The Battle
for Bond: The Genesis of Cinema’s Greatest Hero
by Robert Sellers (Tomahawk Press)
Review by Christopher Andersen
Author Robert Sellers has plenty to be proud of with the
recent publication of his new book The Battle for Bond. Not
only is the book well-written but also sheds light on one of the few relatively
unexplored aspects of the 007 franchise: the seemingly endless legal battles
concerning the franchise and, in particular, Thunderball.
Even for a lifetime Bond fan like myself, this book provides fascinating
new information pertaining to the legal minefield of disputes between Ian
Fleming and his one-time friends and collaborators Kevin McClory, Jack
Whittingham, Ernest Cuneo and Ivor
Bryce- who were the principal creative forces behind the Thunderball storyline. Their collaboration would result in a high
profile court case when Whittingham and McClory accused Fleming of basing his
novel on elements of scripts they had collaborated on with him. The fallout
resulted in the ailing Fleming settling out of court and giving up screen rights
to the novel.
In addition, the book offers a terrific insight to the later
legal battles between Kevin McClory and Cubby Broccoli over McClory’s efforts to
capitalize on those screen rights by producing a remake of Thunderball in the 1970s and 1980s. Robert Sellers has managed to
uncover rare photos and storyboards to enhance the little-known stories behind
these aborted efforts that later resulted in the making of Never Say Never Again, the 1983 Bond film that was indeed a remake
of Thunderball. What’s truly an exceptional find are
original storyboards from the abandoned 1970s project that Sean Connery had
co-scripted the screenplay for. The book even includes rare photos of Connery
touring prospective film location sites for the project including the Statue of
Liberty!
From a personal perspective, my favorite part of the book
covers complexities of the making of Never
Say Never Again. Sellers keeps the complicated events easy to follow –no easy
task. I do have a special interest in this film because back in 1984, the film's
producer Jack Schwartzman discussed with me his intentions to create a
special video edition of this movie
–using a new score and adding some deleted scenes. Schwartzman also disclosed
that he felt he could have done a better job of handling the complex production issues that are inevitably part of a film of this scope. My
marketing research on behalf of Schwartzman showed that this special edition
would have been a very successful, even in the still-early days of Home Video
back in 1984.
The 40 year saga involving Kevin McClory and his obsession
with the material he contributed for Thunderball
is presented in dramatic fashion and Robert Sellers’ dedication and thorough
investigation into this Bond story results in a book that is a “must†for any serious fan of the franchise.
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