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Newsletter June / July 2013

Mendes Still in Bond Talks

Mid-June saw dramatic confirmation of some previous rumours about James Bond movie no. 24. On the eve of the opening of his new musical Charlie and The Chocolate Factory at the Theatre Royal in central London, Skyfall director Sam Mendes confirmed in public for the first time that he has been in talks with the James Bond producers about the possibility of still taking on directorial responsibilities on the next 007 adventure. As the JBIFC had reported on our website on May 29, new rumours had emerged that, after initially saying he could not commit himself to the next Bond film given his impending theatre projects, Mendes had changed his mind, and was now back in negotiations. A key incentive had apparently been an offer by the producers of greater scheduling flexibility over the start of production on Bond 24.
No Final Decision Yet
In a detailed interview given to Mark Shenton of the UK’s entertainment industry newspaper The Stage (June 13), the award-winning director of Bond 23 confirmed that he had been in talks, but also cautioned that ‘nothing is going to be determined until Charlie and The Chocolate Factory has opened’. On the day of the London premiere of Charlie, Mendes maintained this line in various interviews with the British media. Responding to a BBC interviewer, he said ‘Well, I’m in negotiations about it, but I’ve said to everyone involved that I’d like to open Charlie and The Chocolate Factory first before making any final decisions. They’ve been very understanding about that’. Similarly, speaking to the UK’s Daily Telegraph newspaper, Mendes commented: ‘I’ve said I’ll discuss the possibility of doing the next one. There are discussions ongoing but no decision will be made until after I’ve opened the show’.
The Living Highlights
The news in late May that Mendes, after ruling himself out, had now possibly ruled himself back in again, was given some wide coverage in the British press. Most reports and opinion-pieces were markedly positive.
The London Evening Standard (one of the first UK sources to carry the new rumours on May 29) gave it some front-page coverage, entitled ‘Never Say Never: Mendes to Direct Next Bond?’ Similarly, The Times of London (May 30) entitled its piece ‘Mendes in Talks to Join 007 on Another Mission’. The UK’s newspaper The Guardian (May 30) also played upon the ‘Never Say Never’ title, heading its report ‘Never Say Never Again: Mendes Back in Bond Frame’. The news even entered the letters pages of the Evening Standard on May 30, with three letters devoted to the topic. James Chapman, in his letter to the Standard, was clearly relieved. He argued: ‘There’s no doubt Skyfall’s success was due in large part to Sam Mendes’s assured handling of a good script’, and also commented: ‘I shuddered at the idea of Christopher Nolan directing the next film: 007 in the style of The Dark Knight would lose the fun Bond movies should have’. However, the arts columnist Nick Curtis used his page in the Standard on May 31 to extract a little humour from the news, sympathising with Mendes’s dilemma, adding ‘one misspent e-mail thanks to tiredness and we’d be faced with Willy Wonka, agent of Smersh, and a Bond girl called Veruca Salt’. Curtis also added (rather unfairly): ‘The delay also gives Mendes time to come up with something better than a villain who tries to kill Bond with a Tube train rather than shooting him’.
Triple O-Heaven: Craig Preps Stage Role

Meanwhile, James Bond star Daniel Craig has been busy getting ready for his new stage role in New York this coming autumn. Along with his wife Rachel Weisz and fellow actor Rafe Spall, Daniel will star in a new version of Harold Pinter’s classic play Betrayal, a gritty drama about adultery and its impact on three lives. The acting trio were recently reported to have spent three weeks at a special workshop carefully going through each line of the play, under the watchful tutelage of director Mike Nichols. Full rehearsals for the play are due to commence in August, and the play will start previews at the Barrymore Theatre in New York on October 1, with an official opening night on October 27, 2013. It will then run for 14 weeks. There are already strong indications that it will be a sell-out play. Interestingly, Rafe Spall is taking his wife, actress Elize du Toit, and their two young children with him to New York while he takes part in the play. Coincidentally, Elize appeared in Skyfall with Daniel Craig, playing one of M’s assistants. Unconfirmed rumours also emerged recently that Craig has been playing a key role in the lobbying for Sam Mendes to return for the next Bond movie.
Try Another Way: EON Branches Out
Some fascinating details emerged in late May and early June about a new non-Bond movie project for EON Productions. The new film will be executive-produced and financed by Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson, and will see EON return back to Scotland for location filming (having been previously there for some sequences in Skyfall). The new big-screen drama, called The Silent Storm, will be a collaborative project between three partners: EON, WestEnd, and Neon Film. It will star the award-winning British actors Damian Lewis (of Homeland fame) and Andrea Riseborough. The new project was promoted around the buyer’s circuit at the recent Cannes 2013 Film Festival, and is based on a story written by the award-winning director and writer Corinna Villari-McFarlane, an upcoming talent in the UK film industry. Barbara Broccoli, interviewed briefly by the film industry news source ScreenDaily, commented: ‘It is very exciting to be working with Corinna, a director who has a fresh female voice and a strong creative vision. Her inspiring script has attracted two of Britain’s most talented actors and we believe that she will make a powerful film’. Broccoli also hinted to the film critic Jason Solomons, who also wrote about the new project in The Observer on May 26, that there may be a slew of other varied film projects to follow. The main location filming on The Silent Storm is being carried out on the Scottish Isle of Mull.
On Her Majesty’s Swiss Service

In our Easter Newsletter we revealed some advance details about ‘Bond World 007’, a new special James Bond-themed exhibition and experience at Schiltorn, the site of the now famous Piz Gloria mountain-top location, which was used by director Peter Hunt for Blofeld’s lair in George Lazenby’s one-off 007 movie On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969). This exciting new project was officially launched on June 28, with a special opening ceremony attended by Lazenby himself, along with 300 invited guests and members of the media, or ‘distinguished members of the world’s press’, as Draco might say. The inauguration ceremony also saw the presence of an official representative of Her Majesty’s Government, the British Ambassador to Switzerland, Sarah Gillet. George and Sarah both cut through the ribbon to officially open ‘Bond World 007’. Members of the original EON production team involved with the movie were also in attendance, including the director of the film’s Second Unit, John Glen, who was responsible for overseeing many of the memorable action and stunt sequences shot for the movie, including the very realistic bobsleigh fight. The special day included a re-enactment of the iconic helicopter attack on Piz Gloria (staged by two Air Glacier helicopters), and culminated in a spectacular firework display on the terrace of the revolving restaurant. The ‘Bond World 007’ experience, which has a number of virtual and interactive displays for visitors to directly participate in, officially opened to the general public on Saturday, June 29, and it is estimated that around 1,000 visitors went through the doors on the first day. Already a bit of a shrine to dedicated Bond fans in the past, there is no doubt people will now be eager to make a return visit to the location.
Stuntman Royale

Stunt artists are the great unsung heroes behind many of the most famous sequences in the 007 films. The JBIFC was thus very sad to hear of the death of ‘Nosher’ Powell, one of the most well-known and respected stuntmen in the UK’s movie stunt business. He died on April 20, aged 84, after a long career that started back in 1944, when he appeared in Laurence Olivier’s Henry V. He had small parts in such movies as Oliver Twist (1948) and Cosh Boy (1953), and went on to perform numerous stunts in many British TV dramas (such as the Roger Moore version of The Saint in the 1960s and the 1970s police drama The Sweeney) and also in big-screen movies including, of course, the Sean Connery and Roger Moore James Bond films. Indeed, the Powell family tradition of working on the Bond films continued with his two sons: ‘Nosher’ was the father of Greg and Gary, both of whom became stuntmen and have built up major reputations in the business for their professionalism and absolute dedication to their work. After working as a stuntman on the Bonds, for example, Gary (now 49) was elevated to the position of stunt coordinator on Casino Royale and, again, on Skyfall. Indeed, his father Nosher was very proud of his two sons. Nosher’s funeral took place on May 14 in Morden, in Surrey, and a wake was held at Epsom Race Course. George Frederick Bernard ‘Nosher’ Powell (1928-2013). R.I.P.
The Name’s Mansfield, Olivia Mansfield

In Daniel Craig’s first James Bond movie Casino Royale there is a great scene between Bond and his boss ‘M’. Bond, having broken into his boss’s electronic files, begins to say to her: ‘I thought M was a randomly assigned letter. I had no idea it stood for...’. But ‘M’ quickly cuts him off by saying: ‘Utter one more syllable and I’ll have you killed’. Internet discussion forums and various media outlets therefore devoted considerable time in May to the news that ‘M’, as played by Dame Judi Dench, stood for ‘Olivia Mansfield’. Spotted by the eagle eyes of a keen Bond fan, who made use of some skilled freeze-framing, the real name of Dame Judi’s character, ‘Olivia Mansfield’, appears in small handwritten letters on a box passed to James Bond after her death in Skyfall. Zooming in on the inscription, it reads: ‘From the estate of Olivia Mansfield, bequeathed to James Bond’. Meg Simmons, who oversees the Bond archive at EON Productions, when asked for her response to the discovery, told The Times newspaper: ‘We have searched around and as far as we can see this is the first and only time anyone has ever revealed M’s name’. It may be pure coincidence, but it is interesting to note that the first ever head of the real-life MI6 was Sir George Mansfield Smith-Cumming, who began the tradition of signing correspondence with a single letter. But in his case he used ‘C’, and the head of the British secret service has been known as ‘C’ ever since.
When Bonnie Said ‘No’ to Never
Britain’s entry in the Eurovision Song Contest in May was sung by Bonnie Tyler, and a number of interviews with Bonnie in the UK’s press touched upon why the 61-year old singer once turned down a James Bond theme song (the main theme to Never Say Never Again, which was eventually sung by Lani Hall). Speaking to the London Metro newspaper, for example, when asked about her biggest regret in her career, Bonnie said: ‘Not doing the Bond theme I was given many years ago – but it wasn’t a good song. I stuck to my guns and it wasn’t really a hit but I’d love to do one now. Isn’t Adele’s amazing? She is fantastic’. Similarly, interviewed in The Guardian (May 14), Bonnie said at one point: ‘I don’t do every song that comes my way, I’m very choosy. I was once offered a Bond theme, but I didn’t do it because I didn’t believe in the song. It was about the only Bond theme that had never been a hit. I was so thrilled when they said they’d like me to do it, but I was gutted when I heard the song and I stuck by my guns’. But she added that she loves Adele’s Bond theme, and she loves Adele’s work.
Did You Know?
Lani Hall was not the original choice to sing the theme song for Never Say Never Again. A theme song was recorded for the movie by the late American singer and song-writer Phyllis Hyman (who died in 1995). However, according to insiders, it was apparently blocked by the film’s main soundtrack composer Michel Legrand, who claimed that he had the sole rights to the film’s title song and threatened to sue Warner Brothers. Legrand got his way and composed and wrote the song that was eventually sung by Lani Hall over the main titles.
Bond Bits: Brief Items of News You May Have Missed
Toby Stephens, who played villain Gustav Graves in Die Another Day (2002) and, more recently, 007 on BBC radio, has been appearing in a new stage version of Noel Coward’s Private Lives, with Anna Chancellor as his co-star. It started a limited season at the Gielgud Theatre in London from June 22. Will he return as 007? All we can say is... watch this space...
Rosamund Pike, who played MI6 traitor Miranda Frost in Die Another Day, is set to star alongside Shiloh Fernandez and Nick Nolte in Return to Sender, a new psychological thriller directed by Fouad Mikati...
Rosamund has also been busy shooting What We Did On Our Holiday, a new feature for BBC films, set in Scotland and co-starring David Tennant. Other cast members include Billy Connolly...
Gemma Arterton, who played Strawberry Fields in Quantum of Solace, gave a number of interviews to the British press in May and June, to help publicise her new vampire movie Byzantium, which went on general release in UK cinemas on May 31. Interviewed in The Observer on May 12, for example, she spoke about the ups and downs of her career and was (perhaps inevitably) asked about her Bond role...
When she was asked whether she was still pleased she did the role in Quantum, Gemma responded: ‘Yeah, I don’t have any shame in that one. It was a really good experience for me’. She also revealed that she sees Rachel Weisz (Craig’s wife) as a bit of a career role model, as Weisz has played around with different genres and theatre, which is something Arterton would like to do...
Arterton has recently been shooting a new film called The Voices, directed by Marjane Satrapi, which covers the controversial topic of schizophrenia...
Now, pay attention, 007: congratulations were definitely in order in May for Ben Whishaw, the new ‘Q’ in Skyfall. He won a well-deserved award in the ‘Leading Actor’ category at the BAFTA television awards for his role in the BBC-TV drama Richard II...
Naomie Harris, who played Miss Moneypenny in Skyfall, made a big impact at the Cannes Film Festival in May when she took to the dance floor at producer Harvey Weinstein’s beach-front party. She also popped up at a number of other parties at Cannes, which she attended to help promote her new film Mandela: The Long Walk to Freedom, which will be premiered both at both the Teluride Film Festival and the Toronto International Film Festival in September, and will later go on general release in January, 2014...
Harvey Weinstein is said to be preparing Naomie Harris for a long Oscar campaign, as he is confident that the new Mandela movie will see critical acclaim for Naomie’s performance as Winnie Mandela. Naomie told The Observer (May 26): ‘I’m getting ready for a lot of work around the film. Harvey’s warned me, I’ve got a long walk ahead, wearing dresses and smiling a lot. I’m totally up for it’...
Moneypenny versus ‘M’? Producer Harvey Weinstein also apparently parted with $6m after seeing just a seven-minute showreel at Cannes of Philomena, the new Judi Dench ‘road movie’, in which she co-stars with Steve Coogan. Weinstein is clearly confident that Dench will also be an Oscar contender for her performance...
Meanwhile, Dame Judi Dench, who played ‘M’ for the last time in Skyfall, has been awarded an Honorary Degree from the University of Stirling in Scotland, both for her contribution to the arts and also for her dedicated work and strong support for the Dementia Services Development Centre, which is based at the University...
Ten years ago Dame Judi opened the building in which the special research centre is based, and she has carried out much work to help publicise the fight against dementia. She also played a woman with dementia in the BAFTA award-winning movie Iris (2001), which was based on the true story about the famous writer Iris Murdoch, who tragically developed dementia in later life...
The singer Adele, who sang the award-winning theme song to Skyfall, picked up another special award in June, courtesy of the Queen of England. It was announced on June 14 that the London-born singer had been awarded an MBE in the Queen’s annual birthday honours list, which is announced every year just prior to Her Majesty’s birthday...
Here’s a good example of how James Bond has seeped into all parts of wider culture: The Times newspaper on May 14 carried a story about a City financier who took on poker professionals in Europe’s biggest (unofficial) cash poker game, which took place in a hotel overlooking Monte Carlo. The newspaper illustrated the story with a large colour still of Daniel Craig’s 007 playing Le Chiffre for high stakes in Casino Royale...
Ben Macintyre, who has become a leading expert on Ian Fleming and James Bond over the years, used his regular column in The Times newspaper on May 24 to offer some reflections on the latest round of secret government files just released to the UK’s National Archives at Kew, in South-West London, a number of which relate to British Intelligence operations in both World War Two and the Cold War...
As a Naval Intelligence officer in World War Two, one of Ian Fleming’s specialist concerns was with Franco’s Spain, and whether Spain would enter the war on Hitler’s side, posing a threat to British naval interests in the Mediterranean. Fleming was involved with the creation of various contingency projects related to Spain’s possible ambitions, including one called ‘Operation Goldeneye’...
Operation Goldeneye, as devised by Fleming, envisaged possible sabotage operations against Spain if Franco had formed an official alliance with Nazi Germany and entered the War. After it became clear this alliance was not going to happen, the plan was closed in 1943...
Interestingly, although the newly-released files do not reveal any major new revelations about Fleming’s role, they do reveal the extent to which the British government and its Intelligence Services used massive financial bribery to persuade Spain to stay neutral...
Staying on the topic of Ian Fleming, the Bond author was the main subject of the last edition of the BBC Radio-4 literary quiz The Write Stuff on Sunday, June 16, which concentrated on the Fleming Bond novels. One of the panel guests was Bond continuation author Sebastian Faulks...
During the course of the programme, the panellists were invited by quizmaster James Walton to identify their favourite passages from the Ian Fleming novels. Faulks said his favourite scene was the Rosa Klebb sequence in From Russia, With Love, where the creepy Klebb quizzes Tatiana...
Shhh... You read this here first: we have picked up intriguing rumours that actress Joanna Lumley recently finished a part in a new radio version of On Her Majesty’s Secret Service... more details from our special man on the spot soon...
On Her Majesty’s Return Service? Interesting news also emerged recently that one-off 007 George Lazenby may return to the big screen in a new independent Australian production about the Aussie Gold Rush in Victorian times. Lazenby has apparently agreed to a starring role as the villain in Justice in a Smoking Gun, provided that the young director, David Ludlow, can raise sufficient funding for the project. Ludlow, who also happens to be a big James Bond fan, is currently in talks with possible funding bodies...
As we reported on our website on June 3, strange rumours recently emerged that Spanish actress Penelope Cruz, who is married to Javier Bardem (the Skyfall villain), had been in negotiations to be a Bond girl in Bond 24. The unlikely rumours had been kick-started by Yahoo.UK, and were carried in numerous parts of the media. An ‘insider’, speaking to US Weekly, quickly moved to demolish the rumours: ‘Penelope is not in talks to be a Bond girl. The stories are totally false’...
In the meantime, this denial seems to have passed by the Sunday Times. Its property section (June 16) reported that Rachel and her husband Javier have been spotted house-hunting in New York’s trendy Brooklyn neighbourhood, just before the arrival of their second child. They reportedly checked out a duplex home (worth £3.19m) in the prestigious One Brooklyn Bridge Park development. The newspaper ended its report on this by then repeating the recent Cruz Bond girl rumours. Bet she was pleased (not!)...
June saw the 30 th anniversary of the premiere of Roger Moore’s sixth Bond adventure Octopussy, and the JBIFC has helped to celebrate the anniversary by running on our website some extracts from an on-set report on the making of the movie that we first published way back in January, 1983. The extracts are based on the original manuscript of the article...
The JBIFC has also asked the original author whether he would pen an ‘Octopussy 30 years later’ follow-up article, and he has agreed. Keep an eye on our website for this...
Just as we went to press, the extremely sad news came through about Pierce Brosnan's daughter, Charlotte, who has passed away after a brave battle with ovarian cancer. Our hearts go out to Pierce and his family...

Newsletter April / May 2013

Wilson Talks Bond

Michael G. Wilson, co-producer of the James Bond movies, spoke to the BBC recently in London about the nature of his job and the particular challenges that arise from being a producer on a highly successful global franchise. In a short piece for the BBC news service, Wilson was interviewed at the Jameson Empire Awards, where Skyfall and its director Sam Mendes had just picked up more well-deserved awards, voted for by readers of the popular Empire magazine, which is currently the UK’s biggest-selling movie magazine. The veteran 007 producer made it very clear that he still thoroughly enjoys his role as producer. He said his job is ‘thrilling, it’s a great job’ and ‘wonderful’. He also praised the crews, writers, cast and everyone involved with the production of the James Bond films, and said that everyone who works on the series ‘is a joy to work with’.
Future of the Franchise
When the BBC interviewer asked Wilson whether he thought Bond will ‘continue forever’, he responded: ‘Well, it’ll continue in some form, maybe not with us, but it’ll always be around’. Quizzed about the current 007 Daniel Craig, the Bond producer was asked whether he could imagine anyone else in the role of James Bond, and he responded: ‘I can’t imagine anyone else right now, that’s for sure – he’s just fantastic’. At another point in the interview, Wilson was asked about the difficulties of maintaining the franchise’s appeal to a younger audience. The EON producer said it had always been ‘a challenge’ and, ‘for 50 years’, they had been trying to keep the series ‘current and exciting’.
Search for New Director Continues
Meanwhile, as many Bond fans know, the EON producers still have the major challenge of finding a new director for Bond 24, which is being scripted by John Logan, after the surprise decision of Sam Mendes not to take up their recent offer to direct Craig’s fourth 007 instalment. Interestingly, when Michael Wilson and his EON co-producer Barbara Broccoli attended the special press evening for John Logan’s new play Peter and Alice in London, the journalist Richard Brooks, who writes for the ‘Culture’ section of the Sunday Times, was able to briefly ask Wilson about this situation. According to Brooks, Wilson said that half a dozen directors have already turned him down: ‘I think we’ll end up with a comparative unknown’, said Wilson. As Brooks noted in the Sunday Times, perhaps one of the reasons why some big names have turned down the opportunity to direct the next instalment of the world’s most successful movie franchise is precisely because Skyfall has been such a critical and commercial success – and Bond 24 is very likely to be compared unfavourably to its predecessor. Some reports have claimed recently that John Logan, who is single-handedly writing the stories for both Bonds 24 and 25, has already shown the EON producers a very basic outline treatment for Bond 24, indicating some of the key likely themes.
On Her Majesty’s Semi-Secret Service

Interesting news emerged in early April that Daniel Craig, along with his wife Rachel Weisz, were part of a small but distinguished group of 20 guests invited by Her Majesty the Queen for a private dinner party at Windsor Castle, which is located a few miles outside London. Just the previous week HM the Queen had received an honorary BAFTA award from actor Kenneth Branagh who had dubbed her ‘the best Bond girl ever’ for her role in the special film made by Danny Boyle for the 2012 Olympics opening ceremony, where Her Majesty appeared to parachute from a helicopter into the stadium with 007 actor Craig, much to the surprise and bemusement of millions of viewers. That event clearly delighted the Queen, and it would appear that she rewarded Daniel and his wife with the special invite to Windsor so she could renew her acquaintance with the UK’s most famous spy. Gossip in the British press claimed that there was much amusement at the private dinner as the Monarch and the 007 actor talked about the making of the special Bond sequence. One guest was quoted as saying afterwards that the Queen ‘was in sparkling form. There was a very warm, jolly atmosphere’.
Celebration Royale

The month of April, 2013, witnessed various celebrations of the 60 th Anniversary of the publication of Ian Fleming’s very first James Bond novel Casino Royale, which first saw the light in 1953. As part of this, the UK’s Sunday newspaper The Observer (April 14) published a nice set of pictures of some of the best dust-jackets and cover design images from the various UK and US editions of the novel over the years, including the first Jonathan Cape edition (1953), with the famous ‘nine of hearts’ artwork devised by Fleming himself, the first American edition in 1954 (from the Macmillan Company which, curiously, changed the design to nine diamonds), the Signet Books 29 th printing (which was a tie-in to the rogue Charles K. Feldman 1967 ‘comedy’ movie version created by five directors), and the Jonathan Cape 4 th printing from 1957. All the covers were supplied by Michael VanBlaricum, who has been collecting ‘Bondiana’ (as he puts it) since 1979, and is president of the Ian Fleming Foundation, which is based in the USA. Mike also contributed a commentary to the Guardian website (the sister paper of the Observer), which gave some interesting notes on eleven of the Casino covers.
The Name’s... Secretan, James Secretan
It also emerged in April that author Ian Fleming evidently had a last-minute rethink about the cover name he was going to give James Bond in Casino Royale when 007 was ‘in the field’ on his mission. An early draft of the novel, made public to coincide with the 60 th Anniversary of the publication of Fleming’s debut novel in 1953, revealed that Fleming had chosen the name ‘James Secretan’ for Bond’s cover-name, but then had clearly had second thoughts and crossed it out in blue, replacing it with ‘Bond’, perhaps fearing it would create confusion. In the early draft, when Bond met his CIA contact Felix Leiter, in response to Leiter introducing himself by his name, Bond was to have replied: ‘Mine’s Secretan. James Secretan’. The draft version from 1952, released by Fleming’s niece, Kate Grimmond, also shows that M’s faithful secretary, Miss Moneypenny, was originally named Miss Pettavel by Fleming, or ‘Petty’ for short. Ian Fleming experts have suggested that this may have been based on Kathleen Pettigrew, the real-life personal assistant to the head of MI6, but Fleming may have again had second thoughts, perhaps fearing he may have been close to breaching the UK’s Official Secrets Act.
Solo Seven!

One of the big news highlights of April was undoubtedly the official announcement of the title for the new James Bond book, written by the award-winning author William Boyd. In a special promotional interview given at the London Book Fair on April 15, Boyd announced that he had chosen the title Solo for his new 007 adventure. Some tantalizing clues were also offered about the plot locations, with Bond apparently travelling to three continents, the main focus being on the continent of Africa. In fact, Bond’s experiences in Africa generate his urge to take matters into his own hands and go to America. Explaining his choice of title, Mr. Boyd told the assembled media in a press release: ‘Sometimes less is more. For me as a novelist the simply beauty of Solo as the title of the next James Bond novel is that this short four-letter word is particularly and strikingly apt for the novel I have written’. He continued: ‘In my novel, events conspire to make Bond go off on a self-appointed mission of his own, unannounced and without any authorization – and he’s fully prepared to take the consequences of his audacity’. Corrine Turner, managing director of Ian Fleming Publications Ltd, who commissioned Boyd to write the latest Bond adventure, said: ‘Ian Fleming had a great aptitude for naming his books and his Bond titles have become true classics. Solo is a simple yet striking title which fits perfectly alongside the other books in the Bond canon’.
Son of Sun?

While on the subject of 007 book continuity authors, one of the Bond discussion forums recently carried some interesting speculation about the possible sequel plans of author Kingsley Amis, who had penned the first post-Fleming Bond book Colonel Sun, under the pseudonym ‘Robert Markham’. Amis, who was a big Fleming and Bond fan, had shown his love of the character in two non-fiction books, The James Bond Dossier and the more light-hearted The Book of Bond, a guide for budding spies supposedly written by Bill Tanner. Amis was commissioned by Glidrose Publications to write the first Bond continuation adventure, which was published in March, 1968. The recent forum discussion focused on whether Amis had considered writing a second James Bond adventure, or whether this was just rumour. It would now appear that there may have been something to this, in the sense that Amis briefly contemplated writing not another novel but a short 007 story instead. Earlier in 1968, Amis had visited Mexico, travelling from St. Louis to Mexico City by train. Amis had remembered that Fleming had enjoyed placing his secret service hero on trains and, according to his correspondence (Amis was a prolific letter writer), Amis considered a short Bond story involving an incident on a train in Mexico, possibly with an assassination attempt on Bond’s life. Alas, there is no evidence Amis took this any further.
From Orlov With Love

The highly-acclaimed playwright and actor Steven Berkoff, who played the devious and hawkish Russian General Orlov in Octopussy (1983), staged a fascinating exhibition in north London in April, entitled ‘East End Photographs’. Held at the Hendon campus of Middlesex University (which is not far from the Royal Air Force Museum at Hendon), the exhibition of Steven’s work was designed to tie in with his new book of the same title, East End Photographs, which has been published by Dewi Lewis Publishing Ltd. The actor, who was born in the Stepney area of London in 1937 and still resides in east London today, revealed to the media that he has been taking photos of his beloved London East End, where he was raised, since being given a camera at the age of 11. The keen young photographer went on to capture some truly unique visual scenes of social life in the East End, recording life as it then was some 50-60 years ago, including the streets, the shops, and – especially – the local people. In fact, it was clear from the exhibition that Berkoff has always been a keen observer of everyday London cockney ‘characters’, and much of this has arguably fed into his highly distinctive theatre and film work.
When East Met West
Since forming his own London-based theatre group in the 1960s, Berkoff has become renowned for his powerful character performances on stage and his eye for the unusual and the ‘alternative’, and theatre remains his first love. His memories of East End villains and other ‘over-the-top’ extroverts also influenced both his stage and film work. His first movie role was in 1967 in the Hammer film Prehistoric Women, and he has appeared in more than 50 films. Although he had parts in major cinema films such as A Clockwork Orange and Barry Lyndon in the 1970s (both directed by Stanley Kubrick), Berkoff did not really come to mainstream Hollywood attention until the early 1980s, helped by his appearances as villains in Beverley Hills Cop, the second Rambo film and, in particular, by his memorable performance as the maverick Orlov in Roger Moore’s sixth 007 movie Octopussy. Indeed, in many ways, he has made something of a career out of taking villainous roles in the movies, but has said this has allowed him to plough his earnings back into his theatre productions. He appeared recently in an episode of the British sci-fi TV series Dr. Who (heavily disguised) and his most recent mainstream movie role was in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, the remake version which starred current 007 actor Daniel Craig. While he has been quite ambivalent at times about his own film work, Berkoff has also made an effort in recent years to start appearing at film autograph fairs, and has been pleasantly surprised to find he has a dedicated following among young film and TV fans.
Gogol to Orlov: ‘You are a common thief!’

June, 2013, will mark the 30 th Anniversary of the premiere of Octopussy in June, 1983. The JBIFC has numerous fond memories of the making of the movie, and it seems a good time to share some of those in the run-up to the Anniversary. During the filming of Octopussy in 1982, for example, Steven Berkoff developed a good friendship with the actor Walter Gotell and they used to pass the time spent waiting between takes deep in conversation about the theatre, movies, literature, culture and social issues generally (German-born Gotell was also a talented businessman who could speak 5 languages). As Bond fans know, at one key point in Octopussy, General Orlov ran through the railway gates at a German border crossing post, desperately trying to stop the Octopussy circus train, and was shot by West German border guards after he failed to stop. Walter Gotell, as General Anatol Gogol, was in hot pursuit, and had to run along the tracks after him, only to witness Orlov being shot. Steven Berkoff (as General Orlov) filmed his death scene in Octopussy one Sunday morning in September, 1982, on the railway line just outside the Ferry Meadows station of the Nene Valley Railway, near Peterborough (Ferry Meadows had been re-named ‘Gutenfurst’ for the movie). This was the last day of Main Unit filming on the Nene Valley Railway, and was very carefully overseen by director John Glen. This was because filming of the sequence had been postponed from the previous Thursday as Walter Gotell, at one stage, had accidently slipped and hit his head on the metal railway track, and had ended up with five stitches in his cheek. Such are the hazards of trying to run down railway tracks!
Did You Know?

Walter Gotell appeared in over 90 films, including seven Bond films. Walter Gotell’s final appearance as General Gogol, in Timothy Dalton’s first James Bond movie The Living Daylights (1987), was originally going to be a much larger part. In an early draft, the KGB General framed by General Koskov was to be General Gogol but, by then, Walter Gotell had become too ill to play such a major role, so the character of Leonid Pushkin (played by John Rhys-Davies) was created instead to replace Gogol. As Bond fans know, Gotell did still appear briefly as Gogol at the end of the movie, the General having been transferred to the Soviet diplomatic service. Although he continued with his acting career, Gotell began to devote more time to farming in Ireland, where he owned a countryside property. Walter Gotell sadly died in May, 1997, aged 73, after a battle with cancer.
Bond Bits: Brief Items of News You May Have Missed
Bond woman Olga Kurylenko, who played in Quantum of Solace, was one of the special guests on the BBC’s Graham Norton Show, screened on Friday, April 5. She appeared alongside Tom Cruise and Gerald Butler. Tom and Olga were promoting their new sci-fi blockbuster...
Olga spoke a little bit about her role in Quantum, commenting in particular on the all the rigorous training she had to do as part of her preparation for her Bond role. She made it clear that she remains very proud of her participation in the 007 series...
Spies-Are-Us: in some other good news for Olga’s career, former 007 Pierce Brosnan has confirmed that the Quantum actress is joining him in his new spy thriller November Man, which is based on the best-selling novel There Are No Spies, by Bill Granger. Also joining the cast is Dominic Cooper, who has recently been playing... Ian Fleming! Bet they’ll have some interesting conversations on set...
The new spy movie is shooting some of its scenes on location in Serbia. Speaking in an interview, Pierce noted that Kurylenko had been working with all the leading men in Hollywood: ‘She is a gorgeous actress, beautiful woman. She started with Daniel Craig and she is going to end up with Brosnan’, said Pierce, with a twinkle in his eye...
Gemma Arterton, who played MI6 assistant Strawberry Fields in Quantum of Solace, joined actor Rufus Sewell on a BBC Radio-3 programme called ‘Words and Music’, transmitted in the UK on Sunday, April 21. They each read out carefully chosen pieces of verse and prose on the subject of ‘time’, taken from authors such as Shakespeare, john Milton, D.H. Lawrence, and H.G. Wells, backed by musical pieces...
Samantha Bond, who played Miss Moneypenny in the Brosnan 007 films, is one of the stars in a new West End production of Passion Play by Peter Nichols: Bond, now 51, has been cast alongside Zoe Wanamaker as two aspects of the same character, with Bond as Nell, the argumentative ‘inner voice’ to Wanamaker’s betrayed wife, Eleanor. The play will preview at the Duke of York’s Theatre in London from May 1...
Now, pay attention 007: Pierce Brosnan has been busy promoting his new romantic movie Love Is All You Need, which opened in UK cinemas on April 18, and has received very good reviews from British critics. Interviewed in the London Metro newspaper on April 22, Pierce said he’s found peace with the fact that, after four films, he was suddenly replaced by Daniel Craig. He said: ‘You’re forever Bond. It’s a small group of men that have played the role... and every guy has his time on the stage’...
Brosnan also pointed out to the Metro that Bond allowed him to start up his own production company, and he has also been keen to diversify his recent roles: ‘You try to be an unexpected surprise’...
Actress Lara Pulver, who is playing Ann Fleming, wife of Bond creator Ian Fleming, in the new four-part TV biopic Fleming currently being made by Ecosse Films, was interviewed in the BBC TV listings magazine Radio Times on April 13...
Perhaps inevitably, the interview turned at one point to her role and to Dominic Cooper (who is playing Fleming). She said of her co-star: ‘I’m playing opposite him in a biopic about Ian Fleming and the tempestuous love affairs he had with many women, including Ann O’Neill, who eventually became his one and only wife. Their relationship was dysfunctional, abusive at times, and the script doesn’t shy away from anything’...
When asked whether she would like to be Bond girl, Pulver told the Radio Times: ‘Definitely. But what is wonderful is that in a way I’m playing the ultimate Bond girl’...
Actor Colin Firth, who was once seen as a possible candidate for the role of James Bond, has just purchased the option to a new spy series. According to the London Evening Standard newspaper (April 22), the Oscar-winning actor has started the ‘Raindog’ film production company with former Sony UK chairman Ged Doherty, and they have acquired the rights to the best-selling novel A Foreign Country, written by Charlie Cumming, the first of a trilogy by Cumming about disgraced spy Tom Kell, who is brought back to MI6 to help track down the woman who has been appointed as head of MI6 but has disappeared in mysterious circumstances...
Raindog have purchased options to all three novels in the trilogy, with the second novel, A Colder War, being published in 2014. Cumming is thrilled to have Firth possibly playing Kell: ‘He would be perfect for the part because he is an actor who can convey both great passion and great dignity, as well as superior intelligence, all characteristics in Tom Kell’...
When asked whether Kell could oust Bond (highly unlikely, we think!!), Cumming responded: ‘It would be great to have a slightly more “realistic” British spy portrayed on screen, in the way that Harry Palmer and George Smiley were the opposite of Bond throughout the Sixties and Seventies’...
The man with the golden touch? According to the UK’s Sunday Times, which published its annual ‘Rich List’ on April 21, actor Daniel Craig has now entered the ranks of the UK’s richest entertainers. The 45-year old actor is now valued at £40m. His next two 007 movies will add another £31m to the pension pot...
Rory Kinnear, who played Bond’s MI6 colleague Bill Tanner in Quantum of Solace and Skyfall, is currently back on stage in Othello, playing opposite Adrian Lester, who takes the main title role. Both actors have received some rave reviews for their performances. The play opened on April 23 and runs at the National Theatre, on the South Bank in London, until August 18...
The new ‘M’, actor Ralph Fiennes, is being mentioned for a possible role in a movie version of Our Kind of Traitor, based on the spy story by John Le Carre, to be directed by Justin Kurzel. The production is scheduled to start in autumn, 2013, and Fiennes would be joining Ewan McGregor and Mads Mikkelson (who played Le Chiffre in Casino Royale). Now that’s a cast to die for!...
Uncle Fleming would be pleased: the long-talked about new movie version of cult American spy series The Man From UNCLE, really looks like it has now finally taken off. British director Guy Ritchie (who recently helmed two movie versions of Sherlock Holmes) will direct Tom Cruise as Napoleon Solo and Armie Hammer (who?) as Illya Kuryakin...
Dedicated Bond historians will know that Ian Fleming created a character called ‘Solo’ for a proposed spy series for US TV in the early 1960s, and this eventually formed the basis for what later became The Man From UNCLE...
Barry is forever! John Barry fans are in for a treat later this year. The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra will hold a special concert entitled ‘The Very Best of John Barry’ at the famous Royal Albert Hall on Friday, October 4, starting at 19.30pm...
The spy who loved Jaws? Fans of actor Richard Kiel, who played the famous larger-than-life henchman ‘Jaws’ in The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) and Moonraker (1979), are in for a treat. He will be interviewed at a special event entitled ‘An Evening With Richard Kiel’, to be held at the Misty Moon Gallery, Ladywell Tavern, Ladywell Road, London, on Monday May 27, at 18.00pm. The evening will also see a screening of The Spy Who Loved Me..

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