James Bond 007 News
Entries from March 2008
Over the years, there have been a lot of unsubstantiated rumors about Sean Connery stating he'd be willing to return to the James Bond franchise as a villain - if the salary was large enough. However, in an interview with London's Daily Mail, Connery verifies he'd be willing to do so, but admits the kind of money he's looking for would not likely be paid by the producers. He also says he's seen Casino Royale and has emerged a big fan of Daniel Craig's portrayal of 007. Connery, who has lambasted the series in the past for delving into the realm of over-the-top stunts, gadgets and special effects, praises the producers for bringing the essence of the character back. "I think Daniel Craig is a terrific choice," he says "I think
they're going back to a more realistic type of Bond movie as I don't
think they could have gone much further with the special effects." The original big screen James Bond admits he hasn't seen some of his own 007 film but intends to catch up, as he has them on DVD. Connery also confirms he's happy in retirement, his health is good and he is genuinely moved by his fan's devotion. For more on the Great Scot, who seems to be mellowing at age 77, click here
Coming in issue #11, out in May, is a special double-page
spread of never-seen-before photos taken at Piz Gloria during the filming of
the battle scenes for the James Bond adventure On Her Majesty's Secret Service. The location served as the mountain top headquarters of SPECTRE mastermind Ernst Stavro Blofeld.
Photographed by the late John W. Mitchell, the well respected sound recordist,
the images belong to John Murphy, an avid stills and poster collector who is
a subscriber to our magazine. John offered these to us for publication,
and we jumped at the chance to share them with James Bond fans worldwide. The photos were taken in Switzerland
between October and December in 1968, and we have over 70 transparencies
featuring the battle, interior filming, the cast and crew at work, etc. In this
first installment we feature the attack on Piz Gloria by helicopters. In issue
#13 (Jan 2009), we will follow up with a larger article spread revealing the remaining
images which feature cast members George Lazenby, Telly Savalas and director Peter Hunt. These photographs have never been published before. Since man (and woman) cannot live by Bond alone, here are some other highlights of issue #11: - Film in Focus tribute to Michael Caine's classic crime movie Get Carter
- Exclusive interview with director Joe Dante
- David McCallum recalls the making of Sol Madrid and Mosquito Squadron
- A look back at the scandalous teen schoolgirl sex drama Baby Love starring 15 year old Linda Hayden
- Inside the making of Gerry Anderson's unheralded sci-fi classic Doppleganger (aka Journey to the Far Side of the Sun)
- Tribute to original scream queen, Barbara Steele, star of the Mario Bava horror classics
- The Films of Doris Day- Part 2 focuses on her greatest performance, opposite James Cagney in Love Me or Leave Me
- The mystery of who really played the villainess Bambi in the 1971 James Bond film Diamonds Are Forever
- The Films from U.N.C.L.E. Part 3- The making of One Spy Too Many
- Raymond Benson's top ten films of 1970
- The Queen's visits to Pinewood Studios
- The Ian Fleming centennary museum exhibition in London
- plus the latest DVD, soundtrack and movie book reviews- and the usual rare stills from the Cinema Retro archive
Note: Issue #11 will be available through subscription only and at select retailers in the USA, Canada and England. We regret Cinema Retro can't spare any issues for individual sale, but our increasing subscription base does not make that possible at this time. Subscribers get three issues for the current season, comprising of #'s 10, 11 and 12. As it stands now, we had hoped to have some of issue #10 available for single issue sales by this point, but it doesn't look like this will be possible as we are almost sold out and need the remaining copies to fill orders for new subscribers and those who are renewing. If you love movies of the 1960s and 1970s, then support the only publication in the world that celebrates this golden era of filmmaking - subscribe today and get the magazine delivered to your door postage free in North America and the UK. An entire season's subscription costs only ten cents a day - plus new subscribers get an exclusive Cinema Retro CD packed with original radio ads for class and cult movies. See subscription section for info or click here to subscribe through Ebay.
Angelo Petrucci has one of the most enviable jobs in the world of custom tailoriing: since 1995, his employer, Brioni, has provided the wardrobe for James Bond. Petrucci has suited up both Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig and has had to make some custom adjustments to accomodate 007's knives and pistols. To read about the nuances of tailoring the world's greatest secret agent, click here
Premiere has a revealing interview with French actor Mathieu Amalric, who is playing the baddie in the new James Bond film Quantum Of Solace. He discusses the production from the set in Panama and there are comments from director Marc Forster as well. There is a good deal of improvisation on this film and the script is apparently being updated and adjusted on a daily basis. Overall, things seem to be going swimmingly. For the interview click here
Click here to view the official press conference for the new James Bond film Quantum Of Solace. The press conference celebrated the start of shooting in January and featured the producers and cast members.
Tomorrow, props purported to be from one of the original James Bond Aston Martin DB5 cars seen in Goldfinger go up for auction as part of The Pugliese Collection. Anthony Pugliese is a collector of rare film props and memorabilia and the auction features such rarites as one of the original prop Maltese Falcons. However, as reported on the MI6 website, less celebrated items are drawing the attention of James Bond fans and experts. The history of the legendary Aston Martin was told in Cinema Retro co-publisher Dave Worrall's book The Most Famous Car in the World which traced the history of the car that debuted in Goldfinger and later became a "star" in its own right. In reality, there were four vehicles identified with the film. Two were used in the movie itself and the other two were created for publicity tours after public response the gadget-laden DB5 became overwhelmingly positive around the world. After it made a follow-up appearance in Thunderball,however, the gadget car was returned to Aston Martin who foolishly stripped it of all the gizmos in 1968 and sold it as a used car to a private owner. Realizing the car's history, that owner refitted the car with custom-made gadgets designed to replicate those seen in the film. Ultimately, this car ended up in the possession of Anthony Pugliese, who had the car displayed at international auto shows - until it inexplicably went missing in 1997, resulting in an insurance payment of over $3 million. Mr. Pugliese maintains he stripped the car of the gadgets prior to the theft and it is these parts that are being auctioned this week. (It is not explained why Pugliese would have removed the very gadgets that made the car tie in with the Bond legend.)Â However, the controversy comes in because the auction house mistakenly implies these are gadgets seen onscreen in Goldfinger. In fact, they are not. These are the replicas of the gadgets built by the private owner in the late 1960s. Additionally, there are other inconsistencies - a license purported to be an original from the car seen in Goldfinger is dated 1970. The film was in production in 1964. The auction market for film props requires a good deal of research and skepticism. In some cases, sellers genuinely believe they are auctioning valid props even though their provenance is dubious. In Pugliese's case, most of the props he's auctioning were acquired from other auction houses with good reputations. However, in the past, many high profile items had to be withdrawn from such auctions or have their descriptions amended when it became clear that they were not originals. For more on the Bond car controversy, visit MI6 by clicking here
Columnist Rodney Richey of The Herald Bulletin in Indianapolis has a hilarious piece titled Welcome to My Hollowed -Out Volcano about how he first became hooked on the James Bond films at age 14. It is certain to ring familiar chords with every male baby boomer who can recall at precisely what point they became fans of the the series - some to the point of obsession. Richey recalls keeping the faith even through lukewarm efforts like Moonraker and Die Another Day and hits a nerve with most Bond fans when he says that, despite the fact that Diamonds Are Forever is a pretty mediocre entry (with Jill St. John showing us how Lucille Ball would have been as a Bond girl) , he still can't resist watching it for the cool scene in which Bond sneaks into a hotel penthouse by hitching a ride on an outdoor elevator while clad in a tuxedo. To read the column click here
When author and Cinema Retro contributor Robert Sellers wrote The Battle for Bond, a book about the complicated legal fights regarding the early days of the 007 franchise, he had no idea he would himself become embroiled in the courtroom quagmire that has gone on for decades. The book centers on a high profile court battle between Bond's creator Ian Fleming and his former collaboraters Kevin McClory and Jack Whittingham over his use of story elements they had developed together. Fleming ended up using some of these aspects as the basis for his novel Thunderball. That novel was to be the first James Bond film, but the ensuing plagiarism suit against Fleming persuaded the producers to go with Dr. No as Bond's big screen debut vehicle. The court case took a high toll on Fleming's frail health and he ended up settling with his opponents. In the settlement, he had to acknowlege both men's contributions to the storyline of Thunderball in future editions of the book. McClory also received the screen rights to the novel and was one of the producers on the blockbuster 1965 screen version. He also executive produced the 1983 remake, Never Say Never Again. In the process of researching his book, Robert Sellers received copies of the court documents from Kevin McClory, who died a short time later. He reproduced these in The Battle for Bond. Now the Ian Fleming Will Trust, headed by the late author's niece, threatened to sue Sellers' publisher, London-based Tomahawk Press for copyright infringement. The author and publisher argue that court documents are in the public domain, but Tomahawk cannot afford to fight a costly court action. (Under UK law, the losing side in a legal case must also pay their opponent's costs as well.) Tomahawk has agreed to pulp the remaining 300 copies of the book. Remaining stocks in bookstores are not being recalled, though Amazon UK is removing the title. Sellers and Tomahawk have said they will reissue the book without the controversial photos of the legal documents. In the meantime, it's hard to fathom what the Fleming estate hoped to gain by these actions. They've taken a low-profile book and given it enormous exposure. (The Times of London has a full story about the situation in today's edition). Sellers was not uncovering a scandal: the courtroom case involving Fleming was major news at the time and has been extensively oovered in every biography of the author. For the sake of trashing 300 copies, they have insured that the book will now be highly-sought by readers who might otherwise would have never known it existed. It will also insure that the value of the first edition will skyrocket. For the Times article click here To read Robert Sellers response to the suit in an article for 007 Magazine, click here This book is still available from Amazon USA. To order from the Cinema Retro Amazon Movie Book store and receive free shipping click here
The plot line for Quantum Of Solace has been revealed. Click here to read the posting at MTV that details James Bond's next screen adventure.
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