TV episode …. Jack Fitzpatrick
Smart Alec (1986) …. Frank Wheeler
… aka “Hollywood Dreaming” – USA (alternative title)
“Trapper John, M.D.” …. Miles Warner (1 episode, 1985)
– The Second Best Man (1985) TV episode …. Miles Warner
“The A-Team” …. David Vaun (1 episode, 1985)
– Mind Games (1985) TV episode …. David Vaun
“Crazy Like a Fox” …. Ed Galvin (1 episode, 1985)
– Eye in the Sky (1985) TV episode …. Ed Galvin
“A.D.” …. Porcius Festus (5 episodes, 1985)
– Part 5 (1985) TV episode …. Porcius Festus
– Part 4 (1985) TV episode …. Porcius Festus
– Part 3 (1985) TV episode …. Porcius Festus
– Part 2 (1985) TV episode …. Porcius Festus
– Part 1 (1985) TV episode …. Porcius Festus
“Knight Rider” …. Theodore Cooper (1 episode, 1985)
– Knight in Retreat (1985) TV episode …. Theodore Cooper
“Double Trouble” …. David Burke (2 episodes, 1985)
– The Day of the Rose (1985) TV episode …. David Burke
– September Song (1985) TV episode …. David Burke
“Finder of Lost Loves” …. Neil Palmer (1 episode, 1985)
– Haunted Memories (1985) TV episode …. Neil Palmer
“Simon & Simon” …. Austin Tyler (2 episodes, 1985)
– Simon Without Simon: Part 2 (1985) TV episode …. Austin Tyler
– Simon Without Simon: Part 1 (1985) TV episode …. Austin Tyler
“The Love Boat” …. Cliff Jacobs / … (7 episodes, 1977-1985)
– Love on the Line/Don’t Call Me Gopher/Her Honor, the Mayor (1985) TV episode …. Barry Singer
– Spoonmaker Diamond, The/Papa Doc/The Role Model/Julie’s Tycoon: Part 1 (1982) TV episode …. Cliff Jacobs
– Spoonmaker Diamond, The/Papa Doc/The Role Model/Julie’s Tycoon: Part 2 (1982) TV episode …. Cliff Jacobs
– April in Boston/Saving Grace/Breaks of Life (1982) TV episode …. Bradford York
– Lady from Sunshine Gardens/Eye of the Beholder/Bugged (1981) TV episode …. Allan Christensen
(2 more)
“The Fall Guy” …. Jordan Stevens / … (3 episodes, 1982-1985)
– Her Bodyguard (1985) TV episode …. Monte Sorrenson
– Undersea Odyssey (1984) TV episode …. Milo
– The Snow Job (1982) TV episode …. Jordan Stevens
“Partners in Crime” …. Davidson (1 episode, 1984)
– Fantasyland (1984) TV episode …. Davidson
The Naked Face (1984) …. Dr. Peter Hadley
“Fantasy Island” …. Captain John Day / … (6 episodes, 1978-1984)
– Don Juan’s Last Affair/Final Adieu (1984) TV episode …. Daniel Garman
– Everybody Goes to Gilley’s/Face of Fire (1982) TV episode …. Phillip Camden
– Show Me a Hero/Slam Dunk (1981) TV episode …. Captain John Day
– Man-Beast/Ole Island Oprey (1981) TV episode …. David Tabori
– The Chateau/White Lightning (1981) TV episode …. Karl Dixon/Claude Duncan
(1 more)
Kenny Rogers as The Gambler: The Adventure Continues (1983) (TV) …. Carson
“Dynasty” …. Sam Dexter (2 episodes, 1983)
– The Vote (1983) TV episode …. Sam Dexter
– The Downstairs Bride (1983) TV episode …. Sam Dexter
“Amanda’s” …. David (1 episode, 1983)
… aka “Amanda’s by the Sea” – USA (alternative title)
– All in a Day’s Work (1983) TV episode …. David
“Matt Houston” …. Pierre Cerdan (1 episode, 1982)
– Recipe for Murder (1982) TV episode …. Pierre Cerdan
“T.J. Hooker” …. Saxon (1 episode, 1982)
– The Protectors (1982) TV episode …. Saxon
“Hart to Hart” …. Miles Wiatt (1 episode, 1982)
– Hart of Diamonds (1982) TV episode …. Miles Wiatt
The Awakening of Cassie (1982)
“Nero Wolfe” …. Phillip Corrigan (1 episode, 1981)
– Murder by the Book (1981) TV episode …. Phillip Corrigan
“Charlie’s Angels” …. Carter Gillis / … (2 episodes, 1978-1981)
– He Married an Angel (1981) TV episode …. John Thornwood

– Angels in the Stretch (1978) TV episode …. Carter Gillis
“Benson” …. John Taylor (1 episode, 1979)
– Pilot (1979) TV episode …. John Taylor
The Power Within (1979) (TV) …. Danton
“Greatest Heroes of the Bible” …. Ashpenaz (1 episode, 1979)
– Daniel and Nebuchadnezzar (1979) TV episode …. Ashpenaz
ffolkes (1979) …. King
… aka “North Sea Hijack” – UK (original title)
… aka “Assault Force” – USA (TV title)
“Flying High” (1 episode, 1978)
– High Rollers (1978) TV episode
Colorado C.I. (1978) (TV) …. David Royce
“Project U.F.O.” …. Frederick Flanagan (1 episode, 1978)
… aka “Project Blue Book” – USA (alternative title)
– Sighting 4011: The Dollhouse Incident (1978) TV episode …. Frederick Flanagan
“The Bob Newhart Show” …. Steve Darnell (1 episode, 1978)
– It Didn’t Happen One Night (1978) TV episode …. Steve Darnell
“The New Adventures of Wonder Woman” …. Evan Robley (1 episode, 1977)
… aka “Wonder Woman” – USA (original title)
… aka “The New Original Wonder Woman” – USA (first episodes title)
– The Queen and the Thief (1977) TV episode …. Evan Robley
Murder in Peyton Place (1977) (TV) …. Steven Cord
“Barnaby Jones” …. Paul Nugent (1 episode, 1977)
– The Deadly Charade (1977) TV episode …. Paul Nugent
“Gibbsville” (1 episode, 1977)
– The Grand Gesture (1977) TV episode
“Family” …. Peter Towne (2 episodes, 1976)
– Coming of Age (1976) TV episode …. Peter Towne
– Coming Apart (1976) TV episode …. Peter Towne
“Ellery Queen” …. Roger Woods (1 episode, 1976)
– The Adventure of the Eccentric Engineer (1976) TV episode …. Roger Woods
“Bronk” …. Lyle Brewster (1 episode, 1975)
– Betrayal (1975) TV episode …. Lyle Brewster
“Cannon” …. Bell / … (3 episodes, 1973-1975)
– The Star (1975) TV episode …. David Farnum
– Night Flight to Murder (1973) TV episode …. John Sandler
– The Dead Samaritan (1973) TV episode …. Bell
The Art of Crime (1975) (TV) …. Parker Sharon
The Lives of Jenny Dolan (1975) (TV) …. Dr. Wes Dolan
Adventures of the Queen (1975) (TV) …. Doctor Peter Brooks
For the Use of the Hall (1975) (TV) …. Allen
“The ABC Afternoon Playbreak” …. Clay (1 episode, 1974)
… aka “ABC Matinee Today” – USA (alternative title)
– Can I Save My Children? (1974) TV episode …. Clay
“The Manhunter” …. Jeffrey Donnenfield (1 episode, 1974)
– The Man Who Thought He Was Dillinger (1974) TV episode …. Jeffrey Donnenfield
The Compliment (1974) (TV) …. Steve Barker
“Wide World Mystery” …. Herbert Kasson (1 episode, 1974)
– Murder Impossible (1974) TV episode …. Herbert Kasson
“Medical Center” …. Dave (1 episode, 1974)
– Dark Warning (1974) TV episode …. Dave
“Shaft” …. Gil Kirkwood (1 episode, 1974)
– The Capricorn Murders (1974) TV episode …. Gil Kirkwood
“The New Perry Mason” …. Calvin (1 episode, 1973)
– The Case of the Frenzied Feminist (1973) TV episode …. Calvin
The Cat Creature (1973) (TV) …. Prof. Roger Edmonds
Live and Let Die (1973) …. Felix Leiter
… aka “Ian Fleming’s Live and Let Die” – UK (complete title), USA (complete title)
Crime Club (1973) (TV) …. Nick Kelton
“The F.B.I.” …. Lou Forrester (2 episodes, 1972-1973)
– A Gathering of Sharks (1973) TV episode
– The Buyer (1972) TV episode …. Lou Forrester
The Man in the Wood (1973) (TV) …. Edmund hardy
“BBC Play of the Month” …. John Buchanan (1 episode, 1972)
– Summer and Smoke (1972) TV episode …. John Buchanan
“ITV Saturday Night Theatre” …. Bill Kromin (1 episode, 1972)
– A Man About a Dog (1972) TV episode …. Bill Kromin
A Man About a Dog (1972) (TV) …. Bill Kronin
A Kiss Is Just a Kiss (1971) (TV) …. Kit Shaeffer
Kemek (1970) …. Nick

“Love, American Style” …. Rob (segment “Love and the Other Love”) (1 episode, 1969)
– Love and the Bachelor/Love and the Other Love/Love and the Positive Man (1969) TV episode …. Rob (segment “Love and the Other Love”)
“Journey to the Unknown” …. William Searle (1 episode, 1968)
– Somewhere in a Crowd (1968) TV episode …. William Searle
“Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea” …. Captain Crane / … (110 episodes, 1964-1968)
– No Way Back (1968) TV episode …. Capt. Lee B. Crane
– The Death Clock (1968) TV episode …. Capt. Lee B. Crane
– The Edge of Doom (1968) TV episode …. Capt. Lee B. Crane
– Attack! (1968) TV episode …. Capt. Lee B. Crane
– Flaming Ice (1968) TV episode …. Capt. Lee B. Crane
(105 more)
The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965) …. Philip
… aka “George Stevens Presents The Greatest Story Ever Told” – UK (complete title), USA (complete title)
“The Farmer’s Daughter” …. Richard Barden (1 episode, 1964)
– The Mink Machine (1964) TV episode …. Richard Barden
“The Saint” …. Bill Harvey (1 episode, 1964)
– Luella (1964) TV episode …. Bill Harvey
“Perry Mason” …. Damion White (1 episode, 1962)
– The Case of the Dodging Domino (1962) TV episode …. Damion White
“Bus Stop” …. Max Hendricks (1 episode, 1961)
– Call Back Yesterday (1961) TV episode …. Max Hendricks
Marines, Let’s Go (1961) …. Pfc. Dave Chatfield
“Hong Kong” …. Roger Ames (1 episode, 1961)
– Lesson in Fear (1961) TV episode …. Roger Ames
The Lost World (1960) …. Ed Malone
… aka “Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Lost World” – USA (complete title)

“Five Fingers” …. Victor Sebastian (5 episodes, 1959)
– Final Dream (1959) TV episode …. Victor Sebastian
– The Temple of the Swinging Doll (1959) TV episode …. Victor Sebastian
– The Emerald Curtain (1959) TV episode …. Victor Sebastian
– The Men with Triangle Heads (1959) TV episode …. Victor Sebastian
– Station Break (1959) TV episode …. Victor Sebastian
Rally ‘Round the Flag, Boys! (1958) (uncredited) …. Narrator
… aka “Leo McCarey’s Rally ‘Round the Flag, Boys!” – USA (complete title)
The Son of Robin Hood (1958) (as Al Hedison) …. Jamie
The Fly (1958) (as Al Hedison) …. Andre Delambre
The Enemy Below (1957) (as Al Hedison) …. Lt. Ware (Executive Officer [XO])
“Star Tonight” (1 episode, 1956)
– The Mirthmaker (1956) TV episode (as Al Hedison)
“Kraft Theatre” (1 episode, 1955)
… aka “Kraft Television Theatre” – USA (original title)
… aka “Kraft Mystery Theatre” – USA (new title)
– Eleven O’Clock Flight (1955) TV episode (as Al Hedison)

As Himself
Atomic Recall (2007) (V) (special thanks)
On the Set with John Glen (2006) (V) …. Himself
“SoapTalk” …. Himself (2 episodes, 2004)
– Episode dated 23 March 2004 (2004) TV episode …. Himself
– Episode dated 18 March 2004 (2004) TV episode …. Himself
The Fly Papers: The Buzz on Hollywood’s Scariest Insect (2000) (TV) …. Himself
Inside ‘Licence to Kill’ (1999) (V) …. Himself
To the Galaxy and Beyond with Mark Hamill (1997) (TV) …. Himself
… aka “Hollywood Aliens & Monsters” – USA (original title)
The Fantasy Worlds of Irwin Allen (1995) (TV) …. Himself
ABC’s Silver Anniversary Celebration (1978) (TV) …. Himself
“The Hollywood Palace” …. Himself (1 episode, 1967)
– Episode #5.3 (1967) TV episode …. Himself
“Dream Girl of ’67” …. Himself (5 episodes, 1967)
– Episode dated 7 April 1967 (1967) TV episode …. Himself
– Episode dated 6 April 1967 (1967) TV episode …. Himself
– Episode dated 5 April 1967 (1967) TV episode …. Himself
– Episode dated 4 April 1967 (1967) TV episode …. Himself
– Episode dated 3 April 1967 (1967) TV episode …. Himself
“The Hollywood Squares” …. Guest Appearance (5 episodes, 1967)
– Episode #1.93 (1967) TV episode …. Guest Appearance
– Episode #1.92 (1967) TV episode …. Guest Appearance
– Episode #1.91 (1967) TV episode …. Guest Appearance
– Episode #1.90 (1967) TV episode …. Guest Appearance
– Episode #1.89 (1967) TV episode …. Guest Appearance

Archive Footage
The 16th Annual Soap Opera Awards (2000) (TV) …. Spencer Harrison
Terror in the Aisles (1984)
The Horror Show (1979)

2020 An Aston Martin DB5 is stolen at Hawthorn Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, England.

Stolen Aston Martin DB5: can
you help find it?

See the complete article here:

https://www.classicandsportscar.com/news/stolen-aston-martin-db5-can-you-help-find-it

By Lizzie Pope | News | 26 Aug 2020

Classic & Sports Car – Stolen Aston Martin DB5: can you help find it?

This silver Aston Martin DB5 was stolen in broad daylight earlier this year – and now a £1000 reward is being offered to anyone who has information that leads to its safe recovery.

On 18 July 2020, this 1965 example was taken from where it was parked on Hawthorn Lane, a residential street in Wilmslow, Cheshire, UK.

And as if being a silver DB5, similar to 007’s car, wasn’t enough to make it stand out, this one, chassis number, DB5/2058/R, also has a unique, yellow-tinted front foglight as well as ‘Vantage’ badges on its sides.

“This is a highly unusual theft in broad daylight and one we felt is of national significance. Old and young people alike have an affiliation with this classic motor which will forever be synonymous with James Bond,” said Neil Thomas, Director of Investigative Services at AX, which has launched this appeal.

And if you have any information, please click here and help the investigation.
https://www.ax-uk.com/have-you-spotted-the-missing-aston-martin-db5

Spotted the DB5
somewhere?

See the complete article here:

https://www.ax-uk.com/have-you-spotted-the-missing-aston-martin-db5

It's such an iconic classic how could anyone miss it, don't forget there is a £1000 reward for the safe return of this vehicle.
db5reward2

An iconic Aston Martin DB5, thought to be one the UK’s most valuable vehicles, has gone missing following a suspected theft on the 18th July.

One of only 123 on the road worldwide, the vehicle went missing when parked on Hawthorn Lane in the Wilmslow area of Cheshire on the 18th July this year. Anyone with information which leads to the safe recovery of the vehicle could receive a reward of £1,000.

RichardTheBruce

July 19th

1966: Lucrezia Lante della Rovere is born--Rome, Lazio, Italy.

1988: Licence to Kill films Felix Leiter disagreeing with something that eats him.
1989: Licencia para matar (Catalan tite, Llicència per matar) released in Spain.

Not to be confused with this 1975 film. Or 1965 film.

2016: Garry Trent Marshall dies at age 81--Burbank, California.
(Born 13 November 1934--The Bronx, New York City, New York.)

Garry Marshall (I) (1934–2016)

Writer | Producer | Actor
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005190/

Far left?

The Hollywood Reporter, 20 Jul 2020

Remembering Garry Marshall: 5 Greatest Film and TV Cameos (Video)
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/lists/remembering-garry-marshall-5-greatest-913063/lost-in-america/
The writer-director, who died July 19 at age 81, was a well-known face on film and TV screens, thanks to dozens of memorable (if brief) appearances including in 'Never Been Kissed' and 'Goldfinger.'

Goldfinger

Yup, he was in a Bond movie. He’s one of the gangsters — we’re pretty sure he’s in a light grey suit — who get gassed in Goldfinger, his very first appearance on the big screen.

Variety, Jul 19, 2016

Garry Marshall, ‘Pretty Woman’ Director and Creator of ‘Happy Days,’ Dies at 81
https://variety.com/2016/film/news/garry-marshall-dead-dies-pretty-woman-happy-days-1201817964/

Marshall also had a long acting career that began in the early 1960s. He played a hoodlum in the James Bond film “Goldfinger” and made appearances, most uncredited, in many of his film and TV projects. He had a recurring role on “Murphy Brown” as the head of the network and guested on shows ranging form “Monk” and “The Sarah Silverman Show” to “ER.” His many small film roles included a part in sister Penny’s “A League of Their Own” as a cheapskate baseball team owner, which he reprised in the brief TV series based on the movie. In his son Scott Marshall’s 2006 comedy “Keeping Up With the Steins,” Marshall had a small but notable role as the grandfather of the bar mitzvah boy who has adopted Native American customs.

The Washington Post, 20 July 2016

The many lives of Garry Marshall, ‘Happy Days’ creator, dead at 81
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/07/20/garry-marshall-creator-of-happy-days-and-director-of-pretty-woman-dead-at-81/

He often stepped in front of the camera as well.

One of his first roles was as an uncredited “hoodlum” in the 1964 James Bond film “Goldfinger.”

Later, he became a recurring character on “Murphy Brown” as Stan Lansing. He continued to work until his death, appearing in “Brooklyn Nine-Nine,” Netflix’s “BoJack Horseman” and the reboot of “The Odd Couple” in just the past two years.

2017: Dynamite Entertainment releases James Bond Kill Chain #1.
Luca Casalanguida, artist. Andy Diggle, writer.

JAMES BOND: KILL CHAIN #1 (OF 6)

https://www.dynamite.com/htmlfiles/viewProduct.html?PRO=C72513026017801011
Cover A: Greg Smallwood
Cover B: Juan Doe
Cover C: Luca Casalanguida
Writer: Andy Diggle
Art: Luca Casalanguida
Publication Date: July 2017
Format: Comic Book
Page Count: 32 Pages
ON SALE DATE: 7/19

When a counterespionage operation in Rotterdam goes catastrophically wrong,

James Bond finds himself in the crosshairs of a plot to smash NATO. Someone is assassinating allied agents, and 007 is the next target in the kill chain. Having kept the peace for decades, the old alliance is collapsing, pitting MI6 against its former ally - the CIA! Dynamite Entertainment proudly presents the return of writer Andy Diggle (James Bond: Hammerhead, The Losers, Green Arrow: Year One) and artist Luca Casalanguida (James Bond: Hammerhead) as they plot the return of James Bond's oldest and deadliest foe: SMERSH!

2021: Royal Albert Hall's 150th anniversary anticipates a new composition from David Arnold.

A closer look at David Arnold’s
new composition for our 150th
anniversary

See the complete article here:

https://www.royalalberthall.com/about-the-hall/news/2021/july/a-closer-look-at-david-arnolds-new-composition-for-our-150th-anniversary/

Monday 12 July 2021 | Music RAH 150 About The Hall

To mark our 150th birthday, composer David Arnold (James Bond films, Independence Day, Sherlock) has turned his compositional genius to create a musical history of the Hall comprised of ten movements. This new piece will be performed for the first time at our 150th Anniversary Concert on 19 July.
https://www.royalalberthall.com/tickets/events/2021/150th-anniversary-concert/

At the start of the writing process, David Arnold picked ten themes inspired by the Hall’s rich history, then went out into the community along with musical facilitator and composer James Moriarty to conduct workshops with primary school and secondary school children as well as music college groups, sheltered housing groups and Chelsea pensioners. The ten movements take inspiration from the workshop participants’ experiences of the Hall and their hopes and wishes for our future. The result, titled A Circle of Sound, is a beacon of our culture and our community.

Watch David and James talk about their incredible journey composing this musical snapshot of the Hall’s unique history, which started in 2019:

Let’s take a closer look at the themes that inspired the ten movements in A Circle of Sound …

[MORE}


Please support the Royal Albert Hall during the coronavirus crisis.

Donate online, join us as a Friend, or text 70490 with the following:
5ALBERT to donate £5
10ALBERT to donate £10
20ALBERT to donate £20

Registered charity No.254543. Text-to-donate operates via major UK networks only and cost the donation amount plus one standard rate message.

150th Anniversary
Concert
David Arnold's 'A Circle of Sound'

See the complete article here:

https://www.royalalberthall.com/tickets/events/2021/150th-anniversary-concert/

Monday 19 July 2021
Starts: 7:30pm
Ends (approximately): 9:30pm

Join us in this celebration of the Hall’s 150th birthday at our first full-capacity event since March 2020

David Arnold (James Bond films, Independence Day, Sherlock) turns his compositional genius to create a musical snapshot of the Hall’s unique history. Let this new ten-movement work, titled A Circle of Sound, take you on a sonic journey through our first 150 years.

Special guests including Melanie C, Michael Sheen, Nicola Adams, Brian Cox, Claudia Winkleman, Jess Gillam, Sanjeev Bhaskar, Charles Dance, LionHeart, Eden Tikare, Jemma Redgrave and Helen Pankhurst will join David on stage to present readings about each movement penned by writers Neil Gaiman, Jack Thorne, Dorian Lynskey and Joe Penhall.

Creative agency People – who produced the show and visuals for the 2019 Special Olympics Opening and Closing Ceremonies – and film production house White Stone Media will bring the show to life on the big screen.

Local choirs, schools, and other community groups worked with David for over a year to compose this new piece. They will also take to the stage to show the importance of our community after this year of turmoil, supported by our very own Albert’s Orchestra and the National Youth Choir of Great Britain.

We can’t wait to welcome you back for this special anniversary event celebrating our history this summer.

This event is kindly supported by John Lyon’s Charity

2022: Last day for Rocket League promotion of the Bond 60th Anniversary.

James Bond Comes to
Rocket League for Bond’s
60th Anniversary

See the complete article here:

https://www.anbmedia.com/news/2022/07/james-bond-comes-to-rocket-league-for-bonds-60th-anniversary/

By aNb Mediaaccess_time

James Bond Rocket League
Psyonix, the San Diego video game developer, in collaboration with Metro Goldwyn Mayer (MGM) and Aston Martin, is celebrating 60 years of James Bond with new and returning James Bond-themed content in Rocket League available beginning July 13, on all platforms!

007’s Aston Martin DBS is making its debut in Rocket League and will include 007’s Aston Martin DBS Engine Audio, 007’s Aston Martin DBS Wheels, a Reel Life Decal, and Aston Martin DBS Player Banner. The iconic James Bond Theme will also be available for the first time in the game as a Player Anthem. 007’s Aston Martin DBS will be available for 1100 Credits and the James Bond Theme Player Anthem will be available for 300 Credits in the Item Shop.

Additionally, the previously released 007’s Aston Martin DB5 and 007’s Aston Martin Valhalla will be returning and available in the Item Shop for 1100 Credits each. All of the mentioned James Bond-themed content will be available in Rocket League from July 13 until July 19 and for more information, see here.
https://www.rocketleague.com/news/james-bond-infiltrates-rocket-league/

Winner or nominee of more than 150 “Game of the Year” awards, Rocket League is one of the most critically acclaimed sports games of our generation. Rocket League is a high-powered hybrid of arcade-style soccer and vehicular mayhem with easy-to-understand controls and fluid, physics-driven competition. Available on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC on Epic Games Store, Rocket League includes nearly endless customization possibilities, online Ranks and Competitive Tournaments, a fully featured offline season mode, multiple game types, casual and competitive online matches, and special “Mutators” that let you change the rules entirely. To learn more about Rocket League, please visit www.RocketLeague.com.

Metro Goldwyn Mayer (MGM) is a leading entertainment company focused on the production and global distribution of film and television content across all platforms. The company owns one of the world’s deepest libraries of premium film and television content as well as the premium pay television network EPIX, which is available throughout the U.S. via cable, satellite, telco, and digital distributors. In addition, MGM has investments in numerous other television channels, digital platforms, interactive ventures, and is producing premium short-form content for distribution. For more information, visit www.mgm.com.

https://www.rocketleague.com/news/james-bond-infiltrates-rocket-league/


James Bond Theme player anthem is in the Rocket League Item Shop for 300 Credits, let's hear it.... (1:55)


007’s Aston Martin DB5 Arrives in Rocket League (0:48)

Rocket League James Bond Aston Martin Valhalla Trailer (0:55)

RichardTheBruce

July 20th

1938: Dame Enid Diana Elizabeth Rigg DBE is born--Doncaster, Yorkshire, England.
(She dies 20 September 2020 at age 82--London, England.)

Diana Rigg, Emma Peel of ‘The Avengers,’
Dies at 82

See the complete article here:

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/10/obituaries/diana-rigg-dead.html

Ms. Rigg also played many classic roles onstage in both New York
and London and, late in her career, found new fans on “Game of
Thrones.”

Diana Rigg as Emma Peel in “The Avengers.”
Credit...Terry Disney/Hulton Archive, via Getty Images

By Anita Gates | Sept. 10, 2020

Diana Rigg, the British actress who enthralled London and New York theater audiences with her performances in classic roles for more than a half-century but remained best known as the quintessential new woman of the 1960s — sexy, confident, witty and karate-adept — on the television series “The Avengers,” died on Thursday at her home in London. She was 82.

Her daughter, Rachael Stirling, said in a statement that the cause was cancer.

Ms. Rigg had late-career success in a recurring role, from 2013 to 2016, as the outspoken and demanding Lady Olenna Tyrell on HBO’s acclaimed series “Game of Thrones.” “I wonder if you’re the worst person I ever met,” Lady Olenna once said to her nemesis Cersei Lannister (Lena Headey). “At a certain age, it’s hard to recall.”

But Ms. Rigg’s first and biggest taste of stardom came in 1965, when, as a 26-year-old veteran of the Royal Shakespeare Company, she was cast on the fourth season of ITV’s “The Avengers.” As Emma Peel, she was the stylish new crime-fighting partner of the dapper intelligence agent John Steed (Patrick Macnee), replacing Honor Blackman, who had left to star in the James Bond film “Goldfinger.” (Ms. Blackman died in April.)

Ms. Rigg in “The Assassination Bureau,” released in 1969.
Credit...Bob Dear/Associated Press

Although Mrs. Peel, as Steed frequently addressed her, remained on the show relatively briefly, she quickly became the star attraction, especially when “The Avengers” was broadcast in the United States, beginning in 1966. Reviewing the 1969 movie “The Assassination Bureau,” in which she starred, Vincent Canby of The New York Times described Ms. Rigg in her Emma Peel persona as a “tall, lithe Modigliani of a girl with the sweet sophistication of Nora Charles and the biceps of Barbarella.”

She had left the show by then for a luminous career in feature films. Her other roles included Helena in Peter Hall’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” (1968), Portia in an all-star version of “Julius Caesar” (1970), a free spirit who tempted George C. Scott in Arthur Hiller and Paddy Chayefsky’s satire “The Hospital” (1971), and the cheated-on wife in Harold Prince’s interpretation of the Stephen Sondheim musical “A Little Night Music” (1978).

But again it was for something of an action role that she received the greatest attention, when she played a crime boss’s daughter in “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service” (1969), the only James Bond film to star George Lazenby. Her character had the distinction among Agent 007’s movie love interests of actually marrying Bond, but she was killed off in the final scene, for the sake of future plot lines.

Ms. Rigg returned to television, largely in more serious roles than before, among them Clytemnestra, Hedda Gabler, Regan in “King Lear” and Lady Dedlock in “Bleak House.” And although she said that she was not a fan of mysteries herself, she was the host of the PBS series “Mystery!” from 1989 to 2003 and played Gladys Mitchell’s unconventional detective Adela Bradley on the BBC series “The Mrs. Bradley Mysteries” from 1998 to 2000.

In “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service,” starring Ms. Rigg and George Lazenby, right,
she played the only one of James Bond’s love interests to marry the secret agent.
Credit...United Artists

Ms. Rigg never neglected the theater, where she had begun. She joined the National Theater Company in 1972 and went on to acclaimed performances both on Broadway and in the West End, interpreting writers as different as Tom Stoppard (“Night and Day,” “Jumpers”) and Mr. Sondheim (a 1987 London production of “Follies”).

She continued working in theater well into her 70s, starring in “The Cherry Orchard” in 2008 and “Hay Fever” in 2009, both at the Chichester Festival Theater. One of her final stage roles was as Mrs. Higgins, the protagonist’s imperious but sensible mother, in a 2011 production of “Pygmalion” at the Garrick Theater in London. Thirty-seven years before, at what was then the Albery Theater, a few streets away, she had been the play’s ingénue, Eliza Doolittle. (She played Mrs. Higgins again in the 2018 Lincoln Center Theater revival of “My Fair Lady.”)

Wherever Ms. Rigg went, honors seemed to follow. She received the 1994 Tony Award for best actress in a play for her performance in the title role of “Medea.” In London she had already received the Evening Standard Theater Award for the same role, an honor she received again, in 1996, for both Edward Albee’s “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf” and Bertolt Brecht’s “Mother Courage and Her Children.”

She never won the Olivier Award, London’s Tony equivalent, but she was nominated three times: for “Mother Courage” (1996), “Virginia Woolf” (1997) and Jean Racine’s “Britannicus/Phèdre” (1999).

Her most notable British screen award was a 1990 best actress honor from Bafta, the British film and television academy, for “Mother Love,” a BBC mini-series in which she played a murderously possessive parent. From 1967 to 2018 she was nominated for nine Emmy Awards, including four for “Game of Thrones.” She won in 1997 as best supporting actress in a mini-series or special for her role in a British-German production of “Rebecca,” based on the Daphne du Maurier novel. Mrs. Peel had become Mrs. Danvers.

Ms. Rigg had a late-career success as the outspoken and demanding
Lady Olenna Tyrell on “Game of Thrones.”
Credit...Helen Sloan/HBO

Enid Diana Elizabeth Rigg was born on July 20, 1938, in Doncaster, Yorkshire, the daughter of a railroad engineer who soon moved his family to India for a job with the national railway. She returned to England when she was 8 to attend boarding school and remained in the country to complete her education.

Ms. Rigg entered the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art at 17 and made her professional debut two years later, in 1957, in Brecht’s drama “The Caucasian Chalk Circle.” As a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company (1959-64), she began in minor parts and advanced to meatier ones, including Lady Macduff in “Macbeth” and Bianca in “The Taming of the Shrew.”

Ms. Rigg was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1988 and a Dame Commander in 1994. Her marriages — to Menachem Gueffen, an Israeli artist (1973-76), and to Archibald Sterling, a Scottish businessman and theater producer (1982-90) — ended in divorce. Her surviving daughter, Rachael, from her second marriage, is an actress. Ms. Rigg is also survived by a grandson.

Although Ms. Rigg’s career was distinguished, it had disappointing if not unpleasant moments. An American sitcom, “Diana” (1973), in which she played a fashion designer on her own in New York, lasted only one season. And when she did a much-talked-about nude scene on Broadway in “Abelard and Heloise” (1971), she was nominated for a Tony but suffered the particular slings and arrows of one critic, John Simon of New York magazine, who was notorious for criticizing actors’ looks and described her as “built like a brick mausoleum with insufficient flying buttresses.”

Ms. Rigg fought back at critics in general by compiling similarly unkind criticism in a 1983 book, “No Turn Unstoned: The Worst Ever Theatrical Reviews.” Its reassuring examples included a comparison, by the Australian broadcaster Clive James, of Laurence Olivier’s Shylock to the cartoon character Scrooge McDuck.

Ms. Rigg at a party in New York to celebrate her 80th birthday, in July 2018.
Credit...Rebecca Smeyne for The New York Times

In interviews, Ms. Rigg was both philosophical and flexible about her career. She suggested in the 1970s that “it would have been death to have been labeled forever by that one TV series,” referring to “The Avengers,” then defended a return to television in the late ’90s with the thought that “being doomed to the classics is as limiting as doing a series for the rest of your life.”

But when she was appearing in “Medea,” her love for the stage was evident. “It’s simply to do with an appetite now for really good work in the final third of my life,” she told The New York Times in 1994.

“The theater to me is home; in some curious way, I don’t belong anywhere else.”
-- Diana Rigg

Diana Rigg (I) (1938–2020)

Actress | Soundtrack | Costume and Wardrobe Department
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001671/

1960: Ian Fleming writes a letter to Richard Chopping soliciting book cover art for Thunderball.

The title of the book will be Thunderball.
It is immensely long, immensely dull
and only your jacket can save it!

1971: Diamonds Are Forever films OO7 stealing a moon buggy.

1985: A View to a Kill released in Davao, the Philippines.
1989: The Lantern reviews Licence to Kill.

Action carries 'Licence to Kill '

See the complete article here:

https://osupublicationarchives.osu.edu/?a=d&d=LTN19890720-01.2.22&e=

---

en-20--1--txt-txIN

---

The Lantern, 20 July 1989

Action carries 'Licence to Kill'
Although the latest James Bond movie , "Licence to Kill," has the thrills and speed of a roller coaster , Timothy Dalton ' s performance makes the ride stop a little short . No one can match Sean Connery ' s mastery of the character — although at his best Roger Moore came close — ' but Dalton seems to have particular trouble getting a grip on the part. At times , his lines are stilted and Dalton appears to be merely walking through the part, rather than sinking his teeth into it. But 007 fans won't be disappointed by the odds we've come to expect in these movies. Once again , it's about one hundred enemies to one James Bond — and Bond rises to the occasion admirably . This time, the enemy is drug-ring leader Franz Sanchez, played by Robert Dari . Sanchez is running a multimillion-dollar drug operation masked as a religious television.

FILM ELAINE TORRIE show. As the television "preacher" asks for donations from the viewer audience , drug dealers call in bids. ROBERT DAVI, as Sanchez, presents us with a cold villain who has no redeeming qualities. His hard, flat eyes match those of the lizards he keeps as pets. Felix Leiter (David Hedison), Bond's fellow agent and friend, was getting close to having enough information on Sanchez to do him in, when Sanchez has Leiter murdered. When Bond sets off to avenge his friend's death, he is told by his superiors to stay off the case — that it's "too personal" to him — but he refuses and sets off after Sanchez. Bond finds help in the form of Pam Bouvier (Carey Lowell), a former Army pilot and ex-CIA agent. Bouvier, unlike most of the women in earlier Bond movies , is intelligent, brave and capable. When Bond doubts Bouvier's abilities early on, she informs him that she ' s already "flown to the toughest hell holes in South America ." CAREY LOWELL is a delightful surprise as a female Bond sidekick. She brings grit, gumption and vulnerability to her character. How refreshing to see a capable woman in a Bond movie ! She even saves Bond's life at one point. In "The Living Daylights," the previous Bond movie, the filmmakers made a bow to our conservative times and made Bond monogamous. In the latest, the 16th movie in the Bond series, Bond is once again playing the field. Not only does he become romantically involved with Bouvier, he also has an affair with Latin beauty Lupe Lamora (Talisa Soto), who happens to be Sanchez's girlfriend. Talisa Soto poses through the role of yet another Bond beauty. AGENT Q (Desmond Llewelyn) appears briefly with wonderful gadgets such as toothpaste that explodes. The chase scenes and special effects are innovative and fun, with scenes such as Bond waterskiing behind an airplane and a burning car flying off a mountainside over the top of a low-flying plane. Director John Glen takes us through the movie at break-neck speed, which was a wise decision considering Dalton's trouble with the part.

Courtesy MCM / UA Carey Lowell and Timothy Dalton star in the latest James Bond adventure "Licence to Kill."

2006: Principal photography is a wrap for Casino Royale.
2006: Finnish newspaper Ilta-Sanomat reports Chris Cornell is working on the Bond title song.
2006: SuperHeroHype reports news at the time projecting a 2 May 2008(!) release for BOND 22.

22nd James Bond Coming May 2, 2008!

See the complete article here:

https://www.superherohype.com/features/91505-22nd-james-bond-coming-may-2-2008

SuperHeroHype | Thursday, July 20, 2006

It was announced today by producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. and Sony Pictures Entertainment, that the 22nd James Bond adventure will be released by Columbia Pictures on May 2, 2008 with Daniel Craig reprising the role of the legendary British secret agent.

The story for the latest James Bond film produced by the franchise holders, EON Productions has yet to be announced.

“As we wrap production on ‘Casino Royale’ we couldn’t be more excited about the direction the franchise is heading with Daniel Craig. Daniel has taken the origins of Ian Fleming’s James Bond portraying, with emotional complexity, a darker and edgier 007,” said Wilson and Broccoli.

Source: Columbia Pictures

2018: The Guardian reports BOND 25 will feature a Russian villain. [Later changed.]

Next James Bond villain to be 'cold and charismatic' Russian

See the complete article here:

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2018/jul/20/bond-villain-russian

Leaked call sheet for Danny Boyle script suggests a plot inspired by current affairs, while Māori actor is sought for a support role

Daniel Craig will play the central role in the as-yet-untitled 25th Bond film.
Photograph: Kobal/REX/Shutterstock

Andrew Pulver | @Andrew_Pulver | Fri 20 Jul 2018

The Trump-Russia saga has given us many things – DNC email hacks, #TreasonSummit, Maria Butina – but it may yet give us something else: a Russian Bond villain. Though film production is a a slow-moving affair, it looks as if life may well imitate art when the next 007 film – currently known only as Bond 25 – is released, with a “charismatic, cold and vindictive” Russian seemingly set to be 007’s principal antagonist.

According to a casting call sheet obtained by well-established unofficial Bond fan site mi6-hq.com, producers are looking to cast a a Russian actor in a male leading role (though producers are “also open to suggestions of actors from the Balkans or similar”). The list of characteristics – “charismatic, powerful, innovative, cosmopolitan, bright, cold and vindictive” – suggests a villain, while fluent English is required, crucial for that “I kill you, Mr Bond” dialogue.

The casting sheet also suggests the film is in the market for a “very striking” and “strong physical” female lead role, also Russian; but her characteristics – “intelligent, brave, fierce and charming … witty and skilful. A survivor” – suggest she will be more sympathetic, possibly some sort of double agent. And in apparent accordance with the ethnically diverse casting of past Bond-movie henchmen – Oddjob, Baron Samedi – producers appear to be looking for a Māori actor with “stage combat skills” to play an “authoritative, cunning, ruthless and loyal” character.

More often than not, Bond villains accord with where global menace is perceived to be swirling most darkly – hence the run of maverick industrialists in the 1970s, or the Murdoch-esque telecoms magnate Eliot Carver in 1997’s Tomorrow Never Dies.

Bond 25 has been in development at least since March 2018, when Danny Boyle confirmed that he and his Trainspotting collaborator John Hodge were working on a script. Boyle was subsequently confirmed as director, as was the return of Daniel Craig in the central role.

No plot details have yet been revealed but Boyle and Hodge have plenty of real-life material to work with. Spy Anna Chapman was deported from New York in 2010 as part of a prisoner exchange; Russian military intervention in Ukraine began in 2014 and led to the annexation of Crimea; then came the DNC email hack during the 2016 election and the recent unmasking of another Russian spy, Maria Butina, with connections to the NRA.

For a film series so closely identified with the cold war and east-west tensions, Bond has had remarkably few Russian villains. Its most famous baddie, the cat-stroking terrorist mastermind Ernst Stavro Blofeld, who appeared most recently in 2015’s Spectre, hails from behind the iron curtain, but is Polish. High-profile Russian baddies include dagger-booted Rosa Klebb (From Russia With Love) and bomb-happy General Orlov (Octopussy). The most recent was Robert Carlyle’s pain-impervious hitman Renard in 1999’s The World Is Not Enough.

Bond 25 is due to be released on 25 October 2019. [Later changed.]

2023: MG Car Show includes a classic 1973 MGB from a 1974 Bond film at Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

MG Car Show

See the complete article here:

https://heritagepark.ca/events/mg-car-show/

Event Description
Join us and the Calgary MG Car Group for the North American MGB Register for their annual North American Car Show on July 20! Come celebrate the 100th anniversary of MG Cars, a small British vehicle with a rich history. You will even get a chance to see a classic 1979 [correction: 1973] MGB, which was featured in the James Bond movie, ‘The Man with the Golden Gun’.

The car show will be set up on Celebration Field.
Ticket Prices
Included with admission to Heritage Park
Event Date
July 20
Event Times
10:00 am - 3:00 pm

Location
Heritage Park Historical Village

1973 MG B Roadster [ADO23]
https://www.imcdb.org/vehicle_3122-MG-B-ADO23-1973.html

RichardTheBruce

July 21st

1973: United Artists release the Live and Let Die soundtrack.

1975: Goldfinger re-released in Spain.

1977: 鐵金剛勇破 海底城 (Tiě jīngāng yǒng pò hǎidǐ chéng; Iron King Underwater City) released in Hong Kong.

http://playitagain.info/site/1977/spy-who-loved-me-the/

1978: Lewis Gilbert in the San Bernardino Sun says the next Bond film will have Bond and Drax but little else from Moonraker.

THE SUN-TELEGRAM

Can James Bond beat the Brazilian
bureaucracy ?

https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SBS19780721.1.51&e=
Fri., July 21, 1978
By EDGAR MILLER Associated Press
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil

Much of James Bond's next muItimillion dollar spy movie will take place in Brazil if nature and the Brazilian government decide to cooperate. One of the main scenes in Brazil, says English director Lewis Gilbert, would be at Iguazu Falls on the Brazil-Paraguay border. But a severe drought in southern Brazil has left the normally spectacular falls a barren cliff with only a tiny stream of water. Gilbert, whose last James Bond movie, "The Spy Who Loved Me," grossed, he claims, more than $100 million, says filming of the Brazilian part of "Moonraker" will begin In January and that by that time, he hopes summer rains will have filled the Parana River with water again. The other problem the production company is facing is Brazilian bureaucracy. The scripts of all movies filmed in Brazil must be approved in advance by the government. So far, the "Moonraker" script is languishing on some bureaucrat's desk in Brasilia. "I don't think we'll have any real problem with the Brazilians," Gilbert says. '"This is the most fantastic advertising that Brazil could have." He said that Brazilian authorities apparently are concerned that foreign movie producers might show the seamier side of Brazilian life. "But they don't have to worry because we only show the beautiful part," Gilbert says. "James Bond is a creature of luxury and he doesn't hang around in favelas." Favelas are Brazilian slums.

Gilbert says tourism in Egypt jumped tremendously after "The Spy Who Loved Me," much of which was filmed there. Other scenes from "Moonraker" will be filmed in Paris, Venice, San Francisco and Guatemala. The movie will have little in common with the Ian Fleming novel of the same name, Gilbert says, except for Bond, to be played by Roger Moore, beautiful girls and the villain, Hugo Drax. As for plot, Gilbert would only say it will deal with space, noting the whole concept of space has changed since Fleming wrote the book. Carnival scenes from Rio's famous pre-Lenten celebration were filmed earlier this year. "We'll use them for backdrops and re-create our own carnival for Bond," Gilbert says. The famous Bond escapades are a "top secret" but Gilbert promises they will "top anything up to now." Cost of the production will be considerably more than the $15 million the previous Bond movie cost, Gilbert says. It will be Gilbert's third Bond movie and his 31st film.

1988: Licence to Kill films OO7 attacking Q.

1989: 007 ja lupa tappaa (007 and Permission to Kill; or Swedish: 007 och rätten att döda, 007 and the Right to Kill) released in Finland.

https://007travelers.blogspot.com/2016/09/007-item-james-bond-007-007-ja-lupa.html

2012: BBC Radio 4 airs its third Bond radio drama: From Russia With Love. Toby Stephens returns.

2018: Macario “Mac” Gómez Quibus dies at age 92--Olesa de Montserrat, Spain.
(Born 8 March 1926--Reus, Spain.)

https://www.cinematerial.com/artists/mac-macario-gomez-quibus-i565

2021: Dynamite Entertainment releases James Bond Agent of Spectre #5.
Luca Casalanguida, artist. Christos Gage, writer.

JAMES BOND: AGENT OF SPECTRE #5

https://www.dynamite.com/htmlfiles/viewProduct.html?CAT=DF-James_Bond_Agent_of_Spectre
Cover A: Luca Casalanguida
Writer: Christos Gage
Artist: Luca Casalanguida
Genre: Action/Adventure
Publication Date: July 2021
Format: Comic Book
Page Count: 32
ON SALE DATE: 7/21/2021

The SPECTRE Civil War reaches its explosive conclusion! Who will come out on top, the established Ernst Stavro Blofeld or the upstart Titania Jones? Either way, will James Bond -- and the world -- survive? Can 007 use this war to bring SPECTRE down from within...or will he end up just one more casualty?

RichardTheBruce

July 22nd

1940: The British Special Operations Executive (SOE) begins work that lasts until 15 January 1946, preceding MI6.

The real "James Bond Girls"

See the complete article here:

https://findery.com/Chung123/notes/the-real-james-bond-girls

Before MI6 replaced it after WW II, the Special Operations Executive (SOE) operated 22 July 1940 – 15 January 1946 at 64 Baker.

Vera Atkins was the French Section head 1941-45 in charge of sending secret agents to the French Resistance.

37 of her agents were women. 14 died while in captivity. Several moms who were secret agent women were captured from betrayal and tortured.

The military status of women in WW II was never immediately recognized and Vera fought hard to ensure those executed at concentration camps were given Killed In Action status and memorialized. Three women would receive the George Cross: Odette Sansom, Violette Szabo, and Noor Inayat Khan. The latter two were executed.

Secret agent women often were wireless operators transmitting messages back to London from various underground networks in France. Some saw gun battles and hand-to-hand combat. Most parachuted into France. Some boated. A few had landing fields.

They all were trained in weaponry and spy gadgetry. Below is a mini-camera spies often carried.

They also had silencers, a pen that could shoot one bullet, coins with daggers, pencils with spikes, fake train fog alert devices with explosives, silk maps with escape routes, compass maps, kid-sized portable motorcycles, piano wire garrote and other accessories along with their radio.

They had to move often to maintain secrecy from safe house to safe house.

SOE inspired M in James Bond films. French Section head Vera Atkins is widely believed to be Moneypenny in Ian Fleming's James Bond books. She managed 400 secret agents.

But "James Bond girls" are a far cry from the real thing.

Many of Vera Atkins' secret agent women maintained their secrecy while enduring torture for weeks and months, and 12 were executed at concentration camps.

Two women Noor Inayat Khan and Odette Sansom were the Gestapo's most wanted. They had leading roles like James Bond. Secret agent women included moms who had kids. Survival rates were barely 1 in 2.

Now THAT would make an interesting James Bond film.

Vera May Atkins, CBE

1955: Willem Defoe is born--Appleton, Wisconsin.

1967: The Casino Royale soundtrack charts.

1974: Claudio Santamaria is born--Rome, Italy.
1974: The Man with the Golden Gun films OO7 and Goodnight escaping explosions on Scaramanga's island.

1981: The Los Angeles Times reveals the story of a found kinescope--the 1954 Casino Royale.

How “Casino Royale” (Climax!) Was Recovered

See the complete article here:

https://www.tvobscurities.com/2009/02/climax-casino-royale/

Posted on February 6, 2009 by Robert Jay

On Thursday, October 21st, 1954, Climax! presented an hour-long adaptation of Ian Fleming’s novel Casino Royale, introducing his suave secret agent, James Bond. Barry Nelson starred as “Jimmy” Bond with Peter Lorre as the villain, Le Chiffre. Thus, Nelson became the very first actor to portray James Bond, eight years before Sean Connery played Bond on the big screen in Dr. No. The episode was soon forgotten and for many decades it was believed lost.

In July 1981, however, it was announced that that film buff Jim Schoenberger had discovered a print of the episode in a collection of films he inherited from his uncle [1]. According to The Los Angeles Times, Schoenberger initially thought the two reels were a portion of the 1967 spoof Casino Royale:

Since I didn’t care for that movie anyway, I prepared to cut it and use it for leader. But what came on but William Lundigan (the host of “Climax”). I was paralyzed by this. It was like coming across the Holy Grail” [2].

Schoenberger took the kinescope to the Playboy Club to be shown during a “Tribute to James Bond Luncheon” and later allowed it to be shown at the Strand Theater in San Diego for a limited engagement in August of 1981 [3]. It was shown on TBS on Sunday, November 29th, 1992 as part of a thirtieth anniversary celebration of the franchise [4].

Climax!‘s “Casino Royale” has been released on VHS and DVD and is included as an extra in a 2002 DVD edition of Casino Royale (1967). However, it seems that the only complete version available is a VHS released by Spy Glass in 1997. All other versions are apparently missing the last minute or so.

Sources:
1 Boyer, Peter J. “Film Clips.” Los Angeles Times. 22 Jul. 1981: G1.
2 Ibid.
3 Parker, Paula. “James Bond Lives Again in Obscure 1954 TV Version.” Los Angeles Times. 22 Augl. 1981: C3.
4 Dreher, Rod. “Bonding: 007 Fans Get 13 Features on TBS.” Washington Post. 29 Nov. 1992: D3.

1989: 鐵金剛勇戰 殺人狂魔 (Tiě jīngāng yǒng zhàn shārén kuáng mó; Iron King Fighting Murderer) released in Taiwan.

2011: Linda Christian dies at age 87--Palm Desert, California.
(Born 13 November 1923--Tampico, Mexico.)

Linda Christian obituary
B-movie actor who could lay claim to having been the first Bond
girl

See the complete article here:

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2011/jul/26/linda-christian-obituary

Linda Christian’s first ambition was to become a doctor,
but her outstanding beauty led her into the movies.
Photograph: Bob Landry/Time & Life Pictures

The phrase "famous for being famous" could have been invented for Linda Christian, who has died aged 87. Her celebrity came from her marriages to the handsome film stars Tyrone Power and Edmund Purdom, and her liaisons with various wealthy playboys and bullfighters, rather than her somewhat limited acting ability.

Christian's extravagant, cosmopolitan lifestyle derived from her stunning beauty – she was dubbed "The Anatomic Bomb" by Life magazine – and her ability to speak fluent French, German, Dutch, Spanish, Italian and English. She was born Blanca Rosa Welter in Tampico, Mexico, the daughter of a Dutch executive at Shell, and his Mexican-born wife of Spanish, German and French descent. As the family moved around a great deal, living in South America, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, she gained a taste for globetrotting.

Christian's early ambition was to become a doctor, but after winning a beauty contest and meeting Errol Flynn in Acapulco, she was persuaded to try her luck in films in the US. She was soon cast as a Goldwyn Girl in the actor Danny Kaye's first feature film, Up in Arms (1944), and as a cigarette girl in Club Havana (1945), directed by Edgar G Ulmer. Then, with her name changed to Linda Christian, she signed a contract with MGM, which gave her a small decorative role in the musical Holiday in Mexico (1946), shot in Hollywood, and an exotic one in Green Dolphin Street (1947), as Lana Turner's Maori maid.

At the time, Turner was having an affair with Power. Rumour has it that Christian overheard Turner say when Power was going to be in Rome. Christian decided to fly to Rome, stay at the same hotel and wangle a meeting with the dashing star. A romance led to Christian and Power getting married in January 1949 at a church in Rome while an estimated 8,000 screaming fans lined the street outside.

Prior to the marriage, the only substantial role MGM had given Christian was as an island girl rescued by Tarzan from the clutches of an evil high priest in Tarzan and the Mermaids (1948), the 12th and final time Johnny Weissmuller played the Ape Man. Christian, wearing a skimpy two-piece costume, is referred to as a mermaid because she swims a lot.

After marrying Power, Christian started to get a few leading roles in B-pictures such as Slaves of Babylon (1953), co-starring Richard Conte. More gratifying was her sitting for a portrait by the great Mexican artist Diego Rivera. The painting, reproduced on the cover of her autobiography, Linda (1962), and for which she was once offered $2m, is now in a private collection.

In 1954, Christian played Valerie Mathis, James Bond's former lover now working for the French secret service, in a CBS television version of Ian Fleming's Casino Royale, therefore allowing her to lay claim to being the first Bond girl. At this time, the movie fan magazines were full of photos of Power and Christian as a blissfully married couple with two daughters, while the gossip columns intimated that both husband and wife had strayed. In 1954, Christian played Purdom's snooty fiancee in the MGM musical Athena. Christian had been at the same school as Purdom's wife, the former ballerina Anita Phillips, and the Powers and the Purdoms became good friends, even going on holidays together. But soon sexual jealousy broke up the once cosy foursome. In 1956, Christian divorced Power, charging mental cruelty.

After the divorce, there was no shortage of millionaires to help keep Christian in the manner to which she was accustomed. Once she was called to testify at a Los Angeles court because she refused to return jewels given to her by the socialite Robert H Schlesinger, whose cheque for $100,000, as partial payment for the jewels, had bounced. Christian was also involved with the racing driver Alfonso de Portago, with whom she was photographed a short while before he died in a crash at the 1957 Mille Miglia car race, in which several spectators were also killed. That year, she and the Brazilian mining millionaire Francisco "Baby" Pignatari went on an around-the-world tour together. In 1962 she married Purdom. They divorced the following year.

Christian continued to appear in routine films such as The Devil's Hand (1962), as a seductive high priestess of voodoo, opposite her real-life sister Ariadna Welter. In Francesco Rosi's semi-documentary The Moment of Truth (1965), she played herself as an American in Barcelona who attracts a matador (the bullfighter Miguel Mateo Miguelín). During the filming, she fell for the bullfighter Luis Dominguín, the former lover of Ava Gardner.

In 1968, Christian retired to Rome. She returned to cinema almost 20 years later, at the age of 64, in a couple of dreadful Italian thrillers.

She is survived by her daughters, Taryn and Romina Power.

• Linda Christian (Blanca Rosa Welter), actor, born 13 November 1923; died 22 July 2011

Linda Christian (I) (1923–2011)

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0160046/

Filmography

Actress (36 credits)

1988 Cambiamento d'aria (TV Movie) - Linda Christian
1987 Amore inquieto di Maria - Helen
1987 Delitti - The Narrator

1968 L'oro del mondo - Mother of Lorena
1967 The World's Gold - Laura - mother of Lorena
1966 How to Seduce a Playboy - Lucy's Mother
1966 Murder in Amsterdam - Ellen Martens
1965 The Boy and the Ball and the Hole in the Wall - Madre de Martha
1965 The Moment of Truth - Linda, American woman
1964 Contest Girl - Rose of England Judge (uncredited)
1964 Full Hearts and Empty Pockets - Minelli
1963 The V.I.P.s - Miriam Marshall
1963 The Dick Powell Theatre (TV Series) - Susan Lane
- Last of the Private Eyes (1963) ... Susan Lane
1963 The Lloyd Bridges Show (TV Series) - Taina Haagen
- The Waltz of the Two Commuters (1963) ... Taina Haagen
1963 The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (TV Series) - Eva Ashley
- An Out for Oscar (1963) ... Eva Ashley
1962 Passport for a Corpse - Eva
1961 The Devil's Hand - Bianca Milan
1960 Das große Wunschkonzert - Vilma Cortini
1960 Appuntamento a Ischia - Mercedes Barock

1959 Meet Peter Voss - Grace McNaughty
1959 Rebel Flight to Cuba - Gräfin Colmar
1959 The House of the Seven Hawks - Elsa
1956 ITV Television Playhouse (TV Series) - - A Piece of Cake (1956)
1956 Thunderstorm - Maria Ramon
1954 Athena - Beth Hallson
1954 Climax! (TV Series) - Valerie Mathis
- Casino Royale (1954) ... Valerie Mathis
1953 Slaves of Babylon - Princess Panthea
1952 The Happy Time - Mignonette Chappuis
1952 Battle Zone - Jeanne
1951 Show Boat - Chorus Girl (uncredited)

1948 Tarzan and the Mermaids - Mara
1947 Green Dolphin Street - Hine-Moa
1946 Holiday in Mexico - Angel (uncredited)
1945 Club Havana - Cigarette Girl (uncredited)
1944 Up in Arms - Goldwyn Girl (uncredited)
1943 The Rock of Souls (as Linda Welter)

Valerie Mathis and CIA Agent Jimmy Bond

Diego Rivera painting.

2015: A new Spectre trailer comes available.

SPECTRE THE BEST JAMES BOND
TRAILER EVER

See the complete article here:

http://www.movieviral.com/2015/07/22/spectre-the-best-james-bond-trailer-ever/

by James Murphy | 22 July 2015

SPECTRE TRAILER ANALYSIS

Well, it’s here. ‘Finally’ as Christoph (‘honestly not Blofeld at all’) Waltz’s baddie might say. The trailer for SPECTRE.

The film is released in October. It is Produced by EON PRODUCTIONS; Distributed by SONY PICTURES /MGM and is Directed by Academy Award winner SAM MENDES. It stars DANIEL CRAIG as JAMES BOND. Recently wrapped on principal photography; the film is now in the post-production /editing stages.

MEANTIME: WATCH THE TRAILER. IT IS AMAZING!

The piece speaks for itself. So sit back, relax, sip that Martini and BEHOLD the BRILLIANT trailer
for SPECTRE!

But we cannot resist a few leading comments. In depth ANALYSIS. For Screen and Country, you understand.

This is CLASSIC Bond
Instantly. ALL the aesthetics of a Sean Connery/Roger Moore era feast, fused with the fidelity to the Ian Fleming novels and emotional maturity of the Timothy Dalton films. All built directly, it seems, on the continuity within the last three films, via neat dash of ret-con: rewarding fans whilst keeping things relatively self-contained.

There’s EVEN a HINT of the theme to ON HER MAJESTY’S SECRET SERVICE. Now, that COULD just be trailer score. But I’ll bet Thomas Newman will FINALLY be the Bond composer to re-work THAT tune in a film, alongside the traditional Bond theme.

DANIEL CRAIG looks perfect: calculating, cool, commanding. Decent haircut. Worked out but not hulking. Brooding still but newly buoyant, smiling stride in step. He helps set a timeless tone whilst avoiding pastiche.

The WOMEN
Strong. Beautiful. Complex. Everything they should be in the modern Bond film, whilst retaining a glamour and femininity that ensures 007 never feels redundant. There is a real spark between Daniel Craig and Monica Bellucci. Lea Seydoux is divine.

GADGETS
The car is a proper Aston Martin, with ACTUAL defence measures. That’s right. No more nods and winks with tagged on machine guns in a vintage model or mere glove compartments containing medical devices. This is a proper James Bond car that can do impossible things whilst keeping one wheel in reality (they stop short of invisibility). Notice also: a Q BRANCH scene! IE gadgets being built in the background!

STUNTS /ACTION
Truly SPECT(RE)ACULAR. The rooftop action across Mexico City feels exotic and urgent. Snow-based scenes in Austria have adventurous, atmospherics. Killings look brutal yet quick, thereby retaining the punchy realism, whilst keeping it all 12A/ PG-13.

LOCATIONS
London is prominent. Cf: IAN FLEMING’S MOONRAKER. It IS an exotic location: if in doubt, just VISIT the place! We also get: Austrian snow; Mexican sun; remarkable Rome and a romantic train ride. Short of going underwater or into space (again), it’s difficult to think of anywhere else this movie could possibly take you.

VILLAINS

There is a pervasive sense of menace. You FEEL Bond is hopelessly outnumbered. The organisation: SPECTRE, of the title, is the main nemesis here. But also a shadowy figurehead, played by Christoph Waltz.

Waltz is BORN to play this part. The official character name is Oberhauser. HE IS NOT BLOFELD. But LOOK at his SUIT! THEN tell yourself it’s not Blofeld, Bond’s arch-nemesis. Yep. Told you so.

Like all good villains, this ‘not Blofeld’ has an imposing henchman (Mr. Hinx, played by Dave Bautista, who impressed us all in GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY). Also featuring: Jasper Christensen’s Mr. White; previously a ‘big bad’ himself in CASINO ROYALE and QUANTUM OF SOLACE).

PLOT /TONE/PREDICTIONS/LAST WORDS
A BRILLIANT trailer: shows glimpses of everything yet gives away ABSOLUTELY NOTHING! One is left satisfied and oddly NOT seeking any further information until the release in October. Yet still very curious and hyped.

What little DO we know in terms of substantial plot points? This time it’s personal. AGAIN. Bond is clearly in trouble at Mi6. AGAIN. And his past is under scrutiny. AGAIN. That’s not a complaint: those beats simply ‘work’ in the Craig era and it seems they are being brought full circle into the bigger picture of traditional Bond fantasy.

We don’t know what the ‘macguffin’ is here (in SKYFALL it was a missing list of agents and then the life of Judi Dench’s M). But it seems that Lea Seydoux’s Madeline Swann holds the key to the plot that Bond must decode. He must locate and protect her in order to take down the evil organisation known as SPECTRE. So begins a personal and dangerous quest, linked to Bond’s previous ‘pain’.

Quibbles? THAT WHITE TUXEDO! Fix it in post-production. NOW! Looks awful on Craig and if they needed a nod to old school Bond costumes: why not put him in his Royal Navy Commander’s uniform?

But on the whole: PERFECT. Ms. Broccoli and Mr. Mendes appear to have topped SKYFALL. A BEAUTIFUL, BRILLIANT, BLOCKBUSTING BOND. And that’s just the TRAILER!

2017: Funko announces its licence for James Bond.

2021 Update:

2021: Return performances by the British Army of The Sword and the Crown, with the highlight of a James Bond suite. Buckingham Palace.

Army brings back public ceremonial with military
musical spectacular

See the complete article here:

https://www.army.mod.uk/news-and-events/news/2021/07/a-military-musical-spectacular/

16 July 2021

London’s top free tourist attraction, Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace, has not taken place since March 2020, and the world-renowned military bands of the Household Division have only been able to perform in private. For the longest period since the second world war, state ceremonial and public duties have been absent from London, due to the COVID 19 Pandemic.

Army brings back public ceremonial with military musical spectacular

Now, celebrating the lifting of lockdown, and the easing of restrictions, the British Army is poised to bring back ceremonial splendour to the heart of the capital, starting with a magnificent public concert on Horse Guards Parade.

Titled ‘The Sword & The Crown’, this musical spectacular, available to the public, will star the Foot Guards in their red tunics and bearskin caps and showcase some of the most talented military musicians in the British Army. It is hoped this unique event, staged outdoors over three nights next week, will bring a much-needed lift to the country’s spirits after a challenging year and a half, endured bravely by all.

Prepare to welcome back the Bands of the Grenadier, Coldstream, Scots, Irish & Welsh Guards with the Corps of Drums of the 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards. They will perform as a massed band on Horse Guards Parade for the first time since The Queen’s Birthday Parade in June 2019.

The Massed Bands of the Household Division will also be joined by the Band of the Honourable Artillery Company, the Band of the Royal Yeomanry, The Pipes & Drums of the London Scottish Regiment, the Corps of Drums of The Honourable Artillery Company and the Combined Universities’ Officer Training Corps Pipes and Drums.

Over the past 18 months, amongst uncertainty and unpredictability, the Bands and infantry units have demonstrated their professionalism, combined with a sense of flexibility and enthusiasm, to play an integral part supporting Operation Rescript, the military response to COVID-19. Now they are back centre stage, doing what they do best.

The concert will combine immaculate drill, dramatic scores, light effects, fireworks and unbridled emotion. The evening’s musical narrative will focus on ‘Global Britain’, heralded by ‘Fanfare for a Great Occasion’. As the United Kingdom prepares to take its place in the world post COVID, the ‘Union’ narrative will strike a patriotic chord with beautiful traditional songs and airs from the massed Pipes and Drums. The music will then travel farther afield in ‘Rangers Alert’, a new composition highlighting the UK Government’s environmental support against the illegal wildlife trade in Zambia.

Amidst the wide-ranging styles of music performed will be cinematic favourites including an entire suite devoted to 007, James Bond. The British Army has a cameo role in the new Bond film which premieres later this year.

As part of a rousing finale, ‘I Vow to Thee, My Country’, perhaps one of the most loved hymns and anthems in the repertoire of great British music, will match video and imagery projections of troops in action from the COVID Support Force to overseas commitments to the support the Household Division gives to Her Majesty The Queen.

VIPs will join the public for each performance with Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab taking the salute on Wednesday and HRH The Princess Royal as Guest of Honour on Thursday.

The soldiers privileged to perform on parade not only represent the musical talent of the British Army but also the breadth of roles the military provides. In the last sixteen months the British Army has been focused on supporting the National Health Service in the fight against COVID-19 and a large number of those on parade will have been involved in that fight.

Four musicians are not joining the bands on parade as their duties continue at The Royal Hospital Chelsea. They are providing ongoing support to the Chelsea Pensioners, administering daily onsite lateral flow device tests to help keep them and staff safe. One musician reflected on this being one of her most rewarding times in the Army. She said, ‘Both the staff and In-Pensioners were extremely welcoming, and I found it hugely rewarding to see the direct impact my work was having. It’s an honour to be able to help protect them as part of my service’.

We have all learnt to adapt recently to changing rules and regulations, and the British Army is no different, especially when it comes to State Ceremonial events. It is a real joy for the Army to welcome an audience back to Horse Guards.

The outdoors concert will be repeated over three evenings on 20, 21 and 22 July, against one of the most beautiful backdrops in London. Tickets are available to purchase online at www.householddivision.eventbrite.co.uk, in person at Horse Guards Parade or the Guards Museum, Birdcage Walk London.

Queen's Guard playing James Bond Theme (2013)

2023: Shaken, Not Stirred at The Martini Bar, The Ocean Club, A Four Seasons Resort, Bahamas.

Shaken, Not
Stirred at The
Martini Bar

See the complete article here:

https://www.bahamas.com/es/events/shaken-not-stirred-at-the-martini-bar

28 Jul, 2023
The Ocean Club, A Four Seasons Resort
Añadir al calendario

A nod to its glamorous and star-studded legacy, The Martini Bar at The Ocean Club, A Four Seasons Resort, Bahamas has launched a new and decadent mixology and culinary experience.

The Martini Bar is known best as the backdrop for the 2006 remake of the Casino Royale film where James Bond can be seen sipping his famous Vesper Martini. This limited seat Living Room Bar transports guests into the scenes of their very own movie.

Whether sipping on a classic Vesper Martini or indulging in the new ultra-luxe Caviar Martini, it’s an unforgettable experience. While cocktails are the heart of The Martini Bar signature experience, new unique culinary creations are presented with suggested Martini pairings.

The Martini Bar and Lounge is open every Friday and Saturday from 6:00 pm to 10:00 pm. Reservations can be made by calling the Resort at +1-242-363-2501.

RichardTheBruce

July 23rd

1921: Robert James Brown is born--Swanage, Dorset, England.
(He dies 11 November 2003 at age 82--Swanage, Dorset, England.)

Robert Brown (British actor)

See the complete article here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Brown_(British_actor)

Born Robert James Brown, 23 July 1921, Swanage, Dorset, England
Died 11 November 2003 (aged 82), Swanage, Dorset, England
Years active 1949–1991
Spouse(s) Rita Becker (m. 1955–2003; his death)
Children 2

Robert James Brown (23 July 1921 – 11 November 2003) was an English actor, best known for his portrayal of M in the James Bond films from 1983 to 1989, succeeding Bernard Lee, who died in 1981.

Brown made his first appearance as M in Octopussy in 1983.

Brown was born and died in Swanage, Dorset. Before appearing in the Bond films, he had a long career as a bit-part actor in films and television. He had a starring role in the 1950s television series Ivanhoe where he played Gurth, the faithful companion of Ivanhoe, played by Roger Moore. He had previously made an uncredited appearance as a castle guard in the unrelated 1952 film Ivanhoe. He had an uncredited appearance as the galley-master in Ben-Hur (1959) and as factory worker Bert Harker in the BBC's 1960s soap opera The Newcomers. In One Million Years B.C. (1966), he played grunting caveman Akhoba, brutal head of the barbaric "Rock tribe".

Brown first started in the James Bond franchise in the film The Spy Who Loved Me as Admiral Hargreaves, appearing alongside Lee. After Lee's sudden death in January 1981, Broccoli and the other producers, decided to leave M out of For Your Eyes Only out of respect for Lee and assigned his lines to M's Chief of Staff Bill Tanner. In 1983, Brown was hired to portray M on the recommendation of Bond actor Roger Moore, his Ivanhoe co-star and the father of Brown's goddaughter Deborah. It is unclear if Brown was the same M as Lee's character, or a different M, perhaps a promoted Hargreaves. Brown was succeeded in 1995 by Judi Dench in GoldenEye.

Filmography

Altogether, Robert Brown starred in five James Bond films.

The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) – Admiral Hargreaves (possibly the same character as M he played in subsequent films)
Octopussy (1983) – M
A View to a Kill (1985) – M
The Living Daylights (1987) – M
Licence to Kill (1989) – M

Other films:
The Third Man (1949) – Policeman in sewer (coincidentally Bernard Lee is also in this film) (uncredited)

Out of True (1951) – Dr. Dale
The Dark Man (1951) – Policeman at Hospital (uncredited)
Cloudburst (1951) – Carter
Death of an Angel (1952) – Jim Pollard (uncredited)
Derby Day (1952) – Foster – Berkeley's Butler (uncredited)
Ivanhoe (1952) – Castle Guard (uncredited)
Time Gentlemen, Please! (1952) – Bill Jordan
The Gambler and the Lady (1952) – John – Waiter at Max's Dive (uncredited)
Noose for a Lady (1953) – Jonas Rigg
The Large Rope (1954) – Mick Jordan
Passage Home (1955) – Shane
The Dark Avenger (1955) – First French Knight
Helen of Troy (1956) – Polydorus
Lost (1956) – Farmer with Shotgun (uncredited)
The Man Who Never Was (1956) – French (uncredited)
A Hill in Korea (1956) – Private O'Brien
Kill Me Tomorrow (1957) – Steve Ryan
The Steel Bayonet (1957) – Company Sergeant Major Gill
The Abominable Snowman (1957) – Ed Shelley
Campbell's Kingdom (1957) – Ben Creasy
Passport to Shame (1958) – Mike
Shake Hands with the Devil (1959) – First Sergeant 'Black & Tans'
Ben-Hur (1959) – Rowing Overseer (uncredited)

Sink the Bismarck! (1960) – unnamed officer aboard HMS King George V (uncredited)
The Challenge (1960) – Bob Crowther
Sands of the Desert (1960) – 1st Tourist
A Story of David (1961) – Jashobeam
The 300 Spartans (1962) – Pentheus
Live Now, Pay Later (1962) – (unconfirmed)
Billy Budd (1962) – Arnold Talbot
Mystery Submarine (1963) – Coxswain Drage
Dr. Syn, Alias the Scarecrow (1963) – Sam Farley
The Masque of the Red Death (1964) – Guard
Clash by Night (1963) – Mawsley
Operation Crossbow (1965) – Air Commodore
One Million Years B.C. (1966) – Akhoba
Un hombre solo (1969)
Tintin and the Temple of the Sun (1969) – Tarragon (English version, voice, uncredited)

Private Road (1971) – Mr Halpern
Fun and Games (1971) – Ralph
Wreck Raisers (1972) – Cox'n
Demons of the Mind (1972) – Fischinger
Mohammad, Messenger of God (1976) – Otba
Jesus of Nazareth (1977) – Pharisee
Warlords of Atlantis (1978) – Briggs
The Passage (1979) – Major

Lion of the Desert (1981) – Al Fadeel
Jugando con la muerte (1982) – 2nd bodyguard

Robert Brown

Actor
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0114533/

1963: Lotte Lenya finishes filming with the scene riding in a taxi next to Red Grant.

1977: Title song "Nobody Does It Better" charts in the US, eventually reaches #2.

1980: Roger Moore signs a one-picture contract to do For Your Eyes Only.
1983: Octopussy released in Sweden.

1987: The Living Daylights released in Colombia.
1987: The New York Museum of Modern Art end its 007 exhibition (started 5 June) and a total fourteen screenings of Bond films. Producer Broccoli previously presented 35mm prints of each with the promise of future films.

1998: John Richard Hopkins dies at age 67--Woodland Hills, California.
(Born 27 January 1931--London, England.)

John Hopkins (writer)

See the complete article here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Hopkins_(writer)

For other people named John Hopkins, see John Hopkins (disambiguation).

John Hopkins
Born John Richard Hopkins, 27 January 1931, London, England, UK
Died 23 July 1998 (aged 67), Woodland Hills, California, US
Nationality British
Other names John R. Hopkins
Occupation Writer
Years active 1957–1995
Spouse(s) Prudence Balchin (1954–69, div.)
Shirley Knight (1969–1998)
Children 1

John Richard Hopkins (sometimes credited as John R. Hopkins; 27 January 1931 – 23 July 1998) was an English film, stage, and television writer.

Biography
Born in southwest London, Hopkins was educated at Raynes Park County Grammar School, did National Service in the Army from 1950-1951. He read English Literature at St Catharine's College, Cambridge and joined BBC Television as a studio manager on graduation.

Hopkins began his writing career in radio, writing episodes of the BBC serial Mrs Dale's Diary for eighteen months. An attempt to become a trainee television director at the commercial television franchise holder Granada Television was unsuccessful. The company did accept his first play, Break Up (1958), about the end of the marriage of a young couple, although it was only shown in the Granada region. He established himself as a writer beginning when his then father-in-law Nigel Balchin asked him to try to adapt his novels for television, Adaptations of both The Small Back Room (for Sunday Night Theatre) and Mine Own Executioner were broadcast in April and August 1959 respectively.[2][3] Hopkins then adapted Margery Allingham's novels about the private detective Albert Campion into Campion featuring two six-part serials, Dancers in Mourning (1959) and Death of a Ghost (1960). Hopkins followed with a series based on Rosamund Lehmann's The Weather in the Streets (1961). He wrote his own thriller series, A Chance of Thunder in 1961.

Hopkins wrote over fifty episodes of the BBC police drama Z-Cars, remaining with the series for 2​1⁄2, serving as the series' script editor for a time. One episode featured Judi Dench in the role of a delinquent. This character inspired Hopkins to write what is probably his best remembered work for the small screen, the four-part play sequence Talking to a Stranger (1966) directed by Christopher Morahan, with whom he had developed a rapport while working with him on Z-Cars. Starring Dench, and Michael Bryant, as the adult children of characters played by Maurice Denham, and Margery Mason, Talking to a Stranger was transmitted as part of BBC2's Theatre 625 anthology series. The plays told the story of one bleak weekend from the viewpoints of the four individuals. It won the British Directors' Guild Writers' Award and an Emmy in 1968 after the sequence was shown on American televison. Critic George Melly described in The Observer as "[t]he first authentic masterpiece written directly for television". Two Wednesday Plays from this period by Hopkins were Fable from January 1965 and Horror of Darkness broadcast the following March. The former imagines an inverted South African apartheid in Britain[6] (which was postponed by the BBC in case it affected a by-election), while the latter is a rare exploration of homosexuality in the 1960s. Hour of Darkness featured Glenda Jackson and Nicol Williamson in the lead roles.

Hopkins made his feature film debut with the screenplay he co-wrote with director Roy Ward Baker Two Left Feet (1963), a lightweight comedy-drama with Michael Crawford. He received co-screenwriter credit with Richard Maibaum for the fourth James Bond film James Bond movie Thunderball (1965). He co-wrote the screenplay for Leslie Thomas' boys-in-uniform comedy The Virgin Soldiers (1969) and worked on the screenplay for the film adaptation of Man of La Mancha (1972), although he was removed from this project by United Artists when the studio discovered his draft omitted most of the songs from the musical. His screenplay for Murder by Decree (1979) places Sherlock Holmes against Jack the Ripper. The film was directed by Bob Clark and featured Christopher Plummer as Holmes and James Mason as Watson.

Hopkins wrote his first stage play, This Story of Yours, in 1968. Though it had poor reviews when it was staged at the Royal Court. One audience member who was impressed by the play was Sean Connery who chose it as a personal film project which became The Offence (1973). Connery not only produced the film under a deal with United Artists when he returned to the role of James Bond role, but also acted in the film version, directed by Sidney Lumet. Hopkins' plays for the stage included Next of Kin, which was produced at London's National Theatre in 1974 with Harold Pinter directing.

His play, Find Your Way Home (1970) was produced in London and then on Broadway where it won a "Best Actor" Tony Award for Michael Moriarty.

Hopkins adapted Dostoevsky's The Gambler (1973) for television, it starred Edith Evans and Philip Madoc, and he wrote the two-part television screenplay, Divorce His; Divorce Hers (1973), which starred Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor. His later television work also includes the Play for Today A Story to Frighten the Children (1976), and the serial adaptation of John le Carré's novel Smiley's People (1982), starring Alec Guinness, both for the BBC; and the Cold War espionage thriller Codename: Kyril (1988) for ITV. Hopkins' six-play cycle, Fathers and Families (1977), again directed by Christopher Morahan, was unsuccessful.

Hopkins died at his home in Woodland Hills, California, United States, in July 1998, following an accident in which he slipped, hit his head and fell unconscious into his swimming pool, where he drowned.

Private life
In 1954, Hopkins married Prudence Anne Balchin, a daughter of author Nigel Balchin. They divorced in 1969.

In 1969, he married the American actress Shirley Knight; the couple had one daughter, Sophie. His stepdaughter from his marriage to Knight is actress Kaitlin Hopkins, whom he raised.

John Hopkins (I) (1931–1998)

Writer | Script and Continuity Department | Director
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0394200/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_6

2019: Dr Monica Germanà comments on Lashana Lynch as the new 007.

France Info: Dr Monica Germanà
comments on the new 007 agent
in next James Bond film

See the complete article here:

https://www.westminster.ac.uk/news/france-info-dr-monica-germana-comments-on-the-new-007-agent-in-next-james-bond-film

Dr Monica Germanà, Senior Lecturer in English Language and Creative Writing, was interviewed by the French outlet France Info on British actress Lashana Lynch being set to play the new 007 agent in next James Bond film.

Dr Monica Germanà

It was recently announced that British actress Lashana Lynch was set to become the new 007 agent in the upcoming ‘Bond 25’ film.

In her interview with Television France, Dr Germanà, whose new book Bond Girls: Body Fashion and Gender is due to be launched in October, said: “It is a very good news, as the Bond franchise has had dubious politics with regards to race and gender and it has been in the spotlight for a long time, though not always in a fair way. Bond Girls from the past have shown that they have their own strengths and their own missions regardless of their colour. There have been many Bond girls of colour who have been significant characters in the films.”

Commenting on Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s contribution to the forthcoming James Bond film, Dr Germanà said: “Phoebe Waller-Bridge, who has been called in to help with the script, has strong feminist credentials. She has written in the past very strong female characters. We don’t need James Bond to change but we want the films to show that they can create something different with women.

“We don’t want James Bond to suddenly become a philanthropist or a feminist because it is not that character. We want interesting female characters that challenge sexism and conservative views.”

Listen to the full interview here.
https://www.facebook.com/franceinfovideo/videos/vb.266677330042439/446625836190623/?type=2&theater

2020: A couple images of No Time To Die with Bond in Jamaica come available via Instagram.

Bond returns to Jamaica in new images from 'No Time to Die'

See the complete article here:

https://uk.movies.yahoo.com/no-time-to-die-jamaica-james-bond-102034354.html

Tom Beasley | 23 July 2020·2-min read

Daniel Craig as James Bond in Jamaica during 'No Time to Die'. (Credit: Instagram/007)

The James Bond franchise returned to the idyllic environment of Jamaica for No Time to Die — and new images provide a glimpse of the sun-baked setting.

A pair of pictures shared via the official 007 Instagram account showcase Daniel Craig soaking in the sun in his final outing as Ian Fleming’s super-spy.

The first Bond movie, Dr No, shot most of its story in Jamaica, within touching distance of Fleming’s Goldeneye estate.

Bond production returned to Jamaica for Roger Moore’s 1973 outing Live and Let Die, with the island doubling for the fictional Caribbean nation of San Monique.

No Time to Die filmed on the island last year as part of a globe-trotting production that also visited Matera in Italy as well as, of course, Pinewood Studios in the UK.

No Time to Die will see Daniel Craig say goodbye to the role of James Bond, having played the character since 2006’s Casino Royale marked a soft reboot of the franchise.

Cary Joji Fukunaga directed the movie, replacing original filmmaker Danny Boyle, who left the project due to creative differences.

The plot sees 007 retired from active service after the events of Spectre, until a request from his CIA buddy Felix Leiter pulls him back into the world of espionage.

Rami Malek is set to play the mysterious villain Safin, with Christoph Waltz returning to portray Bond’s archenemy Ernst Stavro Blofeld.

Other new additions to the cast include Captain Marvel star Lashana Lynch and Knives Out standout Ana de Armas.

Lashana Lynch and Daniel Craig in a still from 'No Time To Die'. (Credit: Eon/Universal)

No Time to Die was delayed as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, with its original April release pushed to November.

Fukunaga pledged not to alter the movie during the delay, insisting he was “mentally finished” with the film before COVID-19 scuppered the release plans.

He said: “You could just fiddle and tweak and it doesn’t necessarily get better.”

No Time to Die is currently set to arrive in UK cinemas from 12 November, though it has been rumoured that there may be a further delay. [Later delayed]

2021: Fleming bibliographer Jon Gilbert at The Transatlantic Book Fair of America hosts an online discussion of Ian Fleming and James Bond. Rebecca Baumann and Ajay Chowdhury join Mr. Gilbert on the panel.
Free registration. 12:00 pm EST.

007: The Transatlantic Appeal of Ian Fleming's James Bond

See the complete article here:

https://allevents.in/online/007-the-transatlantic-appeal-of-ian-flemings-james-bond/10000163063087083

Join us at the Transatlantic Book Fair for a James Bond panel hosted by Ian Fleming bibliographer and bookseller Jon Gilbert!

Date & Time
Fri Jul 23 2021 at 12:00 pm to 1:00 pm
(Eastern Daylight Time)

About this Event
The irrepressible James Bond is returning to the big screen soon in the film “No Time to Die.” Join us at the Transatlantic Book Fair for a panel, hosted by Fleming bibliographer and bookseller Jon Gilbert, who will be discussing Ian Fleming and his iconic character, James Bond.

Besides building major Fleming collections around the world, Mr. Gilbert produced a mammoth comprehensive and authoritative bibliography of Ian Fleming in 2012. On the interest in Fleming books Gilbert wrote in an article “…they are popular and collectible. James Bond merchandise and memorabilia is a whole industry in itself and its strength continues to be felt in the world of rare books. As each new film or book is released interest rises in the literature of Bond’s creator, as seen in the prices achieved at auction…”

Panelists include Ajay Chowdhury, author and expert on Bond films and Rebecca Bauman from the Lilly Library, which houses a major Fleming collection.

PANELISTS:

Jon Gilbert is an English bibliophile, historian and the official bibliographer of Ian Fleming, creator of the fictional character James Bond. He is also an authority on J.K. Rowling first editions. He was educated at Caterham School and Roehampton Institute London. According to Fleming-family publisher Queen Anne Press, Gilbert is perhaps the foremost expert on the works of Ian Fleming and the literary history of James Bond. Through Adrian Harrington booksellers, he has become an internationally renowned dealer in rare Fleming material, and is a member of the Ian Fleming Foundation. Ian Fleming: The Bibliography, which was published in October 2012, is the result of both a career immersed in the writings of Ian Fleming, and four years intensive research following Fleming’s centenary year in 2008. The book was the winner of the 16th ILAB Breslauer Prize for Bibliography, awarded in 2014.

Rebecca Baumann is the Head of Public Services at the Lilly Library, the rare book and manuscript library of Indiana University. In their time at the Lilly Library, they have taught over 700 one-shot instructional sessions for undergraduates, graduate students, and community groups. They are also an Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Information and Library Science at IU, teaching three courses in the Rare Book and Manuscript Specialization: The Book 1450 to the Present, Rare Book Librarianship, and Rare Book Curatorship. Their research interests center on the history of pulp and paperback publishing and popular genres including horror, science fiction, and romance. Publications include Frankenstein 200: The Birth, Life, and Resurrection of Mary Shelley’s Monster (IU Press, 2018) and “Speculative F***books: The Brief Life of Essex House” (in Dangerous Visions and New Worlds: Radical Science Fiction, 1950 to 1985, PM Press, 2021).

Ajay Chowdhury was born in London and read Law at university there and in The Netherlands. For over two decades, Ajay has consulted on various motion picture, music, publishing, television and theatrical projects. Ajay has been involved with British and European feature film production in various capacities. He was the associate producer on two feature films, ‘Lost Dogs’ (2005) and ‘Flirting With Flamenco’ (2006). Ajay has been an Advisory Board member on Tongues On Fire Film Festival. In 2015, he co-wrote the internationally bestselling, ground-breaking Some Kind of Hero: The Remarkable Story of the James Bond Films with Matthew Field, published by The History Press. The book was updated in paperback to cover The Road To Bond 25 and published in August 2018. As the spokesperson for The James Bond International Fan Club, Ajay is frequently called upon by worldwide media to comment on all things relating to Ian Fleming's James Bond 007 www.007.info

You may also like the following events from Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of America (ABAA):

• This Saturday, 24th July, 12:00 pm, From the Printed Page to the Runway in Online

Also check out other Entertainment Events in Online, Arts Events in Online, Literary Art Events in Online.

007 The Transatlantic Appeal of Ian Fleming's James Bond (1:23:53)

RichardTheBruce

July 24th

1947: David Meyer is born--Watford, Hertfordshire, England.
1947: Anthony "Tony" Meyer is born--Watford, Hertfordshire, England.

1971: Diamonds Are Forever films OO7 helping Marie get something off her chest.

https://www.deviantart.com/dubyascott/art/Bond-Girls-Marie-777532966

1980: Peter Sellers dies at age 54--Middlesex Hospital, London, England.
(Born: 8 September 1925--Portsmouth, England.)

Peter Sellers Dies at 54

See the complete article here:

https://www.rogerebert.com/interviews/peter-sellers-dies-at-54

by Roger Ebert | July 24, 1980

Peter Sellers is dead at 54, a victim of the heart disease that first struck him in 1964 and continued to haunt him during his most productive years as an international star.

His death in London at 6:28 p.m. Chicago time Wednesday came after a massive heart attack. At his bedside were his fourth wife, Lynne Frederick; his second wife, Britt Ekland, and their daughter Victoria, who is 15. But Mr. Sellers never regained consciousness after the attack that struck him Tuesday in his suite at London's Dorchester Hotel.

"Mr. Sellers' death was entirely due to natural causes," a spokesman for Middlesex Hospital said. "His heart just faded away. His condition deteriorated very rapidly."

An emergency team of 10 specialists was at his bedside when he died, but they were helpless.

Mr. Sellers was in London to work on the screenplay of "Romance of the Pink Panther," which was to have been his sixth film in the role of the bumbling Inspector Clouseau, his most famous comic creation. He was still basking in the acclaim for his starring role in last year's "Being There," which won him an Academy Award nomination.

His latest film, "The Fiendish Plot of Dr. Fu Manchu," opens in Chicago on Aug. 8. In it, as in so many of his films, Mr. Sellers plays six different roles. That was one of his trademarks after such early successes as "The Mouse That Roared" (1959), in which he played the entire population of the mythical Duchy of Grand Fenwick, and "Dr. Strangelove" (1964), in which he played three roles.

His multiple roles were masks, Mr. Sellers liked to claim, describing himself as basically a character actor: "As far as I'm aware, I have no personality of my own whatsoever. I have no character to offer the public. When I look at myself I just see a person who strangely lacks what I consider to be the ingredients for a personality. If you asked me to play myself, I wouldn't know what to do." But as the characters he played in more than 50 major movies, Mr. Sellers became one of the busiest and most popular movie stars of the 1960s and '70s. His widest audiences came for the Inspector Clouseau pictures, which began with "The Pink Panther" in 1963 and continued through "Revenge of the Pink Panther" in 1978.

His best-known roles in more ambitious films were as in "I'm All Right, Jack" (1959), "Lolita" (1962), "Waltz of the Toreadors" (1964), "Dr. Strangelove" (1964), "The Party" (1968) and "Being There."

I remember him talking about the inspirations for some of his famous roles at a press conference at the Hawaiian premiere of "Revenge of the Pink Panther." Inspector Clouseau's famous accent, he recalled, wasn't there in the original "Pink Panther," but came later: "I developed it in 'A Shot in the Dark' [1964]. It came from this brilliant concierge in a hotel I used to stay at in Paris. He was a master of dealing with American tourists. He'd talk to them in a strange accent that wasn't French but sounded French to an English-speaker."

In Stanley Kubrick's "Dr. Strangelove," Mr. Sellers said, he created Strangelove's most famous characteristic - a mechanical hand with an automatic Nazi salute - during the process of filming.

"The right hand was not originally supposed to be a Nazi hand," he said. "Then Stanley Kubrick put the black glove on my hand and suddenly we got this inspiration that Strangelove was schizo, split right down the middle, his left half American, his right half Nazi. If you know what to look for when you see the movie, you could see some of the actors breaking up the first time my hand goes out of control . . ." If Mr. Sellers was correct in saying that he had no personality of his own to portray, then perhaps his performance in "Being There" was his most autobiographical. He played Chauncey, a strange, middle-aged man raised entirely in isolation, with television as his only source of information on how to behave. The character's utter simplicity and transparency led statesmen to imagine they had discovered great depths in him. It was a virtuoso performance, made all the more difficult because Mr. Sellers had to sustain a single note throughout the movie.

Peter Sellers was born Sept. 8, 1925, in Southsea, England, the son of British vaudeville performers, and was literally raised in the wings. He appeared with his parents as a child, won a talent contest at 13, joined the Royal Air Force at 17 and worked as an entertainer. In the 1950s he became famous as the star of England's radio "Goon Show," memories of which were recreated in Richard Lester's famous 1960 short subject, "The Running, Jumping and Standing Still Film."

He moved into British film comedies and was a star by the late 1950s. Mr. Sellers often described himself as a "hopeless romantic" who was constantly falling in love. He married for the first time in 1951, to Australian actress Anne Howe, and they had two children, Michael and Sarah Jane. But in 1960 that marriage broke up as Mr. Sellers fell in love with Sophia Loren while they were filming "The Millionairess" together. Loren turned down his proposal of marriage.

In 1964, shortly after the triumphs as Inspector Clouseau, he married Swedish actress Britt Ekland after an 11-day courtship. Shortly afterward, he suffered his first major heart attack. His marriage to Ekland lasted until 1969 and produced his daughter, Victoria.

In 1970, Mr. Sellers married Miranda Quarry, daughter of a British lord. They were divorced in 1974. He and Liza Minnelli announced they would be married, but the romance cooled and he married actress Lynne Frederick in 1977. Mr. Sellers had his second major heart attack, and was fitted with a pacemaker in 1977. In May of this year, he collapsed in Dublin while making a commercial, but recovered to visit the Cannes Film Festival, where he looked unwell.

Filmmaker Blake Edwards, who directed the Clouseau movies, said Wednesday, "One lived with the realization that Peter could go at any time. But he was a very courageous man who refused to let his heart problems interfere with his personal life."

Mr. Sellers gave evidence of that during the 1978 "Pink Panther" press conference. A reporter asked if he would mind answering a personal question.

"Of course not," Mr. Sellers said.

"I understand you've had some heart attacks . . ." the reporter began, before Mr. Sellers interrupted him with gallows humor: "Yes, but I plan to give them up. I'm down to two a day."

PETER SELLERS
The Official Website of Peter Sellers
https://www.petersellers.com/about/filmography/

Filmography

1982
– Trail of the Pink Panther

1980
-The Fiendish Plot of Dr. Fu Manchu

1979
-Being There
-The Prisoner of Zenda

1978
–Revenge of the Pink Panther

1978
-Kingdom of Gifts (voice)

1977
-Best of British Film Comedy
-To See Such Fun

1976
-Best of the Muppet Show
-Murder by Death
-The Pink Panther Strikes Again

1974
-The Great McGonagall
-Soft Beds, Hard Battles
-The Return of the Pink Panther

1973
– Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
– The Blockhouse
– Ghost in the Noonday Sun
– The Optimists
– Undercovers Hero

1972
-Does It Hurt?
– Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland

1970
-There’s a Girl in My Soup
– A Day at the Beach
– Hoffman
– Simon Simon

1969
-The Magic Christian

1968
– I Love You, Alice B. Toklas!
– The Party

1967
– The Bobo
– Woman Times Seven
– Casino Royale
– Alice in Wonderland
– With Love, Sophia

1966
– After the Fox
– Caccia alla volpe
– The Wrong Box

1965
– What’s New, Pussycat

1964
– Dr. Strangelove
-The World of Henry Orient
– Carol for Another Christmas
– The Pink Panther
– A Shot in the Dark

Peter Sellers (I) (1925–1980)

Actor | Soundtrack | Writer
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000634/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0

1981: A three-day James Bond Weekend begins in Century City, California.
George Lazenby and Hervé Villechaize in attendance.
1986: The New York Times prints Stephen Farber's piece, " 'Remington Steele' Gets Reprieve".

'REMINGTON STEELE' GETS REPRIEVE

https://www.nytimes.com/1986/07/24/arts/remington-steele-gets-reprieve.html
By STEPHEN FARBER and SPECIAL TO THE NEW YORK TIMESJULY 24, 1986
July 24, 1986, Page 00024

NBC has reinstated its romantic detective series ''Remington Steele'' just two months after canceling it.

''Usually a cancellation is the final word,'' said Michael Gleason, the executive producer and co-creator of the series. ''It is tough to make a network change its mind.''

There was, however, a precedent to cite. Two years ago, CBS, responding to viewer protests, revived the defunct ''Cagney and Lacey,'' and the revamped series scored a resounding success. The producers of ''Remington Steele'' argued that their show also deserved another chance.

NBC said it was swayed by the number of protests from fans of the series, which stars Pierce Brosnan and Stephanie Zimbalist as a pair of elegant, bantering sleuths. ''We got over 10,000 angry letters and phone calls since the cancellation,'' said Warren Littlefield, NBC's senior vice president in charge of series. ''There were even pickets outside our building. We're still getting 200 to 300 letters a day, and that's a very strong response. We rarely have that kind of interaction with the audience.''

In addition, the show's ratings improved in summer reruns; the series had moved from the mid-40's during the main season to the top 20 in the last month. ''I attribute that rise to the fact that the loyal audience for the show had simply not had enough time to discover it in its new time period on Saturday night,'' said Tom Palmieri, vice president of operations at MTM Enterprises, the company that produces the show for NBC. Midseason

''Remington Steele'' had never been a smash in the ratings, but it had performed respectably during its first three seasons and, as in the case of another MTM series with mediocre ratings, ''St. Elsewhere,'' demographic surveys showed that it was watched by the 18- to 49-year-old audience that appeals to advertisers. But last season the show's ratings began to plummet.

Mr. Littlefield attributed the decline to competition from ABC's successful new series ''Moonlighting,'' which also featured a pair of sophisticated, sparring detectives. Although ''Moonlighting'' was shown at 9 P.M. and ''Remington Steele'' at 10, he said, he felt the popularity of ''Moonlighting'' cut the number of viewers watching NBC on Tuesday nights. Earlier this year, the network moved ''Remington Steele'' from Tuesday to Saturday night, but its ratings did not improve. In May, NBC scuttled the series.

''Remington Steele'' has now been ordered as a midseason replacement series for next season. Six episodes will be shot and the network will then evaluate the ratings before deciding whether to order more.

One last complication remains to be resolved. Exactly when the show goes on the air depends on whether Mr. Brosnan also stars in the next James Bond movie, ''The Living Daylights.'' He has been mentioned as the most likely successor to Roger Moore in the popular series, but United Artists has not yet named a new Bond. A studio spokesman said a casting announcement would be made shortly.

Mr. Brosnan's contract with MTM runs two more years, but MTM and NBC have told the actor they will delay production to allow him to play Bond.

Mr. Gleason pointed out that this would benefit the series as well as Mr. Brosnan. ''Obviously, it would enhance the show if we could promote it by saying we have James Bond as Remington Steele,'' Mr. Gleason said. ''Now we're waiting for UA to make their decision. They keep telling us they'll let us know tomorrow. This is like sweating out the renewals for the fall series all over again.''

1989: Hodder & Stoughton publish John Gardner's Bond novel Win, Lose or Die.

WIN, LOSE
OR DIE

JOHN GARDNER'S eighth novel
featuring Ian Fleming's James Bond.

The London Gazette announcement was
brief:

'BOND, JAMES,
Commander RNVR,
Relieved of current liaison
duties at the Foreign Office.
Promoted to the substantive
rank of Captain and returned
to active service forthwith.'

The return of James Bond to the Royal
Navy marks the intriguing backdrop to
John Gardner's thrilling new adventure
featuring Ian Fleming's celebrated hero.

Bond takes a refresher course and keeps
up his flying hours by doing a conversion
course on Sea Harriers. And eventually he
learns that his mission is to serve in the
Royal Navy's major aircraft carrier, HMS
Invincible as minder to a phalanx of top
brass British, American and -- in this era of
glasnost -- Russian admirals, who are on
board for a NATO exercise.

But why? Can a thrilling hi-jack by
airborne troops (using hang-gliders) on a
Japanese tanker, some time before, be
connected?

As ever, John Gardner is adept at piling
on the tension. Bond is never far from the
action or from the beautiful Russian naval
attaché with whom he joins forces. WIN,
LOSE OR DIE shows James Bond -- and
John Gardner -- on top form.

JOHN GARDNER'S last book was a
novelisation of the new James Bond film,
Licence to Kill (Coronet 1989). His
previous James Bond novel, Scorpius, was
published by Hodder & Stoughton in
1988.

2009: Titan Books re-releases the James Bond comic strip The Girl Machine.
Yaroslav Horak, artist. Jim Lawrence, writer.

2010: The James Bond 007: Blood Stone intro reveals the Joss Stone song "I'll Take It All".

James Bond 007 Blood Stone | title sequence (2010) Joss Stone & Dave Stewart (Eurythmics) (1:46)


Joss Stone & Dave Stewart - I'll Take It All (OST James Bond 007 Blood Stone) (4:01)


James Bond 007: Blood Stone - Pedal to the Metal Achievement / Trophy (2:54 age restricted)

2015: Social Compassion in Legislation releases a public service announcement with spokesman Pierce Brosnan.

2017: An official announcement confirms details for BOND 25 and a US release date of 8 November 2019. [Later delayed.]

Daniel Craig 'returning as James
Bond' for 2019 movie, reports confirm
The New York Times has confirmed previous reports

See the complete article here:

https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/news/daniel-craig-james-bond-2019-movie-reports-confirm-sources-a7858446.html

Jack Shepherd | @JackJShepherd | Tuesday 25 July 2017 09:11

Last night (24 July), Eon Productions and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer — the companies behind the James Bond franchise — announced their next 007 thriller would reach cinemas 8 November 2019. However, there was no announcement over who would be playing the iconic character.

The New York Times has since confirmed recent reports that Daniel Craig will return, despite having previously said he would rather “slash his wrists” than play the character again.

Two sources told the publication Craig’s contract was a done deal; separate sources told The Mirror earlier this year that Craig had “changed his mind” about playing Bond and that franchise producer Barbara Broccoli has “secured” the actor.

It was previously reported that Craig was offered up to £120 million to return as the spy for two more films despite attention surrounding fellow candidates Tom Hiddleston, Idris Elba, James Norton and Poldark star Aidan Turner.

Dunkirk’s Christopher Nolan has been one director in talks regarding the upcoming film following Sam Mendes departure, saying in a recent interview: “I’ve spoken to the producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson over the years. I deeply love the character, and I’m always excited to see what they do with it.

“Maybe one day that would work out. You’d have to be needed, if you know what I mean. It has to need reinvention; it has to need you. And they’re getting along very well.”

The producers are also rumoured to be “determined” to bring back Adele to record the theme tune after singing the lead track on Skyfall — the first 007 theme to win a Grammy and a Golden Globe award.

The new film does not have a formal title yet. It will be written by Neal Purvis and Robert Wade, the duo who handled the scripts for Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace, Skyfall and Spectre.

2018: Nick Taylor-Collins asks "Could Danny Boyle’s James Bond save Brexit Britain?"

Could Danny Boyle’s James Bond save
Brexit Britain?

See the complete article here:

https://reaction.life/danny-boyles-james-bond-save-brexit-britain/

Nick Taylor-Collins | July 24, 2018

Much has been made of Danny Boyle’s appointment as director of Bond 25, the next outing for Daniel Craig’s 007, slated for a 2019 release. Both Bond and Boyle have longstanding interests in a thriving United Kingdom; the former being bound to serve the country as an elite spy, and the latter, as a director known for his creative portrayals of British culture.

Since its gritty reboot in Casino Royale (2006), the Bond films have been praised, in part, for rejecting the gadgetry of previous films, instead prioritising depth of character and staging a vulnerable Bond prone to introspection. Coupled with greater awareness of real-life political issues in the films – big banks and money laundering, playing politics with natural resources in developing countries – Craig’s Bond has been asking himself why and for whom he serves.

In his 25th movie outing, Bond will have an extra political issue to address: Brexit. Bond’s remit is to protect British society and interests from abroad. Given Britain’s changing politics, the spy will likely have a new set of international dynamics to negotiate.

Boyle, too, will need to pay close attention to the political landscape. He will be directing a franchise film for the first time – one funded by Hollywood dollars that plays on the kitsch British pound – and will be selling the goods to the global movie market.

But what will this mean for potential storylines? Look back to Sam Mendes’ Skyfall (2012) and you’ll see inspiration taken from the 7/7 bombings of London’s transport network. Skyfall dramatises a self-questioning Britain, no longer trustful of the international model of espionage. When M (Judi Dench) attends a parliamentary inquiry into the running of MI6, she explains to the chair:

Our enemies are no longer known to us. They don’t exist on a map.
They’re not nations. They’re individuals.

Skyfall is all about saving the UK from its own, and rescuing it in the face of supranationalist political terrorism. It focuses on restoring unity to the UK’s nations, while rejecting internationalist politics. Towards the beginning of the film, during a psychometric test, Bond’s own trigger-word response to “country” is “England”. The UK, like Bond himself, is fractured.

The only other represented part of the UK is Scotland, where Bond grew up. It represents a younger, more innocent Bond, before he fell into the world of spying and sin. When Bond finally kills cyberterrorist Raoul Silva in a bid to save the country (albeit at the cost of the Britannia-esque matriarch, M) he simultaneously prepares the way for Gareth Mallory (Ralph Fiennes) to assume his tenure as head of MI6, tasked with keeping the UK safe long into the future.

This narrative of protecting the nation was cemented during the “opening ceremony” of London’s 2012 Olympics. Bond seemingly retrieved the Queen from Buckingham Palace and brought her to the Olympic stadium by helicopter, where she leapt out. Evoking Roger Moore’s scene in The Spy Who Loved Me (1977), a union jack flag adorned Her Majesty’s parachute.

Fittingly, the director of the ceremony was Boyle. His “Isles of Wonder” was a vision of Britain that sought to bring together the country’s voices and histories as a harmonious whole in which the British nations are sutured together invisibly; borders largely erased and difference easily overcome. It was a Utopian vision of concord and camaraderie.

Boyle’s vision of Britain hasn’t always been the most optimistic, however. His most feted film – 1996’s Trainspotting – thought about the UK in starkly different terms. Based on Irvine Welsh’s 1993 novel, Trainspotting documents the tribulations of a handful of Scottish addicts, whose tipples range from alcohol to violence to heroin. Set during Margaret Thatcher’s premiership, the Leith area of Edinburgh in the film is underfunded and forgotten by the neo-conservative society that Thatcher cultivated. Trainspotting’s Scotland is splintered off from the coherent UK.

By the time Boyle’s Bond film is released, Britain will have exited the European Union. The new internationalist arrangement between the UK and its continental counterparts will potentially be a throwback to the pre-Thatcher UK, when nations were primary drivers in politics. Though there is no saving Trainspotting’s disintegrated UK, Boyle’s Bond offering will come up against the backdrop of a “saved” nation – at least in terms of its own national identity, that is.

In the Bond films, Britain has long had a foil for solving international disputes, and a figure whose commercial appeal outweighs, on average, the current GDP of over 150 countries. But Boyle brings something new to the Bond universe, and his Trainspotting version of Britain where individualism thrives against a conception of a coherent UK is something Bond has rarely encountered. Now, however, the only question that remains is whether Bond will once again be able to save the Queen Olympics-style, as it were, and restore unity to a fractured Brexit Britain.

This article was originally published on The Conversation

Nick Taylor-Collins is a Lecturer in English Literature at Swansea University

2021: Comic-Con online panel "Dynamite: All the Big Reveals" features writers Rodney Barnes, Jimmy Palmotti and Fred Van Lente. And Red Sonja, James Bond, Elvira Meets Vincent Price. Saturday 5 to 6 p.m. EST.

Dynamite Announces Comic-Con@Home
Panels
Dynamite Entertainment has announced two exciting panels featuring heavy hitters like
Vampirella and James Bond for this year's online Comic-Con@Home.

See the complete article here:

https://screenrant.com/dynamite-comic-con-at-home-2021-panels-vampirella/

By Shaun Corley Published 1 day ago

Dynamite Entertainment has announced its slate of panels for this year’s Comic-Con@Home, the virtual version of the world-famous San Diego Comic-Con. These panels will give readers an up close and personal look at what is coming from the Dynamite in the months ahead. Fans will enjoy sneak peeks at various titles including Vampirella, James Bond and Elvira!

The San Diego Comic-Con is one of the biggest pop culture conventions in the world, regularly attracting huge crowds; it has become a media event in its own right. It is also one of the oldest, having been around for more than 50 years. However, due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Comic-Con has pivoted to an online experience, opting instead for virtual panels. While major movie studios like Marvel will not be taking place in the event, many comics publishers such as Dark Horse and DC Comics will present panels. And now, Dynamite Entertainment, publisher of Red Sonja, John Carter and Vampirella, among others, has announced two exciting panels for Comic-Con@Home, giving fans a sneak peek at the company’s future offerings.

RichardTheBruce

July 25th

1963: Ian Fleming comments on death to Hilary Bray.

Ian Fleming, Andrew Lycett, 1995.
Chapter 14 - Kent and Wiltshire

Halfway through July, after four years of building, waiting and frustration,
the Flemings finally moved into their new house at Sevenhampton. The
first names in the visitors’ book were Raymond O’Neill and his wife
Georgina. But even now the work was incomplete. The grounds were full
of workmen who infuriated Ann by retreating into their huts whenever it
rained. She tried to show an example by scurrying into the garden during
cloudbursts and weeding ostentatiously. Ian’s spirits were hardly boosted
by news of the death of another close friend, Hugo Putman, on July 25. In
a note to Hilary Bray, he adopted unfamiliar shooting parlance: “Friends
dwindle rapidly at our age, and Duff and Hugo were a bad left and right.”

1964: A day after three typescripts of The Man with the Golden Gun are complete, Ian Fleming's secretary confirms to the typist one copy plus a list of corrections will go back to the author.

FLEMING, Ian The Man With the Golden Gun: Author's
Corrected Typescript
FLEMING, Ian

See the complete article here:

https://www.jonkers.co.uk/rare-book/8622/the-man-with-the-golden-gun-author-s-corrected-typescript/ian-fleming

The Man With the Golden Gun: Author's Corrected Typescript
1964.
182 numbered pages of typed foolscap, five further preliminary pages and a single sheet of suggested (later adopted) corrections by Kingsley Amis, all bound in a cloth folder. Authorial revisions in Fleming's hand to approximately 80 pages with further editorial revisions in green and black ink. Fleming's corrections are mainly quite significant, rewriting entire sentences, adding or removing paragraphs etc.

The corrected typescript, used as the setting copy for Fleming's last Bond novel.
Fleming wrote The Man with the Golden Gun at his Jamaican retreat, Goldeneye, in the early months of 1964, as was his custom. Fleming's original text was completed by April and, as had become routine in the preparation of his books, he had 'clean' copies typed up for editing. The text was sent in stages, and on 24 July, three typescripts extending to 182 pages, with initial sub editor corrections, were returned. The following day, Fleming's secretary wrote to the typist, "I've sent one typescript to Mr. Fleming and will do a list of your corrections for him." This is that typescript.

Fleming made some (presumably light) revisions and sent the typescript to his friend and Cape reader, William Plomer, with the instructions that it was "unrevised" and not to show it to anyone else other than Michael Howard, director of Cape. Plomer wrote to Howard that he "much enjoyed the book as it is" but Fleming was unsatisfied with the novel as it stood and asked for the typescript to be returned to him, stating that he "would personally like to take it back to Jamaica and paint the lily next year". It would appear that Fleming began this process immediately as much of the more substantial alterations have the effect of tightening the prose. He revises some key moments, such as the description of Scaramanga's "golden gun" (p.26), but the most telling change is the addition of a paragraph to the very end of the novel, which gives a vivid insight into Fleming's troubled state of mind in his final weeks:

"At the same time, he knew, deep down, that love from Mary Goodnight, or from any other woman, was not enough for him. It would be like taking 'a room with a view'. For James Bond, the same view would always pall."

The visit to Jamaica was never to happen. Fleming's health, which had been poor for some time, went into rapid decline and he died on 12 August. This typescript therefore almost certainly contains Fleming's last ever work on James Bond. In Fleming's absence, Kingsley Amis, fellow Cape author and keen student of the Bond oeuvre, was brought in to tidy up the editing process, and this typescript, including Fleming's final changes, as well as Amis's suggestions, was then sent to the printer for publication.

Stock ID: 35909

1966: You Only Live Twice moves cast and crew to Japan.

1979: Eric Pohlmann dies at age 65--Bad Reichenhall, Bavaria, Germany.
(Born 18 July 1913--Vienna, Austria-Hungary.)

Eric Pohlmann

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Pohlmann

Born - Erich Pollak, 18 July 1913, Vienna, Austria-Hungary
Died - 25 July 1979 (aged 66), Bad Reichenhall, Upper Bavaria, Germany
Years active - 1948–1979
Spouse(s) - Liselotte Goettinger (1939–1968; her death; 2 children)

Eric Pohlmann (German: Erich Pohlmann; 18 July 1913 – 25 July 1979) was an Austrian theatre, film and television character actor who worked mostly in Britain.

Early life
Born Erich Pollak in Vienna, Austria-Hungary, he was a classically trained actor who studied under the renowned director Max Reinhardt. He appeared at the Raimund Theater, and supplemented his income by working as an entertainer in a bar.

In 1939, he followed his fiancée and later wife, Jewish actress Lieselotte Goettinger (best known in the UK for playing the concentration camp guard in the war films, Odette and Carve Her Name With Pride), into exile in London. There he took part in propaganda broadcasts against the Nazis on the BBC. In order to earn a living, the Pohlmanns temporarily took positions in the household of the Duke of Bedford, Lieselotte as a cook and Eric, as he was now known, as butler.

Career
After the war, he began a career on the London stage. Among other roles he played "Peachum" in Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill's The Threepenny Opera. From the end of the 1940s, Pohlmann was often present in film and television productions, taking supporting roles in various adventure and crime films, and appearing occasionally in comedies. His large frame and massive features typecast him in roles as master criminals and spies, or conversely as police officers or detectives, as well as other authority figures. He was frequently cast in "foreign" roles, portraying Turks, Italians, Arabs, Greeks or Orientals; he also played King George I, King George II in Disney's Rob Roy, the Highland Rogue and King George III twice.

One of his earliest film appearances was in Carol Reed's classic The Third Man (1949). He also played supporting roles in such British films as They Who Dare (1954), Chance of a Lifetime (1950), Reach for the Sky (1956), and Expresso Bongo (1960). He also appeared in US productions, notably Moulin Rouge (1952), Mogambo (1953), Lust For Life (1956) and 55 Days at Peking (1963). Twice he appeared in films directed by Richard Thorpe and starring Robert Taylor - The Adventures of Quentin Durward (1955) and The House of the Seven Hawks (1959).

He displayed his comedic talents in films like Gentlemen Marry Brunettes (1955) with Jane Russell, as a lecherous Arab sheikh in The Belles of St Trinian's (1954), as "The Fat Man" in Carry On Spying (1964) and in The Return of the Pink Panther (1975).

Pohlmann (uncredited) also provided the voice of the unseen head of SPECTRE, Ernst Stavro Blofeld, in the James Bond films From Russia with Love (1963) and Thunderball (1965).

In the 1960s and 1970s, Pohlmann regularly returned to his homeland to play numerous character roles in German and Austrian film and television productions. He had guest roles in the popular crime series Der Kommissar and Derrick, and also appeared in television plays for ORF and Bayerischer Rundfunk, often under the direction of Franz Josef Wild [de]. In addition to The Defence Counsel (1961) with Barbara Rütting and Carl Heinz Schroth, he appeared in Der Kleine Lord (1962) with Albrecht Schoenhals and Michael Ande, as well as The Dreyfus Affair (1968) with Karl Michael Vogler and Bernhard Wicki. In 1962, Pohlmann also appeared in The Puzzle of the Red Orchid starring Marisa Mell, Christopher Lee and Klaus Kinski, a German film adaptation of an Edgar Wallace novel.

Pohlmann's greatest success in German TV drama came in 1970 with an adaptation of Wilkie Collins' novel The Woman In White, one of the most successful television productions of the year which gained over 9 million viewers. Under the direction of William Semmelroth, Pohlmann appeared in the role of the villainous Count Fosco, alongside Heidelinde Weis, Christoph Bantzer, Pinkas Braun and Helmut Käutner. The mini-series has a cult following to this day.

Pohlmann was a regular on British television, taking the role of "Inspector Goron" in the 1952-1954 TV series Colonel March of Scotland Yard with Boris Karloff, and appearing as a guest star in such series as The Saint, The Champions, The Avengers, Danger Man, Department S, Jason King and Paul Temple.

In 1978, he worked with the actor-director Maximilian Schell in an Austro/German film production of Ödön von Horváth's play Geschichten aus dem Wienerwald (Tales from the Vienna Woods). The film was shown at the 1979 London Film Festival. In that year, during final rehearsals for his second appearance at the Salzburg Festival, Pohlmann suffered a heart attack, and died the same day in a hotel in Bad Reichenhall. He was 66.

In 2006, the Turner Classic Movies "31 Days of Oscar" festival was based on the theme of "360 Degrees of Oscar" (based on the game of "Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon") in which TCM chooses an actor who has played a significant role in Oscar history, and builds its entire schedule around him. They chose Eric Pohlmann.

He also appeared on stage (Henry Cecil's Settled Out Of Court is a production this editor remembers seeing him in).

Eric Pohlmann (1913–1979)

Actor
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0688384/

2015: BBC Radio 4 airs its fifth James Bond radio drama, Diamonds Are Forever.
Cast includes Toby Stephens, Stacy Keach.

jamesbond.wikia.com/wiki/Diamonds_are_Forever_(radio_drama)

2019: Variety reports Aston Martin showing off Bond cars.

Aston Martin shows off all its 007 cars in Bond 25
There's a couple of plot pointers if you look hard enough

See the complete article here:

https://www.esquireme.com/content/37329-aston-martin-shows-off-all-its-007-cars-in-bond-25

25 July 2019 | Thomas Shambler

There's been a lot of nods and winks toward which cars James Bond will be
throwing about in Bond 25 lately.

The ones we've been teased with include the chop-top Land Rover, the Aston Martin V8 Vantage, the classic DB5, and an absolutely mad-looking Aston concept called the Valhalla.

Now, all Bond's Aston Martins for the new film have been lined up for inspection:

Let's do this school photo style. From left: Aston Martin V8 Vantage; stripped down DB5; normal DB5; Aston Martin V8 Vantage; DB5; DB5 with a pod on top, used by a stunt driver who does the actual driving while actors inside do the actual acting; and Aston Martin V8 Vantage.

They're all huddled around the Aston Martin Valhalla, either consciously or unconsciously echoing that scene at the end of Hereditary in the treehouse where the nude cult members bow to Paimon. A spoiler? Maybe. Just maybe.

Given that original DB5s go for north of a million quid these days, these are likely to be very, very faithfully recreated facsimiles. Then again, very, very faithfully recreated facsimiles can be pretty spicy too. Aston Martin's own recreations of the classic DB5 with Bond's gadgets and modifications will set you back £2.75 million, and there will only be 25 such 'continuation' models made.

2019: Casino de Monte-Carlo launches its James Bond slot machines.

PRESS RELEASE
Monaco, 26th July 2019

James Bond slot machines at Casino de Monte-Carlo
Thursday 25 July 2019

See the complete article here:

https://www.montecarlosbm-corporate.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/pr-james-bond-slot-machines-at-casino-de-monte-carlo.pdf

PRESS RELEASE
Monaco, 26th July 2019 For the launch of the new "James Bond" slot machines in Salle Europe, Casino de Monte-Carlo is inviting My Monte-Carlo members with Gold status and above to an exceptional cocktail on Thursday 25 July at 7.00pm. Guests will be transported into the universe of the most famous spy ever, "Agent 007™". The luxury gaming temple is widening its offering by proposing a brand new entertainment experience. The universe of James Bond left its gloss on the image of Casino de Monte-Carlo in 1983 with the film Never Say Never Again, then in 1995 with the iconic Pierce Brosnan in GoldenEye at the Casino. Then, it left more than gloss and was instead a veritable incarnation.For this special evening, Casino de Monte-Carlo invites its loyal customers to discover this glamorous world where the vodka-Martini steals the day. Upon their arrival, guests can admire the display of collector Aston Martins at the entrance to Casino de Monte-Carlo. Then, they will enter Casino de Monte-Carlo and their immersion in the universe of the British spy will reach its peak. A stylish and surprising cocktail will be served in the Atrium of the Casino from 7.00pm to 8.30pm, before the machines are unveiled in Salle Europe. Musical entertainment, live music and dedicated scenery will plunge guests into the universe of the famous secret agent with its codes and unique aesthetics. Some will make the experience last well beyond the evening, with an Omega watch, 48 hours in an Aston Martin and many other surprises offered from an exceptional prize draw. These eight new immersive slot machines related to the different sagas of James Bond™ (Goldfinger, Thunderball, Casino Royale, etc.) join the offer of over 1,000 slot machines in Monte-Carlo Société des Bains de Mer establishments.

These new slot machines in the middle of Salle Europe, traditionally dedicated to table games, will appeal to players seeking thrills and distraction. There is only one step from the new James Bond™ slot machines to the craps table, which this new generation of customers will have fun taking. The offering is part of the metamorphosis of Casino de Monte-Carlo and the development of the "So Monte-Carlo" experience led by Pascal Camia, Chief Executive, Gaming, Monte-Carlo Société des Bains de Mer, and his teams. "Creating unique events and new experiences for our players is part of our vision: to be and to remain the most beautiful and the most exclusive gaming destination in Europe. James Bond™ and Casino de Monte-Carlo are closely linked, therefore it seemed obvious to offer our customers this unique moment during which the spirit of the famous British spy will come alive for one night", explains Pascal Camia, Chief Executive, Gaming, Monte-Carlo Société des Bains de Mer.

The art of hospitality by My Monte-Carlo
Offered as an exclusive preview to its members, the Dolce Vita event is part of the exclusive experiences provided within the framework of the My Monte-Carlo loyalty programme, which today has over 27,000 members. The programme is open free of charge to customers of the casinos and all of the establishments of Monte-Carlo Société des Bains de Mer. Thanks to Loyalty Points earned, customers can benefit from numerous advantages to play (free entrance and valet parking for Casino de Monte-Carlo, access to private rooms, participation in exceptional evenings and tournaments, etc.), to stay in Monaco (upgrade and special welcome pack provided in the room, access to the well-being spaces of the Resort, early check-in and late check-out, transfer by limousine from Nice, etc.), but also to eat, go shopping and enjoy entertainment with the best seats proposed for events and shows.

About Monte-Carlo Société des Bains de Mer
Since 1863, Monte-Carlo Société des Bains de Mer has been offering a unique Art of Living, a one-of-a-kind resort with four casinos, including the prestigious Casino de Monte-Carlo, four hotels (Hôtel de Paris Monte-Carlo, Hôtel Hermitage Monte-Carlo, Monte-Carlo Beach, Monte-Carlo Bay Hotel& Resort), the Thermes Marins Monte-Carlo spa, dedicated to well-being and preventive health, 30 restaurants including five that together have seven Michelin Guide stars. A hub of night-life, the Group offers an incredible selection of events, including the Monte-Carlo Sporting Summer Festival and the Monte-Carlo Jazz Festival. At the end of 2018, Monte-Carlo Société des Bains de Mer is completing four years of transformation works dedicated to Hôtel de Paris Monte-Carlo and to the creation of a new district around Place du Casino, One Monte-Carlo, with luxury accommodation, shops, restaurants and a conference centre. The vision of Groupe Monte-Carlo Société des Bains de Mer for 2020is to make Monte-Carlo the most exclusive experience in Europe.

Press contact:
Monte-Carlo Société des Bains de Mer
T. 377 98 06 64 14 / [email protected]
montecarlosbm.com @montecarlosbm #mymontecarlo

An atmosphere of legendary place at Casino de Monte-Carlo

RichardTheBruce

July 26th

1930: Mary Barbara Jefford OBE is born--Plymstock, Plymouth, Devon, England.
(She dies 12 September 2020 at age 90--London, England.)

Meet The Bond Girl You Didn’t See

See the complete article here:

https://www.thevintagenews.com/2021/10/07/meet-the-bond-girl-you-didnt-see/?firefox=1

Oct 7, 2021 Steve Palace

Barbara Jefford and Milo O'Shea in their early courting scene from the film 'Ulysses', 1967.
(Photo Credit: Continental/Getty Images)

The words “Bond Girl” aren’t that welcome in today’s society. However, when it comes to Barbara Jefford, there’s a more interesting backstory than most.

For starters, you never saw her. She provided the voices for some classic female characters in 007’s macho universe. Read on to find out about this respected actress, who became a small but important part of James Bond’s cinematic history.

Which Bond Girls did Barbara Jefford play?

Daniela Bianchi as Tatiana Romanova, Molly Peters as Patricia Fearing, Caroline Munro as Naomi.
(Photo Credit: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer & United Artists & MovieStillsDB)

Jefford lent her vocal talents to From Russia With Love’s Tatiana Romanova. She was a Soviet agent and seducer who encountered Sean Connery’s 007 in the 1963 movie.

Romanova was portrayed onscreen by Daniela Bianchi. As stated in producer Albert “Cubby” Broccoli’s autobiography, Bond creator Ian Fleming based the character on real-life figure Anna Kutusova. Jefford went uncredited for her performance.

A couple of years later, she could be heard again. This time she played physiotherapist Patricia Fearing in another Connery outing, Thunderball. Molly Peters appeared in front of the camera.

Finally, she dubbed scream queen Caroline Munro as the villainous pilot Naomi in 1977’s The Spy Who Loved Me. Roger Moore had taken over as Bond by that stage – the move quite literally raised eyebrows.

Who is Barbara Jefford?

Michael Redgrave and Barbara Jefford in Tiger at the Gates
(Bettmann Archive/Getty Images)

Mary Barbara Jefford came from Devon, England. Born in Plymstock in 1930, her father Percival Francis Jefford was a bank manager, according to a 1967 interview piece by Dave Lanning. Her mother was Elizabeth Mary Ellen.

Training as an actress at the legendary RADA (Royal Academy of Dramatic Art), she achieved success early. Her first stage performance was in her late teens, playing Viola in Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night.

Soon she was working with such acclaimed figures as Peter Brook and Sir John Gielgud.

License to act

Barbara Jefford and Maurice Roeves smiling near tree branch in a scene from the film ‘Ulysses’, 1967.
(Photo Credit: Continental Distributing/Getty Images)

James Bond turned out to be a minor but noteworthy part of Jefford’s career on stage and screen. Her most well-known movie role was as Molly Bloom in the film version of James Joyce’s Ulysses (1967).

The stage was arguably where Jefford was most at home. She performed with the Royal Shakespeare Company, among other hallowed institutions. Lanning described her as “one of Britain’s leading Shakespearian actresses.”

Her highlights playing the Bard include Cleopatra in Antony and Cleopatra (a role she inhabited three times), Desdemona in Othello, and Volumnia in Coriolanus. She worked with some of the greatest male stars of the age – Richard Burton, Albert Finney, and Derek Jacobi.

In addition to Shakespeare, Jefford also had a fondness for Oscar Wilde. “These immortal words seem to flow,” she told Lanning, in reference to the text of Lady Windermere’s Fan. “They are certainly easier to remember. They have a rhythm.”

She appeared in the ITV Playhouse adaptation of the play as Mrs. Erlynne. Jennie Linden took the title role, with Ian Ogilvy as Lord Windermere.

Later life

Barbara Jefford poses during a photo call held on January 12, 2005 at her home in London, England.
(Photo Credit: Cambridge Jones/Getty Images)

Barbara Jefford kept working throughout her life, though was more selective as she entered old age. “When you get to 77 it’s kind of limited as to what you can do,” she said in an Oxford Mail interview from 2007. “You’ve got to be believable, haven’t you?”

Jefford passed away in 2020, aged 90. She left behind her second husband – and fellow actor – John Turner.

There was another brush with the world of James Bond. In 2000, her performance as Volumnia saw Jefford play mother to title character Coriolanus. Starring as her son was Ralph Fiennes, who years later took up the mantle of 007’s boss “M.”

Fiennes talked about Jefford to The Guardian following her death. Mentioning the change between the person and the performer, he said: “she really shook the air as she spoke.” Fiennes “felt the room change when she was acting.” He added: “Her vocal technique was almost alarming in its brilliance.”

Barbara Jefford’s vocals entertained Bond fans and lovers of great acting all over the world.

Barbara Jefford (1930–2020)

Actress
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0420266/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0

Barbara Jefford (1930 - 2020) (1:54)

1939: The Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve appoints Ian Fleming as Lieutenant-Commander. Special Branch.

1967: Casino Royale released in Mexico.

1971: Diamonds Are Forever films the lift fight between Bond and Peter Franks.
1979: Moonraker released in Australia.

Daybill

1987: The LA Times reports Timothy Dalton says he was first approached for the Bond role in the early 1970s.

1987: In The Washington Post Hal Hinson's "007" assesses Bond past and present and The Living Daylights.

007

See the complete article here:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/style/1987/07/26/007/a5828b18-0150-422f-8aeb-18c68c38f19e/

By Hal Hinson | July 26, 1987

In the books, his favorite car is a 1933 4 1/2-liter Bentley. In the movies, though, his car is the specially equipped Aston Martin DB he was issued in "Goldfinger." (He's driven others, like the Lotus Espirit that converted into a submarine in "The Spy Who Loved Me," but none stick in the imagination like the Aston Martin does.) Regardless of the company, at night his gun, a .32-caliber Walther PPK 7.65, is always under his pillow. In the novels, he is sometimes fond of pajamas; in the movies, he sleeps in the nude.

His clothes are custom-made Saville Row cuts -- dapper but conservative. He abhors tea, which he calls mud and blames for the downfall of the Empire, and, in its place, prefers coffee. Black. His taste in wines runs to clarets and champagne, of which a 1953 Dom Perignon is his favorite, provided, of course, that it's served at the proper temperature of 38 degrees Fahrenheit. He drinks bourbon, doubles usually, on the rocks, and enjoys a good brandy, preferably a Hennessy Three Star (though in the movies he would never settle for anything below the order of an XO). His favorite drink, though, as everyone the whole world over seems to know, is a vodka martini. Medium dry. Shaken, not stirred.

His name is Bond. James Bond. And it comes at you like a karate chop. It was borrowed by Bond's creator, Ian Fleming, from the famed British ornithologist, author of Birds of the West Indies, one of the volumes he most liked to keep on his breakfast table. When Fleming first fashioned his spy hero, he saw him as an attractive but ordinary man, and he wanted for him "the simpliest, dullest, plainest-sounding name I could find."

Today, Fleming's lethal secret agent, born of Swiss and Scottish parents, both of whom died on a mountain-climbing accident in the Aiguilles Rouges above Chamonix when he was 11, has become one of pop culture's most resilient icons, and, after some 34 years, 12 novels, two collections of stories and 15 movies, anything but ordinary. This year, in fact, another milestone is reached in the Bond chronology as the movie hero celebrates his 25th birthday with the unveiling this Friday of a new 007, Timothy Dalton, in the latest in the series, "The Living Daylights."

Darkly, cruelly handsome, his gun held rakishly against his cheek, James Bond is the most enduring sexual hero of the postwar era. He's our top gun, the playboy of the western world, Mr. Infinite Potency.

There's no way Fleming could have predicted the longevity and significance of his spy hero when he sat down after breakfast at Goldeneye, his home in Jamaica, one Tuesday morning in 1952 and scribbled the first lines of Casino Royale. From the start, he had little expectation of the book's success. His stated claim for writing it was to ease the panic of an impending marriage, and to a friend he said the work was "roughly the equivalent of digging a very large hole in the garden for the sake of the exercise."

It took him only seven weeks to polish it off, and his evaluation of his efforts on it and his other work is self-deflating to the point of near-obliteration. "My books tremble on the brink of corn," he once said. "I have a rule of never looking back. Otherwise I'd wonder, 'How could I write such piffle.' " Instead of swaddling himself in the regal damask of literature, as many pulp writers have done, his goal was modesty itself: to get "intelligent, uninhibited adolescents of all ages, in trains, aeroplanes, and beds, to turn over the page."

Not everyone took him at his own estimation. The British novelist Kingsley Amis, in his book-length mash note, placed him foursquare in the company of Jules Verne, Rider Haggard and Conan Doyle. On the other hand, Malcolm Muggeridge tagged him an "Etonian Mickey Spillane," which was a nice way of saying he thought that as a writer, Fleming's knuckles dragged the ground. Check out this blast on Bond: "In so far as we can focus onto so shadowy and unreal a character, he is utterly despicable. . .Fleming's squalid aspirations and dream fantasies happened to coincide with a whole generation's. . . One wishes we had better dreams."

Dreams indeed, for that's the stuff Bond is made of. For all his rumblings, though, Muggeridge has a point. That Agent 007 is an adolescent construct, the sludge of infantile longings and repressed fantasies, is undeniable. But, as Amis puts it, why should we let a little something like that spoil our fun?

When "Dr. No" premiered in 1962 and we caught our first cinematic glimpse of Sean Connery as 007, lighting up a custom-made Moreland at a baccarat table at Cercle's in London, the Bond era on screen began. Before his screen debut, Bond had been an immensely popular figure, his popularity boosted by the fact that he counted then-CIA director Allen Dulles and John F. Kennedy among his fans.

But the movies jacked him up into a higher orbit. More than any other figure, real or imagined, in American popular life -- more than Cary Grant or Bogart or Gable or Brando -- Bond represents the modern sexual ideal. Man at his best. The consummate Hefner male.

That he's British in no way diminishes his status as an American fantasy archetype. He transcends country. Self-possessed and confident, Bond is unalienated from his own sexuality. He's a man. Pure and simple. Sizing up a potential conquest, he's straightforward and unapologetic about his attraction -- and his attractiveness. Yet, for most women, there's nothing degrading about his attention. It's not strictly an esthetic appreciation that he indulges (he's not a museum-goer in wondrous awe before an Ingres or a Vela'zquez); there's desire mixed in with it, but the desire and the appreciation combine in such a way that saves it from being prurient or leering. On a daydream level, at least, his frankness is a turn-on.

To put it bluntly, Bond is a man who knows what he wants, and this quality alone -- the absence of ambiguity in his nature, the assurance about who and what he is -- is what makes him, in the confused modern age, a kind of superhero.

But how exactly does the modern audience feel about James Bond and how have those feelings changed? Amis presents it this way: "We don't want to have Bond to dinner or go golfing with Bond or talk to Bond. We want to be Bond." And for most of Bond's tenure as a cultural icon, this has been the assumption: that men want to be him, and women want to have him.

But as notions of masculinity, of sex, and the relations between men and women have changed, Bond has changed too. In some respects, his transmutations as an mythic figure over the years -- from Connery to Moore and now Dalton -- are as reliable a barometer of those changes as any in the culture. Political changes, too, linger in the background. (That a James Bond figure would take part in an actual war, as Dalton does when he goes to Afghanistan in "The Living Daylights," is unprecedented.) But although geopolitics provide texture and atmosphere in the Bond films, primarily they function (surreally) as part of the content; sex is an aspect of style. And in the world of Bond, style is everything.

Indisputably, Bond is more of a fantasy ideal for men than women. But even for men, there are limitations to the appeal of a figure like Bond. The code he lives by is the code of the professional, and there's a single-mindedness, an almost monastic rigor to his personality -- it's this part of Oliver North that kept prompting the Bond comparisons -- that makes us feel that his might be a tough standard to live up to.

The style that Connery created for Bond in the six 007 pictures he made was debonair but gritty -- it was a realistic style for an essentially imagined, highly improbable universe, and what he accomplished was to turn the fantastic into flesh and blood.

Connery's films in the series span a period from "Dr. No" in 1962 to "Diamonds Are Forever" in 1971. (In between "You Only Live Twice" in 1967 and "Diamonds Are Forever," George Lazenby -- who laid no stylistic claim to the character and, therefore, doesn't really count -- starred in "On Her Majesty's Secret Service.") Of those films only the first three -- "Dr. No," "From Russia With Love" and "Goldfinger" -- could be considered vintage.

Connery's virtue is that he carried over the rough edges of Fleming's Bond into the movies. Connery had the perfect mixture of musky sexuality and self-mockery to put across a character who, even at the time he was first brought to the screen, was a bit of anachronism. Connery gave the character gravity. But he gave him wit as well. (It was supposedly Connery's wife who initially urged her husband to turn down the part unless the script was rewritten to include more humor.) And sometimes the combination of brass-knuckled toughness and comedy would create unnerving gallowsy dissonances.

Connery's Bond could be brutally cynical, snapping off one-liners over the not even cool bodies of his victims. (Sample: "Do you mind if my friend sits here? She's just dead.") But he could be moved too. In "Goldfinger," the death of Jill Masterson, whom he discovers covered with gold paint, really rocks him, and the emotion of that moment carries throughout the rest of the film. There's not really another moment quite like it in the series, not even the death of Bond's wife (Diana Rigg) in the Lazenby film.

When Moore took over the character in 1973 in "Live and Let Die" -- he relinquished his claim to the character after "A View to a Kill" in 1986 -- those rough edges in Bond's personality were smoothed over and, on the pop-mythic level, at least, something essential was lost.

There was a loss in terms of entertainment, too. But perhaps that's the way it had to be. When Moore took over the role, the culture probably wouldn't have supported, or tolerated, a more realistic, full-service Bond. The Bond films, even those with Connery, had always danced along a campy, comic-book edge. With Moore, that line was crossed. He spent his days in Her Majesty's Secret Service sending up the figure that Connery had created, turning Bond into an action gigolo/clown. As Moore played it, the notion of Bond's potency was a smirky joke, as preposterous as Superman's ability to fly.

But Bond's sexual prowess -- his ability to wink and slay legions, to convert the wayward with a single bedding -- was always cause for behind-the-hand snickering. It was a laugh in "Casino Royale" (which featured Woody Allen as little Jimmy Bond begging not to be shot because he "has a low threshold of death"), and again in the Cyril Connolly spoof, "Bond Strikes Camp." So it's not really that Bond became a joke in the '70s; he had always been a joke. But with the Moore films, he became a vastly different kind of joke.

The difference is all in the contrast between Connery and Moore. And the comparison, essentially, is between the talents of a tragedian and a farceur. As Connery played him, Bond could be an impossible pedant in matters of taste -- and usually was -- without seeming foppish or affected. He allowed the situation to carry the comedy, and always worked to find the plausible thread in the material. On the other hand, Moore's Bond saw matters of style as a game, a way of putting people on. Moore took a commedia dell'arte approach to Bond, and it worked only once -- when he had a script to support him -- in "The Spy Who Loved Me."

The picture, which also in the partnership between Moore and the Soviet agent, played by Barbara Bach, marks the first sign of detente between the superpowers, is smartly directed and plays as a full-fledged satire. And as such, it's one of the best films of the series. But, in a sense, too, it was something of a dead end. As the comic Bond flourished, increasingly surrounding himself with gadgets and toys, the more grounded, realistic Bond revealed himself to be more and more out of step. By the time Connery reappeared in "Never Say Never Again," he was a kind of a Robinson Crusoe figure, stranded out of his time.

The most fascinating thing about the switch from Connery to Moore is that, though it was merely a practical matter -- Connery had lost interest in the character -- it seemed almost a cultural neccessity. As Agent 007, Connery defined a certain style of masculinity for the '60s. But perhaps it was a conception that couldn't outlive the decade.

As a pop culture myth, the Bond of the 60's, it seemed, had to die, or else undergo a transformation -- in this case, a sort of willful emasculation.

Surprisingly enough, the new Bond, Timothy Dalton, appears to be a return to the more substantial, back-to-the-basics approach Connery took. But context is everything, and there are substantial differences in the worlds they inhabit.

With "The Living Daylights," the days of promiscuity for 007 are over. The new Bond is the safe-sex Bond. (The British have tagged him "No No Seven.") Discreet. Responsible. And a little dull. And the circumstances seem to weigh on the new man as well.

"The Living Daylights," which is set in Gibraltar, Czechoslovakia, Tangier and Afghanistan, is fundamentally Bond's long courtship of a young cellist (Maryam d'Abo) with whom he fell in love at first sight. With the exception of the precredit sequence, in which Bond unexpectedly drops in on a frustrated young tourist and the scant possibility of contact is dangled, Bond keeps his mind on business.

One has a hard time imagining Connery's Bond fitting in with the new program. Unlike previous films, there are very few of those admiring, marvelously constructed, Bond girls, even in smaller parts on the sidelines -- no Plenty O'Tooles, Tiffany Case, Pussy Galores or Honey Ryders. Only the new Miss Moneypenny (the aptly named Caroline Bliss) brings reminders of the days when every receptionist and desk clerk presented an opportunity.

The heroine herself has a strikingly different look. A cross between Nastassja Kinski and Lauren Hutton, she's built less according to the Hefner blueprint than usual. She's less of sexpot and more of a serious artist -- she plays the cello -- and, unlike past Bond women, she takes her own sweet time falling for our hero.

What all this signifies is hard to pin down, but the background forces seem pretty clear. Dalton's Bond is undeniably an attempt to give the character relevance and keep him in step with the times. But, in a sense, it's one step forward and two steps back.

"The Living Daylights" is like "From Russia With Love," but without sex. And a Bond film without sex seems something of an absurdity. If in taking over the role, Moore took flight from reality and lost something essential in the character, to lose Bond's sexuality is certainly a loss of equal weight.

Bond defined himself by his pleasures, by sex, and in the films, his interaction with women provided an outlet for his personality, a chance to put his wit and style on display.

Without sex, Bond becomes just another secret agent -- another bland action hero. Also, deemphasizing Bond's sexual athletics strips him of one of his most important roles. Seen from a Bond's-eye view, the currency of nations is sex. And Bond is the ultimate weapon.

If Secord and Hakim represent the privatization of foreign policy, Bond stands for its sexualization. And between East and West, James Bond is a living symbol of the "style gap." As a result, his sexual prowess is not merely a matter of show. At the end of "The Spy Who Loved Me," Bond -- Moore -- is discovered in midembrace with Barbara Bach by his superiors, who demand to know what he thinks he's doing. "Keeping the British end up, sir," he answers wryly, turning back to his work. And nobody does it better.

In "From Russia With Love," the plot turns on the fact that a pretty young Red has fallen in love with a file photo of 007 and is ready to defect, sell state secrets even, just for the chance to meet him. Underlying all this is the half-facetious assumption that if James Bond could sleep with every woman in the Soviet Union the war would be won. In other words, keep your ICBMs, your Hawks and your TOWs, bring down the nuclear curtain, somewhere tonight James Bond is making the world safe for democracy.

If we look at the Bond pictures in Cold War terms, as allegorical East-West confrontations, we see that the western style -- which, try as they might, the Russians cannot manufacture in their laboratories -- is the difference.

The Bond films are all about the sexual style of the West, with Bond as its purest expression. What the films suggest is that matters of style -- in clothes, in cars, in food and in women -- are a guide to character. That's why all that Bond stuff -- the cars, the watches, the clothes, the girls -- was so important.

Underlying the innumerable scenes in which either Blofeld or Goldfinger or Stromberg tries to show off to Bond the extensiveness of his wine cellar or gloatingly presents him with a properly prepared martini is the notion that the enemy is hopelessly square. Don't worry, the movies tell us, these schlubs can't take over the world, no matter how many missiles they have. Look at those slacks. How can the baddies prevail if they don't know how outre' their little Mao suit jackets are?

Admittedly, the notion of style in the Bond films is itself laughable. The Bond '60s aren't the truly stylish '60s of Jean Shrimpton or or Warhol or the Beatles; they're the Nancy Sinatra '60s. The beanbag chair, white go-go boots '60s. The faux-hip '60s. And since then we've continued to see the faux-hip designs applied to each subsequent decade. But what the style of the Bond films stands for, however gauche, is wit and sensual pleasures -- to sum it up crassly, the rewards of capitalism. Bond's enemies at SPECTRE were sexless ascetics: To have 007 join them -- even in the name of responsibility -- seems like a betrayal. Responsibility is for mortals. And who wants a mortal Bond.

2004: Peugot cease and desist their contentious pronunciation of the 1007 mini-MPV.

The name's not Bond

See the complete article here:

https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/new-cars/names-not-bond

Autocar News | 26 July 2004

Peugeot has been forced to change the pronunciation of its new 1007 mini-MPV (above) at the last minute. The owners of the James Bond trademark disputed Peugeot's 'one-double-oh-seven' pronunciation, claiming it was too close to the secret agent's codename.

It's embarrassing for Peugeot, which had to explain the pronunciation in numerous press releases. Now it will be called 'one thousand and seven' instead.

2006: Producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson announce Chris Cornell to perform the title song "You Know My Name", written by Cornell and David Arnold.

2012: Madonna performs her "Die Another Day"/"Beautiful Killer" mashup during the MDNA Tour, Paris, France.

2012: Bruce Feirstein through PrimaGames talks 007 Legends.

The Man Behind Many James Bond Missions
Talks 007 Legends

See the complete article here:

https://primagames.com/strategy/man-behind-many-james-bond-missions-talks-007-lege

Published July 26, 2012, 2:54 p.m. about 007 Legends
by Mojo Media

Bruce Feirstein has written three James Bond movies and worked on five games over the years. The screenwriter has been collaborating with Activision and developer Eurocom lately on 007 Legends. The new shooter celebrates the 50th Anniversary of James Bond by sending players on updated missions based on six Bond movies, including Moonraker, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service and the upcoming Skyfall.

“Bond came onto the scene in 1962 with the first movie, Dr. No, and in November Skyfall will be coming out,” said Feirstein. “What Activision decided to do is create one game with Bond’s most iconic moments and somehow link them all together with an overarching story. Players will get to play through Bond’s most interesting missions.”

Launching on October 16, 2012, 007 Legends equips players with state-of-the-art spy gadgets, an arsenal of weapons and sleek vehicles as they jet off to exotic locations and utilize Bond’s quick wits, class and style to take down notorious villains and their brutal henchmen while performing impressive stunts. Gamers will be taking on villains like Ernst Stavro Blofeld and Sir Hugo Drax.

“It’s funny the way Bond villains over all of these years have stayed the same in a way and have been timely,” said Feirstein. “That’s been part of the success of the series and it’s what we’re trying to do in the game. There is something ultimately about Bond that is very deep and archetypal, meaning that there’s something inside of us that we recognize in Bond. We connect with the story of what ultimately is Bond as a lone warrior who is sent out to avenge a vanquished nation.” Going with a first-person shooter perspective, which Activision used for its GoldenEye remake (also written by Feirstein), allows the player to become Bond. It also circumvents the fact that different actors played Bond in these six films.

The structure of the Bond films, for the most part, has made the task of updating them for today’s gamers an easier task. “Part of the advantage of Bond, which I can say as an American, is that you’ll never see the Oval Office in a James Bond movie,” said Feirstein. “And with the exception of Thunderball, the Prime Minister is never seen. This makes it easier for fans from around the world to connect with the character. You can travel to the craziest place in the world like Cambodia, which I’ve done, and you’ll find someone who can relate to James Bond -- the lone warrior out to avenge the nation.”

The last couple of Activision games had a big multiplayer focus. Although details on 007 Legends multiplayer haven’t been revealed yet, Feirstein believes this aspect of gaming is important for the virtual Bond franchise. “That moment when the father and son play together as a team together is the equivalent for someone like me with my father taking me to see the New York Yankees,” said Feirstein. “It’s a much larger experience than just the game."

If you’re a father and your kid has left and gone to college, you can reconnect over your Xbox while also going back and reliving some of the great experiences from the Bond movies that you grew up with.” 007 Legends will ship for PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on October 26.

2020: Asahi Shimbun reports on Toyota manufacturing classic sports car replacement parts--includes the 2000GT.

Toyota to reproduce parts for 2000GT driven by 007

See the complete article here:

https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/13538354

By DAIKI ISHIZUKA/ Staff Writer | July 26, 2020 at 08:00 JST

The Toyota 2000GT, for which Toyota Motor Corp. will reproduce and sell replacement parts
(Provided by Toyota Motor Corp.)

The fabled Toyota 2000GT sports car model that James Bond drove in his 1967 film "You Only Live Twice" has been given a new life by Toyota Motor Corp.

Toyota announced July 6 it will reproduce and sell replacement parts for the rare 2000GT, last produced 50 years ago.

The project is aimed at reproducing discontinued parts and helping owners to continue to drive the iconic sports car.

Orders will be accepted from August.

The 2000GT was a specialty sports car for the auto giant, with only 337 units produced between 1967 and 1970. Boasting a maximum speed of 220 kph, it set three world records.

About 10 parts, including those for the transmission, will be offered for sale.

Toyota decided to reproduce the parts in response to requests from owners who said it was getting difficult to replace broken parts 50 years after production ended.

Sales will be restricted to 2000GT owners. Prices have yet to be determined.

Toyota has been selling reproduction parts for fans of its classic cars.

In May last year, the automaker announced it would reproduce parts for the A70 and A80 Supra, which were popular in the 1980s and 1990s.

The latest offering is the second batch of the parts reproduction project.

Toyota will reproduce and sell replacement parts including gears for its 2000GT sports car.
(Provided by Toyota Motor Corp.)

Only 337 units of the Toyota 2000GT were produced between 1967 and 1970.
(Provided by Toyota Motor Corp.)

2022: Cinema Nova screens The Other Fellow at Melbourne, Australia.

MDFF: Other Fellow, The

See the complete article here:

https://www.cinemanova.com.au/films/mdff-other-fellow-the

Bond, James Bonds. Can anyone ever live up to that name?

An energetic exploration of male identity via the lives, personalities, and adventures of a diverse band of men, real men across the globe all sharing the same name – James Bond.

• 1952. Jamaica. When author Ian Fleming needs a name for his suave, sophisticated secret agent, he steals one from an unaware birdwatcher and creates a pop-culture phenomenon about the ultimate fictional alpha male.
• 2022. It is the year of 007’s sixtieth anniversary onscreen and Australian filmmaker Matthew Bauer is on a global mission to discover the lasting, contrasting and very personal impacts of sharing such an identity with James Bond.

From a Swedish 007 super-fan with a Nazi past, a gay New York theatre director, an African American Bond accused of murder, and two resilient women caught up in it all, Bauer’s cinematic mission is an audacious, poignant, and insightful examination of masculinity, gender, and race in the very real shadows of a movie icon.

Tuesday, 26th July
18:30

Legend Deluxe: In-Cinema dining session.
Event: Special event screening, complimentary & discount tickets do not apply
CC & AD: Closed Captions or Audio Description available for individual/personal use in those shows indicating a 'CC & AD' notation on a film's session time booking button. Please note that only selected sessions are capable of offering the Closed Captions or Audio Description option, please contact the cinema in the event of confusion to avoid disappointment.

THE OTHER FELLOW Trailer - James Bond documentary in theatres & on demand (2:31)

RichardTheBruce

July 27th

1922: Adolfo Celi is born--Messina, Sicily, Italy.
(He dies 19 February 1986 at age 63--Siena, Tuscany, Italy.)

Adolfo Celi Dies at 64; An Actor and Director

See the complete article here:

https://www.nytimes.com/1986/02/20/obituaries/adolfo-celi-dies-at-64-an-actor-and-director.html

AP FEB. 20, 1986

Adolfo Celi, the Italian actor and director, died today, two days after suffering a heart attack. He was 64 years old.

Mr. Celi, a Sicilian who began acting on the Italian screen in the 1940's and performed for 15 years in Brazil, was known for his comic roles, but was also frequently cast as a villain in films. He won international fame in the 1965 film of ''Thunderball'' as Emilio Largo, the black eye-patched adversary of James Bond.

He had more than three dozen roles to his credit, including that of Giovanni de Medici in ''The Agony and the Ecstasy,'' the 1965 film biography of Michelangelo, and that of a Scottish colonel in ''King of Hearts'' (1966), which starred Alan Bates.

His other film credits included ''That Man From Rio'' (1964); ''Von Ryan's Express'' (1965); ''Grand Prix'' (1966); ''The Alibi'' (1969), for which he was also co-director and co-author; a 1971 remake of ''Murders in the Rue Morgue,'' and a 1974 version of Agatha Christie's 'Ten Little Indians' titled ''And Then There Were None.'' In the past few years he had starred in several Italian-made movies, including the series ''Amici Miei'' (''My Friends'') and also directed stage productions.

He suffered the heart attack a few hours before the premiere in this Tuscan city of ''I Misteri di Pietroburgo'' (''The St. Petersburg Mysteries''), which he directed and acted in.

Adolfo Celi (1922–1986)

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0148041/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0

Filmography

Actor (103 credits)

-1987 International Airport (TV Series) - Il Caposcalo - 10 episodes
1987 T.I.R. (TV Series) - Oreste
- Aki elsönek érkezik (1987) ... Oreste
1985 Il giocatore invisibile
1985 All My Friends Part 3 - Professor Sassaroli
1984 Cindy - Cinderella '80 - Prince Gherardeschi
1982 L'occhio di Giuda (TV Mini-Series)
- Episode #1.3 (1982)
- Episode #1.2 (1982)
- Episode #1.1 (1982)
1982 All My Friends Part 2 - Professor Alfeo Sassaroli
1982 Monsignor - Vinci
1982 La sconosciuta (TV Mini-Series) - Taladis - 4 episodes
1981 Madly in Love - Gustavo VI di San Tulipe
1981 The Borgias (TV Mini-Series) - Rodrigo Borgia - 9 episodes
1980 Carnapping - Head of police in Palermo
1980 Café Express - Ispettore capo Ministero

1979 L'altro Simenon (TV Series)
1978 Le braghe del padrone - Eugenio - the president
1978 Professor Kranz tedesco di Germania - Carcamano
1978 Indagine su un delitto perfetto - Sir Harold Boyd
1977 Man of Corleone
1977 The Tiger Is Still Alive: Sandokan to the Rescue (TV Movie) - James Brooke
1977 The Chosen - Dr. Kerouac
1977 Pane, burro e marmellata - Aristide Bertelli
1977 The Passengers - Boetani
1977 Che notte quella notte! - Dottore
1976 Merciless Man - Commissario Lo Gallo
1976 The Big Operator - Rifai
1976 The Next Man - Al Sharif
1976 Febbre da cavallo - Judge
1976 Goodnight, Ladies and Gentlemen - Commendatore Vladimiro Palese
1976 L'affittacamere - Giudice Damiani
1976 Confessions of a Frustrated Housewife - Antonio
1976 Live Like a Cop, Die Like a Man - Captain
1976 Pure as a Lily - L'onorevole
1976 Sandokan (TV Mini-Series) - James Brooke - 6 episodes
1975 L'amaro caso della baronessa di Carini (TV Mini-Series) - Don Mariano D'Agrò - 4 episodes
1975 Amici miei - Professor Sassaroli
1975 Libera, My Love - Felice Valente - Libera's father
1974 Last Moments - Dr. Monforte
1974 Ten Little Indians - The General
1974 The Phantom of Liberty - Le docteur de Legendre / Doctor Pasolini
1974 The Devil Is a Woman - Father Borelli
1973 La villeggiatura - Commissioner Rizzuto
1973 Le mataf - Me Desbordes
1973 Hitler: The Last Ten Days - General Krebs
1973 Pete, Pearl & the Pole - The Pole
1972 Joe Petrosino (TV Mini-Series) - Joe Petrosino - 4 episodes
1972 The Italian Connection - Don Vito Tressoldi
1972 The Long Arm of the Godfather - Don Carmelo
1972 Ragazza tutta nuda assassinata nel parco - Inspector Huber
1972 Who Saw Her Die? - Serafian
1972 Who Killed the Prosecutor and Why? - Inspector Vezzi
1972 Eye in the Labyrinth - Frank
1972 Brother Sun, Sister Moon - Consul
1972 Il sospetto (TV Movie) - Dott. Fritz Emmemberger
1971 Una chica casi decente - César Martín de Valdés 'Duque'
1971 Murders in the Rue Morgue - Inspector Vidocq
1971 They Have Changed Their Face - Giovanni Nosferatu
1970 Finale di partita (TV Movie)
1970 Brancaleone at the Crusades - Re Boemondo
1970 The Cop - Le commissaire principal / Chief of police
1970 Fragment of Fear - Signor Bardoni
1970 The Night of the Assassin - Hermes

1969 It Takes a Thief (TV Series) - Eric 'The Red' Redman / Eric Redman
- The Second Time Around (1969) ... Eric 'The Red' Redman
- The Great Casino Caper (1969) ... Eric Redman
1969 In Search of Gregory - Max
1969 Death Knocks Twice - Professor Max Spiegler
1969 A Man for Emmanuelle - Sandri
1969 Detective Belli - Avvocato Fontana
1969 Midas Run - General Ferranti
1969 The Archangel - Marco Tarocchi Roda
1969 Alibi - Adolfo
1968 Seven Times Seven - Warden
1968 Fantabulous Inc. - Karl Maria van Beethoven
1968 It's Your Move - Bayon / Guinet
1968 Danger: Diabolik - Ralph Valmont
1968 Death Sentence - Friar Baldwin
1967 Dirty Heroes - Luc Rollman
1967 Grand Slam - Mark Milford
1967 Operation Kid Brother - Mr. Thai - 'Beta'
1967 The Bobo - Francisco Carbonell
1967 The Honey Pot - Inspector Rizzi
1967 Master Stroke - Mr. Bernard
1966 Grand Prix - Agostini Manetta
1966 King of Hearts - Le Colonel Mac Bibenbrook (as Adolfo Celli)
1966 Pleasant Nights - Bernardozzo
1966 Target for Killing - Henry Perkins
1966 Yankee - Grande Concho
1966 El Greco - Don Miguel de las Cuevas
1965 Thunderball - Largo
1965 A Man Named John - Msgr. Radini Tedeschi
1965 Slalom - Riccardo
1965 The Agony and the Ecstasy - Cardinal Giovanni de' Medici (pope Leo X)
1965 Von Ryan's Express - Battaglia
1965 Crime on a Summer Morning - Van Willie
1964 Beautiful Families - Professore Della Porta (segment "Amare è un po' morire")
1964 Male Companion - Benvenuto
1964 3 notti d'amore - Alberto (segment "La moglie bambina")
1964 That Man from Rio - Mário de Castro
1963 Sandokan the Great
1952 Tico-Tico no Fubá (uncredited)
1950 Caiçara - Genovês
1948 Immigrants - Il professore
1948 Guaglio - Don Pietro
1947 Natale al campo 119 - John, il sergente americano
1946 Un americano in vacanza - Tom

Director (4 credits)

1969 Alibi

1957 Grande Teatro Tupi (TV Series) (1 episode)
- Esta Noite é Nossa (1957)
1952 Tico-Tico no Fubá
1950 Caiçara

Writer (2 credits)

1969 Alibi (screenplay) / (story)

1950 Caiçara (story and screenplay)

Producer (1 credit)

1952 Tico-Tico no Fubá (producer)

Miscellaneous Crew (1 credit)

1973 Lucky Luciano (voice dubbing: Charles Siragusa - uncredited)

1963: The Dr. No soundtrack enters US charts eventually reaching #82.
1966: At a press conference in Japan Sean Connery comments--"Japanese women are just not sexy."
1968: Maria Grazia Cucinotta is born--Messina, Sicily, Italy.

1987: Cathleen McGuigan in Newsweek reviews The Living Daylights.

The name's Dalton, Timothy Dalton, and in the film The Living Daylights he abandons the winks, the arched eyebrow and laid-back smile to get down to the dirty business of espionage.

1988: Licence to Kill films a barroom brawl at the Barrelhead Bar in Key West, Florida.

2007: Park Circus re-releases Goldfinger digital prints in the UK at 150 multiplex cinemas. It charts number 12 at the weekly box office.

2012: BBC News reports on Olympic events.

How James Bond whisked the Queen to the Olympics

See the complete article here:

By Nicolas Brown | BBC Director of UK Drama Production
Published | 27 July 2012

In this year of extraordinary events there was a week in late March of unseasonal glorious sunshine, when we basked in its early arrival and dreamed we might be set fair for summer.

That week, an extraordinary - surreal, even - event happened at Buckingham Palace when Her Majesty The Queen made herself available for a few short hours to appear in a film sequence alongside another British icon, James Bond, 007.

Although not a drama in the conventional sense, "Happy and Glorious", as conceived by Danny Boyle, has a gentle narrative which sets up the Queen's arrival at the stadium for the opening ceremony.

Her Majesty, Daniel Craig, our Brazilian schoolchildren (a nod to four years hence of course) and the corgis all played their parts impeccably and none of it would have happened without the extraordinary and tenacious Tracey Seaward who somehow fitted in co-executive producing these two films with her day job of producing the entire ceremony.

That was the very first element shot of two films - "Happy and Glorious" and "Isles of Wonder" which opens the entire worldwide coverage - that BBC Drama Production have contributed to the ceremony and which started with a brief phone call back in February.

Two short films for the Olympics? Directed by Danny Boyle? Sure, that didn't appear too tall an order and in fact sounded something of an alluring prospect. How difficult could it be?

Bold and exciting
The task had seemed surmountable as we sat in a small windowless room at Three Mills Studios in East London - then the base for the ceremonies team - and watched a computer generated/sketched visualisation of what Danny wanted to achieve.

It was bold, ambitious and exciting - everything one would expect from him.

On that day in March, watching footage of the helicopter rising from the Palace lawn into an azure blue sky (even whilst noting the still thin spring foliage that would have to be improved on in post-production to become convincing summer) the auguries still looked good.

This was despite knowing that ahead lay the challenges of shooting aerial and marine sequences, complex coordination with action on the ground.

All of this in the centre of a city that, not easy to film in at the best of times, was heading towards a period of unprecedented sensitivity and security. Everything was possible.

Then came the weather. We all know about this summer - flooding, monsoon conditions, records broken, the jet stream that stubbornly refused to shift.

Neither of the films is long, but they are largely exterior and each is made up of myriad elements that needed a huge amount of planning and resources, as well as weather, to get right for our expected audience of over one billion people.

Permission to fly
If you are having to secure permissions to fly along the Thames, through Tower Bridge with two helicopters (never done before) or clear the river of commercial traffic you need to do so with several weeks' notice.

If you then find that over the dates you have picked the helicopter can't fly because of the low cloud or is grounded because of a bomb scare on Tottenham Court Road or the footage you do achieve is so utterly grey, damp and joyless as to be unusable, you have a big problem.

Daniel Craig with co-stars in the coming Bond film Skyfall

We had several of those days, with an immovable date in the diary that was racing towards us.

In the end we were lucky. Lucky that the cloud lifted and sun shone at the very end of the day at our second attempt at Tower Bridge (I will always remember producer Lisa Osborne sending me a sequence of stills through the day starting with a crew in wet weather gear, moving to a glimpse of blue sky and ending with glorious shots of two helicopters flying through the bridge as the sun began to set).

Lucky that there was just enough sunshine around - on the third attempt - to capture the beauty of the Thames in its early meanderings.

The look around the source itself, we have to confess, is the result of a lot generators, cabling and bulbs and lucky that there was a team who stuck with it through disappointment, frustration, the cold and the wet.

The result is the delivery of what I think are films full of warmth, joy, affection, wit, surprise and excitement and sunshine and which I hope played their part in a memorable night.

2012: BBC's film Happy & Glorious, directed by Danny Boyle, showcases Craig as Bond with the Queen to open the London 2012 Summer Olympics. Watched by an estimated nearly one billion viewers.

London 2012 Olympic Opening Ceremony: Isles of Wonder (2012)

TV Special | 2012 | 5h 52min
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2305700/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

The world's best all-round sporting event returns in 2012, this time in London, and England's capital has a lot in store.

Directed by
Danny Boyle
Writing Credits (in alphabetical order)
Danny Boyle, Frank Cottrell Boyce

Cast (in credits order) includes
Darius Alexander ... Pandemonium Drummer / Athlete Marshall
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Arctic Monkeys ... Themselves
Rowan Atkinson ... Mr. Bean
David Beckham ... Self
Daniel Craig ... James Bond
Prince Philip ... Self
Queen Elizabeth II ... Self

2014: MGM-Danjaq denies ‘scaring off’ Bond competition.

NewsFilm News
Studio deny dirty tricks after launching lawsuit against Universal
James Bond studio denies ‘scaring off’ 007 competitors

See the complete article here:

https://www.nme.com/news/film/james-bond-studio-denies-scaring-off-007-competito-874743

By John Earls | 27th June 2014

The distributors of the James Bond films have denied they’re trying to “scare off” competition from rival film-makers, after launching a lawsuit against Universal Studios for allegedly stealing their ideas with plans for a supposedly similar new movie.

According to The Hollywood Reporter MGM-Danjaq are suing Universal claiming that its new movie Section 6 copies ideas from the Bond franchise. Universal had attempted to dismiss the lawsuit, claiming that MGM-Danjaq were attempting to scare away any Bond rivals. Universal also said that Section 6 was being revised and that the film hadn’t even officially been given the go-ahead.

But, in a new brief filed in the US District Court in Los Angeles, MGM-Danjaq have reproduced scriptwriter Aaron Berg’s script for the film, highlighting areas they contend “directly infringes” the James Bond copyright.

The brief claims Berg was paid $1 million (£590,000) for his script, stating: “It would be contrary to industry practice and make no sense to pay anything close to that amount” for a script unless it was likely to be used. Universal say they have given assurances that Section 6 won’t infringe MGM-Danjaq’s copyright. The hearing is due to take place on July 28.

MGM, which also owns the rights to The Hobbit, has begun producing the 24th Bond film. It will again star Daniel Craig and be directed by Sam Mendes, who helmed 2012’s Skyfall. Penelope Cruz is rumoured to be playing Bond’s love interest, though her agents have so far denied this.

2017: GQ proposes Bourne better than Bond.

Why Bourne is better than Bond

See the complete article here:

https://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/article/bourne-vs-bond

By Helen O Hara
27 July 2016

James Bond is a right-wing imperialist but Jason Bourne is a thorn to his masters’s foot. Isn’t that worth cheering?

This week sees the return of Jason Bourne to cinemas, and thank goodness. After last year’s ridiculous, overblown Spectre, we need Matt Damon and director Paul Greengrass’ particular brand of spy story back in cinemas. Because while James Bond has been around a little longer, Jason Bourne’s cinematic outings have been better on average and far more politically daring.

The fact is that Bourne is a superior character to Bond. He’s a better spy, for those of you who care about the thriller aspect to these films. Bourne wears carefully generic clothes, disappears in a crowd and lives under the radar for long periods with great success. He doesn’t, say, pause in Tangiers to pick up some designer duds before buying first-class train tickets to go visit his supervillain opponent, as Bond did in Spectre. He has multiple identities and uses them, rather than announcing himself publicly anyplace that sells a vodka martini. Bourne is capable of honest-to-goodness sneakiness.

He’s also a better person. He’s a one-woman sort of guy, who settled down with Bourne Identity’s Marie (Franke Potente) and has remained apparently single since she was killed in action. Women are not disposable, as in Bond; even supporting characters like Julia Stiles’ analyst or Joan Allen’s CIA director keep cropping up in repeated films. Only Judi Dench’s M had the same distinction in the Bond series, and of course she died for her trouble. Bourne doesn’t quip over the bodies of his foes, like the sociopathic Bond. Most importantly, Bourne is tormented by his own dark past – and in The Bourne Supremacy (the best of the series) his entire drive is not towards his enemies, but towards a woman he wronged, and to whom he wishes to offer some sort of restitution. Now that’s a value worth celebrating.

Fans love the fantasy element to Bond, what with the cars and the money and the girls and the gambling and the travel and the gadgets and the power – but the obsession with those things makes him a terrible human being. It’s no coincidence that the most lauded recent Bond movies were reinventions with more than a dash of Bourne: since Casino Royale, they’ve borrowed everything from Greengrass’ shaky-cam action style to Bourne stunt coordinator Dan Bradley to a sudden willingness to pause the action for moments of introspection. But even Daniel Craig’s Bond couldn’t keep it low-key for long, so soon he was back to normal, wearing suits that cost as much as your car and driving cars that cost as much as your house. Craig hasn’t had to contend with a double-taking pigeon yet like Roger Moore, but it’s only a matter of time in Bond’s boom-and-bust cycle between ridiculous overstatement and (temporary, always temporary) seriousness of purpose.

Even when Bond is at his grittiest and Bourne at his silliest (cough cough Legacy – even if Damon didn’t appear) there will always be a gulf between the characters. Bond is obsessed with fitting in, with being a part of the system. He moves in corridors of power, he poses on rooftops in Whitehall and appears before Parliament. Paul Greengrass once described him as an “right-wing imperialist”, and no matter how the incarnations twist to show a more human side, that’s what he remains. Bourne, however, is a thorn to his masters’s foot and a bramble to his hand, more likely to uncover dirty tricks than carry them out anymore. And in these days of all days, isn’t that worth cheering?

2017: GQ reports a shortlist of directors for BOND 25, specifically Denis Villeneuve, David MacKenzie, Yann Demange.

The Next James Bond Movie Now Has 3 Possible Directors

See the complete article here:

https://www.gq.com.au/entertainment/film-tv/the-next-james-bond-movie-now-has-3-possible-directors/news-story/399a15b6435e6a021bec416741a14273

Scott Melsow | 27 July 2017

And their renditions of Daniel Craig's last mission as
007 could all look very different.

We compare the three directors that have reportedly been
shortlisted to carry this 007 over the finish line.

Earlier this week, Sony announced that the next James Bond movie will arrive in theaters on November 8, 2019. It’s not much to go on—the announcement didn’t include the director, the title, or even the actor who will play 007. But it is a ticking clock—and as James Bond himself would tell you, you don't want to run out of time on one of those.

Fortunately, details on the as-yet-untitled Bond 25 are already trickling in.

Deadline reports that Craig will likely return to play Bond one more time. (The report also suggests that after the Daniel Craig era ends, the next 007 reboot might be spearheaded by Christopher Nolan or Edgar Wright, which is damn interesting.)

For now, however, it looks like Bond 25 will be one last outing for Craig. And three directors have reportedly been shortlisted to carry this 007 over the finish line: Denis Villeneuve, David MacKenzie, and Yann Demange. Let’s take a look at each of them.

Denis Villeneuve
What you know him from: Prisoners, Sicario, Arrival
https://youtu.be/3_T6vZ8HxbA

Denis Villeneuve is turning out to be one of the most in-demand directors in Hollywood. Last year, Arrival scored Villeneuve his first Oscar nominations for both Best Director and Best Picture. In October, his Blade Runner 2049 will serve as a belated sequel to one of the most acclaimed sci-fi movies in history. And then there are the persistent reports about Villeneuve helming a new adaptation of Dune, which is based on one of the most acclaimed sci-fi novels in history.

So it’s no surprise that Villeneuve is on a shortlist of directors who might be able to breathe some new life into Craig’s 007. The bigger question is when he’d find the time to do it.

What his Bond 25 might look like: Foggy, morally ambiguous, kickass score. James Bond fights a giant spider.

David MacKenzie
What you know him from: Starred Up, Hell or High Water
https://youtu.be/J2SsOOkdIrE

Like Villeneuve, MacKenzie’s star rose just last year, when his Hell or High Water scored a dark-horse Best Picture nomination at the Oscars. And though MacKenzie’s directing credits stretch back for more than a decade, it’s the feature he did before Hell or High Water that might be the biggest litmus test for what his 007 could look like: Starred Up, a smart and brutal U.K. prison drama.

What his Bond 25 might look like: Rural, physical, disproportionate number of mustaches.

Yann Demange
What you know him from: Dead Set, ’71
https://youtu.be/Qyzj6gsg1Z8

Yann Demange has the lowest profile of the directors rumored to be taking over the 007 franchise, but Variety reports that he’s currently the frontrunner for the job.

The Paris-born Demange helmed every episode of Dead Set—a clever mashup of Big Brother and zombie horror, created by Charlie Brooker of Black Mirror fame—and ’71, a tense war thriller about a British soldier who ends up separated from the rest of his troop during a riot in Belfast.

Unfortunately, ’71 is Demange’s only feature to date, so we don’t have a lot to go on—but next January sees the release of his crime drama White Boy Rick, which stars an ensemble cast that includes Matthew McConaughey, Jennifer Jason Leigh, and Bruce Dern.

What his Bond 25 might look like: Tense, darkly lit, full of actual espionage

--

2022: News outlets report actress Jane Seymour says she'd play Solitaire again.

Jane Seymour ‘very open’ to reprising
Solitaire from ‘Live and Let Die’

See the complete article here:

https://bhaskarlive.in/jane-seymour-very-open-to-reprising-solitaire-from-live-and-let-die/

July 27, 2022

Los Angeles, July 26 (IANS) Primetime Emmy and Golden Globe-winning television and film star Jane Seymour, while promoting her partnership with the free-to-play Solitaire app, said she’d be happy to reprise her role in the 1973 James Bond movie, “Live and Let Die”.

“Of course, I’d do it,” Seymour told People.com. The character she played, incidentally, was named Solitaire, a psychic who’s also Bond’s love interest.

“I’ve always been very open about saying that I’d be happy to just walk behind the scene and someone could go, ‘Is that Solitaire?’,” Seymour added.

The actress was new to the industry when she played the Bond Girl character in the franchise’s eighth flick back in 1973, notes People.com.

Also known as Simone Latrelle, Solitaire was a voodoo psychic medium and associate of Bond’s foe, Dr. Kananga, played by Yaphet Kotto. The high-profile role helped launch Seymour into the spotlight.

The former “Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman” star admits that she was so young she didn’t know what to expect. “I was 20 years old when I shot the James Bond film and I had no idea what was going on,” the mom of four said, according to People.com.

More than half-a-century later, Seymour, who’s now also an entrepreneur and author, remains proud to be among an elite group of women who have played Bond Girls, from Ursula Andress to Teri Hatcher to Halle Berry.

“I support everything to do with the Bond franchise,” Seymour said. “When they have books coming out about Bond Girls or podcasts or whatever it is, I always show up.”

She added: “There’s this really interesting sorority of women who’ve been Bond Girls, which is fun in its own right.”

Seymour spends her days out in California, with her family, and said that she is choosier with the roles she takes on — albeit with no plans of slowing down anytime soon.

“I wouldn’t even know what retiring is because I don’t consider what I’m doing half of the time working,” Seymour said. “I love what I do.”

–IANS
dc/srb

RichardTheBruce

July 28th

1964: The Goldfinger production's last day for Honor Blackman includes publicity shots, dialogue recording.

1977: The New York Times prints Janet Maslin's film review "'Spy Who Loved' A Bit Long on Bond".

'Spy Who Loved' A Bit Long on Bond

See the complete article here:

By Janet Maslin | July 28, 1977

Credit...The New York Times Archives
See the article in its original context

DURING THE COURSE OF "The Spy Who Loved Me," James
Bond vanquishes an amphibious building that looks like a giant
spider, a 7 foot 2 inch villain with metal fangs, hundreds of hapless
extras and one very beautiful broad, but he hardly ever comes to
grips with his most insidious adversary, the James Bond
formula.The same conventions that have provided 10 Bond movies
with their patent pizazz also serve as a straitjacket, and these days
a Bond film is interesting only insofar as it quietly subverts the
series' old tricks. Happily, "The Spy Who Loved Me" has its share
of self-mockery—not enough for a full-scale send-up, but enough to
give shopworn old 007 a shot in the arm.The motivating sentiment
behind the Bond movies has always been envy: the viewer, poor
slob, is expected to covet Bond's women, admire his elaborate
playthings and marvel at his ability to chase through the desert in
evening clothes without getting dusty. Fifteen years ago, at the
time of "Dr. No," this sort of thing was a great deal more effective
than it is today, because the notion was new and the gadgets could
be genuinely dazzling. But by now Bond fans have seen so many
fast cars and floozies come and go that they may be almost as
jaded as James himself.Almost, but not quite: Roger Moore is so
enjoyably unflappable that you sometimes have to look closely to
make sure he's still breathing. Presented with a fabulous new
white Lotus, he drives off impatiently without even examining the
car's special accessories (as it turns out, the Lotus can swim).
Seduced by a conniving cutie, he looks desperately bored. Mr.
Moore has the anonymous aplomb of a male model—appropriate,
because the film is littered with trademark-bearing merchandise —
and he seems incapable of bringing much individualized zest to the
role. But his exaggerated composure amounts to a kind of
backhanded liveliness. Though Mr. Moore doesn't compromise the
character, he makes it amusingly clear that hedonism isn't all it's
cracked up to be.The plot this time, which bears no resemblance to
that of Ian Fleming's novel, features Curt Jurgens as a shipping
magnate determined to destroy the world and Barbara Bach as a
Rusian agent who grudgingly joins forces with Bond to pole-ax this
scheme. Miss Bach is spectacular but a little dim, even by Bond
standards; certainly she makes no sense as a master spy who is
almost (but not quite) as ingenious as 007 himself.In all fairness,
Miss Bach's is an impossible role: Beauty and brains needn't be
incompatible, but maintaining the requisite level of pulchritude of a
Bond heroine is such a full-time job that it precludes any other
work more strenuous than, say, watching Bond sip his very dry
martini (shaken, not stirred).The film moves along at a serviceable
clip, but it seems half an hour too long, thanks to the obligatory
shoot-'em-up conclusion, filmed on the largest sound-stage in the
world, but nevertheless the dullest sequence here. Bond's final
blowout, however lavishly produced, has long since gotten to be old
hat, and besides, it's the attention to smaller details that has helped
the series maintain its high gloss.The theme song, sung by Carly
Simon, ranks with Paul McCartney's theme from "Live and Let
Die" as one of the most delightful surprises the series has had to
offer—even if it is accompanied by footage of a naked woman, in
silhouette, doing silly calisthenics on the barrel of an enormous
gun."The Spy Who Loved Me" has a PG ("Parental Guidance
Suggested") rating even though Bond indulges in his favorite
means of exercise a little more listlessly than usual. A number of
extras are gunned down almost bloodlessly, and arch-villain Curt
Jurgens feeds his secretary to a shark.

007 Paraphernalia

THE SPY WHO LOVED ME, directed by Lewis Gilbert;
screenplay by Christopher Wood and Richard Malbaum; director
of photography, Claude Renoir; film editor, John Glen; music by
Marvin Hamlisch; produced by Albert R. Broccoll; released by
United Artists. At Loews State I, Cine, Columbia I and other
theaters. Running time: 125 minutes. This film is rated PG.James
Bond . . . . . Roger Moore
Mal. Anya Amasova . . . . . Barbara Bach
Stromberg . . . . . Curt Jurgens
Jaws . . . . . Richard Kiel
Naomi . . . . . Caroline Munro
General Gogil . . . . . Walter Gotell
Minister of Defense . . . . . Geoffrey Keen
"M" . . . . . Bernard Lee
Captain Benson . . . . . George Baker

A version of this article appears in print on July 28, 1977 of the National edition with the headline: 'Spy Who Loved' A Bit Long on Bond.

1978: 007 ja Kultasormi (007 and Goldfinger; or Swedish 007 och Guldfinger) re-released in Finland.

Swedish

1989: The Palm Beach Post prints "Bond Violence Gets Artistic 'Licence.'"

MOVIE NOTES
Bond violence gets artistic 'Licence'

See the complete article here:

https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/132535356/

Lots of critics took shots at the latest James Bond picture, Licence to Kill, for its violence. We counted some 22 visibly dead on screen, some in pretty gruesome fashion. There is death by electric eel, shark and hungry maggots. One bad guy is decompressurized. Another is sent via conveyor belt to some sharp-edged machinery. There is an impaling and an incineration, along with your more traditional shootings, stranglings and falls from planes.

So how did all this manage a PG-13? Richard Heffner, chairman of the MPAA ratings board, would only respond: "The rating reflects the majority opinion of the board . . . Our decisions aren't made by doing a body count." By the way, Heffner said, it has been an "established tradition" for United Artists to fly several MPAA board members first class to London to view and rate the Bond films. But this year, they saw Licence to Kill in the States.

Meanwhile, Licence to Kill is out as a graphic novel. But don't look for Timothy Dalton as a new comic book character. The English star known before Bond for more dignified roles has refused to allow his likeness to be licensed in the just-out book from Eclipse Comics.

1989: The Christian Science Monitor reports on film smoking and product placement and Bond.

Tobacco's Cloudy Image on The Silver Screen

See the complete article here:

https://www.csmonitor.com/1989/0728/ebond.html

July 28, 1989 | By Carol Bergman Carol Bergman, a free-lance journalist specializing in media subjects, is a member of the Media Studies Faculty at The New School for Social Research in New York City.

There is no greater promotional value - short of a direct endorsement - than having a major motion picture star use a product in a big budget film. - Robert H. Kovoloff, President, Associated Film Promotions.

A NEW James Bond movie, "Licence to Kill,'' has just been released in the United States. Featured prominently in the film - in one instance clearly centered in the frame as a bomb that is about to explode - is a package of Lark cigarettes, manufactured and marketed in Japan but owned jointly by Philip Morris and The Liggett Group, two of the six American cigarette manufacturers. The producers have added a Surgeon General's warning to the end of the film but most of the audience has gone home by the time it rolls by.

For the privilege of placing their product in the movie, to appear in clear association with the James Bond character, who lights up twice during the film and whose glamourous lover according to the script has gone back to smoking after five years, Philip Morris and The Liggett Group contributed to the production and promotional costs of "Licence to Kill'' with a precedent-setting sum of $350,000.

Philip Morris and Liggett are also "tying-in'' the promotion of "Licence to Kill'' with the promotion of Lark cigarettes. Although Larks are not sold in this country, and the back-end promotion will be handled by a Japanese advertising agency, it cannot have escaped the companies' notice that "License to Kill'' will ultimately conclude its economic journey on American and many other nations' television, as well as on video-cassettes around the world.

The continuing and pervasive presence of cigarettes and smoking in clear association with movie heroes and heroines insures that the image of the smoker will not atrophy. It is a deliberate corporate strategy. And because the advertising is embedded neatly in the movie without any statement except in small credits at the end of the film, the audience will remain unaware that it has been targeted by an ad agency. Whether such embedded cigarette advertising in motion pictures, many of which are ultimately screened on television which has its own set of regulations, is a violation of the 1970 broadcast ban and the Cigarette Advertising and Labeling act will be determined by the courts.

"This can be one of the most insidious forms of advertising because people aren't informed that it is advertising,'' explains Charles Mitchell, staff attorney for Center for Science in the Public Interest, a consumer advocacy group that recently filed a petition concerning product placement in motion pictures that appear on television with the Federal Communications Commission."When a cigarette or alcoholic beverage company pays or gives some other kind of consideration to people making the film, that film is probably not going to show the terrible harm that cigarettes and alcohol can do to people.''

The deal between Liggett, Philip Morris, and the producers of "Licence to Kill,'' came to light in January when Congressman Tom Luken (D) of Ohio, chairman of the House Subcommittee on Transportation and Hazardous Materials, wrote to cigarette manufacturers requesting disclosure of their Hollywood tie-ins.

Philip Morris acknowledged its involvement with the new James Bond film and also eventually admitted paying $42,500 to have Marlboro cigarettes appear in "Superman II.'' In that film heroine Lois Lane smokes Marlboro cigarettes and, in the center of the movie, a battle between Superman and his evil compatriots takes place in a forest of Marlboro billboards and trucks. As Philip Morris has admitted, none of this happened by accident.

"We've also heard allegations that not only do [cigarette manufacturers] do specific placement in the sense of a particular brand,'' says an aide to Congressman Luken, "they also pay to get general smoking scenes, particularly on television programs.''

Although in many films cigarette smoking could be considered an integral part of character development or period ambience, it is equally true that in many instances cigarette smoking seems inappropriate, extraneous, or excessive. Sometimes, in fact, a brand name is not even visible in the film. What is glaringly apparent, however, is the extent to which smoking in general is evident.

A watchdog group - Stop Teenage Addiction to Tobacco (STAT) - has been monitoring cigarette placement in movies for several years. A recent newsletter states: "We believe that when movie producers accept tobacco company money, part of the deal is that they include scenes in which smoking appears in a positive light. In almost every movie in which embedded cigarette advertising appears, one or more of the leading characters smoke in a highly glamorized fashion.'' Such glamorization appeals particularly to teenagers who comprise more than 40 percent of moviegoers. In a health conscious America, the greatest threat to cigarette manufacturers is loss of new smokers through attrition.

STAT has compiled a list of movies containing cigarette product placement as well as a glamorized smoking ambience. The list is formidable and diverse. It includes such films as "Who Framed Roger Rabbit, "Crimes of the Heart,'' "Risky Business,'' "Crocodile Dundee,'' "Desperately Seeking Susan,'' and "Batteries Not Included.'' In "Batteries Not Included,'' for example, not only is there a Salem billboard prominently displayed, but the two main characters both smoke. "In one of the cutest scenes,'' states the STAT newsletter, ``an adorable little spaceship flicks a built-in cigarette lighter to fire-up the elderly gentleman's cigar.''

Despite a preponderance of on-screen evidence to the contrary, only one of the five other cigarette manufacturers wrote back to Congressman Luken affirming past payments to film production companies. In his letter to Attorney General Richard Thornburgh requesting an investigation of possible criminal violation of the Federal Cigarette Advertising and Labeling Act, Luken cites the delayed response he received from Philip Morris, and a letter from the Liggett Group which confirmed that in 1983 it had paid $30,000 to have its Eve cigarette appear in "Supergirl.''

But none of the other companies, as yet, have owned up.

Facing investigation from Luken's committee, the Federal Communications Commission, and the US Attorney General, Hollywood producers, as well as the cigarette manufacturers, have closed ranks against prying reporters sniffing a story as big as the payola scandals of the early 1960s. When questioned about their dealings with the tobacco industry, two prominent product placement companies, Marvin Cohen & Associates and Wills & Evans Sponsorship Group, claimed that they also "don't do it.''

"Quite frankly, any tobacco placement in films in the past few years have been very negligible,'' says Marvin Cohen, whose company is hired by the studios rather than the corporate clients. "It's rare that any tobacco is actually I.D'd [identified] on the screen. (A) It's a very small package, and (B) normally it occurs in a darkened room and the actor or actress' hand encompasses the package itself.''

"Do you deal with the tobacco companies?'' a reporter asked Norm Marshall who is affiliated with the Wills & Evans Sponsorship Group. "No. Let me qualify that. One of our clients is Miller which is owned by Philip Morris. We do not deal with Philip Morris directly. I can tell you that there really aren't any [product placement companies] that do.''

If the product placement companies aren't doing it and only two of the six cigarette manufacturers say they are doing it, what gives? Allegations abound. It has been suggested that in view of all the money "out there,'' producers are instructing writers to include smoking characters. Or that producers are encouraging directors to ask the characters to smoke. Or that set decorators and property masters, the people who deal with the day-to-day, hands-on business of getting props on the set and into the hands of unwitting actors, are cutting their own deals with cigarette manufacturers. Absolutely anything is possible in the city of dreams where blockbuster film production is a very expensive proposition.

Nonetheless, $350,000 is a goodly sum to add to the production and promotion budget of a movie by any standards, even those of the product placement companies who have been in the business for a long time and state that $30,000-$50,000 is the usual range paid. The high price paid for the Lark placement and back-end promotion in "Licence to Kill'' is indicative of the mood of the cigarette manufacturers as they seek new and imaginative means of capturing the next generation of would-be smokers. It is this teen market which may further elude them if a print media ad ban is accomplished within the next few years. Product placement in motion pictures is good insurance against such an eventuality.

Timothy Dalton James Bond 007 Lark Cigarette Advert.

1991: The New York Times prints " 'Casino Royale' Is an LP Bond With a Gilt Edge" by Richard Panek.

'Casino Royale' Is an LP Bond With a Gilt Edge

See the complete article here:

https://www.nytimes.com/1991/07/28/movies/casino-royale-is-an-lp-bond-with-a-gilt-edge.html

By Richard Panek | July 28, 1991

As vinyl verges on extinction, one album has emerged as the prime specimen of the species. Of all the millions of recordings released in the 114 years since Thomas Edison asked, "What hath God wrought?" this album has come closest to achieving the potential of a vanishing medium. It represents "the paradigm," says one audiophile, "the paramount, if you will."

It is . . . the original soundtrack of the 1967 movie "Casino Royale."

This unlikely choice -- a jaunty Burt Bacharach score for a James Bond spoof -- makes sense only if one disregards traditional criteria for liking an album. Collectors of "Casino Royale" aren't necessarily interested in the music. "Some people enjoy it," says one rare-record dealer, shrugging. "Some people can't stand it."

What interests audiophiles is the quality of sound. They swap stories about the legendary recording session in London, spend hundreds of dollars for a pristine copy if and when they can find one, and then, like oenophiles who wouldn't dream of opening a 1945 Lafite-Rothschild, often refuse to listen to it. So volatile is the market for this LP that any nugget of news that enhances its considerable mystique can affect the price -- and some significant new information, about the deteriorating condition of the master tape, indicates that the price is about to rise dramatically.

The "Casino Royale" movie is memorable mostly as an artifact of its era. The producer, Charles K. Feldman, who had bought the rights to Ian Fleming's first James Bond novel before the movie series became a hit, conceived of "Casino Royale" as the film that would out-Bond Bond. He threw $12 million, five credited directors and a host of uncredited screenwriters at the material. He assembled a cast that included Peter Sellers, David Niven and Woody Allen -- but not Sean Connery -- as only three of the movie's various James Bonds. And he hired the hottest movie composer of the time, Mr. Bacharach, who in turn enlisted Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass to play the title cut.

The soundtrack, like everything else about the movie, was over the top. "The legend is that the original master tape had 'mad' levels on it," says Harry Pearson, editor and publisher of the audiophile bible Absolute Sound and, by general consensus, the person most responsible for creating the "Casino Royale" cult.

Mr. Pearson explains that a sound engineer usually adjusts recording levels so that when musicians are playing their loudest, the meters on the console reach zero. "Once the meters pass zero, it means that you're saturating the tape and running the risk of distortion," he says. "On 'Casino,' they used a supposedly very fancy grade of tape, and the engineers really pushed it, so the meters were typically running deep into the red -- plus one, plus two, plus three, plus four." As a result, he says, the record has an "extremely wide dynamic range" -- higher highs and lower lows.

"They weren't afraid to push the medium to the limits of the recording process," Mr. Pearson adds. "It can lead to disaster, but in the case of 'Casino,' it doesn't. There's no saturation, no distortion. The record is as clean as a whistle."

For this reason, ever since the album's release, audiophiles have valued "Casino Royale" as a test for stereo equipment. "The better your system gets," says Mr. Pearson, "the more you get out of that album."

"The Look of Love" provides several such tests. Dusty Springfield recorded her vocal in a "tiny isolation booth, so on a really good system, you can hear her voice emerging from what sounds like a little hole in space," Mr. Pearson says. "She's not part of of the general orchestral acoustic, and once your system gets to a certain point, you can hear that."

The song also features a sudden saxophone dip and rise that, on less sophisticated equipment, sounds like two or three distinct instruments, and a serrated gourd called a guirot, whose every notch will sound, under ideal conditions, Mr. Pearson says, "like a tooth on a comb. A normal sound system simply can't reproduce this series of very quick transients" -- stiff sound waves -- "at a very soft level. Just cannot do it."

Mr. Pearson founded the Absolute Sound in 1973 when he was still an environmental reporter for Newsday, and he tries to apply objective reporting to the subjective experience of listening to music. "Whenever we get a piece of equipment that we think is setting new records," he says, "out comes 'Casino.' "

Mr. Pearson has often cited the record in the Absolute Sound, which has a circulation of 35,000. It is these references that have contributed to the soundtrack's cult status. Other albums are rarer than "Casino Royale," with prices as high as $10,000, and even Mr. Pearson has to admit that "there are better-sounding records. But I don't think there's one quite as useful overall."

Today a pristine copy of "Casino Royale" can fetch upwards of $400. "I've seen scratched-up copies go for $100 to $125," says Ron Saja, manager of Footlight Records, a Manhattan rare-record store that specializes in movie and stage recordings. Footlight has sold "Casino Royale" for as much as $195, though the current price would be $150 -- if the shop had one in stock. "Amazing," Mr. Bacharach said when he heard how valuable "Casino Royale" has become, in an interview with the Absolute Sound several years ago. "I don't even have a copy."

Collectors, however, take pride in buying copies for a song. Frank Doris, technical director for the Absolute Sound, remembers finding his first "Casino" in a bin at a record convention. "Eighteen dollars!" he shouted, losing his collector's cool. To which the unwitting dealer replied, "And not a penny less!"

Those who appreciate the music of "Casino Royale" but don't have the luck or the cash to buy the album can take solace from the recent release of the soundtrack on compact disk (Varese Sarabande VSD-5265). Tom Null, the label's executive vice-president and supervisor of the CD release, has his own "Casino Royale" story: used-record store, five years ago, two bucks. Even so, Mr. Null says, Varese Sarabande didn't send out advance copies of the CD for review "because the preconceived, closed minds of audiophiles made it a foregone lost battle. I knew they're going to say" -- here he slows his voice to an academic drone and repeats a frequent criticism of compact disks in general -- 'The digital transfer added a brightness to the treble.' "

The problem, he says, was with the master tape -- the one audiophiles have spun legends around for decades. Mr. Null knows all the legends, too, and he says he was as surprised as anyone when he played the tape and heard "a certain brightness."

"Vinyl masked and rounded off the brightness," he says. So for the CD transfer he had to choose between being faithful to the master tape and risking the wrath of audiophiles, or masking the treble and misrepresenting the music.

"I said, 'Better to be faithful,' " he says. Mr. Null calls the CD "a tiny bit too bright," but he says the sound is "exactly as the producers mixed it onto the tape."

Whatever its merits, the CD release has sparked a new "Casino Royale" legend only now starting to make the rounds -- that Varese Sarabande inadvertently destroyed the master tape during the transfer. Mr. Null has heard that rumor, too, and he attributes it to a loss of iron oxide that is inevitable when rewinding analog tapes, especially at high speeds. "It might have been done better" using a slower, more expensive process, he says, but he adds, "The significance would have been if there had been a way to avoid it."

In any event, he continues, the master tape had suffered damage even before Varese Sarabande licensed it -- a similar loss of iron oxide, apparently during an earlier transfer for a foreign pressing. Mr. Null says he located and listened to a copy of that record, and the damage was already evident -- barely audible, but unmistakable.

For audiophiles, this effectively ends speculation about a reissue of the LP. Mr. Pearson, for one, had once fantasized about reissuing "Casino Royale" on vinyl as a benefit for the Absolute Sound.

"As soon as this gets around," says Mr. Doris, technical director of the Absolute Sound, "you know what's going to happen to the price of the records."

Mr. Pearson laughs at first, but then he sobers.

"The vinyl they used in those days is pretty good, so copies, with a little bit of care -- a record-cleaning machine, a properly tracking stylus -- should last. I mean, longer than the average thing.

"But now," he says, "once they're gone, they're gone."

Correction: Aug. 11, 1991
An article in the Arts and Leisure section on July 28 about the soundtrack recording of "Casino Royale" misstated the first words recorded by Thomas A. Edison for a phonograph. They were, "Mary had a little lamb." The question "What hath God wrought?" was the first message tapped out by Samuel F. B. Morse on the telegraph.
A version of this article appears in print on July 28, 1991
, Section 2, Page 15 of the National edition with the headline: 'Casino Royale' Is an LP Bond With a Gilt Edge. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe

2007: Female First reports Chris Cornell almost turned down the Bond theme opportunity.

Chris Cornell: 'i Almost Turned Down Bond Theme'.

See the complete article here:

https://www.femalefirst.co.uk/movies/movie-news/James+Bond-21140.html

28 July 2006

Chris Cornell: 'i Almost Turned Down Bond Theme'.... Chris Cornell almost turned down the chance to record the new James Bond film's theme song, because he disliked Pierce Brosnan's recent 007 movies. The Audioslave frontman's You Know My Name has been selected for the soundtrack of Casino Royale. But Cornell only agreed to compose the track once he had watched a rough edit of the upcoming Daniel Craig-starring movie.

He tells VH1, "I wasn't really sure about doing a Bond theme, because I wasn't really a big fan of the last several movies.

"And then I heard that there was going to be a new guy - Daniel Craig - who was going to play Bond. And he's so different. I have seen him in several movies, and I was kind of intrigued.

"So I went to Prague (in Czech Republic), where they were shooting the movie, and they showed me a rough edit of it. I was just completely blown away by it, because it's unlike any Bond film ever, really.

"Craig is an actor's actor, and there's emotional content to the movie. He's not like the swaggering, winking sort of super-agent guy. He's like a human being in this movie, and it's going to completely readjust the way people think of the character".

2012: William F. Milliken, Jr. dies at age 101--Williamsville, New York.
(Born 18 April 1911--Old Town, Maine.)

Milliken won renown as an engineer and pilot

See the complete article here:

https://www.bendbulletin.com/localstate/milliken-won-renown-as-an-engineer-and-pilot/article_c20e7b68-29ab-5f0d-bcea-8aa7e45b273f.html

T. Rees Shapiro / The Washington Post | Aug 3, 2012 Updated Jan 31, 2020

William F. Milliken Jr., a renowned aeronautical engineer, pilot and road racer who helped dream up a car-flying James Bond movie stunt, died July 28 at his home in Williamsville, N.Y. He was 101.

As an engineer for Boeing during World War II, Milliken conducted perilous high-altitude flight tests aboard the B-17 bomber and also helped develop the B-29, later used to drop the atomic bombs over Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Later, he became one of the world’s foremost researchers on vehicle dynamics, the study of improving how a car handles on the road by using advanced mathematical calculations.

He wrote a book on vehicle dynamics that is considered the bible of Formula 1 race car design, and he was a consulting engineer to General Motors, Rolls-Royce, Ford, Bridgestone and Goodyear.

One of his successes in high-speed car driving was his role helping to design a stunt for the 1974 James Bond film starring Roger Moore, The Man With the Golden Gun.

For many years, Milliken worked as a senior engineer at the Cornell Aeronautical Laboratory in Buffalo, N.Y. In the late 1960s, some of the more imaginative scientists under his purview began running computer experiments on how to flip a car in midair using ramps.

The researchers, using complex mathematical calculations, proved it was possible and invited a test driver to try it out. The resulting barrel-roll move was employed by Moore’s 007 secret agent during a car chase scene filmed in Thailand in a single take.

Simanaitas Says

MILLIKEN M-1 TAKES TO THE (VIRTUAL) AIR

See the complete article here:

https://simanaitissays.com/2012/09/04/milliken-m_1-takes-to-the-virtual-air/

BILL MILLIKEN built and flew his own airplane. Maybe that’s not so remarkable, but he was a college student at the time and the year was 1933.

William F. Milliken interview at EAA 2006 - Part 1 - Meeting Charles Lindbergh


William F. Milliken interview at EAA 2006 - Part 2 - First airplane

2023: Shaken, Not Stirred at The Martini Bar, The Ocean Club, A Four Seasons Resort, The Bahamas.

Shaken, Not
Stirred at The
Martini Bar

See the complete article here:

https://www.bahamas.com/es/events/shaken-not-stirred-at-the-martini-bar

28 Jul, 2023
The Ocean Club, A Four Seasons Resort
Añadir al calendario

A nod to its glamorous and star-studded legacy, The Martini Bar at The Ocean Club, A Four Seasons Resort, Bahamas has launched a new and decadent mixology and culinary experience.

The Martini Bar is known best as the backdrop for the 2006 remake of the Casino Royale film where James Bond can be seen sipping his famous Vesper Martini. This limited seat Living Room Bar transports guests into the scenes of their very own movie.

Whether sipping on a classic Vesper Martini or indulging in the new ultra-luxe Caviar Martini, it’s an unforgettable experience. While cocktails are the heart of The Martini Bar signature experience, new unique culinary creations are presented with suggested Martini pairings.

The Martini Bar and Lounge is open every Friday and Saturday from 6:00 pm to 10:00 pm. Reservations can be made by calling the Resort at +1-242-363-2501.

RichardTheBruce

July 29th

1953: Ian Fleming responds to publisher Jonathan Cape's comments on American publisher Macmillan.

'Yes, the royalties accepted from Macmillans were very modest
but then they have given me a present of $750 which is
rather more, I guess, than I shall recoup on the English
edition. If it is a success in America you will be surprised
how tough I shall be over "Live and Let Die"!'

1965: El regreso del agente 007 (The Return of Agent 007) released in Mexico.

1966: Sean Connery photographed on location in Tokyo during You Only Live Twice filming.

1967: Official statement says Sean Connery is leaving the OO7 role.

1982: Harold Sakata (Tosh Togo) dies at age 62--Honolulu, Hawaii.
(Born 1 July 1920--Holualoa, Hawaii.)

Archives | 1982

HAROLD T. SAKATA

See the complete article here:

https://www.nytimes.com/1982/07/31/obituaries/harold-t-sakata.html

AP JULY 31, 1982

Harold T. Sakata, an actor best known for his sinister characterization of the killer bodyguard Oddjob in the James Bond movie ''Goldfinger,'' died Thursday. He was 62 years old.[/b]
Mr. Sakata, who won an Olympic silver medal in London in 1948 for weightlifting, was a top-card professional wrestler under the name Tosh Togo before achieving fame as an actor.

The eldest of 10 children born on Hawaii Island, Mr. Sakata worked in the plantation fields and as a stevedore when he was young. He never finished high school.

In the early 1960's, the producer Harry Saltzman and the director Guy Hamilton discovered Mr. Sakata when they saw him wrestling on television in London.

Mr. Sakata also appeared in a series of cold-remedy commercials for national television, in the television series ''Sarge,'' and as a guest on such shows as ''Hawaii Five-O'' and ''Police Woman.''

Harold Sakata (1920–1982)

Actor
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0757138/?ref_=nv_sr_1?ref_=nv_sr_1

Filmography

Actor (32 credits)

1982 Invaders of the Lost Gold - Tobachi
1982 Ninja Strikes Back - Sakata
1981 The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo (TV Series) - Ku Long
- The Roller Disco Karate Kaper (1981) ... Ku Long

1979 Highcliffe Manor (TV Series) - Cheng
- Stark Terror (1979) ... Cheng
- Sex & Violence (1979) ... Cheng
- The Blacke Death (1979) ... Cheng
1979 The Billion Dollar Threat (TV Movie) - Oriental Man
1978 Goin' Coconuts - Ito
1978 Death Dimension - The Pig (as Harold 'Odd Job' Sakata)
1978 The Amazing Spider-Man (TV Series) - Matsu
- Escort to Danger (1978) ... Matsu
1978 The Rockford Files (TV Series) - John Doe
- The Competitive Edge (1978) ... John Doe
1978 Police Woman (TV Series) - Lee's Killer
- The Human Rights of Tiki Kim (1978) ... Lee's Killer
1977 Quincy M.E. (TV Series) - Master Sensei Tobi
- Touch of Death (1977) ... Master Sensei Tobi
1977 Record City - Gucci
1977 The Happy Hooker Goes to Washington - Wong (as Harold Odd Job Sakata)
1976 Broken House
1976 Mako: The Jaws of Death - Pete (as Harold 'Odd Job' Sakata)
1976 The Blue Knight (TV Series) - Car smasher
- Everybody Needs a Little Attention (1976) ... Car smasher
1974 The Wrestler - Odd Job
1974 Impulse - Karate Pete
1972 Hawaii Five-O (TV Series) - Shibata Hood
- I'm a Family Crook - Don't Shoot! (1972) ... Shibata Hood
1971-1972 Sarge (TV Series) - Takichi / Kenji Takichi / Kenji (9 episodes)
1971 Jamison's Kids (TV Movie)
1971 Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In (TV Series) - Guest Performer
- Episode #5.4 (1971) ... Guest Performer (uncredited)
1970 The Phynx - Oddjob (as Harold 'Oddjob' Sakata)
1967 The Jerry Lewis Show (TV Series) - Assassin
- Episode #1.1 (1967) ... Assassin
1967 Gilligan's Island (TV Series) - Ramoo
- The Hunter (1967) ... Ramoo
1966 Dimension 5 - Big Buddha
1966 Seventeenth Heaven (uncredited)
1966 The Poppy Is Also a Flower - Martin
1966 Balearic Caper - Direttore del museo
1966 4 Schlüssel - Odd Job (uncredited)
1965 Kraft Suspense Theatre (TV Series) - Ching
- Jungle of Fear (1965) ... Ching
1964 Goldfinger - Oddjob (as Harold Sakata {Tosh Togo})

Thanks (1 credit)

1978 Flying High (TV Series) (thanks - 1 episode)
- A Hairy Yak Plays Musical Chairs Eagerly (1978) ... (thanks)

Self (2 credits)

1971 Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In (TV Series) - Himself
- Episode #5.7 (1971) ... Himself (uncredited)
1969-1971 The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (TV Series) - Himself / Himself - Guest
- Episode dated 16 February 1971 (1971) ... Himself
- Episode dated 7 March 1969 (1969) ... Himself - Guest

Archive footage (21 credits)

2015 No Small Parts (TV Series documentary) - Himself
- James Bond Henchmen Part 1: Harold Sakata (2015) ... Himself
2015 Heineken's the Chase (Short) - Oddjob
2012 Top Gear (TV Series) - Odd Job
- 50 Years of Bond Cars (2012) ... Odd Job (uncredited)
2012 Everything or Nothing (Documentary) - Odd Job (uncredited)

2006 Wetten, dass..? (TV Series) - Oddjob
- Wetten, dass..? aus Düsseldorf (2006) ... Oddjob
2002 Happy Anniversary Mr. Bond (TV Movie documentary) - Oddjob
2002 Best Ever Bond (TV Movie documentary) - Himself (uncredited)
2002 Bond Girls Are Forever (TV Movie documentary) - Oddjob (uncredited)
2000 Harry Saltzman: Showman (Video documentary short) - Himself

1999 And the Word Was Bond (TV Movie documentary) - Himself
1997 The Secrets of 007: The James Bond Files (TV Movie documentary) - Oddjob (uncredited)
1995 Behind the Scenes with 'Goldfinger' (Video documentary short) - Himself / Oddjob
1995 The Goldfinger Phenomenon (Video documentary short) - Himself

1983 Bonds Are Forever (Video documentary) - Oddjob / Himself
1983 James Bond: The First 21 Years (TV Movie documentary) - Oddjob
1982 The 54th Annual Academy Awards (TV Special) - Oddjob (For Your Eyes Only musical segment)

1967 Welcome to Japan, Mr. Bond (TV Movie) - Oddjob
1965 Telescope (TV Series documentary) - Himself
- Licensed to Make a Killing (1965) ... Himself
1965 The Incredible World of James Bond (TV Movie documentary) - Himself
1965 Take Thirty (TV Series) - Himself
- Sean Connery on Being Bond (1965) ... Himself
1964 Goldfinger Original Promotional Featurette (Video short) - Oddjob / Himself

Personal Details

Other Works: TV commercial for Vicks Formula 44 (1964)
Publicity Listings: 1 Portrayal | 4 Articles | See more »
Alternate Names: Harold 'Odd Job' Sakata | Harold 'Oddjob' Sakata | Harold Odd Job Sakata | Tosh Togo | Harold Sakata {Tosh Togo}
Height: 5' 10" (1.78 m)

Trivia (6)

Won a silver medal in light-heavyweight weight-lifting at the 1948 summer Olympics. He pursued a successful career as a professional wrestler before moving into acting.

Weighed 284 lbs at the time of Goldfinger (1964).

Sakata apparently liked his role in the movie Goldfinger (1964) so much that he took "Oddjob" as an informal middle name.

In the rehearsals at the Golf Club where he is to throw his hat at the statue, with the head subsequently falling off, after three attempts the special effects crew could not "arrange" the head to fall off correctly. On the fourth take he told the special effects team to just stand still - then he threw his iron-brimmed hat at the statues neck and successful severed the head at the neck on the "first" attempt - to the amazement of all!.

Father: Tamotsu Sakata.

As a professional wrestler. he was one of the great heels in the ring. On screen he is best remembered for playing "Oddjob" in "Goldfinger" (1964) which is regarded as one of the great villains of the movies. Out of the ring, or off camera, he is remembered as being charming and friendly.

1983: David Niven dies at age 73--Château-d'Œx, Switzerland.
(Born 1 March 1910--Belgravia, London, England.)

Actor David Niven's Dashing Life Ends at 73

https://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/archives/la-me-david-niven-19830730-snap-story.html
By Michael Seiler and Times Staff Writer | Jul 30, 1983 | 12:00 AM

Cary Grant, Loretta Young and David Niven in "The Bishop's Wife." (File photo)

David Niven, whose clipped accent and thin mustache made him the personification of the British gentleman in more than 90 films spread over nearly half a century, died Friday in his mountain chalet in Chateau D'Oex, Switzerland.

Niven was 73 and moved to the Swiss Alps three weeks ago from his home in southern France.

"My uncle died peacefully and without pain," said his nephew Michael Wrangdah. "His last gesture a few minutes before he died had been to give the thumbs-up sign."

The Oscar-winning actor died after a months-long battle with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a debilitating nerve and muscle disorder commonly called Lou Gehrig's disease.

He had lost some of his power of speech and the use of his left hand, his wife told newsmen last March.

To generations of English-speaking peoples he was more than a first-rate film actor. Niven authored several books, including two well-received autobiographical memoirs, "The Moon's a Balloon" and "Bring on the Empty Horses," which confirmed Niven's reputation as a raconteur.

More than that, the books attested to the fact that Niven—a man of considerable charm, wit and sophistication—had an extraordinary life, filled with such entertainment industry giants as Darryl F. Zanuck, Errol Flynn and Humphrey Bogart, and political figures such as Winston Churchill and John F. Kennedy.

James David Graham Niven was born March 1, 1910, in Kirriemuir, Scotland, the son of an army reserve lieutenant who was to die five years later during the World War I Gallipoli campaign.

Niven's widowed, financially strapped mother moved to England and young David bounced around from school to school. He was, quite possibly, "a thoroughly poisonous little boy," Niven said later in explaining his expulsion from one school. He finally ended up at Sandhurst, Britain's equivalent of West Point.

Young Niven's military career was relatively brief and undistinguished. He served three years as a lieutenant in a Scottish infantry regiment, two of them on the hot, dusty island of Malta where he did little more than polish his skills in rugby and polo—on horses borrowed from other officers because young Niven had little money of his own.

Niven disliked the army—he had gone to Sandhurst for lack of anything more promising to do—and the future of a junior officer in the peacetime army seemed dim.

The frustrations came to a head when Niven insulted a general and, rather than face court martial, resigned his commission in 1932.

Niven sailed off to Canada to visit friends, then went on to New York City where other friends, capitalizing on the end of Prohibition, hired him as a wholesale liquor salesman. But Niven flopped at that, and was little more successful at his next try—promoting a sort of rodeo-equestrian show in Atlantic City.

The unemployed but always-charming Niven drifted west to California, helped, as always, by a large circle of friends and acquaintances. He saw his first movie studio—Fox—when members of Loretta Young's family sneaked him past the guards under a rug on the floor of her limousine.

He was suitably impressed—"I just gaped and gaped and wondered if I could ever be a part of it," Niven wrote much later in The Moon's a Balloon. Encouraged by his friends, Niven signed on at Central Casting on Western Avenue.

They listed him, back in 1935, as "English type, No. 2008. Niven, David."

Niven was on his way—slowly.

A chance meeting with old military friends on a British cruiser in Santa Barbara Bay led to a hangover and an introduction to director Frank Lloyd, who later signed him as an extra in the original "Mutiny on the Bounty"—Niven's first film appearance.

Lloyd passed him on to another leading director of the period, Edmund Goulding, who had Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer do a screen test, which got Niven nowhere. Another screen test of sorts—an appearance at Paramount before an imperially silent Mae West—was also in vain. (Nearly 40 years later, however, Miss West recanted and told a reporter that "Niven has charm where other men only have cologne.")

Third Man Out
Yet another screen test ended in failure when newcomers Fred MacMurray and Ray Milland both got contracts with Paramount after appearing opposite Claudette Colbert. But Niven, the third man tried out that day, got nothing.

There were occasional jobs as a $2.50-a-day extra—the first one was as a spray-painted "Mexican" in a low-budget cowboy flick—but for a while it looked as if Niven wasn't going to make it, despite his charm and growing circle of friends.

Nothing seemed to work. Not even luck.

One day Niven found himself playing polo against a team headed by powerful studio boss Zanuck. Niven, who was, of course, hopeful of impressing the film magnate, was instead chagrined when his borrowed mount bit Zanuck on the buttocks.

And then the immigration authorities intervened, pointing out that Niven's visitor's permit had long since expired. Niven was forced to take off for the Mexican border, hiring out as a gun bearer for rich U.S. tourists hunting in the hills around the then small, dusty border town of Mexicali.

At last, Niven got lucky when the legendary Samuel Goldwyn viewed his initial screen test, liked what he saw, and signed Niven to a 7-year contract starting at $100 a week.

"I won't put you in a Goldwyn picture until you've learned your job," Goldwyn told Niven. "Now you have a base. Go out and tell the studios you're under contract to Goldwyn, do anything they offer you, get experience, work hard, and in a year or so, if you're any good, I'll give you a role."

Fluffed His Only Line
Niven did just that—but in his own inimitable style. Goldwyn sent him to Gilmore Brown's workshop at the Pasadena Playhouse, then Los Angeles' premier showcase theater. Niven was given a one-line part in a play and, with a celebrity audience on hand for his opening night, managed to drink a bit too much backstage in an effort to calm his nerves. He made a shambles of what little he had to do. Brown banished him from the theater, but Niven's career prospered anyway.

Most of the parts were small at first. In Howard Hawks' production of "The Barbary Coast" (1935), Niven played a Cockney sailor who was tossed out of a San Francisco brothel into a muddy street. He was signed the next year to play a bit part in the Jeanette MacDonald-Nelson Eddy opus "Rose-Marie," but after filming his brief scene he left the studio, only to find out months later that his part had been re-shot with another actor.

The roles quickly got more meaty. Niven played an officer and friend of Flynn in "The Charge of the Light Brigade" (1936), Capt. Clyde Lockert in "Dodsworth" (1936) and Fritz von Tarlenheim in "The Prisoner of Zenda" (1937). In 1938, Niven appeared in the classic "The Dawn Patrol" and the following year gained co-star status for the first time in "Bachelor Mother" with Ginger Rogers. Later in 1939, he played opposite Laurence Olivier and Merle Oberon as the devoted but unloved Edgar Linton, Miss Oberon's husband in "Wuthering Heights."

Despite the early frustrations, only four years after arriving in Hollywood, the one-time British officer had become a genuine star, critically well received and an actor of increasing capability. Life outside the studios also was happy. Niven dated Hollywood's most beautiful women, shared a beach house (called "Cirrhosis by the Sea") and caroused with Flynn, and was a friend of the industry's most talented stars and directors—people like Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Fred Astaire, Ronald Colman and William Wyler. And he was a frequent guest of William Randolph Hearst at San Simeon.

But then World War II intervened.
Though he had long ago resigned his commission and probably would not have been drafted into service, Niven left Los Angeles soon after Hitler invaded Poland in 1939, and after several false starts managed to return to England and gain a commission in an infantry regiment. He was assigned to a training battalion and, he claimed much later, out of infinite boredom volunteered for the newly formed commando units.

Niven, never at a loss for friends throughout his life, made a new one in Churchill, who occasionally invited him to his estate on weekends. On first meeting him, Churchill growled, "Young man, you did a very find thing to give up a most promising career to fight for your country."

But the, according to Niven's account, the soon-to-be prime minister added, "Mark you, had you not done so, it would have been despicable."

Niven saw action in Europe after the Normandy invasion and married an English girl, Primula Rollo, who was to bear him two sons. Niven rose from the rank of captain to lieutenant colonel during the war, and took time off to do a film overseas—"The Way Ahead" (1944), a glorification of the British infantryman.

The film, a government-backed propaganda effort, was directed by Carol Reed and written by Eric Ambler and Peter Ustinov. Ustinov, then a private in the army, doubled as Niven's orderly when they moved into London's Ritz Hotel to work on the movie.

David Niven, left, and Kim Hunter in "Stairway to Heaven. (File photo)

Niven did another film in England—"Stairway to the Stars" (1946)—and then returned to Hollywood, "thinking I was God's gift to the movies," he told an interviewer 20 years later. "I went to Sam Goldwyn, said I was being underpaid, and asked how soon I could get out of my contract. 'The minute you reach the street,' he told me."

It was a difficult time for Niven. His wife died in an accident at the age of 25 and his Broadway debut in 1951 as Gloria Swanson's lover in the unsuccessful "Nina" was a failure.

"I took a good look at myself," he said later, "still wandering vaguely about with a cup of tea in one hand and a duchess in the other. I was fast approaching that nervous no-man's land where actors feel down the backs of their necks the hot, sticky breath of leading men in their early 20s, while in front they see a solid phalanx of well-established character actors blocking their path. That is no place to hang around very long with a cup of fast-cooling tea and an aging duchess."

Later in the 1950s, life picked up for Niven when he married a young Swedish model, Hjordis Tersmeden. They were to adopt two girls. And then—with Dick Powell and Charles Boyer—he started the hugely successful television firm, Four Star Productions.

There was no fourth star, by the way, because, according to Niven, most of Hollywood was frightened by the power of the film studio bosses. But the production company was an incredible success. "Four Star Playhouse" begat "Zane Grey Theater" which in turn spawned "The Rifleman," which spun off "Wanted Dead or Alive," starring an unknown named Steve McQueen.

It went on that way through the late 1950s and early 1960s—Four Star in one year had 14 TV series on the air, including two of Niven's own—"The David Niven Show" and "The Rogues." And Niven was suddenly one of the richest men in Hollywood. He decided to take his money and his family to Europe—permanently.

Niven explained the move in "The Moon's a Balloon." Taxes were eating him up, he said; the smog, the freeways and nasty gossip columnists were all bothering him. But, more fundamentally, "Hollywood had completely changed. The old camaraderie of pioneers in a one-generation business still controlled by the people who created it was gone . . . the scent of fear was attacking to smog-filled lungs of the professional film makers, already resigned to the fact that their audience was brainwashed by television. . . . The pipe dream was gone—the lovely joke was over. . . . It was time to go."

Niven and his family moved to a chalet in Switzerland and, later, a villa overlooking the sea at Cap-Ferrat on the French Riviera, where he was to live a luxurious existence to his death.

It was an expensive life style—skiing the best slopes, tiger-hunting in India and entertaining his next-door neighbors, Princess Grace and Prince Ranier of Monaco—and Niven managed it by working a good deal of the time on films, both good and bad.

He turned down the role of Humbert Humbert in "Lolita" because he feared it would tarnish his gentlemanly image, but he had a long list of successes.

Shirley MacLaine, David Niven and Cantinflas in "Around the World in 80 Days."
(File photo)

There was "The Bishop's Wife" (1947), "The Moon Is Blue" (1953), "Around the World in 80 Days" (1956), "Bonjour Tristesse" (1958), "Separate Tables" (1958), "Please Don't Eat the Daisies" (1960), "The Guns of Navarone" (1961) and "The Pink Panther" (1963), to name some of the better ones.

Niven liked to say his career was composed of playing officers, dukes and crooks, but he won an Academy Award as best actor in one of them, "Separate Tables," in which he portrayed a retired British officer.

"I always thank Deborah Kerr and Wendy Hiller," he told an interviewer in 1978. "They won the Oscar for me. They had to cry in the picture, which they did so beautifully that when I spoke, the camera panned to them sobbing . . . and I got the award."

He liked to refer to himself as "a displaced Cary Grant," and he was like that almost to the end—witty, classy, charming.

Like the time a few years ago when an interviewer asked him this old stock question: What is your philosophy of life?

"Life to me, I guess, is a sort of super Grand National Steeplechase, with all sorts of hurdles to jump over and places to fall down," Niven replied. "The trick is not to worry about winning, but to get around the course as best you can without doing any damage to the other riders and certainly not to the other horses."

Or, in another interview, in 1978, when he acknowledged that the ranks of his friends were thinning rapidly:

"We have to face it," Niven said. "An awful lot of my age group has been called up already. So many chums have gone, Cooper, Gable, Bogart. To say nothing of men of my own vintage—Errol Flynn and Ty Power. But there's no way they're going to get me off. I just won't go. I'll kick and scream and make a terrible fuss."

[email protected]

David Niven (I) (1910–1983)

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000057/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0

Filmography

Actor (113 credits)

1983 Curse of the Pink Panther - Sir Charles Litton
1983 Better Late Than Never - Nick Cartland
1982 Trail of the Pink Panther - Sir Charles Litton
1980 The Sea Wolves - Colonel W. H. Grice
1980 Rough Cut - Chief Insp. Cyril Willis

1979 A Man Called Intrepid (TV Mini-Series) - Sir William Stephenson
1979 A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square - Ivan
1979 Escape to Athena - Professor Blake
1978 Death on the Nile - Colonel Race
1977 Candleshoe - Priory
1976 Murder by Death - Dick Charleston
1976 No Deposit, No Return - J.W. Osborne
1975 The Remarkable Rocket (Short) - Narrator (voice)
1975 Paper Tiger - 'Major' Bradbury
1974 The Canterville Ghost (TV Movie) - The Ghost - Sir Simon de Canterville
1974 Old Dracula - Count Dracula
1972 King, Queen, Knave - Charles Dreyer
1971 The Statue - Alex Bolt

1969 The Brain - Colonel Carol Matthews
1969 The Extraordinary Seaman - Lt. Commander Finchhaven, R.N.
1968 Before Winter Comes - Major Burnside
1968 The Impossible Years - Jonathan Kingsley
1968 Prudence and the Pill - Gerald Hardcastle
1967 Eye of the Devil - Philippe de Montfaucon
1967 Casino Royale - Sir James Bond
1966 Where the Spies Are - Dr. Jason Love
1965 Lady L - Dicky, Lord Lendale
1964-1965 The Rogues (TV Series) - Alec Fleming - 30 episodes
1964 Bedtime Story - Lawrence Jameson
1963 The Pink Panther - Sir Charles Lytton
1963 Burke's Law (TV Series) - Harvey Cleeve
- Who Killed Billy Jo? (1963) ... Harvey Cleeve (as David Niven the World's Greatest Juggler)
1963 55 Days at Peking - Sir Arthur Robertson
1962 Conquered City - Maj. Peter Whitfield
1962 Guns of Darkness - Tom Jordan
1962 The Road to Hong Kong - Lama Who Remembers Lady Chatterley's Lover (uncredited)
1961 The Best of Enemies - Maj. Richardson
1961 The Guns of Navarone - Cpl. John Anthony Miller
1960 Please Don't Eat the Daisies - Laurence Mackay
1960 The DuPont Show with June Allyson (TV Series) - Marcus Dodds
- The Trench Coat (1960) ... Marcus Dodds
-
1959 Happy Anniversary - Chris Walters
1959 Ask Any Girl - Miles Doughton
1957-1959 Zane Grey Theater (TV Series) - Cameo / Milo Brant / Allen Raikes
- Checkmate (1959) ... Cameo (uncredited)
- The Accuser (1958) ... Milo Brant
- Village of Fear (1957) ... Allen Raikes
1958 Separate Tables - Major Angus Pollock
1958 Frances Farmer Presents (TV Series) - B.G. Bruno
- Happy Go Lovely (1958) ... B.G. Bruno
1957-1958 Goodyear Theatre (TV Series) - Charles Enright / 'Jeffrey Collins' / Paul Evans / ...
- Decision by Terror (1958) ... Charles Enright
- Taps for Jeffrey (1958) ... 'Jeffrey Collins'
- Episode #1.11 (1957) ... Paul Evans
- The Tinhorn (1957) ... Jeff Carleton
- Danger by Night (1957) ... Alan Kevin
1957-1958 Alcoa Theatre (TV Series) - 6 episodes
1958 Bonjour Tristesse - Raymond
1957 The Return of Phileas Fogg (Short) - Phileas Fogg
1957 My Man Godfrey - Godfrey Smith
1957 Mr. Adams and Eve (TV Series)
- Taming of the Shrew (1957)
1957 The Little Hut - Henry Brittingham-Brett
1957 Oh, Men! Oh, Women! - Dr. Alan Coles
1956 Around the World in 80 Days - Phileas Fogg
1956 The Silken Affair - Roger Tweakham
1952-1956 Four Star Playhouse (TV Series) - 33 episodes
1956 The Birds and the Bees - Colonel Patrick Henry Harris
1956 The Star and the Story (TV Series) - Johnny
- The Thin Line (1956) ... Johnny
1955 The King's Thief - James - Duke of Brampton
1954 Court Martial - Carrington
1954 Tonight's the Night - Jasper O'Leary
1954 The Love Lottery - Rex Allerton
1953 The Moon Is Blue - David Slater
1952-1953 Hollywood Opening Night (TV Series)
- Uncle Fred Flits By (1953)
- Sword Play (1952)
1952 Robert Montgomery Presents (TV Series) - Sheffield
- The Sheffield Story (1952) ... Sheffield
1952 Celanese Theatre (TV Series) - Alan Squier
- The Petrified Forest (1952) ... Alan Squier
1952 Chesterfield Presents (TV Series)
- A Moment of Memory (1952)
1952 Betty Crocker Star Matinee (TV Series)
- The Willow and I (1952)
1951 The Lady Says No - Bill Shelby
1951 Island Rescue - Maj. Valentine Moreland
1951 Schlitz Playhouse (TV Series)
- Not a Chance (1951)
1951 Soldiers Three - Capt. Pindenny
1951 Happy Go Lovely - B.G. Bruno
1950 The Fighting Pimpernel - Sir Percy Blakeney / The Scarlet Pimpernel
1950 Nash Airflyte Theatre (TV Series) - Arthur Carstairs
- Portrait of Lydia (1950) ... Arthur Carstairs
1950 The Toast of New Orleans - Jacques Riboudeaux

1949 A Kiss for Corliss - Kenneth Marquis
1949 A Kiss in the Dark - Eric Phillips
1948 Enchantment - General Sir Roland Dane
1948 Bonnie Prince Charlie - Prince Charles Edward Stuart
1947 The Bishop's Wife - Henry Brougham
1947 The Other Love - Dr. Anthony Stanton
1946 Magnificent Doll - Aaron Burr
1946 The Perfect Marriage - Dale Williams
1946 A Matter of Life and Death - Peter Carter
1944 The Way Ahead - Lt. Jim Perry
1942 Spitfire - Geoffrey Crisp

1939 Raffles - Raffles
1939 Eternally Yours - Tony aka The Great Arturo
1939 The Real Glory - Lieut. Terence McCool
1939 Bachelor Mother - David Merlin
1939 Wuthering Heights - Edgar
1938 The Dawn Patrol - Scott
1938 Three Blind Mice - Steve Harrington
1938 Four Men and a Prayer - Christopher Leigh
1938 Bluebeard's Eighth Wife - Albert De Regnier
1937 Dinner at the Ritz - Paul de Brack
1937 The Prisoner of Zenda - Fritz von Tarlenheim
1937 We Have Our Moments - Joe Gilling
1936 Beloved Enemy - Gerald Preston
1936 The Charge of the Light Brigade - Capt. Randall
1936 Thank You, Jeeves! - Bertie Wooster
1936 Dodsworth - Captain Lockert
1936 Palm Springs - George Britell
1936 Rose-Marie - Teddy (as David Nivens)
1935 Splendor - Clancey Lorrimore
1935 Mutiny on the Bounty - Able-Bodied Seaman (uncredited)
1935 A Feather in Her Hat - Leo Cartwright
1935 Barbary Coast - Cockney Sailor Thrown Out of Saloon (uncredited)
1935 Without Regret - Bill Gage
1935 Hop-a-Long Cassidy - Mexican Bandit (uncredited)
1934 Cleopatra - Slave (uncredited)
1933 Eyes of Fate - Man at Race Course (uncredited)
1932 There Goes the Bride - Bit Role (uncredited)

Producer (2 credits)

1957 Zane Grey Theater (TV Series) (producer - 1 episode)
- Village of Fear (1957) ... (producer - uncredited)
1952-1956 Four Star Playhouse (TV Series) (producer - 28 episodes)

Soundtrack (3 credits)

1956 Around the World in 80 Days (performer: "Have Courage to Say No" - uncredited)

1949 Inside U.S.A. with Chevrolet (TV Series) (performer - 1 episode)
- David Niven (1949) ... (performer: "Way Up North")
-
1938 The Dawn Patrol (performer: "Plum and Apple" - uncredited)

Director (1 credit)

1958-1960 Zane Grey Theater (TV Series) (2 episodes)
- Wayfarers (1960)
- The Vaunted (1958)

On the set of The Sea Wolves.

1986: Timothy Dalton signs a contract.
1987: Dah Smrti (Breath of Death) released in Belgrade, Yugoslavia.

NEW JAMES BOND -- MORE DANGEROUS THAN EVER!

https://twitter.com/007collector

2008: Announcement reveals Jack White & Alicia Keys to collaborate on title song "Another Way to Die"--a duet.

Alicia Keys, Jack White
Team For Bond Theme

See the complete article here:

https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/1044639/alicia-keys-jack-white-team-for-bond-theme

By Ann Donahue | 7/29/2008

Alicia Keys and the White Stripes' Jack White will record the theme song to "Quantum of Solace," the 22nd James Bond film, which hits U.S. theaters Nov. 7. The song, "Another Way To Die," will be the first duet in Bond soundtrack history. White wrote and produced the song, and also will play drums. The soundtrack to the movie will be released Oct. 28.

The score for the film will be composed by David Arnold.

"Quantum of Solace," starring Daniel Craig, will be directed by Marc Forster from a screenplay by Neal Purvis & Robert Wade and Paul Haggis.

Amy Winehouse and Leona Lewis had previously been rumored as the vocalists for the latest Bond theme.

2011: Daniel Craig confirms a plan to use India locations for BOND 23 and pre-titles train action.

RichardTheBruce

2020: Dynamite Entertainment releases James Bond: Origin: Volume 1
(Parker Signed Edition Hardcover).

JAMES BOND ORIGIN HC VOL 01 PARKER SGN ED
DYNAMITE

See the complete article here:

https://forbiddenplanet.com/271220-james-bond-origin-volume-1-parker-signed-edition-hardcover/

MAR191187
(W) Jeff Parker (A) Bob Q (CA) John Cassaday
Signed by writer Jeff Parker!

At last, the definitive account of James Bond's exploits during World War II!

MARCH, 1941: Seventeen-year-old James Bond is a restless student in Scotland, an orphan, eager to strike out and make his mark on the world. But a visit by an old family friend coincides with THE CLYDEBANK BLITZ, the most devastating German attack on Scotland during the War. James will fight through hell to survive, coming out the other side determined to make a difference. He'll find his calling in a new British government service, secret in nature...

In Shops: Jul 29, 2020

2020: Drug and Device Law does a rundown of Bond-related tobacco.

FDA Cigar/Pipe Warnings Go Up in
Smoke

See the complete article here:

https://www.druganddevicelawblog.com/2020/07/fda-cigar-pipe-warnings-go-up-in-smoke.html

Home » FDA Cigar/Pipe Warnings Go Up in Smoke
By Stephen McConnell on July 29, 2020 | Posted in Administrative Law

We light up a cigar maybe once a month. Of course, they’re no damned good for us. If we had any doubts, the headache and swamp-breath the next day would remove them. Still, a spirit of convivial dissipation tells us to smoke’em if we’ve got’em. No need to warn us off cigars, or the inevitable accompaniments of brown liquor, rich food, and bad behavior. That would be futile.

The current issue of Cigar Aficianado has Sean Connery as James Bond on the cover. Connery, though our favorite incarnation of 007, is an odd choice, because Connery’s Bond smoked cigarettes (think of the introduction of “Bond, James Bond” in the casino scene in Dr. No), not cigars. In fact, Bond turns down an offer of a cigar in Goldfinger. Cigars are associated with plutocrats. (There is a reason why Pink Floyd’s song about corruption in the music biz is titled, “Have a Cigar.”) Several Bond villains smoked cigars (e.g., Largo in Thunderball, Sanchez in License to Kill, and Onatopp in Goldeneye). The only Bond who had a cigar habit was Roger Moore. He used one as a weapon, along with an aerosol shave cream can, to dispatch a snake. Moore supposedly had a deal that the producers would furnish an endless supply of Montecristos on Bond sets. By contrast, Moore’s successors seldom smoked. True, Pierce Brosnan lit up a cigar in Die Another Day. Bond was in Cuba, and a good spy finds ways to fit in. Word has it that Daniel Craig was originally going to smoke a cigar in Casino Royale, but the powers that be fretted over the possible effect on young impressionables. That is a foreshadowing of today’s case, the arrival of which, we promise, is imminent.

The fact remains that Bond, as written by Ian Fleming, smoked cigarettes. Lots of them. That is because Ian Fleming smoked cigarettes. Lots and lots of them. Most accounts peg Fleming’s intake at four to five packs per day. Fleming knew his tobacco usage was deleterious to his health. So was his diet of scrambled eggs and martinis. Fleming said that he was not going to waste his days trying to prolong them. He died at age 56. (While his consumption habits seem an obvious culprit for his early demise, Fleming’s friends laid much of the blame on his immense stress from being sued over the authorship of Thunderball. Lawyers, like tobacco, should come with health warnings.

So much for our pretitle sequence. The point of today’s blog (which we are NOT calling “Live and Let Die,” or “Die Another Day,” or even the probably-never-ever-coming out “No Time To Die”), is that we should not assume that health warnings make any difference.

The D.C. Circuit opinion in Cigar Ass’n is worth celebrating. We might even break out an old Romeo y Julieta. At least let’s break out an old cigar joke. A cigar smoker bought several hundred expensive cigars and had them insured against fire. After he’d smoked them all, he filed a claim, pointing out that the cigars had been destroyed by fire. The insurance company refused to pay, and the man sued. A judge ruled that because the insurance company had agreed to insure against fire, it was legally responsible. The insurer paid the claim and and when the man accepted the money, the insurer had him arrested for arson.

2020: Upper Deck releases Legendary: James Bond Expansion (for the Legendary 007), adding On Her Majesty's Secret Service and Licence to Kill.

ADD TWO MORE CLASSIC 'BOND' FILMS TO GAMES
OF 'LEGENDARY 007'
'Legendary: James Bond Expansion' by Upper Deck

See the complete article here:

https://icv2.com/articles/news/view/46198/add-two-more-classic-bond-films-games-legendary-007

Posted by Jeffrey Dohm-Sanchez on July 27, 2020 @ 8:52 am CT

Upper Deck will release Legendary: James Bond Expansion, for the Legendary 007, on July 29.

This first expansion to Legendary 007 adds two classic Bond films to the mix: On Her Majesty's Secret Service and Licence to Kill. This set adds new missions and villains from these movies, and pits players up against their nefarious schemes. Players must defeat the evil masterminds and complete their mission before the danger level gets out of control. This expansion requires the core set to play.

Legendary: James Bond Expansion will retail for $39.99.

Legendary 007 was unveiled last year around Gen Con (see " 'Legendary: 007' Has A License To Kill" https://icv2.com/articles/news/view/43745/legendary-007-has-a-license-to-kill).

2021: James Bond's Aston Martin goes to Rocket League.

James Bond Is Coming To Rocket League
(Or His Car Is, Anyway)
License to beep

See the complete article here:

https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2021/07/james_bond_is_coming_to_rocket_league_or_his_car_is_anyway

by Kate Gray 6

Rocket League is a game about cars playing football. But are people inside the cars? Apparently not — the cars, like the audience, are filled with sentient eggs, according to actual Rocket League lore — but we like to think that James Bond can be the eggception. Er, exception.

007's iconic Aston Martin DB5 first appeared in Goldfinger in 1964, and has since become known as Jamie B's favourite spymobile, appearing again in movies like GoldenEye, The World Is Not Enough, Casino Royale, Skyfall (in which it was blown up by the bad guys), and Spectre. It's also been immortalised in LEGO, and the GoldenEye DB5 currently lives in the London Film Museum, as the second most famous car in the UK, after Brum.

Rocket League x James Bond

Now, the car that none of us at Nintendo Life could ever hope to afford even if we pooled all our money together is appearing in Rocket League alongside other well-known automobiles like the '89 Batmobile, K.I.T.T., and the Jurassic Jeep Wrangler.

The Aston Martin DB5 will be available from the 29th of July to the 4th of August, as part of a bundle that also includes the wheels, a "one-of-a-kind" engine audio, the signature Silver Birch paintjob, and a Reel Life decal. These items can only be equipped on the DB5. It costs 1100 credits, and will only be available for a limited time, although apparently "James Bond will return" with more classic cars later in the year.

James Bond's DB5 has been through a lot, but we're still a bit nervous to play football with it. What if we dent it? Are footballs soft enough that they won't scratch the paintwork? Please don't send hitmen after us, Mr Bond.

Please note that some external links on this page are affiliate links, which means if you click them and make a purchase we may receive a small percentage of the sale. Please read our FTC Disclosure for more information.

[source rocketleague.com]

007's Aston Martin arrives in Rocket League

RichardTheBruce

July 30th

1945: Maud Russell writes about Ian Fleming in her diary.

Spies, affairs and James Bond... The
secret diary of Ian Fleming's wartime
mistress

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/life/spies-affairs-james-bond-secret-diary-ian-flemings-wartime-mistress/

Monday 30 July, 1945

I. has refused the new job. He feels he must break away.
So Jamaica is on again. I am sure he is right not to let himself
grow old, unhealthy and apoplectic sitting for ever in London
on mysterious committees and having no leisure, no freedom,
no unbuttoning.

1964: Bons baisers de Russie (Good Kisses From Russia) released in France.

1987: The Living Daylights released in Luxembourg.
1989: 007 Vendetta privata (007 Private Vendetta) released in Italy.

1997: Tomorrow Never Dies films Wai Lin's capture by Carver’s men.

2006: Another fire at Pinewood Studios.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_pictures/5229624.stm

2014: Guernsey Post releases a set of stamps and other limited edition items that celebrate Ian Fleming.

More at: https://www.jamesbondlifestyle.com/news/guernsey-post-celebrates-ian-flemings-life-stamps

2017: Media falsely report James Bond to fight blind super-villain in Croatia in BOND 25.

James Bond to fight blind super-villain in
Croatia in next movie?

See the complete article here:

https://www.indiablooms.com/showbiz-details/H/7057/james-bond-to-fight-blind-super-villain-in-croatia-in-next-movie.html

India Blooms News Service | | 30 Jul 2017, 06:52 pm

Los Angeles, July 30 (IBNS): The upcoming James Bond movie will see the detective fight against a blind super-villain in Croatia, media reports said.

The 25th instalment of the spy thriller has been tentatively titled "Shatterhand", reports said.

Fans are eagerly waiting to see who will play the role of James Bond in the movie.

Actor Daniel Craig has been portraying the character in the last few movies.

"It is based on the 1999 thriller Never Dream Of Dying by US author Raymond Benson, who also wrote Bond books Tomorrow Never Dies, Die Another Day and The World is Not Enough," mirror.co.uk reported.

A source told the website: “Bond scriptwriters feel it could be the perfect follow-up to Spectre . They are hoping to film in Croatia next year.”

Recently, it was announced that the much-awaited next movie of detective James Bond will hit the silverscreen in 2019.

The official Twitter page of James Bond had confirmed the date when the movie will release in the US.

It will hit the US silver screen on Nov 8, 2019.

"James Bond will return to US cinemas on November 8, 2019 with a traditional earlier release in the UK and the rest of the world," read the tweet posted by the official page of the detective.

Image: Santabanta.com

2019: Abigail Gardner and Ros Jennings in Aging and Popular Music in Europe propose a reclamation of Fleming material through Shirley Bassey and Kanye West.

Aging and Popular Music in Europe, Abigail Gardner and Ros Jennings, 2019.
Chapter 7 - ‘Shine on you crazy diamond/s’

Abstract: This chapter is concerned with Shirley Bassey and Kanye West’s coverage of the song ‘Diamonds Are Forever’ from the perspective of age, inheritance and post-colonial hauntings of race and identity. It presents a new generic Time Space of age that is related to hip-hop and the recycling of older materials. West headlined the iconic Pyramid Stage at the Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Arts in the summer of 2015. By using Bassey’s voice, and referring to her influence on him and her presence within the contemporary song, West thus pulls into his version, the universality and the non-place that Daub and Kronengold argue for. Bassey’s vocal and performative emphasis of the song narrates an erotic desire for wealth in the form of diamonds. In West’s use of Bassey’s vocal performance in ‘Diamonds from Sierra Leone – Remix’ and ‘Diamonds from Sierra Leone’, West is ‘restorying’ Ian Fleming, giving voice to those Black characters demeaned in the original.

Kanye West - Diamonds From Sierra Leone

2019: Iggy Pop shares new single "James Bond" from his album Free, to be released in September.

Iggy Pop Shares New Single “James Bond”

See the complete article here:

https://northerntransmissions.com/iggy-pop-shares-new-single-james-bond/

30 July 2019

Iggy Pop has unwound a drastically different track from his coming album, Free. James Bond tells a story: ‘I don’t know what she’s up to exactly, but the tables seem to be turning, and she’s taking over. Well, why not? I’ll try anything once.’

“I’ve never had more fun singing a lyric. Faith’s reading is so loaded, and Leron’s production and trumpet along with the band swings like crazy,” says Iggy.

“Iggy Pop’s ‘Free’ is brief, atmospheric and elusive. Amid sustained electronic tones from the guitarist Noveller and ghostly overdubbed Miles Davis-tinged trumpet lines from Leron Thomas, Pop’s voice appears only a few times, intoning, ‘I wanna be free.’ As the title song and opening track of an album due in September, it could lead anywhere.”

Iggy Pop
Free
Tracklisting:
1. Free
2. Loves Missing
3. Sonali
4. James Bond
5. Dirty Sanchez
6. Glow In The Dark
7. Page
8. We Are The People
9. Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night
10. The Dawn

Iggy Pop - James Bond (Official video)

2021: Happy Inceptiversary--the Inception Fandom vs. Bond Fandom annual battle finishes.

Happy Inceptiversary and Happy 007 Fest!
https://inception-vs-bond.tumblr.com/post/625116188880551936/july-30-day-7-inceptiversary

2021: Audio drama The City of the Dead comes more widely available, following its 27 July release.

007: The City of the Dead

See the complete article here:

007: The City of the Dead Trailer


Something Evil Comes This Way

RichardTheBruce

July 31st

1944: Maud Russell writes about Ian Fleming in her diary.

Spies, affairs and James Bond... The
secret diary of Ian Fleming's wartime
mistress

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/life/spies-affairs-james-bond-secret-diary-ian-flemings-wartime-mistress/

Monday 31 July, 1944

I. dined and talked to me about the German new ‘secret’ weapon:
the rocket. Said he thought it wasn’t ready and might never be
ready in time but one couldn’t know and if it started I was to
get out at once. I was to keep a bag packed and leave London
immediately without warning the Admiralty or anyone. I said,
‘What about you?’ He said Winston had decided the govt and
the ministers weren’t to be evacuated. It would look too bad
vis-à-vis the people.

1955: Nick Finlayson is born--Ely, Cambridgeshire, England.
(He dies 21 January 2019 at age 63--Esher, Surrey, England.)

Nick Finlayson

22nd January 2019
The special effects technician who served on 10 Bond films passed away this month
https://www.mi6-hq.com/sections/articles/biography-nick-finlayson

Nick Finlayson

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0278014/

Filmography

Special effects (43 credits)

2019 Spider-Man: Far from Home (senior special effects technician)
2019 Pokémon Detective Pikachu (senior special effects technician)
2019 The Kid Who Would Be King (special effects lead senior technician)
2018 Mary Poppins Returns (senior special effects technician)
2017/I Life (senior special effects technician)
2016 Assassin's Creed (senior special effects technician)
2016 Ben-Hur (senior special effects technician)
2016 The Legend of Tarzan (senior special effects technician)
2014 Fury (senior special effects technician)
2014 Edge of Tomorrow (senior special effects technician)
2013 World War Z (senior special effects technician)
2012 Skyfall (senior effects technician)
2012 Wrath of the Titans (senior special effects technician)
2011 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (senior special effects technician)
2011 Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (senior special effects technician)
2010 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (senior special effects technician)

2008 Quantum of Solace (senior special effects technician)
2008 The Dark Knight (senior special effects technician)
2007 Fred Claus (senior special effects technician)
2007 Hannibal Rising (special effects lead technician)
2006 Casino Royale (senior special effects technician)
2005 Batman Begins (special effects senior technician)
2003 Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life (senior special effects technician)
2002 Die Another Day (workshop supervisor)
2002 Below (senior special effects technician - uncredited)
2001 Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (special effects technician)
2000 102 Dalmatians (special effects senior technician)

1999 The World is Not Enough (special effects workshop supervisor)
1999 The Mummy (senior special effects technician)
1998 Firestorm (senior special effects technician)
1997 Tomorrow Never Dies (special effects crew - as Nicholas Finlayson)
1997 The Fifth Element (special effects technician)
1995 GoldenEye (special effects crew - as Nicholas Finlayson)
1993 Cliffhanger (uncredited)
1992 Far and Away (senior special effects technician - uncredited)
1991 Highlander II: The Quickening (senior special effects technician)
1989 Licence to Kill (special effects technician)
1988 Willow (senior special effects technician)
1987 The Living Daylights (special effects technician - uncredited)
1986 Aliens (senior special effects technician)
1985 A View to a Kill (special effects technician - uncredited)
1982 Pink Floyd: The Wall (aircraft subcontractor)
1980 Hopscotch (special effects assistant - uncredited)

Visual effects (2 credits)

1990 Memphis Belle (modeller and technician: model unit)

1983-1985 Terrahawks (TV Series) (HOD model workshop - 26 episodes)

Art department (1 credit)

1985 Lifeforce (modeller)

Self (7 credits)
2002 The Bond Essentials (TV Special documentary short) - Himself
2002 Die Another Day: Shaken and Stirred on Ice (Video documentary short) - Himself
2002 5th Gear (TV Series documentary) - Himself
- Episode #2.7 (2002) ... Himself
2000 The World Is Not Enough: James Bond Down River (TV Special documentary) - Himself
1999 The Making of 'The World Is Not Enough' (Video documentary short) - Himself (uncredited)
1999 The Bond Cocktail (TV Movie documentary) - Himself
1999 Comme au cinéma (TV Series documentary) - Himself
- Episode dated 18 November 1999 (1999) ... Himself

1960: Ian Fleming begins a second series of articles in The Sunday Times, the first on Hamburg, later to become part of Thrilling Cities published by Jonathan Cape.

1971: Sean Connery and cast film in Amsterdam.

1985: A View to a Kill released in Colombia.
1987: The New York Times reports Richard Maibaum and Michael G. Wilson sought to take the latest film to the origins of Bond, but producer Broccoli disagreed. They did agree on presenting a more serious film.

1987: The Living Daylights released in the US. Daily Variety (4 August) calls its first three day earnings the best ever for the franchise. Also the widest release on 1,728 screens.

1987: 007 vaaran vyöhykkeellä (Danger Zone) released in Finland.

[

1987: Rita Kempley reviews The Living Daylights in The Washington Post.

‘The Living Daylights’ (PG)

See the complete article here:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/movies/videos/thelivingdaylightspgkempley_a09f96.htm

By Rita Kempley | ashington Post Staff Writer
July 31, 1987

007's come a long way, baby.

Timothy Dalton, an '80s-male Bond, explores monogamy and probably also practices safe sex. In past adventures, we would have known for sure, but this 007 is right on top of things. Either because his consciousness has been raised (unlikely) or because he is afraid of AIDS (more likely), he's taken to faithfulness and the ever so more romantic fade-to-black.

And 007's latest, "The Living Daylights," a snazzy spy thriller, is all the more alluring for its new conservatism. It's right up there with the early Bonds, though not in the league with "Goldfinger." But oh, what a difference. Here, only the villains -- an arms dealer and a KGB double agent -- keep pools full of bikini-bimbos, with moues and runaway libidos. And even the notorious Bond "girls" have changed. They used to have names like characters out of "Cats." Here, love interest Maryam d'Abo is a sensible Czech cellist named Kara Milovy, who enjoys a better bond than Bond-bonders past. You might even call it a relationship.

Dalton, no waffler, develops the best Bond ever. He's as classy as the trademark tuxedo, as sleek as the Aston-Martin. Like Bond's notorious martini, women who encounter his carved-granite good looks are shaken, not stirred. Dalton does not play a pompous, mean-spirited Bond like Sean Connery or a prissy, sissy Bond like Roger Moore. Both were as aggressively heterosexual as pubescent Playboy subscribers.

Calling on a background that includes everything from the Joan Collins' potboiling mini-series "Sins" to a stint with the Royal Shakespeareans, Dalton creates a dashing and endearing secret agent. And unlike the creaky Connery and the mushy Moore in their later years, he looks fit for derring-do.

He fleshes out the caricature that had evolved over the past 25 years. For inspiration, Dalton went back to the original 007 created by writer Ian Fleming, a character who endures, like such British perennials as Sherlock Holmes, for his audacity, e'lan and idiosyncrasies.

"The Living Daylights," which uses a Fleming short story as a springboard, is the 15th in the series produced by Albert (Cubby) Broccoli, the constant force behind the pictures. Directors come and go, but Broccoli remains, lavishing time, attention and megabucks on the formula adventures. "Daylights," directed by John Glen of "For Your Eyes Only," is graciously paced, though overplotted, so some seat-shifting sets in about 30 minutes before the end.

There's the customary globe-trotting -- from Austria to Morocco to Afghanistan -- and those still-spectacular stunts. In the giddiest scene, Kara and James elude the KGB, ingeniously tobogganing to safety aboard the case for her cello, a Stradivarius named Lady Rose. Of course, the instrument still resonates despite the bumps and the bullet holes.

D'Abo, who looks like a French variation on "L.A. Law's" Susan Dey, is an appealing partner, if mild-mannered by Bond standards. She does know when to step into the fray, charging a Soviet air base with a camel-back party of Afghan guerrillas. The screenplay, cowritten by veteran Richard Maibaum and coproducer Michael G. Wilson, keeps up with current events. While in no way as amazing as Ollie's Follies, it is right on target with its focus on arms wheeler-dealers.

Still, the villains aren't what they used to be. They can no longer kill you with their hats. And no one's wearing stainless steel dentures. Villains once sought world domination because they were monomaniacal. This one, played by Joe Don Baker, was expelled from West Point for cheating. He's a redneck arms dealer in league with Gen. Georgi Koskov, a KGB double-crosser played by Jeroen Krabbe. Koskov, a defector assigned to Bond, is nearly shot by Kara, obviously an amateur assassin, before 007 can whisk him to the West. After arriving in Britain, Koskov is kidnaped by one of theirs -- or so it seems. Bond's only lead is Kara, the sniper-cellist, actually a Koskov prote'ge'e, who joins 007 on his glitzy mission.

Gadgets, such as an exploding "ghetto blaster," are supplied by Desmond Llewelyn, who returns as Q. Robert Brown is also back as the tweedy intelligence chief, but the actress who played Bond's secretary has been put out to pasture. Caroline Bliss is a newly minted Miss Moneypenny, pert and professional opposite the new, improved Bond ... still licensed to thrill.

"The Living Daylights" contains very little sex and old-fashioned violence.

1987: Desson Howe reviews The Living Daylights in The Washington Post.

‘The Living Daylights’ (PG)

See the complete article here:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/movies/videos/thelivingdaylightspghowe_a0b0dc.htm

By Desson Howe | Washington Post Staff Writer
July 31, 1987

Face it, Connery fans. The Scottish laddie had his last hurrah in "Never Say Never Again." And imitator Roger Moore's Bond appears to have had it, hurrah. Now it's all up to Timothy Dalton, poor bloke.

It doesn't help him that Albert Broccoli's "The Living Daylights" is the 15th Bond film. Nor that 007 is a heroic figure to untold millions. But Dalton, with his athletic sort of Brit-yuppie work ethic and romantic streak, comes out all right.

He's spindly but energetic and enthusiastic. The eyes are scintillating, green and squinty. The accent's as refined as Moore's, but free of aloofness. He doesn't have the hairy-chested exuberance of Connery, but there's a warmth trying to get out. (Are we talking about an actor or a racehorse?)

He needs all the athleticism, energy and enthusiasm he can muster, because Broccoli and Co. (including veteran Bond writer Richard Baibaum and director John "For Your Eyes Only" Glen), perennially determined to top all previous Bonds, put him through the hyperactive motions. "Daylights" is crammed with Bondiana -- gadgetry, Us vs. Them, seedy weapons merchants, Q and M, world travel and double-crossings to go.

And boy, do you know you're in the '80s. Bond crosses paths with an eccentric gunrunner (Joe Don Baker) who plays with dangerous toy soldiers, a Nordic freelance agent who kills with Walkmans and an Afghan freedom fighter with an Oxford accent.

The most obvious sign of the times is that sex is out, out, ouch. These are no longer the Martini-ad 1960s, when girls doffed lingerie at the mere mention of "Bond, James Bond," and when AIDS was still a present participle. Dalton's Bond spends his time chasing one -- count her, one -- female and with romantic zeal rather than with Connery's elegant, almost indolent rakishness. Miss Moneypenny (Caroline Bliss), now a sultry blonde behind librarian's glasses, can't rouse Bond either. And when he parachutes out of the hazy blue practically into the lap of a swimsuit beauty, he says: "I need to use your telephone."

James!!!

Assigned to wipe out an assassin in Czechoslovakia, Bond finds his target is beautiful cellist Kara Milovy, who was bowing his heart earlier at a concert. But Bond shoots to miss and gets caught up in a series of 007 convolutions involving a defecting Czech officer (Jeroen Krabbe'), KGB head General Pushkin (John Rhys-Davies) and all those other guys.

Bond films must be scarce in Czechoslovakia because she shows little interest in the glamorous Brit. But after he persuades Kara her boyfriend ain't the tovarich she thought, she waxes warmer. The movie ends tactfully, or squeamishly, before consummation.

Mattress activity being at an all-time low, let's talk toys. Naturally the Aston Martin is back. It blows holes in a truck and has a set of pop-down skis -- in case it just happens to come across an icy lake. And Q gives James a set of keys that open 90 percent of the world's locks and blow open the ones it can't. (The explosive is triggered, of course, by a wolf whistle). The company's also developing a ghetto blaster "for the Americans," which does more than blast rap music. Toys alone won't save Bond; we know that. He'll have to draw on his variegated talents -- the ability to outski gunfire, fly a plane, pronounce the Afghani for "beautiful," and pick the best restaurants in Karachi.

Maybe it's just as well for the free world Bond no longer plays hanky-panky. Because, with unscrupulous gunrunners, drug dealers and communists rubbing sleazy shoulders the world over, there's a lot of work to be done.

1987: Dave Kehr reviews The Living Daylights in the Chicago Tribune in his piece "Bond Is Back In All His Glory in The Living Daylights".

'BOND IS BACK IN ALL HIS GLORY IN
LIVING DAYLIGHTS`

See the complete article here:

https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1987-07-31-8702250988-story.html

Dave Kehr, Movie critic | CHICAGO TRIBUNE
July 31, 1987

As of today, a dark era in the history of mankind draws to a close. There is, finally, a new James Bond.

First there was Sean Connery, and then there were a couple of other guys. Now, there`s Timothy Dalton, a classically trained actor with extensive experience on the London stage and occasional experience in the movies (''The Lion in Winter,'' ''The Doctor and the Devils'').

Unlike his immediate predecessor, Roger Moore, Dalton is a Bond who can talk and a Bond who can move. Although ''The Living Daylights'' doesn`t give him all the room he needs to develop a full personality (the last few Bond films seem to have been designed to hide the star, and old habits are hard to break), he`s off to a good start.

No longer a flabby playboy, Dalton`s Bond is wiry, reserved and intense

--a man who takes his work seriously. And because this Bond is more serious, the film is more serious, too. ''The Living Daylights'' has largely been purged of the cartoonish exaggeration that ruled during the Moore years. The absurdly overscaled spectacle of the late entries in the series has been replaced by the pleasures of solid action, logically developed and cleanly presented.

It`s startling to realize how much of a difference a new Bond can make, given the absolute rigidity the formula has achieved through the years.

It`s more ritual than storytelling, beginning with the pre-credit sequence that leads to a spectacular stunt, developing through the visit to M`s office, the banter with Miss Moneypenny, Q`s demonstration of his latest gadgets; moving into the introduction of the eccentric villain, his murderous henchman and the principal woman-in-danger who becomes Bond`s lover; shifting gears for the Ping-Pong progression through the world`s most glamorous postcard locales; and climaxing with the destruction of a very large set decked out in stainless steel and populated by a hundred or two anonymous figures dressed in jump suits.

''The Living Daylights'' has all of this, except for the Very Large Set, which has been replaced by a Very Large Desert. (The Very Large Sets vanished when production designer Ken Adam left the series; the Bond films have never looked the same since.) Q`s gadgets include a whistling keychain that emits nerve gas to the tune of ''Rule Britannia'' and the latest Aston Martin outfitted with a rocket drive; the villains are a maniacal American arms dealer (Joe Don Baker) and a shifty KGB general (Jeroen Krabbe); the woman in danger is a Czechoslovakian cellist (Maryam d`Abo); and the itinerary includes Gibraltar, Bratislava, Tangier, Vienna and the wilds of Afghanistan.

Still, the plotting this time involves no wild scheme to take over the world but a much more modest effort on behalf of the KGB general to defraud his government of a few million dollars earmarked for arms purchases. This represents a significant credibility gain all by itself, and director John Glen is careful not to squander it.

The action set pieces--they include a car chase through the Czechoslovakian snow country and a midair fist fight that finds the antagonists dangling from the open port of a Russian cargo plane--reflect a shrewd compromise between imagination and marginal plausibility, and they seem much more exciting for the element of real-life danger they contain.

But it`s Dalton who sets the tone here, moving through his role with a cool assurance that masks a character of some complexity. His Bond, like the Bond of Ian Fleming`s original novels, is capable of some astonishing cruelty, as when he forces an uninvolved woman to strip in order to distract the attention of an enemy agent.

But there is also a surprising element of tenderness in his makeup:

Certainly no Bond has ever shown anything like the genuine affection Dalton displays toward his female co-star. A series long devoted to casual womanizing seems to have discovered a hint of romance.

Dalton does seem to be holding himself back, and he`s probably right to do it. After all, this is not a performance meant to end with one film, but designed to extend over a series, and it makes sense not to show everything you`ve got the first time out. In ''The Living Daylights,'' Dalton establishes his claim to the role; in the films that will follow, he`ll have the chance to dig deeper.

''THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS''
***
Directed by John Glen; written by Richard Maibaum and Michael G. Wilson;
photographed by Alec Mills; edited by John Grover and Peter Davies; production designed by Peter Lamont; music by John Barry; produced by Albert R. Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson. An MGM/UA release; opens July 31 at the Esquire and outlying theaters. Running time: 2:10. MPAA rating: PG.

THE CAST
James Bond.............................Timothy Dalton
Kara Milovy............................Maryam d`Abo
Gen. Georgi Koskov.....................Jeroen Krabbe
Brad Whitaker..........................Joe Don Baker
Gen. Leonid Pushkin....................John Rhys-Davies
Kamran Shah............................Art Malik
Necros.................................Andreas Wisniewski

1987: Roger Ebert reviews The Living Daylights in the Chicago Sun-Times.

The Living Daylights

See the complete article here:

https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-living-daylights-1987

Roger Ebert | July 31, 1987
**

The raw materials of the James Bond films are so familiar by now that the series can be revived only through an injection of humor. That is, unfortunately, the one area in which the new Bond, Timothy Dalton, seems to be deficient. He's a strong actor, he holds the screen well, he's good in the serious scenes, but he never quite seems to understand that it's all a joke.

The correct tone for the Bond films was established right at the start, with Sean Connery's quizzical eyebrows and sardonic smile. He understood that the Bond character was so preposterous that only lightheartedness could save him. The moment Bond began to act like a real man in a real world, all was lost. Roger Moore understood that, too, but I'm not sure Dalton does.

Dalton is rugged, dark and saturnine, and speaks with a cool authority. We can halfway believe him in some of his scenes. And that's a problem, because the scenes are intended to be preposterous. The best Bond movies always seem to be putting us on, to be supplying the most implausible and dangerous stunts in order to assure us they can't possibly be real. But in "The Living Daylights," there is a scene where Bond and his girlfriend escape danger by sliding down a snow-covered mountain in a cello case, and damned if Dalton doesn't look as if he thinks it's just barely possible.

The plot of the new movie is the usual grab bag of recent headlines and exotic locales. Bond, who is assigned to help a renegade Russian general defect to the West, stumbles across a plot involving a crooked American arms dealer, the war in Afghanistan and a plan to smuggle a half-billion dollars worth of opium. The story takes Bond from London to Prague, from mountains to deserts, from a chase down the slopes of Gibraltar to a fight that takes place while Bond and his enemy are hanging out of an airplane. The usual stuff.

One thing that isn't usual in this movie is Bond's sex life. No doubt because of the AIDS epidemic, Bond is not his usual promiscuous self, and he goes to bed with only one, or perhaps two, women in this whole film (it depends on whether you count the title sequence, where he parachutes onto the boat of a woman in a bikini). This sort of personal restraint is admirable, coming from Bond, but given his past sexual history surely it is the woman, not Bond, who is at risk.

The key female character is Kara (Maryam d'Abo), the Russian cellist, who gets involved in the plot with the Russian general, tries to work against Bond and eventually falls in love with him. As the only "Bond girl" in the movie, d'Abo has her assignment cut out for her, and unfortunately she's not equal to it. She doesn't have the charisma or the mystique to hold the screen with Bond (or Dalton) and is the least interesting love interest in any Bond film.

There's another problem. The Bond films succeed or fail on the basis of their villains, and Joe Don Baker, as the arms-dealing Whitaker, is not one of the great Bond villains. He's a kooky phony general who plays with toy soldiers and never seems truly diabolical. Without a great Bond girl, a great villain or a hero with a sense of humor, "The Living Daylights" belongs somewhere on the lower rungs of the Bond ladder. But there are some nice stunts.

1987: Candice Russell reviews The Living Daylights in the South Florida Sun Sentinel in her piece "Timothy Dalton Puts Class Back in James Bond".

TIMOTHY DALTON PUTS CLASS BACK IN
JAMES BOND

See the complete article here:

https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/fl-xpm-1987-07-31-8703030271-story.html

CANDICE RUSSELL, Film Writer | SUN-SENTINEL
31 July, 1987

Hail, the new James Bond! Timothy Dalton is the classiest heir to the mantle of England's sexy secret agent since Sean Connery really said never again. He's serious, rather than tongue-in-cheek like Roger Moore, instinctive and appealingly heroic.

Before the opening credit sequence, Bond parachutes into Gibraltar, foils a lethal KGB operative, escapes from an airborne jeep loaded with explosives, and lands on a yacht where a bored, bikini-clad beauty has just complained, "If only I could find a real man."

Yes, that's the James Bond we've come to know and adore for the last 25 years.

A great beginning isn't the only good news from The Living Daylights, No. 16 in one of the screen's most durable series. The action just doesn't stop, including a climactic shoot-out at a Soviet military base that is close to being an embarrassment of riches, such as in the ending of Raiders of the Lost Ark.

During the past 10 years, Bond films were devalued into formulaic outings. They tend to blend together in memory.

The Living Daylights stands alone. It has a convoluted, but not gratuitous, plot that is timely in its references to East-West detente, international weapons dealers, and peculiar trades of opium for arms. And it's clever, as Bond and Czech cellist girlfriend Kara (Maryam d'Abo) flee the bad guys in the snowy mountains by using a cello case as a toboggan.

A high-placed Soviet general named Koskov (played with a conniving glee by Jeroen Krabbe) defects to the West, with Bond's help. Then the Soviets spirit him out of bucolic Great Britain and the search is on. Koskov, who's trying to start an endless shooting match between Soviet and Western spies, is actually in cahoots with an amoral Tangier-based arms dealer named Whitaker (Joe Don Baker).

Ironically, Dalton turned down the part of Bond when Connery first left the series because, "I considered myself too young and Connery too good." Smart enough not to copy the originator and also to eschew the hamminess of Moore that sent 007 into a weird orbit, Dalton makes the part his own. If anything, he underplays, but is never overshadowed by gadgets, gorgeous women or awesome stunt work.

Much has been made about the monogamous taste of Bond this time. He only kisses one woman, d'Abo -- an intriguing blond cross between Isabella Rossellini and Audrey Hepburn -- and they never appear in bed. The sexual implication suffices.

Screen writers Richard Maibaum and Michael G. Wilson put Bond back in his beloved Aston-Martin, give gadget-pusher Q (Desmond Llewelyn) one good scene, and derive a chilling couple of scenes in which Bond goes hand-to-hand with villains, including the blond behemoth Necros (Andreas Wisniewski). Credit director John Glen with the estimable pacing and a sparing but lively sense of humor.

Colorful, vibrant, exotic, The Living Daylights more than delivers an eyeful of entertainment. At a running length just over two hours, the most thrill- seeking Bond fans will get their money's worth.

1987: Sheila Benson reviews The Living Daylights in the Los Angeles Times in her piece "New James Bond at the Same Old Pop-Pop Stand".

MOVIE REVIEW : NEW JAMES BOND AT THE
SAME OLD POP-POP STAND

See the complete article here:

https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-07-31-ca-170-story.html

By SHEILA BENSON | July 31, 1987

It was the editor on the phone. “The new Bond movie review.”

“Yes?”

“Where is it??? “

“What do you mean, where is it? Don’t you have it?”

“We don’t have it because you didn’t send it,” the voice said with a certain edge to it.

“Good grief, I suppose I didn’t. I do remember seeing the movie--forgettable title.”

“ ‘The Living Daylights.’ ”

“See what I mean?”

“You couldn’t forget the film--they have a new James Bond.”

“Right, right. So they do. Lovely fellow. Rugged. Smart. Dark. Dalton’s his name--Timothy. Not un-Bond-like, if you can put Sean Connery out of your mind. I never could. But things change, no? Non ? Nyet ? Connery’s on to other things, and we’re . . . still here at the same pop stand. Pop, pop, pop. Boom, boom, boom. Tricky cars. Tricky jeeps. Tricky cellos. KGB, BMT, BMW, BLT. 007, 711, 911. It all begins to slide together. We’ve been doing this a long time, James and I.”

“Twenty-five years,” the editor said, evenly.

“You’re joking! Well then, you see what I mean. And Dalton is splendid, but there it all is again: hurtling cars, parachutes, ski troops, paratroops, troops of toy soldiers, troops of Afghan freedom fighters, missives, missiles, heroin, heroines. This time, you know, the heroine plays the cello.”

“Maryam d’Abo.”

“You saw the movie!”

“I’m an editor. I read the press kit. Go on, surely you remember something more.”

“Well . . . Yo-Yo Ma’s career is still safe, but she certainly is beautiful.” The phone crackled ominously in my hand. I went on hurriedly, “I remember thinking that Europe turns out an awful lot of good actors, only to see them pop up, snarling at James Bond. It must be something like brain drain. It’s Jeroen Krabbe this time. Dutch, but he’s really got that old Klaus Maria Brandauer style. Unafraid to be r-e-a-l-l-y b-i-i-g, if you catch my drift.”

“Anything else?”

“I remember brooding for quite a while about James using a $150,000 Stradivarius cello for a toboggan. I can see that fad sweeping Juilliard around January--'It’s OK, we saw James Bond do it.’ And then afterward, d’Abo played her little heart out on that same cello, with a bullet hole right in it. ‘This is a matter for Yo-Yo Ma'--those were my actual notes. But after that . . . everything just becomes Lego blocks.”

“No cardiac-arrest stunts? No great gadgets? None of the old gang?”

“You could doze through this opener--the real stomach-clutcher doesn’t happen until the last 10 minutes, and this is a 130-minute movie. We won’t speak about the new Moneypenny . . . if they can keep dear old Q, they could have Simonized the real Moneypenny.”

I could feel editorial attention wandering.

“Q’s gadget,” I said suavely, “is an exploding key ring.” Aha! A gasp.

“Are we to infer thrift?”

Editors are ever alert for trends. It’s in their blood.

“Thrift, from a Broccoli production? Good heavens, no! The Aston Martin does all its old tricks: rolls over, fetches, kvetches , spits tacks, inscribes circles in the ice, does obligatory school figures. It’s just a little, you know, tired by now. This key ring thing is kind of cute. James has to whistle to make it work . . . it must be hard to keep your pucker under stress. You suppose Dalton had to show them he could keep his, to get the part?”

The connection got a little weird at this point, so I thought I’d better bite the bullet. So to speak.

“Look, I don’t know how to say this, but after 25 summers of hanging around together . . . after everything he’s taught me, all those golden memories, all those martinis, shaken not stirred.”

The silence was not golden.

“Well?”

“I feel just rotten about this, but I’m afraid I’ve outgrown James. When you talk to him about this--and I know you will--be kind.”

1987: David Sterritt reviews The Living Daylights in The Christian Science Monitor in his piece "James Bond now looks like Timothy Dalton".

James Bond now looks like Timothy Dalton
July 31, 1987
By David Sterritt
NEW YORK

See the complete article here:

https://www.csmonitor.com/1987/0731/lfl31.html

I have mixed feelings about James Bond, but I have to admit that he always puts on a generous show. Exotic locations, extravagant action, and offbeat characters are all constants of the Bond series. Not so constant is James Bond himself. For a while he looked like Sean Connery. Then it was George Lazenby (very briefly), and then Roger Moore.

Now he's taken on yet another face: that of Timothy Dalton, a British actor with much experience on the classical stage. Mr. Dalton does little that I could identify as acting in his first go-round as Agent 007. But he certainly looks the part, and he couldn't be more suave and debonair. Surround him with more than two hours of crash-bang adventure - which is just what director John Glen has done - and you have a package that audiences are sure to gobble up happily.

``The Living Daylights'' begins with a switch on the usual Bond heroics. A powerful Russian is defecting to the West, and Agent 007 is assigned to protect him from possible KGB assassination. Bond spots a Soviet sniper, all right, and it turns out to be - wouldn't you know - an attractive woman. Instead of assassinating the assassin, though, he simply shoots her rifle out of her hand (the way cowboys used to do in westerns) and lets her escape.

Why? Because his instinct told him to, Bond explains. His bosses are furious, thinking he let his quarry go because, well, he never could resist a pretty face. But his instinct was right all along, of course. The defection was a fraud. The assassin is really a potential friend. And Bond's ``license to kill'' hasn't expired - he just doesn't want to use it unless he really has to. Soon he's up to his eyeballs in international intrigue, facing everyone from an American gun-runner to Afghan adventurers.

``The Living Daylights'' has the usual failings of the Bond series, including a macho attitude, a weakness for violence, and a cold-war mentality. When the action moves to Afghanistan, moreover, the screenplay can't decide whether the Afghans are noble anti-Soviet freedom fighters or barbaric dope traffickers. So it gives us some of both.

Over on the plus side, the supporting cast includes such solid performers as Joe Don Baker, inimitable even when he's not in top form, and Art Malik of ``The Jewel in the Crown'' on television. And the womanizing Mr. Bond sticks to one girlfriend this time - who plays classical cello when she isn't polishing her rifle.

I talked with Timothy Dalton recently in New York, during a visit he paid to beat the drum for the movie. He told me that he's a longtime fan of the series and that his favorites are the early pictures with Sean Connery, which he finds more human than the ``technological extravaganzas'' of the Roger Moore era.

``I like those films,'' he says. ``To me they reflected the sense and spirit of Fleming's books, which are terrific adventure-romances.''

Dalton's acting experience includes years on the stage, where he played both modern and classical roles, and films as different as ``The Lion in Winter'' and ``Flash Gordon.'' How does an actor prepare for a role like James Bond, which has a whole history of movies and books behind it?

``You don't pluck a characterization out of thin air,'' says Dalton with an elegant British lilt, ``or do it in abstract, or make decisions that relate to your predecessors' work. You look at the script, and it imposes certain criteria upon you.

``Bond is a literary figure,'' he goes on, ``albeit a popular literary figure. He was born in the pages of Ian Fleming's work. Fleming was his creator. Fleming can tell you all you need to know about him. So the first step is to go those books and read them all and study them. And use your imagination and perception and intelligence to draw out what Fleming was getting at. Then, through yourself, you bring that to the particular necessities of the script you're playing.''

After steeping himself in James Bond novels and movies, Dalton qualifies as a leading expert on Agent 007. What's the essence of James Bond, in his view?

``He's a strange and fascinating paradox,'' Dalton muses. ``Obviously he contains a lot of Ian Fleming himself. It's almost as if Fleming created a man he would have liked to be - a principled, brave, tenacious, almost chivalric adventurer - and filled him with his own sensitivities and ideals and thoughts. Bond is a paradox. He's described as a machine. But he's a sensitive, thoughtful, intelligent machine. That's a contradiction. Machines don't feel. But on every page Fleming is talking about how he feels.''

Dalton says this contradiction - between functioning like a machine and feeling like a human being - is most fascinating when it affects Bond's personal relationships.

``He's a man who, in the nature of his job, cannot possibly have an emotional involvement with somebody,'' says the star. ``On a mission, when you're living in a dangerous and tense world - when your life might end at any given moment - you can't afford that kind of involvement.

``But having pushed Bond to one extreme, Fleming creates in him its opposite: the deep need for love and affection. Two pages down the road of any story, he's met some lady in distress, or a victim or endangered person - and fallen in love with her. So he's got these wonderful contradictions and opposites, which make a very rich and complex man. That, to me, was a terrific discovery.''

According to Dalton, the key to a successful James Bond adventure is keeping the right tension between Bond as a heroic figure and Bond as a living, breathing personality we can all identify with.

``It strikes me that if you hope for audience involvement and identification,'' he says, ``you've got to start with somebody who is human and complex and real. If you want to fly into fantasy, you've got to take off from the ground somewhere. The more you anchor the work in something that's real and human, the more [audiences] will believe the fantasy, the adventure, the excitement. And the more they'll get involved in the humor!''

RichardTheBruce

2007: Goldfinger re-released in the UK.

2010: Tom Mankiewicz dies at age 68--Los Angeles, California.
(Born 1 June 1942--Los Angeles, California.)

Tom Mankiewicz obituary

See the complete article here:

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2010/aug/04/tom-mankiewicz-obituary

Screenwriter from a Hollywood dynasty best known for his work
on James Bond
Ronald Bergan | Wed 4 Aug 2010 13.43 EDT

Roger Moore with Jane Seymour as Solitaire in Live and Let Die (1973),
Moore’s first appearance as 007, with screenwriting by Mankiewicz, below
Photograph: Allstar; Al Seib/Photoshot

For most film buffs, the name Mankiewicz immediately recalls Joseph L, the director and screenwriter of All About Eve (1950). For others, it evokes that of his older brother, Herman J, most celebrated as the writer of the screenplay of Citizen Kane. However, Joseph L's son, Tom Mankiewicz, who has died of cancer aged 68, is cherished by James Bond fans as the screenwriter of Diamonds Are Forever (1971), Live and Let Die (1973) and The Man With the Golden Gun (1974), as well as having worked on rewrites of The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) and Moonraker (1979).

Tom Mankiewicz

At the beginning of his career, Mankiewicz admitted that he probably got work because of his father. "You suddenly started to realise that people were asking you because it was you," he explained. Unlike his father's best films – literate, dialogue-based vehicles – when a director called "action" on a Tom Mankiewicz-scripted movie, he really meant it.

He was born in Los Angeles, where his father was an MGM producer before becoming the Oscar-winning director of Letter to Three Wives (1949) and All About Eve. (His mother, the Austrian-born actor Rose Stradner, killed herself when Tom was 16.) It seemed natural that the boy should follow the family tradition, so he majored in drama at Yale University. Before graduation, aged 18, he worked as production assistant on The Comancheros (1961), a western starring John Wayne. In 1964 he was credited as production associate on The Best Man, Gore Vidal's sharp look at morality in politics.

His first screen credit as a writer was on The Sweet Ride (1968), a pseudo-philosophical movie about three beach bums. It was not a success, nor was the Broadway musical Georgy (1970), for which Mankiewicz's book was based on the 1966 British film Georgy Girl. Nevertheless, the producers Albert R Broccoli and Harry Saltzman hired him for two weeks to doctor the Richard Maibaum script of Diamonds Are Forever. He stayed for six months, receiving a co-screenplay credit.

Differing greatly from the Ian Fleming book of the same name, the script had 007 (Sean Connery) bounding from London to Amsterdam, LA to Las Vegas, on the trail of a huge diamond-smuggling operation, behind which lurks his arch-enemy, Blofeld (not in the novel). Bond has a good fight in an elevator, is pestered by two vicious gay men, and attracted by two beauties named Tiffany Case and Plenty O'Toole.

Connery, who had been enticed back to the role after four years away by a $1m fee, plus a weekly salary of $10,000, had not altered his droll style and sexual allure, although there was some change in his girth. When Roger Moore followed him in the part, Mankiewicz was entrusted to write the screenplay for Moore's first 007, Live and Let Die.

The film, which did well at the box office, proved that Connery was not irreplaceable as Bond. While Mankiewicz stuck to the winning formula – the film had spectacular set pieces, particularly an incredible speedboat chase through the Louisiana bayous – it leaned rather more on the humorous side, honed to Moore's more lightweight personality.

According to Mankiewicz, "the difference between Sean and Roger was that Sean looked dangerous. Sean could sit at a table with a girl at a nightclub and either lean across and kiss her or stick a knife in her under the table and then say, 'Excuse me waiter, I have nothing to cut my meat with.' Whereas Roger could kiss the girl, if he stuck a knife in her it would look nasty because Roger looks like a nice guy."

Although The Man With the Golden Gun, which Mankiewicz and Maibaum adapted from Fleming's last novel, had the usual stunts, exotic locales, a master criminal and sexy women popping up from time to time, it sometimes verged on self-parody. In fact, there is a tongue-in-cheek seam running through most of Mankiewicz's work.

In 1976 three films with Mankiewicz as writer were released: Mother, Jugs & Speed, starring Bill Cosby as a stoned ambulance driver; The Cassandra Crossing, a disaster movie with an all-star cast; and The Eagle Has Landed (based on the Jack Higgins novel), an entertaining but far-fetched thriller with Michael Caine as a German colonel infiltrating an English village in 1943 with the aim of kidnapping Winston Churchill.

In 1977 the director Richard Donner recruited Mankiewicz to work on the script of Superman, for which he received the credit of creative consultant, a fancy name for script doctor. He got the same credit for Superman II (1980), directed by Richard Lester, who added rather too much camp humour to footage that Donner had shot. Mankiewicz claimed to have written most of both pictures. He later helped Donner reconstruct Superman II, restoring all of the original footage that had been altered by the producers.

In between fixing other people's films, he co-wrote the screenplay for Donner's Ladyhawke (1985), a handsome-looking medieval fable of cursed lovers turning into animals. After directing 13 episodes of the TV adventure series Hart to Hart (1979-82), starring Robert Wagner and Stefanie Powers, he directed two movies, Dragnet (1987) and Delirious (1991) – the former being a mildly amusing spoof of Jack Webb's 50s TV series; the latter about a writer (John Candy) trapped in his own soap opera.

Mankiewicz is survived by his brother, Christopher, a producer and actor, and his sister, Alexandra.

• Thomas Francis Mankiewicz, screen-writer and director, born 1 June 1942; died 31 July 2010

2012: Skyfall full trailer seen in theaters plus online.

Javier Bardem's blond Bond villain
unveiled

See the complete article here:

https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-19066966

Entertainment & Arts
31 July 2012

Bardem won an Oscar in 2008 for his role in
No Country for Old Men

A new trailer for the latest James Bond film Skyfall has given fans their first glimpse of Oscar-winning actor Javier Bardem's blond villain in action.

Bardem's character, named Silva, is seen confronting a manacled Bond, played by Daniel Craig, and is later shown disguised as a British policeman.

The trailer features actor Ben Whishaw as "The New Q" and explosive action in various London locales.

It also shows Bond being "killed" in action and M typing up his obituary.

Played by Dame Judi Dench, 007's boss is then seen being chastised by Ralph Fiennes' character Gareth Mallory for losing a disc drive containing details of undercover British agents.

Subsequent scenes depict an explosion at MI6's Thameside HQ and a Tube train plummeting into an underground vault.

The trailer reveals previously unknown plot points, one of which appears to have been drawn from Ian Fleming's novel You Only Live Twice.

The 1964 book concludes with an obituary for Bond written by M after the secret agent is believed to have been killed during a mission in Japan.

The latest trailer comes shortly after Craig's cameo appearance during the Olympic Opening Ceremony in a short film that showed Bond escorting the Queen to the Olympic Stadium.

Audiences in the US were treated to a teaser of the new footage during NBC's telecast of the London 2012 launch.

Daniel Craig's James Bond features in
another newly released Skyfall

Other scenes unveiled on Tuesday include one showing British actress Naomie Harris, in her role as field agent Eve, "shooting" Bond off the roof of a moving train in Turkey.

Skyfall, to be released in the UK on 26 October, marks Craig's third big-screen appearance as Fleming's legendary spy.

The 44-year-old was previously seen in the role in 2006's Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace in 2008.

Spanish actor Bardem won the best supporting actor Oscar in 2008 for his villainous role in No Country for Old Men.

The 43-year-old, who is married to fellow Spaniard Penelope Cruz, was also Oscar-nominated in 2001 and 2011.

2022: George Jetson is born.

RichardTheBruce

August 1st

1930: Lionel Bart is born--Stepney, London, England.
(He dies 3 April 1999 at age 68--Hammersmith, London, England.)

Obituary: Lionel Bart

See the complete article here:

https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/obituary-lionel-bart-1085282.html

Tom Vallance | Monday 5 April 1999 00:02

IF HE had written only Oliver!, the composer Lionel Bart would have earned an honoured place in the history of British musicals, but he was far from a one-show wonder. His other work included shows such as Fings Ain't Wot They Used T'Be and Maggie May, plus many pop songs including "Living Doll" (Cliff Richard's first No 1 hit), Tommy Steele's "A Handful of Songs", Anthony Newley's "Do You Mind?" and Matt Monro's "From Russia With Love".

He epitomised the start of the Sixties in Britain, which he uniquely captured in song and spirit, and he was one of the few composers to deal uncondescendingly with the working classes, transposing their life styles and vernacular to the musical stage. "Nobody tries to be la-de-da or uppity, there's a cuppa tea for all," sings the Artful Dodger to Oliver, while Fings Ain't Wot They Used T'Be remains a time capsule of a world in which folk talked of their "birds" and their "manor" and dreamed of being able to afford furniture that was "contempery". It was like a musical EastEnders, but far more joyous and celebratory, without the unremitting angst suffered by the inhabitants of Albert Square.

Bart also epitomised the Sixties in a less happy way - like many who flourished in that era he was seduced by sudden success into a world of drink, drugs and hedonism, squandering his money and his youth.

Bart was one of the 11 children of an East End tailor. He was born Lionel Begleiter, in 1930, and he had no formal musical training. He displayed a flair for drawing, however, which brought him at the age of 16 a scholarship to the St Martin's School of Art in London. (His bus journey, which took him each day past St Bartholomew's Hospital, inspired him to adopt Bart as his professional surname.) He worked in a silk-screen printing works and commercial art studios before an attraction to the theatre brought him work at the left-wing Unity Theatre, where he worked as a set painter. He started writing songs in response to a sign asking for musical material for one of the theatre's productions. Unable to write music, he would tap out the melody with one finger and someone else would orchestrate it.

It was a time when popular music was undergoing a drastic transformation due to the influence of such stars as Elvis Presley and Bill Haley, and Bart was one of many musicians and singers (most of them Presley-influenced) who frequented the 2 I's coffee shop in Soho, where he met the rock singer Tommy Steele. With Michael Pratt and Steele, Bart wrote Steele's first hit, "Rock with the Caveman" (1957), and later that year Bart won three Ivor Novello Awards, presented by the Songwriters Guild, for outstanding song of the year ("A Handful of Songs"), best novelty song ("Water, Water") and outstanding film score (The Tommy Steele Story).

Another habitue of the 2 I's was a cherubic youngster named Harry Webb, and when he made his first film, Serious Charge (with his new name Cliff Richard), it was Bart who provided the songs, including "Living Doll", which topped the Hit Parade for eight weeks. (Bart claimed that he wrote the song in six minutes on a Sunday morning.) The same year Bart wrote a complete musical, Wally Pone of Soho, based on Ben Jonson's Volpone, but could not get it produced, but Joan Littlewood, who had been a producer at the Unity and was now running the enterprising Theatre Workshop in Stratford, London, asked him to provide the music and lyrics for a new musical written by a former convict, Frank Norman, Fings Ain't Wot They Used T'Be.

Bart and Norman complemented each other beautifully and produced a brash, funny, unpretentious working-class musical. Blessed with a cast aptly assembled by Littlewood, including Miriam Karlin, Barbara Windsor, James Booth, Yootha Joyce, Toni Palmer and George Sewell (who was to play Bill Sykes in Oliver!), it played to packed houses and eventually moved to the Garrick Theatre in the West End, where it ran for two years. Bart's ingratiating score included an infectious (if derivative) title tune, a Presley-type rock number "Big Time" (recorded by Adam Faith) and a plaintive lament for a prostitute, "Where Do Little Birds Go?", delivered with a show-stopping guilelessness by Windsor, who credited the number with changing her life and career.

Like Norman's libretto, Bart's songs perfectly captured a time of change - of the Wolfenden Report, massage parlours replacing street-corner pick- ups; and a time when "ordinary people" had started going to Paris for the weekend instead of Southend.

Later in 1959 Bart had another success when Lock Up Your Daughters, a musical version of Henry Fielding's Rape Upon Rape, opened at the Mermaid with lyrics by Bart to Laurie Johnson's music. He had also provided songs for Tommy Steele's film Tommy the Toreador and at the end of the year won four Novello Awards - for the year's best-selling song ("Living Doll"), the outstanding score of the year (Lock Up Your Daughters), outstanding novelty song ("Little White Bull") and a special award for "outstanding personal services to British music".

Bart was now on the threshold of the biggest success of his life. Based on a much-loved Dickens novel, and Bart for the first time providing his own libretto as well as music and lyrics, Oliver! seemed far from a certain success - a dozen managements had turned it down - but its first night at the New Theatre (now the Albery) on 30 June 1960 was something that none of us present will ever forget. Of British musicals, only Sandy Wilson's The Boy Friend, which premiered seven years earlier, could be said to have had such a roof-raising, rapturous reception in the last half-century.

The show received 23 curtain-calls, and Bart's score was lauded next day for its richness and variety, from rousing show-stoppers like "Consider Yourself" and "I'd Do Anything" to the character songs such as Fagin's "Pick a Pocket or Two" and "Reviewing the Situation", and Nancy's "It's a Fine Life" and the torchy ballad "As Long As He Needs Me". (Bart later said that, when composing his songs, he always thought of Judy Garland singing them.) It won Novello Awards for outstanding score of the year, outstanding song of the year and best-selling song (the last two both for "As Long As He Needs Me"). Oliver! ran for 2,618 performances in London, and was a hit on Broadway where it opened in 1963 and ran for 774 performances, winning Bart a Tony Award.

Bart was said to be earning pounds 16 a minute from Oliver! in 1960 and his life style reflected his wealth. He entertained vigorously, his friends including Noel Coward, Brian Epstein, Judy Garland, Alma Cogan and Shirley Bassey, and he spent weekends in Mustique with Princess Margaret, who was later, according to Bart, to call him a "silly bugger" for mis-handling his finances. Bart himself would later place some of the blame on his upbringing. "My father gambled," he said, "and there were endless arguments about it. I hated money and had no respect for it. My attitude was to spend it as I got it."

Though there may be some truth in this, Bart's friends attest to his constantly altering the facts of his childhood and frequently taking liberties with the truth. When he was looking for a writer to help ghost his memoirs, several noted authors turned him down, one of them telling me bluntly, "He's such a liar!"

The American composer Richard Rodgers, who had not found a permanent lyricist partner since the death of Oscar Hammerstein, asked Bart to collaborate with him, but Bart refused and for his next show chose a subject close to his heart, the way East Enders coped with air-raids in World War II. Blitz! (Bart had a fondness for exclamation points in his titles) was a gargantuan production which never quite jelled (Bart directed the show) and its score was less inspired than that of Oliver!, though it had a show-stopping children's chorus, "Mums and Dads", and Bart persuaded Vera Lynn to record for the production his cod-wartime ballad "The Day After Tomorrow". Its strongest talking-point was the massive set by Sean Kenny (who had also done sterling work on Oliver!) which literally self- destructed during a bombing raid.

For his old friend Joan Littlewood, Bart next composed a title song and theme music for her film Sparrows Can't Sing (1963) starring Barbara Windsor and James Booth, and he had a hit with the title song for the James Bond film From Russia With Love (1964), recorded by Matt Monro.

Bart wrote the music and lyrics for his next stage musical, Maggie May (1964), but collaborated on the book with Harvey Orkin. Starring Rachel Roberts and Kenneth Haigh, it was a moderate success but produced no major song hits, though Judy Garland recorded four of the songs for an EP and it won the Novello Award as outstanding score of the year and the Critics' Poll as best new British musical.

Bart was by now experimenting with LSD and other drugs and was drinking heavily. By the late Seventies his drinking had brought on diabetes and by the time he managed to quit alcohol it had destroyed one-third of his liver. Much of his income was being dissipated, according to his friends, by his generosity to hangers-on and by the ease with which casual sex partners could rob him. (Though known in the profession to be gay, it was not until the Nineties that Bart described himself as "out at last".) His career reached a low point in 1965 with his musical about Robin Hood which he backed with a fortune of his own money. Twang! was a short-lived disaster and to finance it Bart had rashly sold his rights to Oliver! He later estimated that relinquishing those rights lost him over a million pounds.

In 1968 Carol Reed's film verion of Oliver! opened and was a huge success, winning several Oscars including Best Picture, plus nominations for Ron Moody (the original Fagin repeating his fine performance) and Jack Wild (as the Artful Dodger). Bart's score was kept virtually intact, and the soundtrack album was a best-seller. Columbia, the studio financing the film, had wanted an internationally known star (Peter Sellers) in the lead, but Reed and Bart fought to keep Moody. Their choice of Shirley Bassey to play Nancy was vetoed by the studio, who felt that if Bill Sykes was shown killing a black girl it could offend some audiences.

Four years after Twang! a new show by Bart was produced. Based on the Fellini film La Strada, it was staged on Broadway where it ran for only one night, though Bart never gave up on it and was working on plans for a revival at the time of his death.

He also wrote the score for a television version of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde starring Kirk Douglas (never shown in Britain) and an unproduced stage musical, Quasimodo! based on The Hunchback of Notre Dame. In a 1995 interview with The Independent, Bart recalled that he sent some of the script for Quasimodo! to Noel Coward, who said, "Brilliant, dear boy, but were you on drugs when you wrote it? It seems a bit abstract here and there." "I suppose it was," said Bart.

In 1972 Bart declared himself bankrupt - he had debts totalling pounds 73,000. In 1975 he was banned for a year for driving under the influence of drink, and in 1983 banned again for two years. Regarding the changes in the style of musical theatre, he told the musical historian Mark Steyn that he would never have written a through-sung musical because in my case it would be slightly pretentious. I'm not a composer, I just make tunes and sing them, and I sing harmonies, and some of my chord progressions are not logical, but often they work. For Oliver! I thought in terms of people's walks. The Oliver theme was really the Beadle's walk, a kind of dum-de-dum . . . Fagin's music was like a Jewish mother clucking away. But I don't want to get high-falutin' about it. Music is important, fair enough. But just to have some kind of drab tune fitted to even more drab dialogue seems rather pointless to me.

Though Bart's final years were unproductive (a 30-second commercial for the Abbey National Building Society was his most notable achievement of the last decade), and he could be exasperatingly demanding of his friends, he was equable about his change in fortunes - he once had homes in London, New York, Malibu and Tangiers but had been living in a small flat in Acton. Cameron Mackintosh, who successfully revived Oliver! at the London Palladium in 1994 and gave him a percentage of the profits, said,

Of all the people I know in this business who have had ups and downs, Lionel is the least bitter man I have ever come across. He regrets it but, considering that everyone else has made millions out of his creations, he's never been sour, never been vindictive.

Andrew Lloyd Webber said, "Lionel's genius has in my view never been fully recognised by the British establishment. The loss to British musical theatre caused by his untimely death is incalculable."

Tom Vallance

Lionel Begleiter (Lionel Bart), composer, lyricist and playwright: born London 1 August 1930; died London 3 April 1999.

1930: Geoffrey Holder is born--Port of Spain, Trinidad.
(He dies 5 October 2014 at age 84--New York City, New York.)

Geoffrey Holder, Dancer, Actor,
Painter and More, Dies at 84

See the complete article here:

https://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/07/arts/geoffrey-holder-dancer-choreographer-and-man-of-flair-dies-at-84.html

Geoffrey Holder, Dancer, Actor, Painter and More, Dies at 84
By Jennifer Dunning and William McDonald | Oct. 6, 2014

Mr. Holder, the multitalented artist, and ebullient performer died Sunday at 84.
Credit Erin Combs/Toronto Star, via Getty Images

Geoffrey Holder, the dancer, choreographer, actor, composer, designer and painter who used his manifold talents to infuse the arts with the flavor of his native West Indies and to put a singular stamp on the American cultural scene, not least with his outsize personality, died on Sunday in Manhattan. He was 84.

Charles M. Mirotznik, a spokesman for the family, said the cause was complications of pneumonia.

Few cultural figures of the last half of the 20th century were as multifaceted as Mr. Holder, and few had a public presence as unmistakable as his, with his gleaming pate atop a 6-foot-6 frame, full-bodied laugh and bassoon of a voice laced with the lilting cadences of the Caribbean.

Mr. Holder directed a dance troupe from his native Trinidad and Tobago, danced on Broadway and at the Metropolitan Opera and won Tony Awards in 1975 for direction of a musical and costume design for “The Wiz,” a rollicking, all-black version of “The Wizard of Oz.” His choreography was in the repertory of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and the Dance Theater of Harlem. He acted onstage and in films and was an accomplished painter, photographer and sculptor whose works have been shown in galleries and museums. He published a cookbook.

Mr. Holder acknowledged that he achieved his widest celebrity as the jolly, white-suited television pitchman for 7Up in the 1970s and ’80s, when in a run of commercials, always in tropical settings, he happily endorsed the soft drink as an “absolutely maaarvelous” alternative to Coca-Cola — or “the Uncola,” as the ads put it.

Long afterward, white suit or no, he would stop pedestrian traffic and draw stares at restaurants. He even good-naturedly alluded to the TV spots in accepting his Tony for directing, using their signature line “Just try making something like that out of a cola nut.”

Geoffrey Lamont Holder was born into a middle-class family on Aug. 1, 1930, in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, the youngest of five children of Louise de Frense and Arthur Holder, who had immigrated from Barbados. Geoffrey attended Queen’s Royal College, an elite secondary school in Trinidad. There he struggled with a stammer that plagued him into early adulthood.

“At school, when I got up to read, the teacher would say, ‘Next,’ because the boys would laugh,” he said in an oral history interview.

Growing up, Mr. Holder came under the wing of his talented older brother, Arthur Aldwyn Holder, known to everyone by his childhood nickname, Boscoe. Boscoe Holder taught Geoffrey painting and dancing and recruited him to join a small, folkloric dance troupe he had formed, the Holder Dancing Company. Boscoe was 16; Geoffrey, 7.

Geoffrey Holder’s career mirrored that of his brother in many ways. Boscoe Holder, too, went on to become a celebrated dancer, choreographer, musician, painter and designer, and he, too, left Trinidad, in the late 1940s, for England, where he performed on television and onstage.

His brother’s departure put Geoffrey Holder in charge of the dance company, as its director and lead performer, and he took it to New York City in 1954, invited by the choreographer Agnes de Mille, who had seen the troupe perform two years before in St. Thomas, in the Virgin Islands. She arranged an audition for the impresario Sol Hurok. To pay for the troupe’s passage, Mr. Holder, already an established young painter, sold 20 of his paintings.

After dropping his bags at an uncle’s apartment in Brooklyn, he fell in love with the city.

“It was a period when all the girls looked like Janet Leigh and Elizabeth Taylor, with crinoline petticoats and starched hair,” he told The New York Times in 1985. “The songs of that period were the themes from ‘The Moulin Rouge’ and ‘Limelight,’ and it was so marvelous to hear the music in the streets and see the stylish ladies tripping down Fifth Avenue. Gorgeous black women, Irish women — all of them lovely and all of them going somewhere.”

Mr. Holder had the good fortune to arrive in New York at a time of relative popularity for all-black Broadway productions as well as black dance, both modern and folk. Calypso music was also gaining a foothold, thanks largely to Harry Belafonte.

Mr. Holder at the opening of the Broadway musical “The Lion King” in 1997 accompanied by his wife,
the dancer Carmen de Lavallade. He made his own Broadway debut in 1954.
Credit Nancy Siesel/The New York Times

For a while Mr. Holder taught classes at the Katherine Dunham School, and he was a principal dancer for the Metropolitan Opera Ballet from 1956 to 1958. He continued to dance and direct the Holder dance company until 1960, when it disbanded. In the meantime, at a dance recital, he caught the attention of the producer Arnold Saint-Subber, who was putting together a show with a Caribbean theme.

Thus did Mr. Holder make his Broadway debut on Dec. 30, 1954, as a featured dancer in “House of Flowers,” a haunting, perfumed evocation of West Indian bordello life, with music by Harold Arlen and a book by Truman Capote, based on his novella of the same name. Directed by Peter Brook at the Alvin Theater, it starred Diahann Carroll and Pearl Bailey, and among its dancers was a ravishingly pretty young woman named Carmen de Lavallade. She and Mr. Holder married in 1955, had a son, Léo, and sometimes shared the stage. Both wife and son survive him. Boscoe Holder died in 2007.

One character Mr. Holder played in the musical was the top-hatted Baron Samedi, the guardian of the cemetery and the spirit of death, sex and resurrection in Haitian Voodoo culture. Mr. Holder relished Samedi: he played him again in the 1973 James Bond film, “Live and Let Die” (the first of the Bond franchise to star Roger Moore), and featured him in his choreography — in his “Banda” dance from the musical “House of Flowers,” and in “Banda,” a further exploration of folk themes that had its premiere in 1982.

His Voodoo villain in “Live and Let Die” was of a piece with much of his sporadic film career: with his striking looks and West Indian-inflected voice, producers tended to cast Mr. Holder in roles deemed exotic. In “Doctor Dolittle” (1967), he was a giant native who ruled a floating island as William Shakespeare (the 10th). In Woody Allen’s “Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex * but Were Afraid to Ask” (1972), he played a sorcerer. In “Annie” (1982), he was the Indian servant Punjab. (An exception was the 1992 romantic comedy “Boomerang,” in which he played a randy director of commercials working for Eddie Murphy’s playboy advertising executive.)

Mr. Holder was multitasking before the term gained currency. In 1957, he landed a notable acting role playing the hapless servant Lucky in an all-black Broadway revival of Samuel Beckett’s “Waiting for Godot,” directed by Herbert Berghof. The show, just seven months after the play’s original Broadway production, closed after only six performances because of a union dispute, but the role, with its rambling, signature 700-word monologue, lifted Mr. Holder’s acting career.

That same year, he choreographed and danced in a revival of the George and Ira Gershwin musical “Rosalie” in Central Park. And he received a Guggenheim fellowship in painting.

Painting was a constant for him. Whether life was hectic or jobs were scarce, he could usually be found in the SoHo loft he shared with Ms. de Lavallade, absorbed in work that drew on folk tales and often delivered biting social commentary. On canvases throughout the studio, sensuous nudes jostled for space with elegantly dressed women, ghostly swimmers nestled beside black Virgin Marys, bulky strippers seemed to burst out of their skins, and mysterious figures peered out of tropical forests.

His work was shown at the Corcoran Gallery in Washington and at the Guggenheim Museum in New York. And then there was his photography, and his sculpture.

His visual creativity extended to costume designs, “The Wiz” being just one showcase. Another was John Taras’s 1982 production of “The Firebird” for the Dance Theater of Harlem, in which the Russian fairy tale was relocated to a tropical forest. Mr. Holder designed both the sets and the costumes, one of which was a blend of 30 or 40 colors. He earned another Tony nomination for best costume design for the 1978 Broadway musical “Timbuktu!,” an all-black show based on the musical “Kismet.” He also directed and choreographed “Timbuktu!”

Mr. Holder’s dance designs were equally bold. Reviewing a 1999 revival of “Banda” by the Dance Theater of Harlem, Anna Kisselgoff wrote in The Times, “Mr. Holder is a terrific showman, and his mix of Afro-Caribbean rituals, modern dance and even ballet’s pirouettes is potent and dazzling.”

Other Holder dance classics were “Prodigal Prince” (1971), a dreamlike re-creation of the life and work of Hector Hyppolite, the Haitian folk painter, for which he also composed the musical score; and “Dougla” (1974), an evocation of a mixed-race Caribbean wedding. (Dougla refers to people who are of African and Indian descent.)

In 1959, he published a book on Caribbean folklore, Black Gods, Green Islands, written with Tom Harshman and illustrated by Mr. Holder; in 1973, he produced Geoffrey Holder’s Caribbean Cookbook. He himself was the subject of books and documentaries, including “Carmen & Geoffrey” (2009), by Linda Atkinson and Nick Doob.

Mr. Holder said his artistic life was governed by a simple credo, shaped by his own experience as a West Indian child who had yet to see the world.

“I create for that innocent little boy in the balcony who has come to the theater for the first time,” he told Dance magazine in 2010. “He wants to see magic, so I want to give him magic. He sees things that his father couldn’t see.”

Correction: Oct. 6, 2014
An earlier version of this obituary misstated Mr. Holder’s age. He was 84, not 83. (His date of birth was correctly given as Aug. 1, 1930.) It also misstated his middle name. It was Lamont, not Richard.
Correction: Oct. 6, 2014

An earlier version of a picture caption with this obituary misstated Mr. Holder's surname as Holden.
Correction: Oct. 14, 2014

An obituary last Tuesday about the dancer, choreographer and actor Geoffrey Holder misstated his tenure as a principal dancer for the Metropolitan Opera Ballet. It was from 1956 to 1958, not 1955 and 1956. The obituary also misstated the number of siblings Mr. Holder had. He was the youngest of five children, not “one of four children.”
A version of this article appears in print on Oct. 7, 2014, Section A, Page 19 of the New York edition with the headline: Geoffrey Holder, Multitalented Artist, Dies at 84. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe

Geoffrey Holder
Filmography
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0390305/

Actor (31 credits)
2008 Butterfield (Short) - Mr. Emory
2008 The Little Wizard: Guardian of the Magic Crystals - Narrator
2005 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Narrator (voice)
2005 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Video Game) - The Narrator (voice)
2002-2003 Cyberchase (TV Series) - Master Pi
- Double Trouble (2003) ... Master Pi (voice)
- Problem Solving in Shangri-La (2002) ... Master Pi (voice)
1997-2002 Bear in the Big Blue House (TV Series) - Ray the Sun (Total 41 episodes)
2002 Bear in the Big Blue House LIVE! - Surprise Party (Video) - Ray (voice)

1999 Goosed - Dr. Bowman
1998 Chance or Coincidence - Owner of Soutine's Bar
1995 Hell: A Cyberpunk Thriller (Video Game) - Jean St. Mouchoir (voice)
1992 Boomerang - Nelson

1987 Where Confucius Meets the New Wave - Narrator
1987 Ghost of a Chance (TV Movie) - Johnson
1986 John Grin's Christmas (TV Movie) - Ghost of Christmas Future
- 1983 Great Performances (TV Series) - Cheshire Cat
- Alice in Wonderland (1983) ... Cheshire Cat
1982 Annie - Punjab
1980 ABC Weekend Specials (TV Series) - Jupiter
- The Gold Bug (1980) ... Jupiter
-
1976 Swashbuckler - Cudjo
1975 The Noah - Friday
1973 Live and Let Die - Baron Samedi
1973 The Man Without a Country (TV Movie) - Slave on ship
1972 Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex * But Were Afraid to Ask - Sorcerer
1970 It Takes a Thief (TV Series) - Paul Trion
- Nice Girls Marry Stockbrokers (1970) ... Paul Trion

1968 Krakatoa: East of Java - Sailor
1967-1968 Tarzan (TV Series) - Mayko / Zwengi
- A Gun for Jai (1968) ... Mayko
- The Pride of the Lioness (1967) ... Zwengi
1967 Doctor Dolittle - William Shakespeare X
1967 Androcles and the Lion (TV Movie) - Lion

1959 Porgy and Bess - Dancer (uncredited)
1958 The DuPont Show of the Month (TV Series) - Genie
- Cole Porter's 'Aladdin' (1958) ... Genie
1957 Carib Gold - Voodoo Dancer (as Geoffery Holder)
1957 The United States Steel Hour (TV Series) - Calypso Singer
- The Bottle Imp (1957) ... Calypso Singer

1942: Giancarlo Giannini is born--La Spezia, Liguria, Italy.

1965: Samuel Alexander "Sam" Mendes, CBE, is born--Reading, Berkshire, England.

1970: Robert Brownjohn dies at age 44--London, England.
(Born 8 August 1925--Newark, New Jersey.)

Robert Brownjohn
American, 1925–1970

See the complete article here:

https://www.moma.org/artists/816?locale=en

While best known for his title sequences for the James Bond films From Russia with Love and Goldfinger, Robert Brownjohn had a short but influential career, which integrated design, advertising, film, photography, and music. A major figure in the New York advertising and design scene of the late 1950s, he later moved to London, where he was at the epicenter of the burgeoning music, art, and fashion scene of London’s “swinging ’60s.”

Born in New Jersey to British parents, Brownjohn later moved to Chicago, where during the mid-1940s he studied under former Bauhaus teacher Laszlo Moholy-Nagy at the Chicago Institute of Design. He quickly caught the attention of his teachers, who later brought him on as an instructor at the school. After moving to New York in 1951, he spent five years as a freelance designer for clients including George Nelson and Bob Cato. In 1956, he formed a partnership with Ivan Chermayeff, a designer and son of the modernist architect Serge Chermayeff (with designer Tom Geismar joining a year later). Brownjohn, Chermayeff & Geismar quickly grew into one of the most innovative design and advertising firms in New York. Brownjohn’s many personal problems, caused primarily by the heroin addiction that later claimed his life, ultimately soured his New York relationships, precipitating his move to London in 1960.

In London, Brownjohn rapidly established himself as a designer of note. While working for the firm McCann Erickson, he designed the opening credits for the second James Bond film, From Russia with Love, his first foray into film. The following year he directed the film titles for Goldfinger. For both title sequences, he employed a surprising and attention-grabbing approach in which the credit texts and scenes from the films were projected onto scantily clad women, initiating the long-running Bond film tradition of elaborate title sequences featuring seductive women. Brownjohn’s treatment of type as dynamic, abstract forms in the title sequences illustrated both his mastery of graphic design and the enduring influence of Moholy-Nagy’s use of type and photography. His combination of sexually suggestive images and wry humor was a fitting accompaniment to the James Bond mythos. The broad acclaim he received for the Bond film titles led to more film and commercial work for clients ranging from Pirelli to Midland Bank to the Rolling Stones. Though he continued to produce original and challenging work, in the latter half of the 1960s, his life became increasingly unstable. He was moving from one partnership to another until he died in 1970, at the untimely age of 44.

Introduction by Paul Galloway, Collection Specialist, Department of Architecture and Design, 2016

Robert Brownjohn (1925–1970)
Miscellaneous Crew | Actor | Art Director
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0115226/
Filmography

Miscellaneous Crew (6 credits)

1969 Michael Kohlhaas - Der Rebell (titles)
1967 The Night of the Generals (title sequence designer)
1966 The Tortoise and the Hare (Short) (title designer)
1966 Where the Spies Are (title designer)
1964 Goldfinger (titles designed by)
1963 From Russia with Love (titles designed by)

Actor (1 credit)

1969 Otley - Paul

Art director (1 credit)

1963 A... is for Apple (Short)

1972: Roger Moore photographed at the Dorchester Hotel, London, with cigar and martini, shortly after the announcement he accepted the Bond role.

1979: Moonraker released in Colombia.
1979: 太空城 鐵金剛勇破 (Tiě jīngāng yǒng pò tàikōng chéng; Iron King Space city) released in Hong Kong.

https://talkcinema.wordpress.com/2017/08/16/大堂海報：手作版與原裝版/



http://playitagain.info/site/1979/moonraker/

https://www.bilibili.com/video/av12518630/

1984: A View to a Kill principal photography kicks off at Pinewood with Roger Moore.

1990: Hodder & Stoughton publish John Gardner's Bond novel Brokenclaw.

Brokenclaw

BROKENCLAW is John Gardner's
ninth novel featuring Ian Fleming's
James Bond.

Bond is bored sitting at his desk,
pushing paper, and feels that M has let
him down, has left him to rot. When M
suggests that he take a holiday, Bond is
displeased but, in the California hills,
he catches sight of a man who intrigues
him immediately. His name is
Brokenclaw Lee.

When Bond discovers that the
enigmatic Brokenclaw heads a vast
conglomerate of underworld
operations, he wonders if M's idea that
he should go on holiday was the clear-
cut proposal it seemed. What has
happened to the five scientists whose
highly sensitive, secret work is crucial
to the security of the American state?
Why are Bond's investigations
compelling American agents to handle
him as though he were a common
criminal?

As ever, Bond finds a worthy partner in
a beautiful female agent -- Chi-Chi.
This time, however, he has the support
of the indomitable Ed Rushia of the
CIA. Just how much help will these two
be able to give Bond when he is pitted
against one of America's most powerful
villains?

BROKENCLAW is an intriguing and
stimulating thriller which will delight
old and new fans of Bond. It takes our
hero through the slimiest parts of San
Francisco to Brokenclaw's lair, a puzzle
house crammed with technological
devices, to a spellbinding ending in the
heartland of the American Indians.

John Gardner has written eight James
Bond books: Licence Renewed, For
Special Services, Icebreaker, Role of
Honour, Nobody Lives Forever, No Deals
for Mr Bond, Scorpius, Licence to Kill,
and, in 1989, Win, Lose or Die. All
these titles are available in Coronet
paperback.

RichardTheBruce

1991: This month Eclipse Comics releases Permission to Die #2.
Mike Grell, Dameon Willich and Mark Jones, artists. Mike Grell, writer.

Permission to Die #2

https://www.mycomicshop.com/search?TID=135651

Story and cover by Mike Grell. Part 2 of 3. Art by Mike Grell, Dameon Willich and Mark Jones. Refusing to return to London after his mission has been compromised, James Bond uses all of his knowledge to get Edaine Gayla out from behind the Iron Curtain. He is sure of success until he learns that one of the worlds deadliest assassins is on their trail. 48 pages. Full color.

1992: This month Marvel Comics releases James Bond Jr #8 "Wave Goodbye to the USA".
Mario Capaldi, artist. Featuring Odd Job and Walker D. Plank.

James Bond Jr #8 "Wave Goodbye to the USA"

https://comicvine.gamespot.com/james-bond-jr-8-wave-goodbye-to-the-usa/4000-36055/

Creators
Colin Fawcett - inker
Mario Capaldi - penciler
Sophie Heath - colorist
Stuart Bartlett - letterer

Characters
Captain Walker D. Plank
Goldfinger
Gordo Leiter
James Bond Jr
Odd Job
Tracey Milbanks

1992: This month Dark Horse Comics releases James Bond 007: Serpent's Tooth #2.
Paul Gulacy, artist. Doug Moench, writer.

James Bond 007: Serpent's Tooth #2

https://www.darkhorse.com/Comics/92-104/James-Bond-007-Serpents-Tooth-2

Beautiful girls and a maniacal villain who wants to change the face of the planet are all in a day's work for James Bond. The second part of this thrilling three-part story pits Bond against a savage South American jungle's most dangerous game -- a hungry dinosaur! Written by Doug Moench (Batman: Red Rain), with art by Paul Gulacy (Terminator: Secondary Objectives) and color by Steve Oliff (John Byrne's 2112), James Bond 007: Serpent's Tooth delivers Bond the way only Dark Horse can!

Creators
Writer: Doug Moench
Artist: Paul Gulacy
Letterer: Pat Brosseau
Colorist: Steve Oliff
Editor: Jerry Prosser
Cover Artist: Paul Gulacy

Genre: Action/Adventure
Publication Date: August 01, 1992
Format: FC

https://www.comicsroyale.com/dark-horse/r97ubeqpmg192vlwmr6jijqiryeu6r


https://comics.ha.com/itm/original-comic-art/panel-pages/paul-gulacy-james-bond-007-serpent-s-tooth-2-page-28-original-art-dark-horse-acme-comics-1992-/a/121930-17086.s

1993: Dark Horse Comics cancels A Silent Armageddon #3, which would have released this month.

https://www.mi6-hq.com/sections/comics/asa.php3

Cancelled Issues - Official Synopsis
Issue #3 - A deadly computer virus demonstrates its lethal potential through automatic teller machines, hospital equipment, and prison cell locks in New York City. James Bond and Terri are determined to find out whether the Omega computer program is responsible for the mayhem, but the son of an old nemesis is even more determined to see Bond dead!

https://www.comicsroyale.com/dark-horse/cslpf7lonvt9q7jxvy1pd53jjvywuo

https://www.comicsroyale.com/goldeneyetopps-comics#/a-silent-armageddon/

A Silent Armageddon - Unreleased Issue Synopses and Artwork

Simon Jowett’s Bond story was never completed which is a shame because it’s an interesting tale with beautiful painted artwork by John M. Burns, but delays in said artwork meant that readers were left with a cliffhanger and a story was lost to the ether.

According to Jowett, issue #3 was completed, artwork and all, and submitted but never saw publication. If you have information or access to this comic then we Bond fans would love to see it so feel free to contact me!

In this gallery you’ll find issue synopses for the unfinished arc and cover artwork tests by the very talented Burns. And although issue #3 is still a mystery, thanks to friend of the site Colin Brown we have pencils and layouts for the unpublished issue #4!

For more Bond action by Jowett, you can track down the thankfully completed two-issue series James Bond 007: Shattered Helix, featuring art by David Jackson and David Lloyd. For more fine artwork by John Burns, check out the John M. Burns Art Facebook page!

2013: Cover reveal for William Boyd's Bond novel SOLO to be published by Random House.

2015: 007 Walk of Fame opens at Piz Gloria.

007 Walk of fame on the Schilthorn

See the complete article here:

https://myswitzerland.com/en-us/007-walk-of-fame-on-the-schilthorn.html

Secret Agent 007 is about to leave new traces on the Schilthorn, when Schilthorn Cableway opens the 007 Walk of Fame on 1 August 2015. This new attraction – a world first – will be inaugurated in the presence of stars and contributors to «On Her Majesty's Secret Service».

Personalitites from the world of Bond movies will be immortalized at the Schilthorn summit. Each protagonist will feature on an individual information plaque, displaying their photograph, signature and hand imprint in weathering steel, a personal message about the film's impact on their careers, and anecdotes and impressions of their time in Mürren and on the Schilthorn. These plaques will form a short circular trail that runs from the summit building to the Piz Gloria View vantage point back.

Guests:
George Lazenby (James Bond 007)
Terence Mountain (Raphael)
Sylvana Henriques (The Jamaican Girl)
John Glen (Regisseur)
Catherina von Schell (Nancy)
Jenny Hanley (The Irish Girl)
Stunt double Vic Armstrong (has doubled for all Bond actors with the exception of Daniel Craig)

Public Opening
1 August 2015

https://schilthorn.ch/17/en/007_Walk_of_Fame

RichardTheBruce

August 2nd

1910: Jack Whittingham is born--Scarborough, North Yorkshire, England.
(He dies 3 July 1972 at age 61--Valletta, Malta.)

Tuesday, July 01, 2008

The Name’s Whittingham, Jack Whittingham

See the complete article here:

http://therapsheet.blogspot.com/2008/07/names-whittingham-jack-whittingham.html

EDITED BY J. KINGSTON PIERCE

With Sebastian Faulks’ Devil May Care sitting pretty atop British bestseller lists, espionage fiction seems to be all the rage. There is, however, another book, also featuring iconic British secret agent James Bond, that’s had an evolution almost as complex as one of Ian Fleming’s plots. That book is of course the revised second edition of Robert Sellers’ The Battle for Bond, a controversial work detailing the legal wrangling over the rights to Thunderball (1961).

The first edition, which contained a foreword by Raymond Benson (who was the last Bond writer prior to Faulks), was withdrawn from sale shortly after its 2007 release due to legal action from the Fleming family and estate. There a few copies of this collector’s item knocking around, but you’ll need a big checkbook to secure one. If you haven’t done so yet, though, I am pleased to report that Sellers and the independent publisher Tomahawk Press have finally released the second edition, sans the sections that caused the Fleming estate to complain. This revision features a foreword Len Deighton, who concentrates in his essay on long-ago charges of plagiarism leveled against author Fleming. This is a topic that should be familiar those of you who pay attention to the Rap Sheet, since we recalled the case in an obituary of Kevin McClory, the Thunderball collaborator who died in 2006. That case’s resolution included a provision stipulating that all future editions of the novel Thunderball include the writing credit “based on a screen treatment by Kevin McClory, Jack Whittingham, and Ian Fleming.”

Very little has been written about the relatively enigmatic Whittingham. But earlier this week the London Times carried a longish report focusing on his daughter, Sylvan Whittingham Mason, who apparently provided much of the background mosaic for Seller’s book. As writer Giles Hattersley explains:

Like a latterday Ms. Moneypenny, she holds the secrets of James Bond. Her name is Whittingham. Sylvan Whittingham.

Is she Ian Fleming’s daughter? God, no. Fleming’s name is anathema here. Her father was Jack Whittingham, a celebrated screenwriter of the 1950s and 1960s. It was Jack, she claims, who gave us Bond as we know him.

In 1959, Whittingham’s father had been brought in by the film producer Kevin McClory to work on an original screenplay based on Fleming’s famous secret agent. (Fleming had had an earlier bash at writing his own, but forgot to put any action in it.)

The problem of how to film Bond had rumbled on for years. What passed for steely cool in the books would come off as charmless froideur on screen. But man-about-town Jack turned out to be the fire to Fleming’s ice. In a tobacco-stained study at his Surrey home, the dashing, hard-drinking ladies’ man produced a thrilling tale called Thunderball. And he injected Fleming’s uptight gentleman spy with quippy humour, arch sexuality and plenty of action. Rather like Jack, in fact.

“I always say that Daddy was an honourable man,” says Whittingham, now 64, in a voice that seems to come courtesy of Diana Rigg. “Except when it came to women, of course.” She smiles.

“But he was a marvellous writer and they’d had real trouble with Fleming’s novels. The violent, sadistic, colder, misogynistic Bond of the books didn’t work on the big screen. The audience, back then, didn’t want it. There was no humour, no charm. Daddy turned Bond into the suave hero they needed.”

This is a fascinating article, really, detailing the playboy similarities between Bond, Fleming, and Wittingham. In the Times, Mason quite clearly credits her father (who died in 1972) with molding 007 into the man who could support a successful long-running film franchise.

... Jack had been toughened by a Bond-like life of fast cars and faster women. Born the son of a Yorkshire wool merchant, he had oozed confidence as a young man and made a splash with the ladies when he went up to Oxford.

“He met Betty Offield there, heir to the Wrigley’s gum fortune,” says Sylvan. “They fell in love and she invited him over to America to stay. They used to go shark-fishing off her island in California. Later, he bought a solitaire diamond ring and went to Chicago to propose--but by the time he got there, she’d fallen for somebody else.

“In a bar, drowning his sorrows, he met a female gangster called Texas Guinan--a glamorous blonde--who took him on. She sent him all over town with deliveries for her, probably drugs. He became her pet for a while, before he sold the ring so he could afford to get home.”

After a stint in Iceland during the war--where he was permanently sloshed and would often fall down on parade--Jack returned to England and his wife, Margot, whom he had married in 1942. He was never faithful. “My mother was stunningly beautiful, with a frightened-rabbit look in her eyes, which were violet. She was a lost soul: mental problems, breakdowns, depression,” Sylvan says.

Posted by Ali Karim at 11:53 AM

1949: Madeline Smith is born--Garfield, Sussex, England.

1961: First flight of the Wallis WA-116 Agile, a British autogyro.

http://www.jamesbondlifestyle.com/product/little-nellie-wallis-wa-116-agile-series-1-gyroplane

1974: The Man With the Golden Gun films the final game of cat and mouse in Scaramanga's funhouse.
1976: The scheduled date for The Spy Who Loved Me to begin filming, after Kevin McClory's failed legal attempts to block that production and receive rights to Bond material beyond just remaking Thunderball.

1982: Octopussy lead actress Maud Adams tells the Los Angeles Times she screen tested with James Brolin.

2012: Vintage Publishing releases eight Fleming Bond novels in paperback.

2016: Funny or Die releases James Bond: Secret Pokémon Go Agent.

2017: Dynamite Entertainment releases James Bond comic Black Box #6 of 6 available in print and online.
Rapha Lobosco, artist. Benjamin Percy, writer.

JAMES BOND #6

https://www.dynamite.com/htmlfiles/viewProduct.html?CAT=DF-James_Bond_Black_Box
Cover A: Dominic Reardon
Cover B: Jason Masters
Cover C: Patrick Zircher
Writer: Benjamin Percy
Art: Rapha Lobosco
Genre: Action/Adventure, Media Tie-In
Publication Date: August 2017
Format: Comic Book
Page Count: 32 Pages
ON SALE DATE: 8/2

James Bond #6, "Blinded"

In the action-packed finale of the Black Box story arc, James Bond descends into the secret headquarters of Saga Genji -- deep below the Fukushima nuclear reactor -- where he finds himself lost in a labyrinth of dark tunnels and political deceptions. He must overcome both his cyber terrorist adversaries and American and British allies to destroy the black box of vulnerable data that threatens to upend the world.

2020: The Simple Things celebrates scrambled eggs and James Bond.

Photography: Clare Winfield

Eggs: scrambled, not stirred

See the complete article here:

https://www.thesimplethings.com/blog/007-scrambled-eggs

August 2, 2020
Why scrambled eggs were nearly the undoing of James Bond but are still the best breakfast

It was Fay Weldon who originally advised us all to 'Go To Work on an Egg’ for the Egg Marketing Board in the 1950s. And it seems James Bond took her at her word.

If you expected Bond’s favourite dish to be something a little sexier, think again; Britain’s most famous spy liked nothing more than a plate of scrambled eggs and was regularly depicted getting stuck into a plate of them, with bacon, or kidneys… always with a fancy tipple. In fact, there are only three of the Ian Fleming books in which they don't appear (if you’re interested, they are From Russia With Love, The Man with the Golden Gun and You Only Live Twice). It must be pointed out that 007 does eat eggs in all those books, too, just not scrambled.

They made so many appearances in Live and Let Die that a proof reader pointed out to him that Bond’s scrambled egg habit was so impressive it may be his undoing; for any enemy on his tail would only have to nip into a restaurant and ask if an Englishman eating scrambled eggs had been in. He eventually edited a few instances of scrambled eggs out of the second draft, but Bond’s penchant for his favourite breakfast was, in general, unswerving.

In his short story "007 in New York", Fleming included a recipe for ‘Scrambled Eggs James Bond’, which you might like to try for brunch this weekend. It serves four.

Scrambled Eggs James Bond
12 fresh eggs
Salt and pepper
5-6 oz. of fresh butter

Break the eggs into a bowl. Beat thoroughly with a fork and season well. In a small copper (or heavy bottomed saucepan) melt 4oz of the butter. When melted, pour in the eggs and cook over a very low heat, whisking continuously with a small egg whisk.

While the eggs are slightly more moist than you would wish for eating, remove the pan from heat, add rest of butter and continue whisking for half a minute, adding the while finely chopped chives or fines herbes. Serve on hot buttered toast in individual copper dishes (for appearance only) with pink champagne (Taittinger) and low music.

It’s a certainly a classic recipe, but if you’re looking for something a little different, don’t miss our feature on second breakfasts on page 34 of our August issue. It includes a recipe for the Indian Scrambled Eggs with Naan (above), as well as homemade beans on toast, bay-roasted grapes and ricotta on toast and a delicious frittata, all taken from Home Bird: Simple Low-Waste Recipes for the Family and Friends by Megan Davies (Ryland Peters and Small) with photography by Clare Winfield.

https://www.thejamesbonddossier.com/james-bond-food.htm

RichardTheBruce

August 3rd

1937: Steven Berkoff is born--Stepney, London, England.

1977: The Spy Who Loved Me released in the US.

US Lobby Cards

1981: Warner Brothers releases "For Your Eyes Only" as a 7" single.

B-side instrumental.

1987: Lawrence O'Toole reviews The Living Daylights in Maclean's.

FILMS: BRIEF ENCOUNTERS
THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS

See the complete article here:

https://archive.macleans.ca/article/1987/8/3/the-living-daylights

LAWRENCE O'TOOLE August 3 1987

THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS
Directed by John Glen
August 3 1987 LAWRENCE O'TOOLE

Timothy Dalton, the new James Bond, shares Sean Connery’s imposing masculinity, but shuns Roger Moore’s arch wit. Dalton’s Agent 007 is more down-to-earth than his predecessors. A rake by reputation only, he is never actually seen in bed with a woman. In The Living Daylights, Bond is no longer a fantasy figure but a complex, thoughtful man. Indeed, Dalton, a classical stage actor, invests him with a studied intensity which —after Moore—makes the suave superhero seem positively Shakespearean.

Change the man and the environment changes with him.

The Living Daylights features less sex and more plot. This time Bond is not out to save the world from annihilation at the hands of some extravagant monster. Instead, the stakes are more believable—involving arms and drug dealing. Still, the settings remain exotic: the action ranges from the Czechoslovakian city of Bratislava to Vienna, and from the Moroccan port of Tangier to a rousing finish in Afghanistan. And the villains have become endearing. Among them are a Russian general named Koslov (Jeroen Krabbé), whose initial defection sparks all the fireworks, and Whitaker (Joe Don Baker), an American arms dealer who keeps a munitions toy room in which to play.

Many viewers will feel a twinge of nostalgia for the monstrously evil Bond villains of yesteryear—the hat-throwing oriental thug Oddjob, the dowdy and murderous Rosa Kleb, the obese, cat-stroking Goldfinger. They may also miss Lois Maxwell as Miss Moneypenny, secretary to Bond’s boss. Her successor, played by the younger, prettier Caroline Bliss, does not flirt nearly as well with her James. And although the new object of Bond’s affections, the Czechoslovakian cellist Kara (Maryam d’Abo), is lovely to look at, her voice is murder on the ears.

Audiences had become so familiar with the old-style Bond plots that they were able to second-guess 007’s every move. All that remained was to boo the villains and gasp at the hightech gadgetry. The intricately plotted new edition may make more demands on viewers than they are used to. Still, despite its 214-hour length, The Living Daylights is lip-smacking entertainment. Make no mistake about it: the new Bond concoction is not shaken, but smoothly stirred.

LAWRENCE O'TOOLE

1987: Jay Boyar reviews The Living Daylights in the Orlando Sentinel.

THIS NEW BOND KNOWS THE TRICKS
OF THE 007 TRADE

See the complete article here:

https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/os-xpm-1987-08-03-0180450014-story.html

Jay Boyar, Sentinel Movie Critic
August 3, 1987

Timothy Dalton has the eyes of a fox, the moves of a leopard and the dimples of a . . . well, let's just say he's got lots of dimples. Making his impressive debut as James Bond in The Living Daylights, he wears the legend lightly but doesn't clown around.

That old 007 humor is still present in the series' newest episode: How grim can a film be that features exploding milk bottles, a couch that swallows a person, and a ghetto blaster that literally lives up to its name? Why, at one point the hero and heroine escape from enemy agents by riding a cello case down a snowy slope.

Dalton shows a serious side that's been missing from the role since Sean Connery's earliest 007 days. And as a whole, the new picture is less of a special-effects affair than most of Roger Moore's Bond films.

There's no shortage of action in The Living Daylights, but the movie adds up to a real adventure. Besides, the action scenes even have quiet moments: A lyrical skydiving passage early on suggests that the film will have a bit of texture.

Director John Glen and screenwriters Richard Maibaum and Michael G. Wilson are all veterans of the 25-year-old series. Glen and Maibaum go back to the Connery films, and it shows. In The Living Daylights, they tell a tale of arms deals and defections, classical musicians and drug runners, romance and intrigue.

It's all a little too complicated to explain here; in fact, it's all a little too complicated, period. But if the plot threads tangle from time to time, if too much depends on coincidence, and if the story runs on about 20 minutes too long, there are more than enough good things in this film to justify a trip to the theater.

The look of the movie is bright and vivid -- and the "credits" sequence is no exception. As scantily clad women gyrate to the film's theme music, they look strangely wraith-like. Perhaps they are ghosts of earlier Bond girls, reappearing here to cheer on their successor.

If so their encouragement seems to have worked: Maryam d'Abo plays the role of Czech cellist Kara Milovy with charm and sensitivity. She matches up well with Dalton, too. (They've both got the same sort of angular profiles.) Even the late Ian Fleming, who started this whole Bond business with his novels, might have approved of her.

Other major players in this 15th Bond film (or 17th, depending on whether you include the anomalous Casino Royale and Never Say Never Again) include Joe Don Baker as a half-mad arms dealer, John Rhys-Davies as a KGB boss, Jeroen Krabbe as the double-dealing General Koskov, Andreas Wisniewski as a chameleon-like terrorist and Art Malik as an Afghan leader.

The supporting cast features Desmond Llewelyn, returning as gadgeteer Q, and Robert Brown, returning as M, head of the British Secret Service. Caroline Bliss, who assumes the role of the ever-adoring Miss Moneypenny, is amusing in her very brief appearance. When she looks at Bond, she seems to be thinking, "Let's have a look at the rest of those dimples."

Series-mastermind Albert "Cubby" Broccoli would do well to give us more of this Moneypenny in the future. And whatever Broccoli does, let's hope he holds onto his new Bond for a while.

Remember the name: Dalton, Timothy Dalton. Accept no substitutes.

1989: Licence to Kill released in Iceland.

2004: A US District Court decides the copyright infringement case involving "The World Is Not Enough".

‘The World Is Not Enough’ US court – copyright infringement case

See the complete article here:

https://www.garbagediscobox.com/2004/08/the-world-is-not-enough-us-court-copyright-infringement-case/

August 3, 2004

Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Middle District of Tennessee at Nashville.
No. 01-00158—William J. Haynes, Jr., District Judge.
Argued: June 9, 2004
Decided and Filed: August 3, 2004
Before: MARTIN and SUTTON, Circuit Judges; HOLSCHUH, District Judge.(*)
________________
COUNSEL

ARGUED: W. Gary Blackburn, BLACKBURN & McCUNE, Nashville, Tennessee, Adam Siegler, THE SIEGLER LAW GROUP, Beverly Hills, California, for Appellants. Timothy L. Warnock, BOWEN, RILEY, WARNOCK & JACOBSON, Nashville, Tennessee, for Appellees. ON BRIEF: W. Gary Blackburn, BLACKBURN & McCUNE, Nashville, Tennessee, Adam Siegler, THE SIEGLER LAW GROUP, Beverly Hills, California, for Appellants. Timothy L. Warnock, Jay S. Bowen, BOWEN, RILEY, WARNOCK & JACOBSON, Nashville, Tennessee, for Appellees.
_________________
OPINION
________________
SUTTON, Circuit Judge. Plaintiffs Frank P. Fogerty and Nathan Crow appeal the district court’s order granting summary judgment and awarding attorneys’ fees to defendants (collectively, “MGM”) in this copyright infringement case. As we agree with the district court that plaintiffs have not presented a sustainable theory of relief, we affirm that ruling. As we disagree with the district court’s award of attorneys’ fees, we reverse that ruling.

I.

Michael Wilson and Barbara Broccoli, the current producers of the James Bond films and principals of Eon Productions, Ltd., sought a composer to write the musical score for the nineteenth Bond film—“The World Is Not Enough.” In September 1998, Wilson and Broccoli selected David Arnold, a London-based composer, a Grammy award winner for the musical score for “Independence Day,” and the author of the end theme song for the Bond film “Tomorrow Never Dies.” Arnold maintains a private recording studio in London, where he composed the theme song and gave it the same name as the film. In writing the song, Arnold collaborated with lyricist Don Black, who also lives in London and who has written the lyrics to the theme songs for four previous Bond films. Arnold and Black met several times in November and December of 1998 to discuss the lyrics for “The World Is Not Enough,” and they exchanged phone calls, faxes and e-mails during that time in collaborating on the song.

Arnold also contacted Shirley Manson, the Scottish-born lead singer for the rock-group “Garbage,” and asked her to record the song. She agreed.

Between late October and November of 1998, Arnold played the melody of “The World Is Not Enough” over the phone to his personal assistant Trish Hillis, before whom he often informally auditioned his songs. According to Arnold, he “strung some la-la’s together, and all of a sudden the [song] came to life, and [he] thought [that was] probably it.” JA 229. On December 26, 1998, Arnold again played “The World Is Not Enough” for Hillis, this time on a piano at his London home. When Arnold played the music for Hillis, he had completed the song and lyrics, save for the bridge—a brief transition of approximately eight bars in the middle of the song. In December 1998, Arnold also played the melody for Geoff Foster and Isabel Griffiths, employees of Air Studios, on a grand piano in the studio’s main hall.

In early January 1999, Arnold completed the song and created a “demo” recording of it on his computer at his private recording studio. Arnold’s computer shows January 6, 1999 as the last day he modified the demo recording.

At roughly this time, Arnold played “The World Is Not Enough” for Michael Wilson and Barbara Broccoli, the producers of the upcoming film. They liked the song. On January 8, 1999, Arnold traveled to Pinewood Studios in England and played the song for Michael Apted, the director of “The World Is Not Enough,” who “was extremely pleased with [the song].” JA 233.

Arnold next asked Trish Hillis to deliver a copy of the demo to Shirley Manson, who (as noted) had agreed to record the song. On January 19, Hillis’s phone log shows that she contacted Ian Wesley, the general manager of Mushroom Records, Garbage’s record label. Wesley told Hillis that Manson was staying at the Royal Garden Hotel in London and to deliver the recording to the hotel at 10 a.m. the next day. On January 20, after Hillis arrived at the Royal Garden Hotel, she called Harold Kohl, Garbage’s tour manager, who told her to leave the recording at the front desk. A bill from the Royal Garden Hotel indicates that Shirley Manson stayed there on January 20, 1999, and Manson later recalled receiving the song from Kohl in January 1999 while staying at the hotel.

Arnold next sent a recording of the song to his American agent, Vas Vangelos, who lives in Los Angeles. An invoice shows that Air Studios billed Eon Productions for a shipment to Vangelos on February 2, 1999. Michael Sandoval, then an executive vice president at MGM, requested a copy of “The World Is Not Enough” from Vangelos. Sandoval received “The World Is Not Enough” on February 4, 1999, and he played the song for other MGM executives. No one apparently liked the song initially because it was a ballad and because they had hoped for a theme song with a different tempo.

On the same day (February 4, 1999), Nathan Crow visited Michael Sandoval at MGM and delivered a recording of his song “This Game We Play,” which he had co-written with Frank P. Fogerty. According to Crow, Sandoval liked the song, suggested that he might consider it for the 1999 film “The Thomas Crown Affair” and kept a copy of the recording. Arnold’s “The World Is Not Enough,” it turns out, shares an identical four-note sequence with Crow’s “This Game We Play.”

Before Manson recorded the commercial version of “The World Is Not Enough,” MGM contacted Arnold in March of 1999 and suggested that a “three-note motif” in “The World Is Not Enough” was too similar to a motif in earlier Bond theme songs. Arnold agreed to remove the three-note sequence, which all agree is unrelated to the four-note sequence that “This Game We Play” and “The World Is Not Enough” have in common.

In June and August of 1999, Shirley Manson and her band recorded “The World Is Not Enough.” Manson requested one lyrical change in the song because the line—“I know when to kiss and I know when to kill”—did not meet her tastes. JA 228. Arnold and Black changed the lyrics, and she completed the recording.

II.

Convinced that Arnold and MGM had copied the four-note sequence from “This Game We Play” in composing “The World Is Not Enough,” Fogerty and Crow filed a copyright infringement action in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee. The parties conducted discovery, and MGM moved for summary judgment, claiming that the undisputed facts showed that Arnold independently created “The World Is Not Enough.”

The district court granted MGM’s motion, concluding that Arnold had independently written the tune to the song:

Defendants and composers of [“The World Is Not Enough”] did not have access to [“This Game We Play”] [through] any of the avenues postulated by Plaintiffs because a review of the record indicates that the melody and significant portions of [“The World Is Not Enough”] . . . were completed prior to the dates that any alleged access by Defendants to [“This Game We Play”] could have occurred.

D. Ct. Op. at 17 (Mar. 14, 2003). The district court also rejected plaintiffs’ alternative claim that the two songs are “strikingly similar,” an independent theory of liability that warrants relief even when the plaintiff cannot prove access. Id. at 19–20. “There is no evidence adduced by Plaintiffs,” the court concluded, “to support the proposition that the two works are so strikingly similar that copying is the only plausible explanation of the similarities.” Id. at 20.

In the aftermath of this ruling, MGM moved for attorneys’ fees under § 505 of the Copyright Act, 17 U.S.C. § 505, and for nontaxable costs under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 54(d). Alleging that plaintiffs’ claims were “objectively unreasonable,” MGM sought $170,519 in attorneys’ fees and $11,647.60 in non-taxable costs. The district court granted MGM’s motion for attorneys’ fees “in the interests of justice and in furtherance of the objectives of the Copyright Act.” D. Ct. Op. at 8 (June 17, 2003). “Plaintiffs[’] claims were objectively unreasonable,” the district court observed, “in that Plaintiffs pursued litigation despite multiple third-party declarations establishing independent creation of [“The World Is Not Enough”] before any of the Defendants had access to Plaintiffs’ original work,” and “Plaintiffs offered no direct evidence to support one of the two basic elements of copyright infringement.” Id. at 8–9. The district court, however, “conclude[d] that a 30% reduction in the billed hours . . . is appropriate . . . in light of the overstaffing of this litigation, the redundant billing, and vague entries on the firm’s invoices,” id. at 15, and awarded MGM $85,507.16 in attorneys’ fees, id. at 19. Holding that fees for “(1) legal research; (2) federal express charges; (3) messenger service; (4) phone/telecopy; (5) postage; (6) out of town travel; and (7) copies” were not allowable, the district court denied MGM’s request for nontaxable costs of $11,647.60. Id. at 20. For routine taxable costs, the district court awarded $4,847.58. Id. at 23.

III.

Summary judgment is appropriate when “the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(c). “Where the record taken as a whole could not lead a rational trier of fact to find for the non-moving party,” the Supreme Court has held, “there is no genuine issue for trial.” Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 587 (1986) (quotation omitted). A district court’s summary-judgment decision receives de novo review. See Farhat v. Jopke, 370 F.3d 580, 587 (6th Cir. 2004).

The Copyright Act gives copyright owners exclusive rights to reproduce, prepare derivative works from, distribute, and publicly perform or display a copyrighted work. See 17 U.S.C. § 106. To the ends of protecting these rights, the Act allows “[t]he legal or beneficial owner of an exclusive right under a copyright . . . to institute an action for any infringement of that particular right.” 17 U.S.C. § 501(b). A claim of copyright infringement requires proof of “(1) ownership of a valid copyright, and (2) copying of constituent elements of the work that are original.” Feist Publ’ns, Inc. v. Rural Tel. Serv. Co., 499 U.S. 340, 361 (1991); see also Ellis v. Diffie, 177 F.3d 503, 506 (6th Cir. 1999).

Because claimants rarely have direct evidence of copying, they typically try to establish an inference of copying by showing “(1) access to the allegedly-infringed work by the defendant(s) and (2) a substantial similarity between the two works at issue.” Ellis, 177 F.3d at 506. “Access,” we have held, “is essentially hearing or having a reasonable opportunity to hear the plaintiff[s’] work and thus having the opportunity to copy” and “may not be inferred through mere speculation or conjecture.” Id. (quotations omitted). The “substantial similarity” analysis first requires a filtering of the unprotectable aspects of the protected work, then asks whether an “ordinary observer” would perceive the original and the alleged copy as substantially similar. See Kohus v. Mariol, 328 F.3d 848, 855–57 (6th Cir. 2003). Once a plaintiff establishes access and substantial similarity, the defendant may rebut the presumption of copying by showing independent creation of the allegedly infringing work. Ellis, 177 F.3d at 507; see also Susan Wakeen Doll Co. v. Ashton Drake Galleries, 272 F.3d 441, 450 (7th Cir. 2001). Lastly, even without proof of access, a plaintiff still may prevail by showing a “striking similarity [between the works], precluding all possible conclusion but that the work was copied.” Murray Hill Publ’ns, Inc. v. Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp., 361 F.3d 312, 325 (6th Cir. 2004).

In applying these principles to this case, the parties share considerable common ground. MGM does not dispute that Fogerty and Crow own a valid copyright in “This Game We Play,” and plaintiffs concede that they failed to produce direct evidence of copying. For purposes of this appeal, the parties also agree that Fogerty and Crow proved that MGM had access to their work after February 4, 1999, and that the two songs are substantially, but not strikingly, similar.

The question under these circumstances is whether David Arnold independently created “The World Is Not Enough” before February 4, 1999, and whether the undisputed evidence establishes that fact. We believe it does.

Fogerty and Crow concede that David Arnold did not have access to “This Game We Play” until Crow delivered a recording of the song to Michael Sandoval at MGM on February 4, 1999. Before that date, deposition testimony and personal calendar entries show that David Arnold and Don Black collaborated on “The World Is Not Enough” in November and December 1998. Arnold performed the song twice for his personal assistant Trish Hillis between October and December of 1998. He also performed the song for Geoff Foster and Isabel Griffiths of Air Studios in December 1998, and the film producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael Wilson heard the song in early January 1999. Arnold also made a demo recording of the song, and his personal computer at Air Studios indicates that he last modified the recording on January 6, 1999. The next day, Arnold delivered a copy of the song to Pinewood Studios where the film’s director, Michael Apted, listened to the song.

Arnold and Hillis also testified that Hillis delivered a copy of the recording to the Royal Garden Hotel in London where Shirley Manson was staying. Hillis produced her phone log showing that she made several calls concerning the delivery on January 19, 1999, and her personal calendar indicated that she planned to go there on January 20 to deliver Arnold’s song. MGM also produced a hotel receipt indicating that Shirley Manson stayed at the Royal Garden Hotel on January 20. Hillis testified in her deposition that she left the recording at the hotel desk for Harold Kohl, Garbage’s tour manager, and Manson recalled receiving the recording from Kohl at the hotel.

Aside from a lyrical change to the song (the removal of one line to accommodate Shirley Manson) and one change to the score (the removal of the “three-note motif” to accommodate the MGM executives), the witnesses that testified or gave declarations agree that the song they heard before February 4, 1999 did not otherwise change after that date. In the face of this evidence that Arnold and Black independently created “The World Is Not Enough” before MGM first had access to “This Game We Play” on February 4, 1999, plaintiffs raise a series of arguments designed to show that they nonetheless should be able to present their claim to a jury. Each is unconvincing.

First, they suggest that they can respond to this evidence simply by claiming that a jury might choose to disregard it or might find it unpersuasive. That is not true. See Cox v. Ky. Dep’t of Transp. 53 F.3d 146, 150 (6th Cir. 1995) (“[A] nonmoving party may not avoid a properly supported motion for summary judgment by simply arguing that it relies solely or in part upon credibility considerations . . . . nstead, the nonmoving party must present affirmative evidence to defeat a properly supported motion for summary judgment.”); Curl v. Int’l Bus. Machs. Corp., 517 F.2d 212, 214 (5th Cir. 1975) (“[T]he party opposing summary judgment must be able to point to some facts which may or will entitle him to judgment, or refute the proof of the moving party in some material portion, and . . . the opposing party may not merely recite the incantation, ‘Credibility,’ and have a trial on the hope that a jury may disbelieve factually uncontested proof.”) (quotation omitted); Eaton v. Nat’l Broad. Co., 972 F. Supp. 1019, 1024 (E.D. Va. 1997) (“[A] copyright plaintiff cannot base her opposition to summary judgment entirely on the hope that a fact finder will disbelieve the persons who have submitted affidavits on issues of access.”); cf. Matsushita, 475 U.S. at 586 (“When the moving party has carried its burden under Rule 56(c), its opponent must do more than simply show that there is some metaphysical doubt as to the material facts.”) (footnote omitted).

Second, in the absence of affirmative evidence rebutting MGM’s pre-access chain of events, plaintiffs claim that inconsistencies in MGM’s evidence by themselves create a genuine issue of material fact. They note, for example, that MGM executives disliked “The World Is Not Enough” but liked “This Game We Play” in early February 1999. The different reactions, plaintiffs urge, show that the two songs were not substantially similar on February 4, 1999, and show that Arnold must have copied “This Game We Play” after February 4, 1999 because the songs are substantially similar today. Too many competing inferences, however, separate this premise from plaintiffs’ proposed conclusion. Fogerty and Crow neglect to mention that MGM executives listened to each song for different reasons—in Arnold’s case to determine if the song would work for the new Bond film, in plaintiffs’ case to see if their song would work for another film. Because the MGM executives listened to each song in different musical, artistic and commercial contexts—with one solicited for the Bond movie and the other unsolicited and at most considered for another film—this theory of infringement is too speculative to warrant a jury trial on its own.

Fogerty and Crow next scrutinize Arnold’s and Black’s testimony. Arnold’s declaration indicates that he made “an initial demonstration recording” of the “The World Is Not Enough” on January 6, 1999. Black’s declaration, however, indicates that he made a recording with Arnold in November or December 1998. Neither version of events, however, places creation of the demo recording after February 4, 1999. A factfinder could believe Arnold; it could believe Black; or it could believe parts of each individual’s testimony. But it could not rationally come to the conclusion that the recording was made after February 4, 1999, especially in light of plaintiffs’ inability to refute the delivery of a recording of the song to Manson at the Royal Garden Hotel on January 20, 1999.

Fogerty and Crow point to one other alleged discrepancy between Arnold’s and Black’s testimony that deserves mention. Posturing as someone working with James Horner, the composer of the “Titanic” sound track, Crow contacted Don Black by phone and asked whether Black would be interested in writing the song lyrics for the film “Oceans 11.” During the tape-recorded conversation, Crow asked Black questions about “The World Is Not Enough,” including when he received the song to write the lyrics. Black, who later explained that he was trying to impress someone whom he believed to be a major composer, indicated that he received the song approximately two months before the movie’s release date, which was December 1999. As Crow admitted (after the phone call), “the entire thing [was] deceptive . . . [and] intentional[],” JA 310, because he was trying “to trick them into telling [him] the truth,” JA 311.

The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure do not provide for this form of discovery. And it is not clear whether the Federal Rules of Evidence would permit the admission of such a phone call. But even assuming the admissibility of this evidence and even assuming that Fogerty and Crow would unveil this antic to a jury, the statement at issue—that Black (the lyricist) purportedly received the music to the song just two months before its release—does not establish a cognizable cause of action. In order to credit this statement, a jury would have to believe that Black wrote the lyrics to “The World Is Not Enough” in October 1999—two months after Garbage finished commercially recording the song. No rational trier of fact could rely on this statement in finding for Fogerty and Crow.

Plaintiffs next point to several letters written by Trish Hillis to individuals seeking to collaborate with David Arnold while he composed the musical score for “The World Is Not Enough.” The nub of these letters is that Arnold continued working on the musical score for the entire movie after the February 4, 1999 date of access. Absent from the letters, however, is any reference to the theme song, which is all that is at issue here. The most potent letter, dated April 16, 1999, reads: “[Arnold] has also been commissioned to write both [the theme and end] songs, which were finished a few weeks ago.” JA 594. At most, however, this statement shows that both songs (as opposed to only “The World Is Not Enough”) were not complete until after February 4, 1999, which does not create a fact dispute that the theme song had not been completed before that date.

Shirley Manson’s testimony also contains several inconsistencies, none of which casts doubt on MGM’s claim of independent creation. Manson and Arnold failed to recall consistently the details of when Manson first heard the song and when she and Arnold first communicated after she heard the song. In his declaration, Arnold claimed that he spoke with Manson on the phone January 20, 1999 (the day Hillis delivered the song to the Royal Garden Hotel) and that she loved the song. In Arnold’s deposition, he said that he received an e-mail from Manson on an unknown date. Manson essentially could not recall when she first listened to the demo recording and had “no idea” if she listened to it prior to February 4, 1999. JA 215. But these inconsistencies do not alter the unrefuted evidence that Hillis left a copy of the song for Manson at the Royal Garden Hotel on January 20, 1999, and that it was this copy of the song that Manson eventually heard. In this setting, the district court’s decision to disregard the inconsistencies in Manson’s other testimony does not amount to an improper weighing of the evidence. See Street v. J.C. Bradford & Co., 886 F.2d 1472, 1480 (6th Cir.1989) (“The trial court has at least some discretion [at summary judgment] to determine whether [plaintiffs’] claim is ‘implausible.’”).

Crow also made a false-pretenses phone call to Shirley Manson, much like the one he made to Don Black. During the call, Manson indicated that she first received the song in August of 1999. While Manson’s band did not finish commercially recording the song until that date, the parties do not dispute that the first recording session of the song occurred in June 1999. In other words, to believe plaintiffs’ interpretation of Manson’s statement, a jury would have to conclude that Manson first heard “The World Is Not Enough” two months after she began recording the song. No rational jury would accept that sequence of events.

Fogerty and Crow next take aim at the declarations of Wilson and Broccoli. In their declarations, Wilson and Broccoli noted that “[a]side from some minor lyrical changes, the song David played us in his attic room that day was the same song we ultimately recorded for the film,” but failed to mention that Arnold later removed the “three-note motif” that the initial recording of the music shared with earlier Bond songs. This oversight, according to plaintiffs, makes the declarations unreliable. We are not persuaded. The change was a minor one; it had nothing to do with the four-note sequence that parallels “This Game We Play”; and it does not alter the fact that Arnold played “The World Is Not Enough” for others (including Wilson and Broccoli in early January 1999) well before the date of access.

The dates of the contracts between Arnold, Black and MGM also have little value. True, each written contract went into effect after February 4, 1999. But the undisputed evidence shows that Wilson and Broccoli selected David Arnold to write the musical score for “The World Is Not Enough” in September 1998. And in his own deposition, Crow acknowledges that on February 4, 1999, when he met with Sandoval of MGM, Sandoval told him that Arnold had a “lock on this,” JA 299, “that Mr. Arnold had been hired to write an original score for the film,” JA 298, and that “Mr. Sandoval made it very clear that Mr. Arnold had been hired to write the score,” id.

Plaintiffs also point to the fact that Arnold never produced the demo recording that he made on January 6, 1999. Arnold testified that his computer at Air Studios showed that he last modified the recording on January 6, 1999, but offered no explanation as to why he could not produce a recording. According to Fogerty and Crow, “a party having control of information bearing upon a disputed issue may be given the burden of bringing it forward and suffering an adverse inference from [the] failure to do so.” Appellant Br. at 21. Here, however, MGM is the party, not David Arnold, and it did produce an original copy of the demo recording from Don Black. Plaintiffs do not refute the authenticity of Black’s copy of the song, and at all events never explain why they did not seek discovery of Arnold’s computer to determine if the January 6th demo could still be retrieved.

Fogerty and Crow, lastly, question the reliability of MGM’s declarations based on the “excessive hours spent” in drafting them. Appellant Br. at 22. MGM’s attorneys “spent approximately 80 hours drafting and revising these declarations,” plaintiffs argue, and “t does not take 80 hours to write a few pages of the truth.” Id. at 22–23. But this argument does not prove that the affidavits are false or even suggest as much. Whether the scrivener of the affidavits was quite deliberate, was inefficient or merely was confronted with a voluminous record, extensive time in drafting affidavits (or even excessive time in drafting them) does not indicate that they are false.

IV.

Plaintiffs next argue that even if it was appropriate to grant summary judgment, the district court erred in awarding fees to MGM. We agree.

Section 505 of the Copyright Act provides:

In any civil action under this title, the court in its discretion may allow the recovery of full costs by or against any party other than the United States or an officer thereof. Except as otherwise provided by this title, the court may also award a reasonable attorney’s fee to the prevailing party as part of the costs.

17 U.S.C. § 505. Under this provision, a district court may “impose attorney[s’] fees in frivolous and objectively unreasonable lawsuits.” Murray Hill Publ’ns, Inc. v. ABC Communications, Inc., 264 F.3d 622, 639 (6th Cir. 2001). A district court’s decision to award attorneys’ fees should be based on such factors as “[the] frivolousness of the claim,” the “motivation” of the claimant, the “reasonableness” of the claim and the goal of “deterr[ing]” frivolous claims. Coles v. Wonder, 283 F.3d 798, 804 (6th Cir. 2002). We review a district court’s decision to grant or deny fees for an abuse of discretion. ABC Communications, Inc., 264 F.3d at 639.

While plaintiffs’ claim ultimately proved meritless, that does not make it “objectively unreasonable” as a matter of law or fact. See id. at 639–40 (reversing an award of attorneys’ fees under 17 U.S.C. § 505 because “at the time [the] litigation was before the district court, the law on certain relevant aspects of [the] lawsuit was unsettled”); cf. Protective Life Ins. Co. v. Dignity Viatical Settlement Partners, L.P., 171 F.3d 52, 58 (1st Cir. 1999) (“The mere fact that a claim ultimately proves unavailing, without more, cannot support the imposition of Rule 11 sanctions.”). At the time Fogerty and Crow filed their complaint, they knew only that Crow delivered “This Game We Play” to Michael Sandoval and, ten months later, MGM used a very similar song as the theme song for “The World Is Not Enough.” Nowhere does MGM contend that filing a complaint on this basis was objectively unreasonable. See Matthew Bender & Co. v. West Publ’g Co., 240 F.3d 116, 122 (2d Cir. 2001) (“[T]he imposition of a fee award against a copyright holder with an objectively reasonable litigation position will generally not promote the purposes of the Copyright Act.”).

As discovery progressed, other facts surfaced that legitimately prompted plaintiffs to pursue their claim. They obtained an expert opinion that the two songs were substantially similar; they learned—quite remarkably—that Crow delivered his song to an MGM executive (Sandoval) on the same day that Arnold delivered his song to Sandoval; they learned that Arnold could not produce a demo of the January 6, 1999 version of the song; and they learned of inconsistencies in Manson’s and Arnold’s recollections of when Manson first heard “The World Is Not Enough” and communicated her comments to Arnold. All told, this evidence gave plaintiffs objectively legitimate reasons for pursuing discovery in the case and for seeing the case through to summary judgment.

The two reasons given by the district court for awarding fees do not alter this conclusion. The court first noted that “Plaintiffs[’] claims were objectively unreasonable in that Plaintiffs pursued litigation despite multiple third-party declarations establishing independent creation of [“The World Is Not Enough”] before any of the Defendants had access to Plaintiffs’ original work.” D. Ct. Op. at 8 (June 17, 2003). But the declarations contained several inconsistencies and all of them were submitted by individuals with a personal and professional stake in the answer to whether David Arnold copied a song that he represented as original. While those inconsistencies proved immaterial, plaintiffs were entitled to depose the individuals and determine whether their recollections of the facts collectively made sense.

The second factor offered by the district court is no more persuasive: “Plaintiffs offered no direct evidence to support one of the two basic elements of copyright infringement.” Id. at 8–9. This ambiguous reference points to one of two things. Either plaintiffs failed to produce direct evidence of copying or plaintiffs failed to provide evidence of access (they did provide an expert’s opinion that the songs were substantially similar). As to the former explanation, direct evidence of copying is a rarity and accordingly the failure to provide such evidence by itself never supplies an independent basis for awarding attorneys’ fees. See Ellis, 177 F.3d at 506 (“Direct evidence of copying is rare, so frequently the plaintiff will attempt to establish an inference of copying [with indirect evidence].”); see also Segrets, Inc. v. Gillman Knitwear Co., 207 F.3d 56, 61 (1st Cir. 2000); Arica Inst., Inc. v. Palmer, 970 F.2d 1067, 1072 (2d Cir. 1992); Narell v. Freeman, 872 F.2d 907, 910 (9th Cir. 1989).

As to the latter explanation, it was not until after the completion of discovery that the district court could have reached the conclusion that plaintiffs failed to provide evidence of access. See Williamson v. United States Dep’t of Agric., 815 F.2d 368, 373 (5th Cir. 1987) (“f discovery could uncover one or more substantial fact issues, appellant was entitled to reasonable discovery to do so.”). Prior to that, as noted, plaintiffs had several concerns that reasonably prompted them to continue discovery. Indeed, the most important depositions in the case—those of Arnold, Black, Manson and Hillis—took place approximately one month before MGM filed its successful motion for summary judgment. Fogerty and Crow reasonably believed that these depositions might bear fruit, a conclusion that the district court apparently reached as well when it denied MGM’s first motion for summary judgment and request for a stay of discovery, both of which were filed before plaintiffs took these depositions. D. Ct. Order (Jan. 20, 2002).

V.

For these reasons, we affirm the district court’s grant of summary judgment and reverse its award of attorneys’ fees.

Footnotes
*The Honorable John D. Holschuh, United States District Judge for the Southern District of Ohio, sitting by designation.

source: findlaw.com

RichardTheBruce

August 4th

1901: Louis Armstrong is born--New Orleans, Louisiana.
(He dies 6 July 1971 at age 69--New York City, New York.)

Louis Armstrong

See the complete article here:

https://www.louisarmstronghouse.org/biography/

Biography
Louis Armstrong was born in New Orleans, Louisiana on August 4, 1901. He was raised by his mother Mayann in a neighborhood so dangerous it was called “The Battlefield.” He only had a fifth-grade education, dropping out of school early to go to work. An early job working for the Jewish Karnofsky family allowed Armstrong to make enough money to purchase his first cornet.

On New Year’s Eve 1912, he was arrested and sent to the Colored Waif’s Home for Boys. There, under the tutelage of Peter Davis, he learned how to properly play the cornet, eventually becoming the leader of the Waif’s Home Brass Band. Released from the Waif’s Home in 1914, Armstrong set his sights on becoming a professional musician. Mentored by the city’s top cornetist, Joe “King” Oliver, Armstrong soon became one of the most in-demand cornetists in town, eventually working steadily on Mississippi riverboats.

In 1922, King Oliver sent for Armstrong to join his band in Chicago. Armstrong and Oliver became the talk of the town with their intricate two-cornet breaks and started making records together in 1923. By that point, Armstrong began dating the pianist in the band, Lillian Hardin. In 1924, Armstrong married Hardin, who urged Armstrong to leave Oliver and try to make it on his own. A year in New York with Fletcher Henderson and His Orchestra proved unsatisfying so Armstrong returned to Chicago in 1925 and began making records under his own name for the first time.

Hotter Than That
The records by Louis Armstrong and His Five–and later, Hot Seven–are the most influential in jazz. Armstrong’s improvised solos transformed jazz from an ensemble-based music into a soloist’s art, while his expressive vocals incorporated innovative bursts of scat singing and an underlying swing feel. By the end of the decade, the popularity of the Hot Fives and Sevens was enough to send Armstrong back to New York, where he appeared in the popular Broadway revue, “Hot Chocolates.” He soon began touring and never really stopped until his death in 1971.

The 1930s also found Armstrong achieving great popularity on radio, in films, and with his recordings. He performed in Europe for the first time in 1932 and returned in 1933, staying for over a year because of a damaged lip. Back in America in 1935, Armstrong hired Joe Glaser as his manager and began fronting a big band, recording pop songs for Decca, and appearing regularly in movies. He began touring the country in the 1940s.

Ambassador Satch
In 1947, the waning popularity of the big bands forced Armstrong to begin fronting a small group, Louis Armstrong and His All Stars. Personnel changed over the years but this remained Armstrong’s main performing vehicle for the rest of his career. He had a string of pop hits beginning in 1949 and started making regular overseas tours, where his popularity was so great, he was dubbed “Ambassador Satch.”

In America, Armstrong had been a great Civil Rights pioneer for his race, breaking down numerous barriers as a young man. In the 1950s, he was sometimes criticized for his onstage persona and called an “Uncle Tom” but he silenced critics by speaking out against the government’s handling of the “Little Rock Nine” high school integration crisis in 1957.

Armstrong continued touring the world and making records with songs like “Blueberry Hill” (1949), “Mack the Knife” (1955) and “Hello, Dolly! (1964),” the latter knocking the Beatles off the top of the pop charts at the height of Beatlemania.

Good Evening Everybody

The many years of constant touring eventually wore down Armstrong, who had his first heart attack in 1959 and returned to intensive care at Beth Israel Hospital for heart and kidney trouble in 1968. Doctors advised him not to play but Armstrong continued to practice every day in his Corona, Queens home, where he had lived with his fourth wife, Lucille, since 1943. He returned to performing in 1970 but it was too much, too soon and he passed away in his sleep on July 6, 1971, a few months after his final engagement at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York City.

King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band (first recording for Louis Armstrong), Gennett Studios, Richmond, Indiana, 1923.

And his last.

1960: In a letter to artist Richard Chopping, Ian Fleming requests his services for 200 guineas.

"I will ask [the publisher] to produce an elegant
skeleton hand and an elegant Queen of Hearts.
As to the dagger, I really have no strong views.
I had thought of the ordinary flick knife as used
by teenagers on people like you and me, but if
you have a nice dagger in mind please let us use it.
The title of the book will be Thunderball.
It is immensely long, immensely dull and only
your jacket can save it!"

1967: You Only Live Twice released in Ireland.
1969: John Barry signs on to score On Her Majesty's Secret Service.

1983: Chris Celichowski reviews Octopussy in Pointer Magazine.

https://epapers.uwsp.edu/pointers/1983/1983Aug4.pdf

1988: Licence to Kill films Q assisting OO7 to board the Wavekrest.

2001: Pierce Brosnan weds Keely Shaye Smith at Ballintubber Abbey, County Mayo, Ireland.

2022

2008: Sony Ericsson reveals its James Bond themed C902 phone and Pocket Gamer.

Sony Ericsson unveils James Bond themed C902 phone
Complete with preloaded spying game

See the complete article here:

http://www.pocketgamer.co.uk/r/Mobile/Sony+Ericsson+C902/news.asp?c=8175

Product: Sony Ericsson C902 | Manufacturer: Sony Ericsson
by Stuart Dredge

Getting excited about upcoming James Bond flick Quantum of Solace yet? We're still boggling at the rubbish name, to be honest.

But anyway, Sony Ericsson is excited, because its C902 handset will feature in the film, possibly during a scene where Bond whiles away several hours in a Haitian jail cell by playing Tower Bloxx Deluxe. Or not.

To celebrate, the company is launching a limited-edition silver edition of the phone, with all manner of 007 branding and content.

That includes the official James Bond: Top Agent game, as well as the new film's trailer, video interviews with its stars, and wallpapers and screensavers.

It's the second Sony Ericsson Bond mobile, following 2006's silver K800i model. The C902 is more focused on photography than gaming, but Sony Ericsson's track record means it'll be good for the latter, too.

The Bond edition goes on sale in November, when the film comes out. If you're wondering why the photo above isn't silver, well, SE hasn't released a shot of the new one yet.

2017: ITV promotes Daniel Craig in Casino Royale but airs the 1967 version, disappointing many.

ITV4 has James Bond fans shaken and stirred
by airing the wrong Casino Royale

Somebody at MI6 is getting fired...
By Justin Harp | 04/08/2017

http://www.digitalspy.com/tv/james-bond-007/news/a834825/itv4-airs-wrong-james-bond-film-casino-royale/

2021: James Bond Sneaks Into Rocket League.

James Bond Sneaks Into
Rocket League On July 29

See the complete article here:

https://www.thegamer.com/james-bond-rocket-league-july-29/

By Jon Bitner | Published Jul 28, 2021

Rocket League is adding Bond's Aston Martin DB5 to its roster.

Rocket League James Bond
As part of a multi-year collaboration with MGM and Aston Martin, James Bond's DB5 supercar will be joining the Rocket League lineup. Available on July 29 on all platforms, the vehicle can be found in the Item Shop for 1100 Credits.

Rocket League's Aston Martin DB5 includes a 007 Aston Martin DB5 Paint Finish, Engine Audio, Wheels, and a Reel Life Decal. The limited-time car will only be listed on the Item Shop until August 4. If you happen to miss out, you can look forward to more James Bond content arriving later this year.

The collaboration between Rocket League and James Bond arrives as [bNo Time To Die[/b] prepares for its October 2021 release. The film will be the 25th in the series and was expected to arrive sooner, before getting hit with delays due to COVID-19.

Rocket League has had no shortage of unique collaborations, with Ghostbusters, Ford, and even the X-Games lending their name to the popular "soccar" simulator. This latest crossover with James Bond, however, might be its most exciting.

Make sure you swing by the Item Shop before August 4 if you're looking to pick up the Aston Martin DB5 – otherwise you'll have to wait for more 007 content to be announced.

ROCKET LEAGUE | Aston Martin DB5 (0:29)


007's Aston Martin DB5 in Rocket League
|| FULL REVIEW (Customization, Hitbox, Engine Audio) (7:09)

RichardTheBruce

August 5th

1906: John Marcellus Huston is born--Nevada, Missouri.
(He dies 28 August 1987 an Irish citizen--Middletown, Rhode Island.)

John Huston
American director, writer, and actor

https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-Huston
Written By: Michael Barson
Last Updated: Aug 1, 2019 See Article History

John Huston, in full John Marcellus Huston, (born August 5, 1906, Nevada, Missouri, U.S—died August 28, 1987, Middletown, Rhode Island), American motion-picture director, writer, and actor whose taut dramas were among the most popular Hollywood films from the early 1940s to the mid-1980s. Many of his films were literary adaptations or tough action tales with an existential spin. Indeed, his own life—in which Huston starred as a boxer, painter, horseman, gadabout, rebel, and international ladies’ man (who married six times)—was at least as engaging as many of his movies.

Early work
Huston was born in a small town in Missouri that his grandfather claimed to have won in a poker game. Huston’s father, Walter Huston, had given up stage acting for work as a civil engineer that took his family to Texas and Indiana before he decided to return to acting in 1909. Within a few years Huston’s parents were divorced, and he spent his childhood moving between his father, who initially returned to vaudeville, and his mother, Reah, who worked as a journalist and taught him to both ride and bet on horses. Although he suffered from kidney disease and an enlarged heart, Huston overcame a frail, often bedridden youth to become so robust a teenager that he was the amateur lightweight boxing champion of California (with a distinctive broken nose to show for it). After briefly studying painting in Los Angeles, Huston moved to New York City in 1924 to become an actor and performed with the Provincetown Players in Greenwich Village. In 1925, while vacationing in Mexico, he became an honorary member of the Mexican cavalry.

Returning to New York in 1929, Huston took a job as a reporter at the New York Graphic, where his mother was then working. He also began writing and publishing short stories, most notably “Fool,” which appeared in the literary magazine The American Mercury. In 1931 Huston went to Hollywood. After a false start as a contract writer with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), he moved to Universal, contributing to the screenplays of a pair of films starring his father, A House Divided (1931) and Law and Order (1932). During this period of hard drinking and carousing, a car that Huston was driving hit and killed a pedestrian. Consumed with guilt, he moved to London, where he intended to write for the British studio Gaumont but instead lived a ne’er-do-well existence. After a stint in Paris painting, he returned to the United States.

In 1934 Huston played the lead in the Chicago Works Progress Administration production of Robert E. Sherwood’s play Abe Lincoln in Illinois. By 1937 Huston was back in Hollywood, where Warner Brothers signed him to a screenwriting contract. This time his career was on track. Huston collaborated on the scripts for William Wyler’s Jezebel (1938), Anatole Litvak’s The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse (1938), and William Dieterle’s Juárez (1939) before directing his father in A Passage to Bali on Broadway in 1940.

Films of the 1940s
Huston then cowrote three exceptional films: Dr. Ehrlich’s Magic Bullet (1940) for Dieterle, High Sierra (1941) for Raoul Walsh, and Sergeant York for Howard Hawks, the last of which earned Huston his first Academy Award nomination, for best original screenplay in 1941.

That year Huston was also nominated for an Academy Award in another screenwriting category for his adaptation of Dashiell Hammett’s detective mystery The Maltese Falcon (1941), which was Huston’s first film as a director—perhaps the most-impressive debut in Hollywood during the 1940s. The Maltese Falcon had already been filmed by Warner Brothers in 1931 and 1936, but Huston’s proto-film noir had the advantage of Huston as the screenwriter, Humphrey Bogart as the amoral private eye Sam Spade, Mary Astor as the immoral Brigid O’Shaughnessey, and Sydney Greenstreet and Peter Lorre as a pair of lovable cutthroats. It was nominated for the Academy Award for best picture.

After directing the melodrama In This Our Life (1942), Huston was unable to complete his next project, the high-seas espionage tale Across the Pacific (1942), because he was drafted. For the U.S. Army’s Pictorial Service, Huston directed and narrated the renowned World War II documentaries Report from the Aleutians (1943), The Battle of San Pietro (1945), and Let There Be Light, the last a disturbing study of emotionally unstable veterans in a Long Island hospital that was so powerful that it was not given a public release until the early 1980s. Huston was discharged from the army in 1945 with the rank of major and awarded the Legion of Merit for making his films under perilous battle conditions.

Back in the United States, he worked on the scripts for Robert Siodmak’s The Killers and Orson Welles’s The Stranger (both 1946). Huston also directed Jean-Paul Sartre’s No Exit on Broadway in 1946. In 1947, as the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) geared up for its initial wave of hearings into the Hollywood community’s past or present communist affiliations, Huston joined with director William Wyler and screenwriter Philip Dunne in establishing the Committee for the First Amendment. Huston was part of a delegation of industry liberals—including Bogart and Lauren Bacall—who flew to Washington, D.C., to support those witnesses who had taken a confrontational stand when called to testify before the HUAC. Like other members of the delegation, however, Huston was put off by the aggressive belligerence of the “unfriendly” witnesses who would become known as the Hollywood Ten, though he remained disgusted by the proceedings as a whole.

The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948) was Huston’s return to motion-picture directing in Hollywood. Adapted by Huston from an obscure novel by the mysterious, reclusive writer B. Traven and shot on location in Mexico, it starred Bogart in the decidedly unheroic role of a paranoid prospector, Fred C. Dobbs. As good as Bogart was in depicting Dobbs’s descent into madness, most critics believed that he was out-acted by Walter Huston as the grizzled, sagacious Howard, who tries in vain to keep greed from consuming the little treasure-seeking band. (This was the first time that Huston had cast his father in a major role, though he had appeared in unbilled cameos in The Maltese Falcon and In This Our Life.) Although The Treasure of the Sierra Madre would become one of Huston’s greatest critical triumphs and continues to be widely considered one of the best films of its time, it was a box-office disaster, perhaps because of its grim ending and the daring casting of Bogart against type. Still, the film was nominated for an Academy Award for best picture, Huston won the awards for best director and best screenplay, and his father was named best supporting actor.

Humphrey Bogart (centre) and Walter Huston (right) in The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948).
Courtesy of Warner Brothers, Inc.

Bogart, Bacall, Edward G. Robinson, Lionel Barrymore, and Claire Trevor starred in Huston’s next film, Key Largo (1948), a suspenseful adaptation of a Maxwell Anderson play that is regarded as a classic film noir. With a screenplay by Huston and Richard Brooks, it is set in a small hotel in the Florida Keys that is taken over by a gangster (Robinson) who has made a clandestine return from deportation to Cuba. Trevor won the Academy Award for best supporting actress for her portrayal of the gangster’s mistress. Cuba was then the setting for We Were Strangers (1949), an atmospheric account of revolutionaries’ attempt to overthrow the government, which starred Jennifer Jones and John Garfield.

Films of the 1950s
Huston thought of himself as a writer-director and almost always had a hand in the screenplays for his films, though he preferred working in collaboration with other writers. A lover of literature from the time he learned to read at age three, he drew the stories for his films primarily from novels and plays. The Asphalt Jungle (1950) was based on the hard-boiled crime novel of the same name by W.R. Burnett, who had provided the source novels for High Sierra and Mervyn LeRoy’s Little Caesar (1931). Sam Jaffe, Sterling Hayden, and James Whitmore starred in that caper film noir as a gang plotting the multimillion-dollar robbery of a jewelry exchange. A thrilling exercise in fatalism, The Asphalt Jungle was one of Huston’s most expertly structured films and earned him and cowriter Ben Maddow an Academy Award nomination for their screenplay.

Huston was less fortunate with his 1951 adaptation of Stephen Crane’s literary classic The Red Badge of Courage. Real-life World War II hero Audie Murphy starred in this story of a young Union soldier who deserts his company during the American Civil War. With the Korean War raging, MGM executives felt that the film’s antiwar message was too blatant and cut The Red Badge of Courage down to 69 minutes. (The undoctored version was among Huston’s favourites of his films.) Nevertheless, what remained, including some magnificently staged battle scenes, was impressive enough to have been called a minor masterpiece by Lillian Ross of The New Yorker magazine; she published the book Picture (1952), which chronicled the film’s making.

Much of Huston’s next film, The African Queen (1951), was shot on location in Uganda and Belgian Congo (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo). Novelist and pioneering film critic James Agee worked with Huston on the adaptation of C.S. Forester’s popular novel (as did the uncredited John Collier and Peter Viertel). The performances delivered by Bogart and Katharine Hepburn were among their most memorable, as drunken boat captain Charlie Allnut and as Rosie Sayer, the impossibly prim spinster who convinces him to take her on his rattletrap steamer down the Congo River to civilization at the outset of World War I. This splendid romance-comedy-adventure has remained one of the most popular Hollywood movies of all time. Huston was again nominated for Academy Awards for best director and best screenplay; Bogart won the award for best actor.

In 1952 Huston traveled to France to shoot Moulin Rouge (1952), a gorgeously mounted, sentimental biography of Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (played José Ferrer), the crippled artist who became the toast of Montmartre for his lively artworks. Moulin Rouge was nominated for the Academy Award for best picture, and Huston was nominated for best director, the fourth time in five years that he had been nominated for that award. He would have to wait 33 years before the Academy nominated him again, as he entered the extended hit-or-miss phase of his career.

Written with Truman Capote and cofinanced by Bogart’s Santana production company, Beat the Devil (1954) was filmed in Italy. A delightful spoof of The Maltese Falcon, it featured Bogart, Lorre, Jennifer Jones, Robert Morley, and Gina Lollobrigida as a motley shipboard assembly of adventurers, frauds, and con artists trying to locate a uranium mine while enduring a variety of comic disasters. Capote later said that they made up the story as they went along, an irreverent approach perhaps better suited to sensibilities in the 21st century than to those of the 1950s. Beat the Devil was a box-office disaster and precipitated a split between Bogart (who called the film “a mess”) and Huston after many years of fruitful collaboration.

Moby Dick (1956), Huston’s epic adaptation of Herman Melville’s novel, was shot in Ireland, where Huston had gone to live in 1952, largely because he had become disgusted by the political climate of the United States during the McCarthy era. Although some critics found the stolid Gregory Peck badly suited to the role of the fiery, obsessed Captain Ahab, Huston and Ray Bradbury captured much of the poetry of Melville in their script, and the sea storm and whaling sequences were impressively staged. Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison (1957), a much quieter affair, starred Robert Mitchum and Deborah Kerr as a marine and a nun stranded on a Pacific island during World War II. Kerr received an Academy Award nomination for best actress, and Huston’s and John Lee Mahin’s screenplay was also nominated.

Huston began working on David O. Selznick’s remake of A Farewell to Arms (1957) but departed the production to instead direct the undistinguished period film The Barbarian and the Geisha (1958). Filmed in French Equatorial Africa with Errol Flynn and Trevor Howard, The Roots of Heaven (1958) followed and drew mixed reviews.

Films of the 1960s
Something of a return to form for Huston, The Unforgiven (1960) starred Audrey Hepburn in the only western role of her career, as a Native American who has been raised by a Texas settler family. The troubled history of the making of Huston’s next film, The Misfits (1961), became a staple of Hollywood lore. Playwright Arthur Miller adapted his own short story for that very different kind of western as a vehicle for Marilyn Monroe (his wife, though their marriage was collapsing). Clark Gable, Montgomery Clift, and Eli Wallach portrayed aging modern-day cowboys who capture wild horses and sell them to be slaughtered for dog food. Monroe played a divorced former stripper who questions the wranglers’ morality as she falls for one of them (Gable). With her personal life in a tailspin, Monroe reportedly drove Huston to distraction during the filming, showing up on the set late, under the influence of drugs or alcohol, and blowing her lines. This was her last completed role before her death in August 1962. Moreover, eight days after shooting was completed on the film, Gable died of a heart attack.

Huston himself narrated the somber Freud (1962), in which Clift (in one his last roles) played the founder of psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud. The playful mystery The List of Adrian Messenger (1963) featured a roster of big-name stars (including Mitchum, Frank Sinatra, Burt Lancaster, Kirk Douglas, and Tony Curtis) who were all but unrecognizable under layers of makeup. Their performances were less memorable, however, than Huston’s portrayal the same year of a Roman Catholic cardinal in another film, Otto Preminger’s The Cardinal. That performance earned Huston an Academy Award nomination as best supporting actor and started a new parallel career for him as an actor.

Huston’s The Night of the Iguana (1964), shot in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, offered another all-star cast (Kerr, Richard Burton, Ava Gardner, and Sue Lyon) in an adaptation of Tennessee Williams’s play of the same name that was steeped in psychoses, thwarted desires, and carnal confusion. Huston then decided to make The Bible: In the Beginning... (1966); however, the nearly three hours of Old Testament melodramatics he offered were little appreciated by audiences and critics (though Huston himself turned in an estimable performance as Noah). Huston’s 1967 film version of Carson McCullers’s 1941 novella Reflections in a Golden Eye was a commercial failure but has come to be more widely appreciated with the passage of time. Marlon Brando gave one of his uniquely odd performances as a repressed homosexual army officer whose Southern belle wife (Elizabeth Taylor) becomes involved with another officer (Brian Keith).

In 1967 Huston acted in and was one of five directors who had a hand in guiding Casino Royale, a parody of Ian Fleming’s first James Bond thriller. His string of lacklustre films continued with A Walk with Love and Death (1969), a forgettable medieval drama that is most-notable today for having provided daughter Anjelica Huston with her first lead role in a movie; Sinful Davey (1969), with John Hurt; and the Cold War thriller The Kremlin Letter (1970).

Last films
Fat City, an adaptation of Leonard Gardner’s novel about small-time boxers, significantly reversed Huston’s fortunes as a director and was one of 1972’s most-acclaimed motion pictures. Here Huston had a chance to draw upon his experiences as a boxer in California five decades earlier, and he deftly teased out the downbeat story’s essence. Stacy Keach played a washed-up boxer in Stockton, Susan Tryrell earned an Academy Award nomination as best supporting actress for her portrayal of his drink-besotted girlfriend, and Jeff Bridges was terrific as a younger fighter with a less-than-promising future.

Huston’s follow-up was the revisionist western The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean (1973), a loose biography of the notorious self-appointed hanging judge Roy Bean, which featured Paul Newman in the title role, an irreverent screenplay by John Milius, and a supporting cast that included Anthony Perkins, Ava Gardner, and Huston himself. Newman starred again in the Walter Hill-scripted espionage thriller The Mackintosh Man (1973). Then Huston managed to set a new acting standard for himself in Roman Polanski’s classic film noir Chinatown (1974) as the loathsome, evil Noah Cross.

For decades Huston had thought about making The Man Who Would Be King (1975). In the 1950s he had wanted Bogart and Gable to play the intrepid explorers at the centre of Rudyard Kipling’s short story; in the 1960s he had envisioned Richard Burton and Peter O’Toole as the leads. In the event, Sean Connery and Michael Caine, two of the biggest stars of the 1970s, got the roles and traveled to Morocco, which stood in for the story’s Afghanistan locale. Both Connery, as the swaggering Danny, who is taken for a god and comes to believe it himself, and Caine, as his slightly dim sidekick Peachy, gave marvelous performances. Although the film was not particularly successful at the box office and received respectful but restrained reviews, it proved to be a morality tale of unusual resonance and came to be regarded as among Huston’s finest films.

Four years passed before Huston was able to bring to the screen another favourite project, Wise Blood (1979). Brad Dourif played a fanatical Southern evangelist in this adaptation of Flannery O’Connor’s darkly comic novel of the same name. Huston’s next film, the low-budget Hitchcockian thriller Phobia (1981), was arguably the nadir of his directorial career. Much better received was the World War II drama Victory (1981), which featured Caine, Sylvester Stallone, and football (soccer) great Pelé as Allied prisoners of war who engineer an escape from the Parisian stadium in which their team of prisoners is playing a German all-star team. Huston’s uneven big-budget adaptation of the Broadway hit Annie (1982) was his one and only musical. Filmed in Mexico, Under the Volcano (1984) was a valiant but ultimately failed attempt to capture Malcolm Lowry’s difficult novel.

Far more satisfying was Prizzi’s Honor (1985), a stylized version of Richard Condon’s novel (adapted by Condon and Janet Roach) about the Mafia. Jack Nicholson delivered what many critics considered to be among his best performances as mob hit man Charley Partanna. He falls for a woman (Kathleen Turner) who turns out not only to share his profession but to become his target. The film was nominated for the Academy Award for best picture, Huston for best director, and Nicholson for best actor, while Anjelica Huston won the award for best supporting actress for her portrayal of Charley’s mistress. Throughout the 1970s and early ’80s Huston continued to act periodically in others’ films, perhaps most notably in Winter Kills (1979), a thriller based on another Condon novel.

In 1987 Huston joined Anjelica and his oldest son, Tony Huston, to make what would be his final movie, The Dead (Anjelica acted in it, and Tony was nominated for an Academy Award for his screenplay). Based on the short story “The Dead” from James Joyce’s Dubliners, the film focused on a holiday party hosted by a pair of elderly sisters and their niece in turn-of-the-20th-century Dublin. Poignant, stately, and expertly acted, The Dead was just completed when the ailing Huston (who directed the film from a wheelchair, breathing from an oxygen tank) died at age 81. More than a few critics saw The Dead as a fitting epitaph for this prodigiously gifted storyteller.

Michael Barson

John Huston (I) (1906–1987)

Actor | Director | Writer
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001379/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0

Casino Royale (1967)

1963: Ian Fleming appears on BBC Radio’s Desert Island Discs. His choice: War and Peace.

07 May 2017
Desert Island Discs: the 40 greatest guests

27 of 40
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/radio/what-to-listen-to/desert-island-discs-40-greatest-guests/ian-fleming/

Ian Fleming (August 5, 1963)

Sadly, only a 10 minute fragment of the James Bond
author's 1963 appearances on the series remains; but we do
know that his -- characteristically cryptic -- choice of book
was a German-language edition of Leo Tolstoy's War and
Peace. A coded message to the real spooks at MI5,
perhaps?

Listen to Ian Fleming on Desert Island Discs
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p009y5b3

1976: The Spy Who Loved Me starts production and Richard Kiel tests Jaws' bite.

1977: Ruth Batchelor reviews The Spy Who Love Me in the Los Angeles Free Press.

https://www.jstor.org/stable/community.28040257?seq=9#metadata_info_tab_contents

1981: Solo per i tuoi occhi (Only For Your Eyes) released in Italy.

1983: Octopussy released in Austria and Switzerland.
1983: James Bond 007 - Octopussy released in West Germany.

1987: I skuddlinjen (In the Firing Line) released in Norway.

Semic Comic 1987

Black and white reprint 1992
https://www.comicsroyale.com/semicpressadaptations#/the-living-daylights/black-white/

RichardTheBruce

August 6th

1938: Robert Dix dies at age 80--Tucson, Arizona.
(Born 8 May 1938--Los Angeles, California.)

Robert Dix (I) (1935–2018)

Actor | Writer | Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0228718/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_3

1962: Jamaica transitions from British colony to independent country.

1962: Michelle Yeoh is born--Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia.

1970: Al servicio secreto de Su Majestad (To the Secret Service of His Majesty) released in Mexico.

1973: 鐵金剛勇破 黑魔黨 (Tiě jīngāng yǒng pò hēi mó dǎng; Iron King Mafia, or Iron King Breaks the Black Devil) released in Hong Kong.
1977: Title song "Nobody Does It Better" charts in the UK, eventually reaching number 7.

1981: 鐵金剛勇破 海龍幫 Tiě jīngāng yǒng pò hǎilóng bāng); Iron King Hailong Gang, or Iron King Breaks the Sea Dragon Gang) released in Hong Kong.

1981: James Bond 007 - In tödlicher Mission (James Bond 007 - In a deadly mission) released in Germany.

1984: A View to a Kill begins principle photography at Pinewood Studios, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, England.
1986: Licence withdrawn--producer Albert R. Broccoli withdraws the Bond role offer from Pierce Brosnan.
1987: The New York Times reports The Living Daylights as first in ticket sales.

The Living Daylights' First in Ticket Sales

See the complete article here:

https://www.nytimes.com/1987/08/06/movies/the-living-daylights-first-in-ticket-sales.html

AP | August 6, 1987, Section C, Page 22

''The Living Daylights,'' the latest James Bond adventure, with Timothy Dalton making his debut as the film series' fourth Agent 007, took in $11 million in its opening weekend to set a James Bond box-office record and handily won the No. 1 spot.

The strong showing, which eclipsed the $10.7 million that ''A View to a Kill'' earned in its opening week, came during the 25th anniversary of the film series based on Ian Fleming's James Bond stories.

Coming in second for the week was ''The Lost Boys,'' a film about teen-age vampires that drew $5.2 million in ticket sales.

''La Bamba,'' the film version of the life and death of the rock star Ritchie Valens, also earned $5.2 million to finish third for the week.

''Robocop,'' a violent adventure about a half-man, half-robot crimefighter in futuristic Detroit, sold $4.7 million in tickets to place fourth, and ''Summer School,'' starring Mark Harmon, earned $4.6 million to place fifth.

2012: Marvin Frederick Hamlisch dies at age 68--Westwood, Los Angeles, California.
(Born 2 June 1944--New York City, New York.)

Marvin Hamlisch, Whose Notes Struck Gold, Dies at 68

https://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/08/arts/music/marvin-hamlisch-composer-dies-at-68.html
By ROB HOERBURGER | AUG. 7, 2012

Marvin Hamlisch, the Pulitzer Prize-winning composer who imbued his movie and Broadway scores with pizazz and panache and often found his songs in the upper reaches of the pop charts, died on Monday in Los Angeles. He was 68 and lived in New York.

He collapsed on Monday after a brief illness, a family friend said.

For a few years starting in 1973, Mr. Hamlisch spent practically as much time accepting awards for his compositions as he did writing them. He is one of a handful of artists to win every major creative prize, some of them numerous times, including an Oscar for “The Way We Were” (1973, shared with the lyricists Marilyn and Alan Bergman), a Grammy as best new artist (1974), and a Tony and a Pulitzer for “A Chorus Line” (1975, shared with the lyricist Edward Kleban, the director Michael Bennett and the book writers James Kirkwood Jr. and Nicholas Dante).

All told, he won three Oscars, four Emmys and four Grammys. His omnipresence on awards and talk shows made him one of the last in a line of celebrity composers that included Henry Mancini, Burt Bacharach and Stephen Sondheim. Mr. Hamlisch, bespectacled and somewhat gawky, could often appear to be the stereotypical music school nerd — in fact, at 7 he was the youngest student to be accepted to the Juilliard School at the time — but his appearance belied his intelligence and ability to banter easily with the likes of Johnny Carson and Merv Griffin. His melodies were sure-footed and sometimes swashbuckling. “One,” from “A Chorus Line,” with its punchy, brassy lines, distills the essence of the Broadway showstopper.

Marvin Hamlisch

“A Chorus Line,” a backstage musical in which Broadway dancers told their personal stories, started as a series of taped workshops, then evolved into a show that opened at the Public Theater in 1975 and moved to Broadway later that year. It ran for 6,137 performances, the most of any Broadway musical until it was surpassed by “Cats.”

“I have to keep reminding myself that ‘A Chorus Line’ was initially considered weird and off the wall,” Mr. Hamlisch told The New York Times in 1983. “You mustn’t underestimate an audience’s intelligence.” The lyricist Alan Jay Lerner called “A Chorus Line” “the great show business story of our time.”

Mr. Hamlisch had a long association with Barbra Streisand that began when, at 19, he became a rehearsal pianist for her show “Funny Girl.” Yet he told Current Biography in 1976 that Ms. Streisand was reluctant to record what became the pair’s greatest collaboration, “The Way We Were,” the theme from the 1973 movie of the same name in which Ms. Streisand starred with Robert Redford.

A rehearsal of “A Chorus Line,” with music by Marvin Hamlisch, from 1975.
Credit Martha Swope

“I had to beg her to sing it,” he said. “She thought it was too simple.”

Mr. Hamlisch prevailed, though, and the song became a No. 1 pop single, an Oscar winner and a signature song for Ms. Streisand. They continued to work together across the decades; Mr. Hamlisch was the musical director for her 1994 tour and again found himself accepting an award for his work, this time an Emmy.

Ms. Streisand said in a statement through her publicist that the world will always remember Mr. Hamlisch’s music, but that it was “his brilliantly quick mind, his generosity and delicious sense of humor that made him a delight to be around.”

Mr. Hamlisch had his second-biggest pop hit with “Nobody Does It Better,” the theme from the James Bond film “The Spy Who Loved Me,” written with the lyricist Carole Bayer Sager. Carly Simon’s recording of the song reached No. 2 in 1977. Thom Yorke, the lead singer of the band Radiohead, which has performed the song in concert more recently, called it “the sexiest song ever written.”

Mr. Hamlisch with Barbra Streisand.
Credit Alex J. Berliner/Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, via Associated Press

Yet for all Mr. Hamlisch’s pop success — he and Ms. Bayer Sager also wrote a No. 1 soul hit for Aretha Franklin, “Break It to Me Gently” — his first love was writing for theater and the movies. His score for “The Sting,” which adapted the ragtime music of Scott Joplin, made him a household ubiquity in 1973.

Despite the acclaim he often said he thought his background scores were underappreciated. He said he would love for an audience to “see a movie once without the music” to appreciate how the experience changed. He would go on to write more than 40 movie scores.

Marvin Frederick Hamlisch was born June 2, 1944, in New York . His father, Max, was an accordionist, and at age 5 Mr. Hamlisch was reproducing on the piano songs he heard on the radio; Juilliard soon followed. According to his wife, Terre Blair, he was being groomed as “the next Horowitz,” but when all the doors were closed and everyone was gone he would play show tunes. He performed some concerts and recitals as a teenager at Town Hall and other Manhattan auditoriums, but soon gave up on the idea of being a full-time performer.

A scene from the final performance of the Broadway musical "A Chorus Line" in 1990. Marvin Hamlisch won a Tony Award for his score to the show.
Credit Sara Krulwich/The New York Times

“Before every recital, I would violently throw up, lose weight, the veins on my hands would stand out,” he told Current Biography.

He had no such reaction, though, when his song “Sunshine, Lollipops and Rainbows,” with lyrics by Howard Liebling, became a Top 20 hit in 1965 for Lesley Gore, when Mr. Hamlisch was 21. The movie producer Sam Spiegel heard him playing piano a few years later at a party and as a result Mr. Hamlisch scored his first film, “The Swimmer.”

Mr. Hamlisch soon moved to Los Angeles, and the successes snowballed. But he remained a New Yorker through and through. He once said he liked New York because it was the one place “where you’re allowed to wear a tie.”

Marvin Hamlisch, right, at the piano with the lyricist Howard Ashman in 1986.
Credit Nancy Kaye/Associated Press

Mr. Hamlisch is survived by Ms. Blair, a television broadcaster and producer, whom he married in 1989. His sister, Terry Liebling, a Hollywood casting director and the wife of his former collaborator Howard Liebling, died in 2001.

After “A Chorus Line,” Mr. Hamlisch scored another Broadway hit, “They’re Playing Our Song,” based on his relationship with Ms. Bayer Sager (who wrote the lyrics), in 1979. It ran for 1,082 performances. After that, the accolades subsided but the work didn’t. He worked with various lyricists on subesequent musicals, including “Jean Seberg” (1983), which was staged in London but never reached Broadway, and “Smile” (1986), which did reach Broadway but had a very brief run. His most steady work continued to come from the movies. He wrote the background scores for “Ordinary People,” “Sophie’s Choice” and, most recently, “The Informant.” His later theater scores included “The Goodbye Girl” (1993), “Sweet Smell of Success” (2002) and “Imaginary Friends” (2002). He had also completed the scores for an HBO movie based on the life of Liberace, “Behind the Candelabra,” and for a musical based on the Jerry Lewis film “The Nutty Professor,” which opened in Nashville last month.

According to his official Web site, Mr. Hamlisch held the title of pops conductor for the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, the Dallas Symphony Orchestra and others.

In more recent years, Mr. Hamlisch became an ambassador for music, traveling the country and performing and giving talks at schools. He often criticized the cuts in arts education.

“I don’t think the American government gets it,” he said during an interview at the Orange County High School of the Arts in Santa Ana, Calif. “I don’t think they understand it’s as important as math and science. It rounds you out as a person. I think it gives you a love of certain things. You don’t have to become the next great composer. It’s just nice to have heard certain things or to have seen certain things. It’s part of being a human being.”

Despite all his honors, Mr. Hamlisch was always most focused on, and most excited about, his newest project. Ms. Blair said. And, she said, he was always appreciative of his gift: “He used to say, ‘It’s easy to write things that are so self-conscious that they become pretentious, that have a lot of noise. It’s very hard to write a simple melody.’ ”

Marvin Hamlisch
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marvin_Hamlisch

Work

Symphony

Hamlisch was the primary conductor for the Pittsburgh Pops from 1995 until his death.

The Dallas Symphony Orchestra performed a rare Hamlisch classical symphonic suite titled Anatomy of Peace (Symphonic Suite in one Movement For Full Orchestra/Chorus/Child Vocal Soloist) on November 19, 1991. It was also performed at Carnegie Hall in 1993, and in Paris in 1994 to commemorate D-Day. The work was recorded by the Dallas Symphony Orchestra in 1992. The Anatomy of Peace was a book by Emery Reves which expressed the world-federalist sentiments shared by Albert Einstein and many others in the late 1940s, in the period immediately following World War II.

Theatre

Seesaw (1973) [Dance Arrangements]
A Chorus Line (Pulitzer Prize for Drama & Tony Award for Best Score) (1975)
They're Playing Our Song (1978)
Jean Seberg (1983)
Smile (1986)
The Goodbye Girl (1993)
Sweet Smell of Success (2002)
Imaginary Friends (2002)
The Nutty Professor (2012)

Film

The Swimmer (1968)
Take the Money and Run (1969)
The April Fools (1969)

Move (1970)
Flap (1970)
Something Big (1971)
Kotch (1971)
Bananas (1971)
The War Between Men and Women (1972)
The World's Greatest Athlete (1973)
Save the Tiger (1973)
The Way We Were (1973)
The Sting (1973)
The Prisoner of Second Avenue (1975)
The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)
The Absent-Minded Waiter (1977)
Same Time, Next Year (1978)
Ice Castles (1978)
Starting Over (1979)
Chapter Two (1979)

Seems Like Old Times (1980)
Ordinary People (1980)
Gilda Live (1980)
Sophie's Choice (1982)
Henry The Horse: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (1982)
I Ought to Be in Pictures (1982)
Romantic Comedy (1983)
A Streetcar Named Desire (1984)
D.A.R.Y.L. (1985)
A Chorus Line (1985)
When the Time Comes (1987)
Three Men and a Baby (1987)
The Return of the Six Million Dollar Man and the Bionic Woman (1987)
Sam Found Out: A Triple Play (1988)
Little Nikita (1988)
David (1988)
The January Man (1989)
Shirley Valentine (1989)
The Experts (1989)

Women and Men: Stories of Seduction (1990)
Switched at Birth (1991)
Missing Pieces (1991)
Frankie and Johnny (1991)
Seasons of the Heart (1994)
The Mirror Has Two Faces (1996)

How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days (2003)
The Informant! (2009)
Behind the Candelabra (2013)

RichardTheBruce

August 7th

1914: Ted Moore is born--Western Cape, South Africa.
(He dies 1987 at age 72--Surrey, England.)

Ted Moore

See the complete article here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted_Moore

Born 7 August 1914, Benoni, Gauteng, South Africa
Died 1987 (aged 72–73), Surrey, England, U.K.
Nationality South African, British
Occupation Cinematographer, camera operator
Years active 1939–1982

Ted Moore, BSC (7 August 1914 – 1987) was a South African-British cinematographer known for his work on seven of the James Bond films in the 1960s and early 1970s. He won the Academy Award for Best Cinematography for his work on Fred Zinnemann's A Man for All Seasons, and two BAFTA Awards for Best Cinematography for A Man for All Seasons and From Russia with Love.

Biography

Born in South Africa, Moore moved to Great Britain at the age of sixteen, where he served in the Royal Air Force during World War II. During the war he joined the film unit and began honing his craft.

After serving as a camera operator on such films as The African Queen, The Red Beret, Hell Below Zero, and The Black Knight, he was given the cinematography job for 1956's High Flight, set among a familiar scene for Moore, the Royal Air Force.

He worked on a number of films for Irving Allen and Albert R. Broccoli's Warwick Films, including Cockleshell Heroes, Zarak, Johnny Nobody and [n]No Time to Die[/b], as well as their more high-minded 1960 production The Trials of Oscar Wilde.

In 1962 Broccoli and director Terence Young chose him as the cinematographer for an adaptation of Ian Fleming's Dr. No. Moore would go on to make another six Bond films; From Russia with Love (for which he won a BAFTA award), Goldfinger, Thunderball, Diamonds Are Forever, Live and Let Die, and portions of The Man with the Golden Gun, on which he was replaced due to illness by Oswald Morris.

In addition, Moore won a BAFTA and an Oscar for his camerawork for 1967's Best Picture, A Man for All Seasons, becoming the first South African to win an Academy Award. He also worked on the 1962 cult classic The Day of the Triffids, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, The Golden Voyage of Sinbad, Orca, and Clash of the Titans.

Moore died in 1987.

Filmography

April in Portugal (1954)
A Prize of Gold (1955)
The Gamma People (1955)
Odongo (1956)
Zarak (1957)
Interpol (1957)
How to Murder a Rich Uncle (1957)
High Flight (1957)
No Time to Die (1958)
The Man Inside (1958)
Idol on Parade (1959)
The Bandit of Zhobe (1959)
Killers of Kilimanjaro (1959)

Jazz Boat (1960)
Let's Get Married (1960)
The Trials of Oscar Wilde (1960)
In the Nick (1960)
Johnny Nobody (1961)
The Hellions (1961)
Mix Me a Person (1962)
Dr. No (1962)
The Day of the Triffids (1962)
Nine Hours to Rama (1963)
Call Me Bwana (1963)
From Russia with Love (1963)
Goldfinger (1964)
The Amorous Adventures of Moll Flanders (1965)
Thunderball (1965)
A Man for All Seasons (1966)
The Last Safari (1967)
Prudence and the Pill (1968)
Shalako (1968)
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1969)
The Chairman (1969) (uncredited)

Country Dance (1970)
She'll Follow You Anywhere (1971)
Diamonds Are Forever (1971)
Psychomania (1973)
Live and Let Die (1973)
The Golden Voyage of Sinbad (1974)
The Story of Jacob and Joseph (1974) (television film)
The Man with the Golden Gun (1974)
Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger (1977)
Orca (1977)
Dominique (1978)

The Martian Chronicles (1980) (miniseries; 3 episodes)
Clash of the Titans (1981)
Priest of Love (1981)

Awards and nominations

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
- Best Cinematography
- - A Man for All Seasons (won)

British Academy of Film and Television Arts
- Best Cinematography
- - From Russia with Love (won)
- - A Man for All Seasons (won)

British Society of Cinematographers
- Best Cinematography
- - From Russia with Love (won)

1969: Roger Moore and Claudie Lange appear in Cine Revue Magazine promoting their film Crossplot.

1974: The Man With the Golden Gun films OO7 offering Lazar a chance to speak (or else forever hold his piece).
1977: Christopher Wood's novelization James Bond and The Spy Who Loved Me spends a week at number 6, London Times paperback bestsellers list.

Major Anya Amasova had scored well in
the course of 'sex as a weapon', although
the SMERSH report had noted a risk of
emotional attachments. James Bond was
as wary of her presence in Cairo as he was
charmed by her proud self-assured beauty.
Where did the Russians find such women?
But Bond was not an agent to be dis-
tracted from his mission: someone had
learned to plot the course of nuclear
submarines and, impossible as it sounded,
M told him in London that the 370-foot
nuclear-powered H.M.S. Ranger was
'missing'.

Not since Dr No and Auric Goldfinger
has Bond locked wits with an opponent so
dedicated to his private obsession or
shielded by such deadly cunning as
Sigmund Stromberg. His double-O prefix
meant that Bond was used to death, but
what Stromberg's killer could do with
his two rows of stainless steel teeth was an
obscenity.

Christopher Wood wrote this novel
under licence from Glidrose, which owns
Ian Fleming copyrights, from the script
he and Richard Maibaum had produced
for the latest Albert R. Broccoli Bond
film. The story is entirely different from
Fleming's original The Spy Who Loved Me,
only the title retaining any link between
the film and that earlier book.

Jonathan Cape hardcover 1997, jacket cover by Bill Botten.



Panther Paperback

1978: Roger Moore and Lois Chiles are photographed in Paris, a week before filming of Moonraker begins.

1979: Simon Kassianides is born--Athens, Greece.

1981: For Your Eyes Only released in Austria.
1986: EON names Timothy Dalton the fourth James Bond. Filming shifts to late September.

Timothy Dalton Chosen As New James Bond

See the complete article here:

https://www.nytimes.com/1986/08/07/movies/timothy-dalton-chosen-as-new-james-bond.html

Reuters AUG. 7, 1986

The British actor Timothy Dalton has been named to replace Roger Moore as James Bond in the 25th anniversary film about Ian Fleming's dashing secret agent, producer Albert Broccoli said today.

Mr. Dalton, 38 years old, a Shakespearean actor who has also appeared in 11 films and on television, will be the fifth actor to portray Agent 007 in the popular series when shooting of ''The Living Daylights'' begins in London late next month.

The other leading candidate to take over the role of James Bond, who along with Mr. Moore has been played by Sean Connery, George Lazenby and David Niven, was the Irish-born actor Pierce Brosnan. They said Mr. Brosnan was unable to win release from his contract as television's romantic private detective ''Remington Steele.'' The series was renewed by NBC two months after it had been canceled, and filming for the new season has already begun.

''The Living Daylights'' will be directed by John Glen for United Artists at Pinewood Studios, with locations set for Austria, Morocco and Gibraltar.

Mr. Dalton, who was born in Wales and whose physique and accent fit the fictional mold of Mr. Fleming's dashing hero, was trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts and then became a member of the National Youth Theater.

2019: Aston Martin Rapide S AMR spotted in Monaco.

Aston Martin Rapide S AMR
https://www.autogespot.com/aston-martin-rapide-s-amr/2019/08/07

Spotdetails
Spotter carspotterjvdl
Spotted in Monaco, Monaco
Date 2019-08-07 01:00

Auto details
Topspeed 330 km/u
Acceleration 0-100 km/u 4.40 s
Power 603 pk
Torque 630 Nm @ 4000 tpm
Weight 1990 kg