Corky Fornof is a name familiar to hardcore James Bond fans. He's the stunt pilot who flew the mini-jet vertically through the airplane hangar in the pre-credits sequence of Octopussy. He also doubled for Timothy Dalton in the scene from Licence to Kill in which Bond is lowered from one plane to another via a very thin wire. Click here for an interview with Fornof about his remarkable work on film. 

Cinema Retro has received the following press release from Park Circus Films, the distributor of classic movie reissues to UK cinemas:

From 24 April, a restored version of FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE is returning to cinemas nationwide, in celebration of the centenary of producer Albert R. ‘Cubby’ Broccoli.

Broccoli formed EON Productions and Danjaq, with Harry Saltzman, to make DR NO, launching James Bond onto the big screen in 1962. When Saltzman later sold his shares of the two companies to United Artists, Broccoli became sole producer of the Bond films.

FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE, originally released in 1963, has been digitally restored frame by frame by Lowry Digital Images, the world’s leader in digital restoration and image enhancement. The process involves taking moving pictures that show signs of age and wear, removing the fading, dirt, scratches and other defects that occur over time, and returning them to their original condition.

FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE, directed by Terence Young, and starring Sean Connery, Robert Shaw and Lotte Lenya, will be opening from 24 April at BFI Southbank (as part of a comprehensive Broccoli season), followed by special screenings at cinemas nationwide.

The great retro web site Starlet Showcase is a tribute to the cinema's loveliest sirens. In one section, there are some nice shots of Claudine Auger as she appeared in the 1965 James Bond epic Thunderball, memorably playing the role of Domino. Love that see through outfit she posed in for publicity photos for the film. A pity the costume designer couldn't work out a logical way for her to wear it onscreen.  Click here to visit the site

By Lee Pfeiffer

For the first time since Chitty Chitty Bang Bang in 1968, the James Bond producers will be developing a new non-007 film property. Sony will team with Eon producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli to bring the forthcoming thriller Remote Control to the screen. The book by Mark Burnell centers on a British corporate intelligence analyst who uncovers a plot to undermine the Chinese economy. The premise certainly goes against the grain of popular opinion, given China's tendency to manipulate its currency to undermine other nation's currencies. Although Barbara Broccoli personally produced the acclaimed 1990s TV movie Crime of the Century, this marks the first non-Bond project she is teaming on with Wilson since they took control of the 007 franchise from their father Cubby Broccoli in 1994. Eon also has a long-rumored remake of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang planned for the big screen. That 1968 pic was the only non-Bond movie solely produced by Cubby Broccoli in the days following the screen debut of Bond in 1962. Although Cubby was interested in developing other stories for the screen, he cited the enormous logistics behind the Bond franchise as the reason he was not able to do so. The new plans by Eon probably mean a lengthy delay before production begins on the next Bond flick. As we reported last month, Wilson told the audience at the Bradford International Film Festival that absolutely nothing has been done in terms of preparing the next entry in the series. For more click here

The Nesquik chocolate drink company recently sponsored an amateur short film contest recently held a contest that allowed amateur filmmakers to submit entries that promoted Nesquik in creative ways. Mark Sieve of Florida was immediately inspired to create a James Bond-themed entry titled Quantum Of Nesquik. Considering it's a no-budget production, he managed to squeeze in a pretty impressive car chase, as well as a beautiful heroine and some dasterdly bad guys, all of whom happen to be his co-workers. The film runs a little over 4 minutes, but the credits are as long as the movie itself. Then again, that seemed to be the case with Kubrick's Spartacus. Let's hope Mark at least took his unpaid cast and crew out for some Bond-style bubbly when filming was completed. Click here to view.