BY LEE PFEIFFER

Theodore Bikel, who played Captain Von Trapp in the original 1959 stage production of The Sound of Music,  has died from natural causes in Los Angeles. He was 91 years old. Bikel was Austrian by birth but his father moved the family to Palestine (later Israel) in the wake of the Nazi anschuluss. Bikel always had an interest in the arts and took up acting and folk singing. He emigrated to London in 1946 where he made a name in  stage productions. He later went to Hollywood and made his big screen debut in 1954. He found immediate success and over the years appeared in such films as The African Queen, I Want to Live!, My Fair Lady and The Russians Are Coming! The Russians Are Coming!. He received a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination for his role in Stanley Kramer's The Defiant Ones. Bikel also appeared in many classic TV series, all the while keeping his strong ties to the stage. He starred in over 2,000 performances of Fiddler on the Roof.  He recorded dozens of albums of folk songs and was very tied to promoting Jewish culture and heritage. He was also a political activist throughout his life. An interesting side note: Bikel unsuccessfully screen tested for the role of Auric Goldfinger in the classic 1964 007 film. (The part eventually went to Gert Frobe). When my co-producers and I unearthed the screen test footage in the mid-1990s, Bikel was gracious enough to allow us to you use it our documentary The Making of Goldfinger. Not many actors would have been secure enough to willingly expose their unsuccessful screen test to millions of viewers, but Bikel did and for that this writer will always be personally grateful to him. 

For more on Bikel's life and career click here.  

BY LEE PFEIFFER

For those of us who are hopelessly addicted to spy movies of the 1960s, the Warner Archive provides a gift: the first DVD release of "The Scorpio Letters", one of the more obscure 007-inspired espionage films of the era. Produced by MGM, the movie was shown on American TV in early 1967 before enjoying a theatrical release in Europe. It seems the studio was trying to emulate the strategy that it was employing at the time for its phenomenally popular "Man From U.N.C.L.E." TV series. That show had proven to be such a hit with international audiences that MGM strung together two-part episodes and released them theatrically. (Three films were released in America but a total of eight were shown in international markets.) As "The Scorpio Letters" was produced with  a theatrical run in mind, it has a bit more gloss than the average TV movie, which was then a genre in its infancy. Nevertheless, it still has all the earmarks of a production with a limited budget. Although set in London and France, you'd have to be pretty naive to believe any of the cast and crew ever got out of southern California. Grainy stock footage is used to simulate those locations and there is ample use of the very distinctive MGM back lot, which at times makes the film resemble an episode of "The Man From U.N.C.L.E." What the movie does provide is some nice chemistry between its two lead actors, Alex Cord, who had recently acquitted himself quite well in the underrated 1966 big screen remake of John Ford's "Stagecoach" and Shirley Eaton, then still riding the wave of popularity she enjoyed as the iconic "golden girl" from the Bond blockbuster "Goldfinger". The two play rival spies in London, both working for different British intelligence agencies, though whether it is MI5 or MI is never made clear. 

The film is based on a novel by Victor Caning that had been adapted for the screen by the ironically named Adrian Spies, who had a long career working primarily in television. (Curiously, his one credited feature film was for the superb 1968 adventure "Dark of the Sun" (aka "The Mercenaries".) There is nothing remarkable about his work on "The Scorpio Letters". In fact, Spies provides a rather confusing plot. The film opens on a jarring note with a man taking a suicidal plunge from his apartment window in London. Turns out he was a British intelligence agent and the reasons for his suicide are of great interest to the higher ups in the spy business. Alex Cord plays Joe Christopher, an American ex-cop who now does work for one of the intelligence agencies run by Burr (the ever-reliable Laurence Naismith). Burr orders him to get to the bottom of the suicide case and in doing so, Joe gains access to the dead man's apartment just in time to encounter a mysterious man stealing a letter addressed to the dead agent. A foot chase ensues that ends with both men getting struck by a London double decker bus (yes, MGM had one of those laying around the back lot.) Still, Joe manages to steal back the letter the man had swiped and finds it is obviously a blackmail attempt made against the dead agent by a mystery person who goes by the name of Scorpio. From there the plot gets rather confusing and becomes one of those thrillers that is best enjoyed if you stop trying to figure out who is who and just sit back and enjoy the ride. Joe flirts with Phoebe Stewart (Shirley Eaton), who works in another intelligence agency. It appears her boss and Joe's boss are constantly trying to undermine each other in the attempt to solve major cases. Phoebe makes an attempt to seduce Joe, but he correctly suspects that she is trying to compromise him for information he knows about the case. Inevitably, a real romance blossoms but the love scenes are pretty mild, perhaps due to the fact that this film was made with a television broadcast in mind. (The plot invokes the old joke of having the would-be lovers get interrupted every time they attempt to get it on.)  

Joe gets a lead that takes him to Paris where he discovers that Scorpio is the man behind a shadowy spy network that uses agents employed as waiters in an upscale restaurant. I imagine the reason for this is explained somewhere along the line but it's just one more confusing element to the script. Joe infiltrates the spies/waiters gang in the hopes of finding out who Scorpio is. Meanwhile, in the film's best scene, he is exposed, captured and tortured. There is even a modicum of suspense as there appears to be no logical way he will get out of this particular death trap. Refreshingly, Joe is no 007. He makes miscalculations, gets bruised and beaten and often has to rely on the intervention of others to save him. (In the film's climax, finding himself outmanned and outgunned, he actually does the logical thing and asks someone to call the local police for help.) Ultimately, Scorpio is revealed to be one of those standard, aristocratic spy villains of Sixties cinema. In this case he is played by the very able Oscar Beregi Jr. If you don't know the name, you'll know his face, as he excelled in playing urbane bad guys in countless TV shows and feature films of the era. There are numerous kidnappings, shootouts, double crosses and red herrings and one bizarre sequence that is ostensibly set in a French ski resort in which the ski lift is inexplicably in operation even though it's summer. Additionally, the California mountains look as much like France as Jersey City does.

Despite all of the gripes, I enjoyed watching "The Scorpio Letters". It's an entertaining, fast-moving diversion, directed with unremarkable efficiency by Richard Thorpe (his second-to-last film). Cord makes for a very capable leading man, tossing off the requisite wisecracks even while undergoing torture. Eaton possesses the kind of old world glamour you rarely see on screen nowadays. Together, they make an otherwise mediocre movie play out better than it probably should. (A minor trivia note: this represents the first film score of composer Dave Grusin, who would go on to become an Oscar winner.)

The Warner Archive DVD transfer is very impressive and the film contains an original trailer, which presumably was used in non-U.S. markets.

CLICK HERE TO ORDER FROM AMAZON

By Lee Pfeiffer

Released in 1966, producer Ivan Tors' Around the World Under the Sea seemed at first blush like an exercise in stunt casting: cobble together some contemporary TV favorites into a feature film and have MGM and Tors divvy up the profits. However, that perception would be entirely wrong. While the film did boast some popular TV stars in leading roles, the film itself is an intelligent adventure flick, well acted and very competently directed by old hand Andrew Marton. The film stars Lloyd Bridges (only a few years out of Sea Hunt), Brian Kelly (star of Flipper), Daktari lead Marshall Thompson and Man From U.N.C.L.E. David McCallum. Veteran supporting actors Keenan Wynn and Gary Merrill are also prominently featured and Shirley Eaton, riding her fame from Goldfinger, has the only female role in this macho male story line. 

The plot finds a team of leading scientists who come together to install earthquake warning sensors on seabeds around the world. The risky mission is undertaken in the Hydronaught, a nuclear-powered state of the art submarine/science lab capable of operating at the ocean's greatest depths. The physical dangers are only part of the frustrations the team has to cope with. The presence of Eaton, as a drop-dead gorgeous scientist, on board the confined all-male environment leads to inevitable jealousies and sexual tensions. (Although Tors specialized in family entertainment, even he couldn't resist a most welcome, completely gratuitous sequence in which Eaton swims around underwater in a bikini.) Unlike many films aimed at kids, Around the World Under the Sea boasts a highly intelligent screenplay that has much appeal to older audiences. The heroes are refreshingly human: they bicker, they panic and they make costly mistakes in judgment. Bridges is the stalwart, no-nonsense leader of the group, Kelly is his ill-tempered second-in-command who tries unsuccessfully to resist Eaton's charms, Wynn is his trademark crusty-but-loveable eccentric character. McCallum's Phil Volker is the most nuanced of the characters. A brilliant scientist, he can only be persuaded to join the life-saving mission by making demands based on his own personal profit. He also allows a brief flirtation with Eaton to preoccupy him to the point of making an error that could have fatal consequences for all aboard. Each of the actors gets a chance to shine with the exception of Thompson, whose role is underwritten. The scene stealers are McCallum and Wynn, who engage in some amusing one-upmanship in the course of playing a protracted chess game. However, one is also impressed by Kelly's screen presence. He could have had a successful career as a leading man were it not for injuries he sustained in a near-fatal motorcycle accident. (Partially paralyzed, Kelly went on to serve as producer on a number of successful film including Blade Runner.)

The film benefits from some wonderful underwater photography shot in the Bahamas, Florida and the Great Barrier Reef - all the result of a collaborative effort between the three top underwater filmmakers of the period: Jordan Klein, Ricou Browning and Lamar Boren. Although the special effects were modestly achieved, they hold up quite well today. Marton wrings some legitimate suspense out of several crisis situations including an encounter with a giant eel and a Krakatoa-like earthquake that almost spells doom for our heroes. How they escape is cleverly and convincingly played out. The movie also has a lush score by Harry Sukman (we'll leave it to you to pronounce his last name.)

Warner Archive's widescreen hi def presentation is available for viewing on the Warner Archive streaming service. Click here to access the site. (Subscription required).  

CLICK HERE TO ORDER THE DVD FROM AMAZON, WHICH ALSO INCLUDES AN ORIGINAL PRODUCTION FEATURETTE AND TRAILER. 

Thanks to Cinema Retro contributor Hank Reineke, who provided this scan of the 1972 James Bond TRIPLE feature that consisted of "Dr. No", "From Russia With Love" and "Goldfinger". Those were the days....This ad is from the now-deceased State Theatre in Journal Square, Jersey City, NJ.  Below is the U.S. one sheet poster made for the triple feature. 

In a major article for The Digital Bits web site, writer Michael Coate has assembled personal insights from a number of James Bond authors and scholars to reflect on the legacy of "Goldfinger", which is celebrating its 50th anniversary. Those interviewed are: Jon Burlingame, Robert A. Caplen, James Chapman, John Cork, Bill Desowitz, Charles Helfenstein, Mark O'Connell, Cinema Retro editor Lee Pfeiffer, Retro contributing writer Steven Jay Rubin and Bruce Scivally.  Click here to read.

If you're a Cinema Retro readers, chances are you've seen the James Bond classic "Goldfinger" a gazillion times. Still, the much-analyzed film has many fascinating facts associated with it that the average fan may not be aware of. To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the film's release, the Daily Mail has compiled some of these trivia facts into an article. Click here to read.

 

There will be a 50th anniversary reunion of actresses from the James Bond classic Goldfinger appearing at the next London Film Convention to be held on 20 September. Actresses scheduled to appear are Honor Blackman, Shirley Eaton, Tania Mallet, Nadja Regin and Margaret Nolan.

For more information click on www.londonfilmconvention.co.uk

THEY BOUGHT US LOVE

By RAYMOND BENSON 

Released in the summer of 1964, A Hard Day’s Night, starring The Beatles and directed by Richard Lester, is arguably the second most influential British film of that decade (the first being Goldfinger, coincidentally released the same year.). Why? For one thing, it brought The Beatles to a worldwide audience that was just getting to know them through their music. Secondly, it spawned imitations and knock-offs (The Monkees, anyone?) and is arguably the genesis of music videos—where would MTV have been without it? Thirdly, the film itself was innovative, fresh, and surprisingly funny (those long-haired boys from Liverpool could actually act!).

One of the best things about the Criterion Collection’s new deluxe box set of the film (dual Blu-ray and DVD, three discs) is the short extra, On the Road to “A Hard Day’s Night,” an interview with author Mark Lewisohn, that documents how The Beatles did not magically appear on The Ed Sullivan Show in February 1964, already brilliant, already at the top of their game. In fact, as every serious Beatles fan knows, their story began in 1958 when John Lennon met Paul McCartney in Liverpool at the ages of seventeen and fifteen, respectively, and they started playing music together and writing songs (George joined not long after at age fourteen!). The first four years embodied a lot of work gaining experience, honing their skills, and creating an act that would change not only music itself, but pop culture. The Hamburg days, the early shows with Pete Best, the gigs for peanuts, the obtaining of managers (first Allan Williams, then Brian Epstein), auditioning for producer George Martin, being rejected by a major record label, and then finally landing a contract with one—these were all things none of us in America were aware of when we watched the four lads perform on Ed Sullivan. What we saw was a tight, talented band, and it seemed as if they’d come from nowhere. (Apologies to UK readers, who of course knew how great the band was all through 1963.)

Anyway—on to A Hard Day’s Night. Kudos to United Artists executive David Picker, who greenlit a three-picture deal with producer Walter Shenson (Picker was also responsible for green-lighting Dr. No, a little picture featuring a character named James Bond). Picker had the foresight to make the deal with The Beatles in 1963, well before the band’s appearance on U.S. television. Apparently his instincts were good. If he hadn’t done it then, someone else would have much later, and I dare say the results would not have been as good.

It was no accident that American director Richard Lester was hired to helm the movie, either. He was living in the UK and had directed British television, especially those crazy guys known as the Goons (Spike Milligan, Peter Sellers, Harry Secombe), who were forerunners of that type of English humor we Americans found odd but grew to love, especially by the time Monty Python came around. The Beatles were fans of the Goons, so they figured Lester was their guy. It was a perfect match. Lester not only brought out that odd British humor, but he also combined the elements of the British New Wave in cinema (the “kitchen-sink dramas” of the “angry young men”) and the French New Wave (radical editing, improvisation, hand-held camerawork, low budget), and created something very new.

And then there’s the music. Did you know that the song, “A Hard Day’s Night,” was written overnight, on demand by producer Shenson, because they needed something that matched the title? Not only was it a good song, it was a massive hit song! Imagine that... “Hey boys, could you write a number with the title in it?” “Sure, Walter, we’ll have it for you in the morning.” Bang. Oh. My. God. And that’s not to mention all the other great tunes in the film. (For my money, the UK version of A Hard Day’s Night, the album, is one of The Beatles’ five best records.)

As this is a Criterion release, you can expect nothing but an outstanding transfer of the film itself—4K digital restoration, approved by Lester, with three audio options—monaural soundtrack, a stereo 5.1 surround mix, and a DTS-HD master audio on the Blu-ray. Wow. There’s also an audio commentary by some of the cast and crew.

The extras are wonderful—some we’ve seen before, but others are new. A nice piece on Lester, Picturewise, is narrated by Rita Tushingham and features Lester’s early work (and there’s the obligatory inclusion of Lester’s The Running Jumping & Standing Still Film). In Their Own Voices is a new piece mixing 1964 interviews with The Beatles with behind-the-scenes footage and photos. A longer 1994 documentary, “You Can’t Do That: The Making of ‘A Hard Day’s Night’” by producer Shenson, also includes an outtake performance by the band. Things They Said Today is a 2002 documentary about the film featuring interviews with Lester, Martin, screenwriter Alun Owen, and cinematographer Gilbert Taylor. And there’s more, much more.

Can’t buy me love? Forget it! The Beatles, Walter Shenson, Richard Lester, David Picker, and everyone else involved with the film certainly bought enough love for us... and we’re still basking in it.

The Criterion Collection’s A Hard Day’s Night is a must-buy.

CLICK HERE TO ORDER FROM AMAZON

There will be a special two-day 50th anniversary tribute to the James Bond classic "Goldfinger" held in Oslo, Norway May 22-23. Ken Adam, the legendary Oscar-winning production designer, will be an honored guest along with his biographer Sir Christopher Frayling, Norman Wanstall (who won an Oscar for his sound effects for the film) and actress Margaret Nolan, who played "Dink" and whose body was seen in the classic opening titles sequence. For full information and schedule click here

Seven James Bond films starring Sean Connery and Roger Moore debut in May on Netfllix, North America. Titles are:  Goldfinger, You Only Live Twice, A View to a Kill, From Russia With Love, Live and Let Die, For Your Eyes Only and Never Say Never Again.  Click here for a list of other films and TV shows debuting this month. 

On Tuesday 18^th March Cinema Retro was invited to the opening of Bond In Motion at the London Film Museum in Covent Garden. The exhibition, which is the largest collection of official James Bond vehicles ever assembled, had previously been on display at Beaulieu Motor Museum. The cars looked fabulous in their new home and the design of the exhibits allows visitors to get closer to the vehicles than ever before. Iconic cars that have featured in the high octane, all action Bond films on display, include the underwater Lotus Esprit from The Spy Who Loved Me, the Rolls-Royce Phantom III from Goldfinger, and the Aston Martin DB5 from GoldenEye, to name but a few.Additionally a mezzanine level showcases an array of storyboards, sketches and production design drawings on display to the public for the first time. New to the exhibition is a 1/3 scale model of an Agusta Westland AW101 helicopter used in Skyfall. Museum founder Jonathan Sands and Meg Simmonds of Eon Productions welcomed VIPs to the champagne reception.To visit the London Film Museum web site click here. 

Bond in Motion opens to the public on Friday March 21st at the London Film Museum, 45 Wellington Street, London WC2E 7BN. Tel: 020 7202 7043. The exhibition is open seven days a week from 10am to 8pm. (last entry 5pm). Advance tickets available from Ticketmaster, www.ticketmaster.co.uk

(All photos copyright Cinema Retro. All rights reserved.) 

Sir Sean Connery is man known to value his privacy. So he is not a bit pleased to be the marquee name in a slow-rolling but high profile real estate scandal in Spain, where he resided for many years in the town of Marbella. Connery and his wife sold their property in 1999 and relocated permanently to the Bahamas. Shortly after the Connerys sold their estate, it was demolished and a massive apartment complex was built on the land. Spanish prosecutors claim that the construction project was a boondoggle orchestrated by local politicians in violation of the law and various zoning ordinances. The Connerys have been fighting attempts to get them to appear in Spanish courts since 2010. They deny knowing the politicians involved in the scandal on a personal basis and also deny that they dodged paying taxes on the proceeds of the sale of their home. Sir Sean is particularly outraged because the story, which is front page news in the Spanish press, resulted in his home address being publicly revealed. He probably also isn't pleased that he is being linked to the scandal through the very name it is being referred to, which is a reference to his film Goldfinger. For more on the complex case click here.  

Cinema Retro has received the following press release:

• LONDON FILM MUSEUM TO STAGE ‘BOND IN MOTION’ FROM 21 MARCH 2014

• FIRST TIME THE LARGEST OFFICIAL COLLECTION OF JAMES BOND VEHICLES HAS BEEN EXHIBITED IN LONDON

London, 11 February 2014:  The London Film Museum and EON Productions are delighted to announce that the BOND IN MOTION exhibition, the largest official collection of original James Bond vehicles, will be on display for the first time in London from 21 March.

This exciting family exhibition will transform the entire London Film Museum space in Covent Garden and will allow Bond fans and members of the public to see the most up to date collection, including for the first time in the UK, the 1/3 scale model of Agusta Westland’s AW101 helicopter used whilst filming 2012’s Skyfall. BOND IN MOTION will also feature a wide range of vehicles, miniature models, action sequence boards, vehicle concept art and props from all of the James Bond films.

Iconic cars that have featured in the all action Bond vehicle chases will also be on display, including ‘Wet Nellie’ Lotus Esprit S1, from The Spy Who Loved Me, 1977, the Rolls-Royce Phantom III from Goldfinger, 1964 and the Aston Martin DB5 from GoldenEye, 1995.

Tickets are now available from www.londonfilmmuseum.com and www.ticketmaster.co.uk

By Lee Pfeiffer 

The three Harry Palmer feature films (The Ipcress File, Funeral in Berlin and Billion Dollar Brain) have had a rather cluttered history in terms of their video releases. Surprisingly, producer Harry Saltzman didn't stick with one studio in terms of their theatrical releases, as he did with the James Bond films which he co-produced with Cubby Broccoli. Instead, each of the Palmer films was financed by and released by a different studio. Thus, in the ensuing decades, the video rights to these films have been convoluted. The titles have remained consistently available to consumers in some countries, while in others (including the USA), they have appeared and disappeared from the marketplace for years at a time. Now the Warner Archive has reissued Paramount's original DVD version of Funeral in Berlin as a burn-to-order title. The original film, The Iprcress File, was internationally acclaimed as the "thinking man's 007" movie. Caine's Harry Palmer, replete with Cockney accent, was the working man's secret agent. He does not have a big expense account, he lives in a modest apartment and he is basically disdainful of authority figures. (Bond is, too, but generally only in a playful sense.) Two qualities that Bond and Palmer do share is that they are both incorruptible and are prone to bedding a parade of beautiful women they encounter both socially and on the job. Funeral in Berlin seems intent on emphasizing the independent nature of Harry Palmer. He reluctantly follows orders given to him by his grim, unsmiling boss Ross (Guy Doleman), but  he clearly disdains the man and the bureaucracy he represents. Palmer is on some kind of probation with MI6 and Ross dangles his termination as a constant threat. Palmer is so financially impoverished that he can't even afford a car (Ross won't extend a loan to him) and he must commute about London via public buses. 

Ross summons Palmer to his home and informs him he must leave abruptly for West Berlin. It seems an influential Soviet general named Stock (Oscar Homolka) has made it clear that he wants to defect to the West. Palmer is immediately skeptical but Ross can't pass up the opportunity to bring Stock "in from the cold", so to speak. Palmer arrives in West Berlin and is greeted by his local contact with German intelligence, Johnny Vulcan (Paul Hubschmid). Like Palmer, he's young, charismatic and good looking and in the course of business, they enjoy the local bar scene as well as some willing beauties. Among them is Samantha Steel (Eva Renzi), a vivacious young woman who boldly seduces Palmer. Harry's suspicions that she is a spy are borne out when he learns she is with Israeli intelligence. The complicated plot, based on the Len Deighton novel, next finds Palmer in East Berlin where he meets with General Stock. As played by Oscar Homolka, the character comes across like a Soviet version of Henny Youngman, constantly cracking jokes and tossing insults. Nevertheless, the chemistry between Caine and Homolka is one of the main assets of the film and the character of General Stock was brought back in Billion Dollar Brain. Palmer suspects that Stock is lying about his desire to defect and this sets in motion plot devices that are so convoluted that the movie gets extremely confusing. After a while, it's hard to follow who is trying to accomplish what and the motivations and allegiances of the characters are also blurred. At some point, I just gave up and sat back to enjoy the performances and the assured direction of Guy Hamilton, who impressively capitalizes on the West Berlin locations. (Hamilton, who had previously directed Goldfinger, is not the only 007 luminary brought into the production. Producer Saltzman also has legendary production designer Ken Adam on board.) The film is drenched in the sullen mood of the Cold War era but there are some funny witticisms uttered by the bespectacled Palmer. In one of the film's most amsuing on-going sight gags, every time Palmer enters or leaves Samantha's apartment, he walks past some ancient stone decorations that look exactly like erect phallus symbols, a master touch by Ken Adam. 

Caine is in virtually every frame of the film and dominates the production with his low-key performance. Paul Hubschmid is very good as an ally whose allegiance is called into question. Eva Renzi acquits herself well as the femme fatale, equally adept with a machine gun in hand or walking seductively through opulent settings in head-turning wardrobe. One of the delights of any Palmer film is the strained byplay between Palmer and Ross, who is expertly played by another Bond film veteran, Guy Doleman (he played the villain Count Lippe in Thunderball). In fact, Ross is such a stick-in-the-mud that he makes Bernard Lee's "M" look like a towel-snapping prankster. Their scenes in this film bristle with wit and tension. It should also be mentioned that John Barry's moody, acclaimed score for The Ipcress File has been left out of this film with new themes by composer Konrad Elfers, who emphasizes traditional bombastic German music that might seem more fitting in a military epic but somehow is interwoven sensibly into the action. 

Many retro movie lovers consider Funeral in Berlin to be the best of the Palmer feature film trilogy (Caine revised the character many years later in a couple of ill-conceived TV productions.). I still vote for Iprcess as the best of the lot, but this film has so many merits that it can be enthusiastically recommended. The transfer from the previous Paramount DVD edition is identical and of high quality. (Even the packaging is identical, save for the notation that the new release is through the Warner Archive).  The only extra is a trailer that seems to have been struck from an unfinished work print, as it lacks any titles or graphics and doesn't even mention Michael Caine's name. Kudos to the Warner Archive for making this Harry Palmer title accessible once again. Let's hope The Ipcress File and Billion Dollar Brain reappear soon in the American market, too. 

Click here to order. 

Network Distributing is pleased to announce the next batch of titles within “The British Film” range which will be available in the UK later this year. Each feature once again benefits from a new transfer, an instant play facility and will be presented in special slim-line space-saving packaging.  Some of the highlights from October are a documentary about the body narrated by Vanessa Redgrave with music from Roger Waters, more gems from the vaults from Ealing Studios, classic horror, British musicals and a courtroom drama starring Richard Attenborough.

7 October

THE BODY £9.99

Vanessa Redgrave and Frank Finlay narrate an intimate and innovative documentary from the seventies about the human body cut to music from Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters. Commentary by poet and playwright Adrian Mitchell.

THE FINAL PROGRAMME £9.99

Cult director Robert Fuest’s dystopian sci-fi thriller. Robert Finch stars as Jerry Cornelius, a Nobel Prize winning physicist and playboy who must battle his drug-addicted brother for the code that will move humanity to a higher level of creation with an immortal being.

14 October

THE EALING STUDIOS RARITIES COLLECTION VOLUME 7 £9.99

Four more films from the vaults of Ealing Studios  - mining drama Eureka Stockade (1949) directed by Harry Watt, musical extravaganza Take a Chance (1937); serial-killer drama The Gaunt Stranger (1938) and screwball comedy Play up the Band (1935).

21 October

EDGAR WALLACE PRESENTS THE GAUNT STRANGER £9.99

Sonnie Hale and Wilfrid Lawson star in a crime thriller adapted by Sidney Gilliat about a mysterious serial killer known as ‘The Ringer’ that Scotland Yard must bring to justice.

THE NIGHT WE GOT THE BIRD £9.99

A comic crime caper starring Sir Brian Rix and stand-up Ronald Shiner about forging antiques and then flogging them. What could go wrong?

28 October

THE HEADLESS GHOST £9.99

From the creator of I Was a Teenage Werewolf, this horror is about three thrill-seekers who visit a haunted castle. Clive Fevill stars in an early screen role alongside Josephine Blake.

THE 14 £9.99

Oliver! star Jack Wild leads a throught-provoking drama about 14 siblings who struggle to stay together following the death of their single mother.

4 November

THE EALING STUDIOS RARITIES COLLECTION VOLUME 8 £9.99

Films in this set are The Feminine Touch (1936)  - about the challenges of being a nurse in the NHS starring George Baker and Diana Wynard. One of the last films to be made by Ealing Studios; Young Man’s Fancy (1939) a music hall drama starring Griffith Jones and Anna Lee Seymour; There Ain’t No Justice (1939) stars Jimmy Hanley as a young boxer whose family face financial difficulty and The Silent Passenger (1935) sees Lord Peter Wimsey, Dorothy L Sayer’s amateur sleuth in his first silver screen escapade. Stars John Loder.

THE BRAIN MACHINE £9.99

Patrick Barr and Russell Napier star in a fifties sci-fi thriller about a machine that can reveal abnormalities in the brain…

EIGHT O’CLOCK WALK £9.99

Richard Attenborough stars in a courtroom drama about a taxi-driver wrongly accused of murder.  Co-stars Cathy O’Donnell and Maurice Denham.

11 November

EDGAR WALLACE PRESENTS: COASTS OF SKELETONS £9.99

Heading an international cast – including German ‘krimi’ veteran Heinz Drache – Dam Busters star Richard Todd reprises his role as insurance investigator Harry Sanders in this rare crime adventure based on Edgar Wallace’s 1911 novel Sanders of the River.

BRITISH MUSICALS OF THE 1930S VOLUME 1 £9.99

A new, multi-volume collection of musicals from the 1930s.  Contains Harmony Heaven (1930) starring Polly Ward; The Song You Gave Me (1933) starring Bebe Daniels; Music Hath Charms (1935) starring Henry Hall and his Dance Band andOver She Goes (1937) starring Stanley Lupino.

THE GOOD COMPANIONS £9.99

A musical comedy based on a JB Priestley novel starring John Fraser, Rachel Roberts, Thora Hird and Hugh Griffiths.

LIFE IS A CIRCUS £9.99

The Crazy Gang star in a comedy about a struggling circus also starring Goldfinger icon Shirley Eaton.

For further information visit:

www.networkonair.com www.facebook.com/TheBritishFilm

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By Lee Pfeiffer

Following on the successful premise of burn-to-order DVDs, Sony has expanded the process to its audio line, re-issuing retro-based albums on CD that have not been officially available for decades. One of the more notable releases is Come Spy With Me by Hugo Montenegro and His Orchestra. Montenegro composed original themes for TV series and feature films during the 1960s including  Lady in Cement, the Matt Helm movies The Ambushers and The Wrecking Crew as well as the music for the 1969 John Wayne-Rock Hudson starrer The Undefeated. However, his greatest success was as the king of cover versions of popular movie and TV themes. Montenegro's album of cover music from The Man From U.N.C.L.E. (nevertheless released as the "original" soundtrack) was so successful that it spawned a sequel album. Similarly, his cover version of Ennio Morricone's magnificent theme for The Good, the Bad and the Ugly became an international smash and earned him a gold record despite the fact that his rendition was positively anemic compared to Morricone's original. Nevertheless, Montenegro and his orchestra knew how to arrange music for popular tastes and his future influence on the music industry was characterized by helping to popularize the Moog synthesizer. Among his more successful albums was the aforementioned Come Spy With Me, the title of which was derived from a 1967 low-grade James Bond spoof. Nevertheless, it had a catchy title theme (originally written by Bob Flowers) and the cover of Montenegro's album had some eye-catching graphics of comely spy girls. The tracks include Montenegro's instrumental version of Come Spy With Me (the original had lyrics) as well an eclectic selection of title tracks from popular TV series and feature films:

• Secret Agent 
• I Spy
• The F.B.I 
• Thunderball
• The Silencers
• Get Smart
• Goldfinger
• The Spy Who Came in From the Cold
• Our Man Flint
• The James Bond Theme

Purists may balk at Montenegro's jazzy and often funky renditions of these themes, but if his purpose was to simply emulate the originals there would be no point in producing this album. 

It's terrific to have a retro treasure like this back in circulation. Break out your old smoking jacket, grab a fine cigar and pour yourself a glass of wine...for the duration of this record, you'll be transported back to the glory days of spy movie music and the cover artists who celebrated the genre. 

To order click here 

 

In one of the most original spins we've seen in analyzing the James Bond films, Slate.com writer Matthew Yglesias looks at the financial schemes of legendary 007 villain Auric Goldfinger, who- in the 1964 classic film that bares his surname- engages in illicit gold sales and smuggling. Yglesias views Goldfinger as a man ahead of his time and compares his actions and plans as a response to Prime Minister Harold Wilson's austerity measures that he says failed miserably and continued Britain's economic decline. It's pretty deep analysis for the average person who can barely balance a checkbook, but the Slate article brings in some fascinating insights as to why Goldfinger might today just be viewed as a person engaging in a victimless crime that actually benefited England in the long run. (He doesn't, however, excuse Goldfinger's scheme to enhance the value of his own gold by blowing up Ft. Knox!) Fitting improbably into a James Bond article is the specter (pardon the pun)  of President Richard M. Nixon, who Yglesias credits with modernizing U.S. economic policies toward the sale and trading of gold, thus making it accessible to the average person. Click here to read  

 

Cinema Retro has received the following press release:

LONDON (at a top secret location) 28 June, 2013 – “Pay attention, 007, RM Auctions is about to sell one of my most ingenious creations and we wouldn’t want it to fall into enemy hands”. Well, ‘Q’ might be a little concerned that his incredible Lotus Esprit Series 1 ‘Submarine’ Car is due to be sold at auction, but for millions of movie fans out there, the appearance of this iconic Bond car on the open market represents a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

No Bond car has ever done anything as outrageous as transform itself into a submarine. Used to incredible effect in the film The Spy Who Loved Me, starring Roger Moore, the white Lotus commonly tops the polls when generations of movie fans are asked to vote on their favourite film cars of all time. Like all the best Bond cars, the Lotus was a veritable war chest of weaponry and gadgetry, all designed to fox and foil the enemy, whilst also helping Bond to another hard-won victory for Queen and country.

 

The vehicle to be offered by RM Auctions at its forthcoming London sale, 8-9 September, in Battersea Park, is the one and only fully functioning car especially designed and built for the famous underwater sequence seen on screen in the 1977 film. Abundantly authenticated, and known as ‘Wet Nellie’ on the set, it was developed from one of six Esprit body shells used in the making of the film. As the only car to be built into a fully operational, self-propelled ‘submarine’, by Perry Oceanographic, based in Riviera Beach, Florida, it is the vehicle which claimed the most screen time in the film. The driver of the car was Don Griffin, a retired U.S. Navy SEAL and test pilot for Perry, who operated the vehicle utilizing its motorized propellers while manoeuvring with levered steering mechanisms. At the time, the car was said to have cost over $100,000 to create (equivalent to nearly a half million dollars today).

Subsequent to filming the underwater scenes in the Bahamas, the vehicle was shipped to Long Island, NY, where it was kept in an unassuming storage unit on a ten year rental, paid in advance. Fate later intervened when, in 1989, the then rent delinquent unit was put up ‘blind’ for public auction. A modest winning bid from an area couple brought surprise and wonder when the blankets were removed to reveal the iconic 007 ‘Submarine’ Car. After positive authentication, the Lotus was shown occasionally – including a stint at the Petersen Automotive Museum – but mostly kept closely under wraps, until now.

 

Max Girardo, Managing Director, RM Auctions, Europe, says: “We have a great track record in selling incredible and iconic movie cars, and this particular Lotus is certainly up there amongst the most famous cars of all time. Over the years, millions of moviegoers have stared in awe as the Lotus transformed itself into a submarine, and now, perhaps one of them will have an opportunity to own it. Her Majesty’s Secret Service aside, it surely is the ultimate beach accessory”!

RM Auctions sold “the most famous car in the world”, the Aston Martin DB5 used by Sean Connery in the enormously popular Goldfinger and Thunderball movies, for an incredible £2.9 million during its 2010 London sale.

For further information on RM Auctions’ forthcoming London sale, or to view a frequently updated list of entries, visit rmauctions.com or contact RM’s London office at +44 (0) 20 7851 7070.

Here's a plethora of great movies showing during the same week in February 1965, as illustrated in this page from the Winnipeg Free Press: Mary Poppins, Goldfinger, Sex and the Single Girl, Jungle Fighters (aka The Long and the Short and the Tall), My Fair Lady and A Shot in the Dark. Wish we had a time machine....

By Lee Pfeiffer

Although it's fashionable (required?) for critics to dump on the annual Oscar telecast, I've been impressed by some of the ceremonies in the last few years. Despite the length of the broadcast (only David Lean could be counted on to provide a longer running time), last night's presentation moved at a much faster pace than usual. It was hosted by Seth MacFarlane, someone whose presence on the show initially left me less-than-thrilled. I'd heard of him, of course, but had never seen him.  That may mean that I'm out of touch with contemporary pop culture, especially television, but I'd wager that anyone would agree that MacFarlane is the least-known person to ever host the show. Having said that, he did a fine job, given his thankless job as ringmaster. The show got off to a mildly amusing start with William Shatner as Captain Kirk "beamed" in from the future to warn MacFarlane that his reviews would prove to be terrible if he didn't improve his jokes. The gimmick worked well at the start but went on for an interminable 15 minutes until I wish someone had beamed me out. Fortunately, MacFarlane's monologue was clever, as was an intentionally distasteful "tribute" to actresses, a song titled "We Saw Your Boobs", which was turned into an admittedly funny production number.

Other observations:

• The producers succeeded in their quest to get big names to attend. Clint Eastwood may have opted to watch the show at home, but Dustin Hoffman, Jack Nicholson, Christopher Plummer and other legends added star power to the event.
  
• One of the best gimmicks was the slowly-encroaching theme from Jaws which was played when winners went on too long in their acceptance speeches. The one winner who chose to ignore the warning  lost the battle and came across as a windbag.
• Fashion-wise, there were no show-stoppers, but neither were there any overt embarrassments. Everyone looked elegant.
  
• The obituary segment was improved by the fact that it wasn't accompanied by live music, which generally caused the camera to focus on the musician instead of the screen where the dearly departed are being honored.
  
• It's a pity that the once-vaunted Jean Hersholt Award is now relegated to a brief sound bite from an earlier presentation ceremony (Jeffrey Katzenberg was the honoree this year.) 
• It was great to see Barbra Streisand pay tribute to the late Marvin Hamlisch by singing The Way We Were, but for some reason the arrangement left me unmoved and this great song didn't resonate the way it should have.
• The "banter" between co-presenters was pretty lame and got exponentially worse with the number of presenters on stage at any one time. (The cast of The Avengers appearing together must have seemed like a great idea but the result was awful in terms of witty byplay.)
  
• The much-anticipated James Bond 50th anniversary tribute would have been enthusiastically received by fans of the series, but the producers blundered early on by hinting that they were arranging for an on-stage appearance by all six 007 actors. When that fell apart, they then hinted something phenomenal was in the works, but aside from Shirley Bassey's brilliant rendition of Goldfinger, the long-overdue tribute to the series consisted of a pretty routine film clip compilation. Later in the show, Adele sang her theme from Skyfall and won a well-deserved Oscar. Skyfall also won in a sound category, thus breaking the Bond "Oscar Curse." (The last 007 film to win an Oscar was Thunderball back in 1965).
• There were a number of surprises among the winners: Christoph Waltz, Ang Lee, Quentin Tarantino were all considered to be dark horses this year.
  
• Production numbers were generally very good, especially the gathering of the Les Miserables cast who were in fine form.
  
• The inclusion of First Lady Michelle Obama in a live feed from the White House to "help" present the Best Picture award was as bizarre as it was superfluous. It may have gone over well with the crowd in the auditorium but probably left most viewers scratching their heads. Let's hope this overt blending of politics and Hollywood doesn't start a trend or we'll be seeing senators and congressmen in future production numbers. 
• MacFarlane's closing production number "tribute" to the losers was as witty as anything Billy Crystal ever came up with and ended the show on a high note.
  

Overall, a good presentation that moved briskly and rarely proved to be boring. MacFarland will suffer the slings-and-arrows of the professional Oscar-bashers, but he acquitted himself well in the eyes of this reviewer, who incidentally, had a very mediocre result from his Oscar predictions. I only managed to nab some of the foregone conclusions and completely misjudged many of the other categories. The sheer unpredictability of this year's winners helped to inject some genuine suspense into the proceedings. 

 

It's gonna be Double-0 Heaven for long-suffering James Bond fans who have always felt the series has been slighted by Oscar. Not any more. In addition to a major Bond 50th anniversary tribute on this year's telecast, Adele will sing the Oscar-nominated theme song from Skyfall and Dame Shirley Bassey will perform her signature hit, Goldfinger- which, like so many other classics, was never nominated for an Oscar. The big buzz is whether the Academy can bring off its plan to unite all six 007 actors on the same stage. For more click here

 

One of the James Bond Aston Martin DB5 cars built to promote Goldfinger and Thunderball is now up for auction. However, you may will have to have the financial resources of Auric Goldfinger to make the minimum bid of  £3million! Click here to read the history of the "The Most Famous Car in the World" (which was the title of Cinema Retro publisher Dave Worrall's book).

By Lee Pfeiffer

The Music of James Bond by Jon Burlingame (Published by Oxford University Press, $35, 296 pages, illustrated (B&W), ISBN: 978-19-986330-3

Jon Burlingame provides the intriguing and often fascinating story behind the one heretofore neglected aspect of the James Bond phenomenon: the soundtracks and the incredibly talented people behind them. This book manages to be exhaustively researched, yet highly entertaining. Those of us who pride ourselves on being 007 scholars will be humbled by the wealth of new insights the author reveals. The book provides a film-by-film look at the scoring of each movie and refreshingly gives equal time to the 1967 version of Casino Royale, which boasted a fabulous score, and Never Say Never Again which decidedly did not. There are also ample photographs of the composers and singers in the studio as well as rare trade ads extolling Oscar voters to nominate scores, a generally quixotic task, given the tone deaf membership of the Academy that ignored the Bond films except for a rare occasion. With this indispensable book, Burlingame reaffirms his status as one of the world’s foremost experts on motion picture soundtracks.

Official press description of the book:

The story of the music that accompanies the cinematic adventures of Ian Fleming's intrepid Agent 007 is one of surprising real-life drama. In The Music of James Bond, author Jon Burlingame throws open studio and courtroom doors alike to reveal the full and extraordinary history of the sounds of James Bond, spicing the story with a wealth of fascinating and previously undisclosed tales.

Burlingame devotes a chapter to each Bond film, providing the backstory for the music (including a reader-friendly analysis of each score) from the last-minute creation of the now-famous "James Bond Theme" in Dr. No to John Barry's trend-setting early scores for such films as Goldfinger and Thunderball. We learn how synthesizers, disco and modern electronica techniques played a role in subsequent scores, and how composer David Arnold reinvented the Bond sound for the 1990s and beyond.

The book brims with behind-the-scenes anecdotes. Burlingame examines the decades-long controversy over authorship of the Bond theme; how Frank Sinatra almost sang the title song for Moonraker; and how top artists like Shirley Bassey, Tom Jones, Paul McCartney, Carly Simon, Duran Duran, Gladys Knight, Tina Turner, and Madonna turned Bond songs into chart-topping hits. The author shares the untold stories of how Eric Clapton played guitar for Licence to Kill but saw his work shelved, and how Amy Winehouse very nearly co-wrote and sang the theme for Quantum of Solace.

Click here to order from Amazon

 

Long time Rolling Stone film critic Peter Travers has rated each individual James Bond movie (well, excluding the 1967 spoof version of Casino Royale.) His opinions range from perceptive (listing On Her Majesty's Secret Service near the top of the pack) to downright bizarre (arguing that the dreadful Die Another Day is the best of the Pierce Brosnan films and naming Quantum of Solace as the worst 007 movie ever.) Click here to read and be prepared to rejoice in Travers' opinions or become infuriated by them. 

On tonight's broadcast of 60 Minutes, Anderson Cooper takes us behind the scenes in the world of James Bond and interviews Daniel Craig, Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson about the legacy of the series. Cooper also visits Pinewood Studios and sees one of the original Aston Martin DB5 cars from Goldfinger. He also visits an old friend of Cinema Retro, Eon archivist Meg Simmonds, who takes Cooper inside a top secret warehouse filled with original Bond props including Oddjob's hat and the deadly attache case. Click here for link to page that allows you to view the segment. Make sure you also view the bonus Becoming Bond segment, as well.

Sir Sean Connery is still nursing a grudge against the James Bond franchise even though producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson weren't even running the series when Connery was embroiled in legal battles with Cubby Broccoli and Harry Saltzman. Connery has long maintained he has never been properly compensated for his participation in the six 007 films he did for United Artists. Broccoli always maintained that he got every penny he deserved and that any problems Connery had were between him and the studio as Eon never paid him directly. Nevertheless, the two men never fully reconciled before Broccoli's death in 1996. Connery's relationship with Harry Saltzman was even more strained. The end result of all this is that Connery is choosing to sit out the worldwide international Bond 50th anniversary celebrations, which seems certain to douse fan's long-standing hopes that all six of the Bond actors would ever appear together. For more click here

Cinema Retro has received the following press release:

LONDON FILM MEMORABILIA CONVENTION

www.londonfilmmeorabiliaconvention.co.uk

At Central Hall Westminster – Saturday September the 22^nd ( 10 am – 5 pm )

A celebration of the quintessential James Bond film!

Key members of the cast and crew, reunite for a one day and one-off unique event!

With over 100 sellers from four continents coming to London for the day. Selling Goldfinger and other original James Bond film memorabilia , plus general film memorabilia from the silents to the latest releases.

One of the worlds largest collections of James Bond film memorabilia ever assembled up for sale!

Plus vintage James Bond collectable retro toys and games!

The special guests on the day include –

SIR KEN ADAM HONOR BLACKMAN SHIRLEY EATON TANIA MALLETT MARGARET NOLAN CARON GARDNER BURT KWOUK NORMAN WANSTALL

• A special SIR KEN ADAM retrospective with SIR CHRISTOPHER FRAYLING
• An HONOR BLACKMAN retrospective show
• GOLDFINGER MEMORIES – The Golden Girls “ Reflections Talk “ SHIRLEY EATON TANIA MALLETT MARGARET NOLAN talk about their memories of making Goldfinger and working with Sir Sean Connery and director Guy Hamilton.
• Oscar winning sound editor NORMAN WANSTALL will talk about Bond behind the scenes and his work with the directors Terence Young , Guy Hamilton and editor Peter Hunt. Also demonstrate how picture and sound editing was done on the early Bond films with the moviola.

Tickets to the special talks and retrospectives can be bought from the website.

The number of tickets available are limited in numbers can now be purchased on the website www.londonfilmmemorabiliaconvention.co.uk

A free screening in the afternoon of the newly remasterd and restored “ The Edgar Wallace Mysteries “ features an early Sean Connery performance.

And much…Much more…

Here's a golden oldie. Although Honor Blackman had been well known as the female star of the classic British TV series The Avengers, her star rose immeasurably after she played Pussy Galore in the third James Bond blockbuster Goldfinger. She not only cut a record album but published this book of self defense techniques. Click here to view pages from the 1966 book ...and notice that one of her "adversaries" is stuntman/actor Joe Robinson, who would play villain Peter Franks in the 1971 007 hit Diamonds Are Forever. 

By Dave Worrall

Last night saw Cinema Retro attend the exclusive private viewing of Designing OO7 - Fifty Years of Bond Style at The Barbican in London. This unique exhibition showcasing the design, craft and style of a screen icon - James Bond - is superbly designed (by Ab Rogers, and guest-curated by fashion historian Bronwyn Cosgrave and Oscar-winning costume designer Lindy Hemming) . The exhibition is a must-see event for anyone with an interest in film, let alone James Bond. Produced in partnership with Eon Productions, ably assisted by the head of their archives, Meg Simmonds, the exhibition has amassed over 400 items that reflect the history of Bond over the last 50 years.

Following the press call in the day, the organizers invited people who have worked on the films over the years and also friends of Eon to a champagne reception and private view of the exhibition. And what a show it is! After walking down the red carpet and past the fabled Aston Martin DB5, guests were given their own 'OO7 passport' to gain access to all areas and greeted with a glass (or two) of Bollinger champagne.

Producer Michael G. Wilson (with Barbara Broccoli at his side) addressed the guests with a wonderful tribute speech to those 'background' women and men who have been responsible for creating the 'look' of the James Bond films over the years. Many were in attendance, including: Norman Wanstall, John Glenn, David Arnold, Neal Purvis, Rob Wade, Arthur Wooster, Anthony Waye, John Richardson, Chris Corbould, Debbie McWilliams, Lindy Hemming, and Peter Lamont, Wilson acknowledged Lamont as the production designer who not only took over from Ken Adam, but also oversaw the building of two studios for Eon Productions. Peter received a rapturous round of applause from the appreciative audience.

The entrance to the exhibition is designed to look like the now-famous gun barrel, and after walking through this, you enter a chamber resembling part of Fort Knox, with large metal bars adorning one wall from floor to ceiling. The centre-piece is a large revolving circular bed with a life-size model figure of a golden girl lying across it. From here, guests are led through five rooms and travel down a lift to one exhibit of large-scale models and props. Very impressive.

There are props and costumes galore, including Oddjob's bowler hat, Scaramanga's 'Golden Gun', and even the white bikini worn by Ursula Andress in Dr. No (on loan from Planet Hollywood). The walls are adorned with production designs, sketches and storyboards, and they have even managed to squeeze in the BMW motorcycle from Tomorrow Never Die, too. It was also great to see the original attache case and prototype of Rosa Klebb's flick-knife shoe, both iconic props seen in From Russia With Love. It certainly brings back many memories of a series of films that have entertained generations of movie goers the world over.

By Hank Reineke

As the eagerly anticipated premiere of Skyfall, the twenty-third James Bond film, counts down to its October 2012 release, Boston area fans of Britain’s favorite secret agent are being afforded the rare opportunity to revel in all that has come before. The staff of the Somerville Theater (located on Davis Square in the Boston suburb of Somerville, Massachusetts), are in the midst of celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of Ian Fleming’s super-spy on the big screen in a big way; with an ambitious year long series-encompassing twenty-two film retrospective. The architect of screenings is Ian Judge, the theater’s Director of Programming. Judge has not only been managing the nearly one-hundred year old theater for the past ten years, but he has long shared a history with the venue having grown up only a few blocks away from its gilded entrance. Built in 1914 as a posh nine-hundred seat forum for vaudeville-era acts and stage plays, the theater began screening films right from the advent of the silent era. Though the intimate, wonderfully decorative auditorium retains its opulent splendor, the theater combines old world elegance with new world technology. Three years ago the venue’s grand balcony was completely refurbished and, perhaps more importantly, the theater was fit with a Dolby digital sound system and twin Norelco DP-70 projectors, the latter addition allowing the venue to be one of the few cinemas in New England to have the capability of presenting films in the 70mm format.

Judge, it’s not too surprising to learn, especially given his enthusiasm and the breadth of the 007 retrospective he’s programmed, has been a long-time fan of the James Bond series. Though his favorite Bond film is From Russia with Love (1963), as a self-described “child of the ‘80s,” Judge admits to a soft spot for Roger Moore’s swan song A View to a Kill (1985), principally due to Christopher Walken’s smooth portrayal of the genetically engineered psychotic industrialist Max Zorin.

Though nothing short of nirvana for some, the concept of screening, chronologically, every James Bond film from Dr. No (1962) through Quantum of Solace (2008) is, without doubt, something of a gamble. But although neighborhood repertory theaters are closing and/or having to devise methods to cope with a sluggish economy and studio pressure to move toward all-digital projection screenings, Judge was adamant that the James Bond films should be screened as they had been over the course of the last fifty years, in glorious 35mm. That’s one of the principle roles of the repertory theater, Judge contends, as “that’s what we’re here for – to show people the magic of the movies, and to make a profit doing so. Despite their availability on TV and DVD, the Bond films still draw a crowd.” There was never any consideration of cheating moviegoers by splashing the 007 back catalog onto the big screen via digital-projection. It was important that the Bond series be presented to fans in the most authentic manner possible outside use of a time-machine… by sourcing the best 35mm prints available. “There’s no question of not doing it on 35mm,” Judge explained, “It is the superior format for these films, and the format they were intended to be shown in. We’re intensely defensive of the 35mm and 70mm film formats. So long as there are prints for classic films, that is the way we intend to show them.”

The retrospective was launched on the weekend of March 2-4 with screenings of the first five Sean Connery films and George Lazenby’s one-shot On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969). The weekend of May 4-5 (which I attended with my daughter Sara, one of innumerable father and child units filling the seats) marked their second exclusive weekend of Bond films. The program featured such entries from the ‘70s as Diamonds Are Forever (1971), Live and Let Die (1973), The Man with the Golden Gun (1974), and The Spy Who Loved Me (1977). The old-timers (present company included) instantly noted that the strikingly pristine prints featured the original and nostalgic “United Artists – A Trans-America Company” animation prior to the series’ iconic “gun barrel” opening.

James Bond is back- and so is his legendary Aston Martin DB5, the car introduced way back in 1964 for Goldfinger. A DB5 with Daniel Craig and his stunt driver Ben Collins alternately behind the wheel was photographed in the Scottish countryside while filming the new 007 flick Skyfall. Click here for more

By Dave Worrall 

Photos copyright Mark Mawston. All rights reserved. 

The 50th anniversary of the James Bond film series got off the grid yesterday (Sun 15th) with the official launch of 'Bond in Motion: 50 Vehicles, 50 Years', an exhibition of OO7-related vehicles at the National Motor Museum, Beaulieu in Hampshire. To commemorate this historic turning point in the Bond franchise, Eon Productions (the Bond film-makers) and the motor museum (celebrating its 40th anniversary this year), have put together the largest official collection of famous James Bond vehicles the world has ever seen.

Sunday also saw Eon kick-start the 50th anniversary with many special features in British newspapers and magazine supplements including The Mail on Sunday and The Sunday Mirror.

Before opening to the public on January 17th, the world's press and selected guests were invited to attend the unveiling of fifty different forms of transport to celebrate fifty years of the OO7 movies.

Guests in attendance included Chris Courbold (SFX Casino Royale-Skyfall), Vic Armstrong (Stunt co-ordinator and 2nd unit director on many films), actors Colin Salmon (Die Another Day), Shane Rimmer (You Only Live Twice and The Spy Who Loved Me) and Ken Wallis, the inventor of the autogyro who doubled Sean Connery in the sequences with 'Little Nellie' in You Only Live Twice.

American businessman Michael Dezer, who purchased the entire 'Cars of the Stars' and 'Bond Museums' last year, flew over especially for the occasion. The boat from From Russia With Love was loaned to the museum by Mr Dezer for the exhibition. Mr Dezer's car museum, which is anticipated to be the largest in the world, is due to open this year in Florida.

Three photographs by photographer David Hurn showing actress Shirley Eaton being gilded in paint for Goldfinger have sold at auction for £2,580. The price is considered to be quite high since the photographs themselves have been widely printed over the decades. For more click here

Cinema Retro has received the following official press release from the National Motor Museum and Eon Productions:

London, October 2011. The National Motor Museum, Beaulieu and EON Productions are proud to announce that Bond in Motion, the exclusive official exhibition of 50 original James Bond vehicles, will be unveiled to the public on 18^th January 2012.

The exhibition, the largest of its kind staged anywhere in the world, will showcase 50 of the best loved and most iconic James Bond vehicles in celebration of the 50^th year of James Bond films. Bond in Motion will run from January to December 2012 at the National Motor Museum at Beaulieu.

In addition, 2012 also marks the 40^th anniversary of the world-famous National Motor Museum, a fitting year to be hosting a major new car exhibition with some of the most recognised vehicles from the Bond films.

Bond in Motion will feature a whole range of vehicles which have appeared in Bond films over the years including cars, boats, motorbikes, sleds, jets and many more. This collection of iconic movie vehicles will include the 1964 Aston Martin DB5 and the 1937 Phantom lll Rolls-Royce both from Goldfinger, the Lotus Esprit S1 affectionately nicknamed ‘Wet Nellie’ from The Spy Who Loved Me, the Bede Acrostar jet famously flown in Octopussy, the BMW 750iL from Tomorrow Never Dies, the original villain Parahawk featured in The World is Not Enough and the original SFX Cello Case Ski famously navigated by Timothy Dalton in The Living Daylights.

Beaulieu’s Commercial Director, Stephen Munn said, “2012 is going to be a very exciting year for Beaulieu.  After many months of planning, the preparation of the Bond exhibition area is about to begin and the first consignment of vehicles will be arriving in a few weeks”.

The world-famous National Motor Museum at Beaulieu has a collection of over 250 vehicles telling the story of motoring on the roads of Britain from the dawn of motoring to the present day. There are historic racing cars, modern rally cars and the latest F1 machines as well as World Land Speed Record Breakers and family cars from every motoring era. Visitors to Beaulieu can also explore Palace House, home of the Montagu family since 1538 and 13^th century Beaulieu Abbey as well as World of Top Gear. Open every day, except Christmas Day, from 10am. For more information Tel: 01590 612345 or visit www.beaulieu.co.uk

EON Productions

EON Productions Limited and Danjaq LLC are wholly owned and controlled by the Broccoli/Wilson family.   Danjaq is the US based company that co-owns, with MGM, the copyright in the existing James Bond films and controls the right to produce future James Bond films as well as all worldwide merchandising.   EON Productions, an affiliate of Danjaq, is the UK based production company which makes the James Bond films.   The 007 franchise is the longest running in film history with twenty-two films produced since 1962.  Michael G Wilson and Barbara Broccoli took over the franchise from Albert R ‘Cubby’ Broccoli in 1995 and have produced some of the most successful Bond films ever including CASINO ROYALE and QUANTUM OF SOLACE.

The folks at the terrific Flickhead blog have a multi-part story about the days when studios would routinely reissue hit movies as double features. Click here to read (Above photos from the Flickhead site)

For any guy who feels frustrated that they might never be able to date a James Bond girl, you might take some satisfaction in having them in 12" form. Mattel has introduced a line of commemorative James Bond girl Barbies. Here is the official product description:

Barbie goes Bond! Barbie can do just about anything, and now she's got her sights set on the world's top secret agent: Bond, James Bond! What better way to celebrate the long-running film franchise than with this series of dolls depicting the legendary 'Bond Girls'? Collect them all! Dolls stand about 11 1/2-inches tall. This set of 3 individually packaged dolls includes (subject to change): 1x Honor Blackman as Pussy Galore from Goldfinger 1x Ursula Andress as Honey Ryder from Dr. No 1x Halle Berry as Jinx from Die Another Day This daring and captivating assortment includes three Bond Girl favorites! The Goldfinger Barbie Doll features pilot Pussy Galore, all geared up and ready to help 007 thwart Goldfinger's evil plan while wearing a fitted black suit with golden vest. The very first Bond Girl, Honey Ryder, was cool, confident, and completely unforgettable. This Dr. No Barbie Doll pays tribute to a memorable scene from the film as she's dressed in a white, belted swimsuit with a shell-diver knife and sheath. Brave, bold, and beautiful, Jinx was pure luck for James Bond. The Die Another Day Barbie Doll wears an orange bikini inspired by the one Bond first spies her in as she exits the ocean.

Click here to order the set of three dolls from Amazon

 

In conjunction with legendary photographer Terry O'Neill's London exhibition of rare celebrity photos, the BBC presents a slide show of some of his most memorable shots. Click here to view

Well-heeled 007 fans can rejoice. Octopussy is for sale. That's the good news. The bad news is that the deal doesn't involve Maud Adams. Rather, it's a "superyacht" named after the 1983 James Bond film that starred Roger Moore. The price will also set you back a cool $5,900,000, which means your last name has to be Goldfinger in order to afford it. Click here for more

By Lee Pfeiffer

Much is being made of several images from the James Bond films taken by famed photographer Terry O'Neill that are said to be unpublished. The photos will be on display next month in London as part of a celebration of O'Neill's long career. However, one of the photos, showing Goldfinger star Honor Blackman in a bathing suit with "Pussy" written in the sand, was published previously. I recall seeing it in a 1965 paperback about the 007 phenomenon titled For Bond Lovers Only. Another photo shows Sean Connery back stage on the set of Diamonds Are Forever with topless showgirls. Click here for more

(London, UK, November 23rd 2010) MI6 Declassified, the full-colour magazine celebrating the world of James Bond 007, returns with its eighth issue.Whenever polls are conducted to find the best ever James Bond film, Goldfinger always rises to the top of the public's selection. In this issue, MI6 Declassified lifts the lid on the recipe that defined a genre and demystifies some of the alchemy that turned Sean Connery’s third outing as 007 in to 24ct cinematic gold. Also, Roger Moore recounts his time in Kung Fu training for The Man With The Golden, and Sylvan Mason reveals the role her acclaimed screenwriter father Jack Whittingham had in crafting 007’s on-screen persona. MI6 Declassified #8 is not to be missed!
Featured in the eighth issue:

•  The Midas Touch - behind the scenes of the best loved James Bond movie

•  What Happened to 007's DB5? On the trail of the world’s most famous car

•  High Kicks with Sir Roger Moore - filming the kung fu stunt scenes

•  The Battle for Bond - 007’s unsung hero screenwriter, Jack Whittingham

•  Director Lewis Gilbert on managing Sean Connery and the press

•  GoldenEye 007 producer discusses the latest videogame

•  Factory Entertainment recreate Scaramanga’s one-shot weapon

•  OSS 117 writer-director Michel Hazanavicius reveals his Bond influences

Issue #8 is now shipping around the world. To order online, click here

David Smith Editor

By Dave Worrall

A James Bond Aston Martin DB5 driven by Sean Connery in Goldfinger and Thunderball sold for £2.7m in London last night, making it the most expensive film prop and movie-related car  in history. The American bidder, who was in the room, was beseiged by the press afterward. Sold by RM Auctions on behalf of Jerry Lee, it was hoped the sale would have topped £3.5m, especially as the proceeds were going to a charity foundation. However, Mr Lee paid just $12,000 for the car back in 1969, so his return of $4.1m wasn't such a bad investment after all.

Last night (21/10/10) saw “The Most Famous Car in The World” return to The Royal Automobile Club in Pall Mall, London, for the first time since it was first displayed there in 1969. The car, the only remaining Aston Martin DB5 driven by Sean Connery in the films Goldfinger and Thunderball and now internationally known as “The Most Famous Car in The World” after the title of Dave Worrall’s book, is being sold next Wednesday (27/10/10) by RM Auctions, in association with Sotheby’s. Owned by Jerry Lee of Philadelphia for some forty plus years, he intends to use the proceeds of the sale towards a charity-based foundation in America that he has formed, which is a multi-national initiative dedicated to solving social problems associated with poverty, with an emphasis on crime prevention. Last night’s private champagne dinner reception hosted by the RAC Club and RM Auctions was attended by Sir Ken Adam, the world-famous production designer who designed James Bond’s now-famous gadget-laden car. Also in attendance was automobile enthusiast Nick Mason from the rock band Pink Floyd, London socialite Liz Brewer, and many influential people in the world of high finance and the classic car scene. The car is expected to sell in excess of £3.5m. Entrance to the auction, which is being held at the Battersea Evolution, is via the purchase of the sale catalogue. Further details available at: www.rmauctions.com Happy bidding!

 

In an exclusive interview with Scotland's Daily Record, Sir Sean Connery is surprisingly verbose, discussing his life and career. He says he has been battling some minor health problems recently, but the old vim and vigor are returning- though he says his acting days are definitely over. His favorite Bond film? From Russia With Love, though the film he enjoyed making most was Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Click here to read

Cinema Retro’s Dave Worrall was reunited with James Bond’s fabled Aston Martin last weekend, some eighteen years since first seeing it in the home of its owner Jerry Lee, on the outskirts of Philadelphia, USA. Dave wrote and published the highly successful book ‘The Most Famous Car in the World’ back in 1991, which tells the definitive history of Bond’s Aston Martin DB5 as seen in the films Goldfinger and Thunderball. In total, there were four cars used back in the mid to late 60s: two for filming, and two for promotional purposes. At the time, Dave tracked them all down, and one of the cars driven by Sean Connery in both films is coming up for auction in October.

To kick-start the promotion, R.M. Auctions, who are responsible for the sale, brought the car over to the UK last week where it was previewed to both media and public at the Midsummer Classic Concourse event at the highly prestigious Stoke Park Country Club. Bond fans will remember this was the setting for the famous golf game between OO7 and Auric Goldfinger in the 1964 film of the same name. It was also the first time the car has been in England since being purchased by Jerry in 1969.

Dave, who has assisted R.M. Auctions in the past with Bond-related information, was invited to attend the preview and the ‘Thunderball black-tie Dinner’ on the evening, which was a fundraiser for the ‘Help the Heroes’ charity.

By Lee Pfeiffer

Martin Benson, the distinguished British actor, has passed away at age 91. Although he had a wealth of credits from film and TV work, Benson was immortalized as the ill-fated Mafia boss Mr. Solo in the 1964 James Bond classic Goldfinger. It was his character who was famously crushed to death inside a new luxury car in one of the film's most legendary scenes. Benson's character's name caused some contention with the Bond producers. Ian Fleming suggested using the same name as the hero Robert Vaughn played on The Man From U.N.C.L.E. and embellished it a bit by adding a first name: Napoleon. The show's producer Norman Felton originally shot the pilot under the title Solo but changed it to The Man From U.N.C.L.E. when Bond producers Cubby Broccoli and Harry Saltzman raised concerns that viewers might confuse it with an official Fleming project. Benson's other film credits include Cleopatra, A Shot in the Dark, The Omen, Behold a Pale Horse and The Sea Wolves. For more click here

By Lee Pfeiffer

Here's another fine movie that has been largely unseen in recent years: Ivan Tors' 1966 adventure Around the World Under the Sea. The flick combined the talents of Lloyd Bridges, Goldfinger sensation Shirley Eaton, Man From U.N.C.L.E. David McCallum, Flipper star Brian Kelly, Daktari! star Marshall Thompson, with Keenan Wynn thrown in for good measure. The plot centers on a team of scientists who undergo a hazardous mission to plant earthquake detection devices on deep sea beds around the world. They encounter every obstacle imaginable, including some pretty frightening sea creatures. Tors, who excelled in underwater films and TV series, wrings a good deal of suspense from some of the situations and the film is entertaining throughout. It spawned a soundtrack album and tie-in comic book, but aside from a release on VHS in the 1980s, has remained unseen since except for rare showings on TCM. It's a worthy candidate for DVD release.

PREPARE YOURSELF FOR THE MOST THRILLING MOVIE EXPERIENCE OF THE YEAR! THE MOVIE MAGIC TOUR
APRIL 23-MAY 1, 2010!

• LEARN HOW LEGENDARY FILMS WERE MADE THROUGH EXCLUSIVE MEETINGS WITH ACTORS WHO WORKED ON MANY OF THE FILMS WE CELEBRATE ON THIS TOUR!

AN EXCITING INVITATION TO JOIN LEE PFEIFFER AND DAVE WORRALL, PUBLISHERS OF CINEMA RETRO, FOR THE MOVIE LOCATION TOUR EVENT OF THE YEAR!

It looks like every theater on the planet had the same idea about how to celebrate the new year: hold a James Bond film festival. The Mayfair Theatre in Ottawa, Canada will be showing numerous Bond films in January including Goldfinger, Thunderball, Dr. No, You Only Live Twice, The Spy Who Loved Me and Moonraker. The theater will also be screening two films that are rarely shown on the big screen anymore, even in 007 festivals: The Living Daylights and GoldenEye. Click here for the schedule. 

It was in 1964 that Sean Connery starred as James Bond in Goldfinger and Shirley Bassey belted out the classic title song. Now Connery and Bassey are reuniting for another film project: Sir Billi, animated movie set in the Scottish highlands. Connery, who is producing the film, will provide the voice of an elderly, skate-boarding veterinarian who comes to the aid of a beaver. (No jokes, please!) Bassey will sing the title song, Guardian of the Highlands, which was written with her in mind. The film, which has been in production for years, marks Connery's emergence from self-imposed retirement, though it is uncertain whether he intends to pursue more cinematic ventures. For more click here

There will be a concert of James Bond music at The Royal Albert Hall in London on Friday November 13. Honor Blackman will present the event. We caught this at Carnegie Hall last year and it's truly a wonderful evening of entertainment. (Click here for our review) Here is the official description:

The theme song of a James Bond film is as much a part of the ‘Bond Experience’ as the cars, the girls, the chases, the guns and the gadgets. Enjoy, for one night only, hit songs from the best of Bond movies.

Featuring classic songs Goldfinger, Licence to Kill, Dr No, Diamonds are Forever, Live and Let Die, From Russia with Love and many many more!

Special guest presenter, Honor Blackman, Pussy Galore!

Mary Carewe and Simon Bowman - vocalists

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

Carl Davis - conductor

For more click here