James Bond Style Book By Assouline

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After the success of the James Bond Destinations book, Assouline has launched James Bond Style, a large format coffee table book with never-before-seen sketches and detailed fashion analysis.

Throughout the 328 pages, James Bond Style takes readers through 25 films and over 60 years worth of costume design, for not just 007 himself, but also his nemeses, love interests, and colleagues. James Bond Style includes direction and insight from Academy-Award winner and five-time 007 costume designer Lindy Hemming.

The book includes an introduction from the editor-in-chief of the London Standard newspaper, Dylan Jones, and features stories and insights from the designers behind many of the outfits, from Donatella Versace, Tom Ford, and Jenny Packham.

James Bond Style is available now in hardback at 007Store.com priced at £100.

007’s Car Gadgets

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Over the course of twenty-five films, James Bond has been behind the wheel of some of the fastest and stylish cars in the history of big screen driving. From small accouterments — the ability to drop tacks to slow a pursuer down — or huge transformations — turning a road vehicle into a submarine — the Q’s car gadgets of 007 have saved Bond in a crisis on numerous occasions, becoming a constant source of delight for audiences since 1964’s Goldfinger.  

Aston Martin DB5 in Goldfinger (1964)

Expected to be reunited with his trusted Bentley, Bond (Sean Connery) is surprised to be gifted an Aston Martin DB5 by Q (Desmond Llewelyn) boasting a plethora of hidden extras. The idea of an Aston Martin full of gizmos appeared in Ian Fleming’s novel but was souped up by production designer Ken Adam. “I had a Jaguar which was continuously being damaged by people parking badly,” he recalled. “Having guns at the back of the Aston Martin and the overriders becoming like boxing gloves and so on became part of me releasing my frustrations.”

Q Fact: Front mounted machine guns hidden behind the indicator lights; revolving licence plates valid for England, France and Switzerland (this idea came from director Guy Hamilton who fantasised about escaping parking tickets); a high-powered oil jet; rear smoke screen; revolving tyre slasher; onboard radar display; a weapons panel in the centre armrest; and, most famously of all, an ejector seat operated by a button hidden in the knob of the gear stick – in Skyfall, Bond threatens to use it on M (Judi Dench).

Aston Martin DB5 in Thunderball (1965)

A star after Goldfinger, the Aston Martin DB5 returned for Bond’s fourth outing. The car plays a pivotal role in an escape from Jacques Boitier’s chateau and a high velocity chase with Fiona Volpe (Luciana Paluzzi).

Q Fact: The hero gadget on display is a water cannon concealed in the rear of the car that keeps the pursuing henchmen at bay.

Aston Martin DBS in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969)

A new Bond (George Lazenby) gets a new car that plays a prominent part in the beginning of the film (Bond rescuing Tracy) and its tragic finale. The car is seen being repaired in Q’s workshop in Diamonds Are Forever.

Q Fact: A telescopic rifle built into the glove department.

Lotus Esprit in The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)

Known as ‘Wet Nellie’, an underwater counterpart to Q’s gyrocopter ‘Little Nellie’, the Lotus Esprit spirits Bond (Roger Moore) and Anya Amasova (Barbara Bach) away from Stromberg’s henchman, turning into a speedy submarine at the flick of a switch. “The Lotus Esprit lent itself beautifully with that very streamlined body to work as a submarine,” says production designer Ken Adam. Although the car jumped off a jetty in Sardinia, the underwater Lotus was shot in the clearer waters of the Bahamas. “It was quite amusing because a couple of times we were filming underwater, we nearly got run over by the motorised Lotus,” recalled special effects designer Derek Meddings.

Q Fact: On the road, the car unleashes cannons from behind the number plate that spray cement on the windscreens of chasing vehicles. Beneath the sea, the wheel arches transform into fins and propellers extend from the back. Bond navigates via a small periscope and uses front mounted rockets, limpet mines and radar guided surface to air missiles to see off assailants. None of this surprises Russian spy Anya — she had previously stolen blueprints for the car.

Lotus Esprit Turbo in For Your Eyes Only (1981)

After a break in Moonraker, the Lotus Esprit returned in Roger Moore’s third outing. A film that dialed back on the hardware, the Lotus still had an explosive gizmo in its arsenal.

Q Fact: As Cuban hitman Gonzales’ goons attempt to break into the stationary Lotus, smashing the window activates an explosive device that blows the thugs into oblivion. Perhaps they should have paid attention to the ‘Burglar Protected’ sticker. 

Aston Martin V8 in The Living Daylights (1987)

“We had changed Bond’s car over the years but we thought that as we were introducing a new Bond, we’d bring back the classic Aston Martin, a real bonus for many Bond fans,” said co-writer and producer Michael. G. Wilson. Picking up with musician Kara Milovy (Maryam d’Abo), 007 (Timothy Dalton) employs the car’s breadth of gadgetry to evade the KGB and Czech police, before sliding into Austria on a cello case.

Q Fact: Laser beam tyre slashers (an upgrade on Goldfinger) that remove a police car from its axle; retractable skis and spiked tyres; a police band radio; bullet proof windows; rockets behind the fog lights (the missile display is on the front windscreen); and a rocket booster that allows Bond to jump over a blockade. Like the For Your Eyes Only’s Lotus, the V8 also has the capacity to self-destruct to avoid falling into enemy hands.  

Aston Martin DB5 in GoldenEye (1995)

The DB5 made a triumphant return, with Bond playing a thrilling cat and mouse chase with Xenia Onatopp (Famke Janssen), then pulling up in true 007 style outside a Monte Carlo casino.

Q Fact: Q’s gadgetry here is perhaps best described as practical. A fax machine in the dashboard and a cellular voice communication system. There is also a refrigerated compartment for a chilled bottle of Bollinger.

BMW 750IL in Tomorrow Never Dies (1997)

The BMW 750IL might be the most gadget laden car in the series’ history, coming into its own when Bond has to escape from a German car park in the Atlantic hotel.

Q Fact: Rockets that come out of the sun roof; tyres that re-inflate themselves; a chain cutter that emerges from the bonnet; bullet-proof glass and bodywork; an electronic defence system that emits a 20,000 volt shock; magnetic flash grenades; a tear gas mechanism; a metal spike dispenser; and a safe concealed in the glove compartment.

But the most impressive state of art technology is the ability to drive the BMW with a remote control from an Ericsson cell phone, allowing Bond to steer it from the comfort and safety of the back seat. “We had 17 BMW 750ILs in aspic silver”, said special effects technician Chris Corbould. “Four were adapted to what is called ‘Hidden Driver Car’ to give the effect that Bond is using the remote control.”

BMW Z8 in The World Is Not Enough (1999)

Given an introduction to the car by Q’s assistant (John Cleese), the Z8 transports Bond from the oil pipeline in Azerbaijan to a caviar factory on the Caspian Sea where it meets a sticky demise.

Q Fact: A remote control keychain allowing 007 the ability to start the engine from a distance and two masked ground-to-air missiles. Unfortunately, there is nothing in the arsenal to stop it being cut in half by a rotating blade dangling from a helicopter.

 Aston Martin V12 Vanquish in Die Another Day (2002)

Playfully nicknamed the Vanish by Q because of its adaptive camouflage mode that made it practically invisible.

“When we suggested it originally, we weren’t sure anyone would go for it,” said screenwriter Robert Wade. “The idea is that in Iceland or in the desert, when there’s not much contrast in the background, it’s invisible but in an urban environment, you’d be able to see it.” Co-writer Neal Purvis added, “Q says, ‘It’s as good as invisible’. It’s a camouflage, not a cloaking device.”

Q Fact: Beyond invisibility, the car also featured thermal imaging (dispensed from the CD player); target seeking shotguns; machine guns; and torpedoes that come in handy when Bond is chased across a frozen lake in Iceland by General Zao (Rick Yune). Bond also niftily deploys the ejector seat to flip the car the right way up when it is skidding along on its roof. Spiked wheels also allow 007 to stick to a cavern wall to avoid Zao’s charging Jaguar.

Aston Martin DB5 in Casino Royale (2006)

M sends alias passports, a weapon and Q’s newest Aston Martin DB5 to Bond in Montenegro. The car comes to a spectacular demise in pursuit of Le Chiffre, flipping seven times after swerving. The stunt achieved a Guinness World Record for the most cannon rolls in a car, performed by stuntman Adam Kirley at Millbrook Proving Ground, Milton Keynes.

Q Fact: A secret compartment housing Bond’s Walther PPK plus a small defibrillator and medical kit that, in a tense few moments, saves 007’s life after being drugged in Casino Royale.

Aston Martin DB10 in Spectre (2015)

Specifically developed by Aston Martin who created ten cars for the film, the DB10 was reassigned from 007 to 009 due to Bond’s unsanctioned mission in Mexico. Bond steals the car and heads to Rome on the trail of The Pale King and is pursued in a high-speed chase by Hinx (Dave Bautista) in a Jaguar C-X75. But, new to the car, Bond has to escape Hinx while negotiating an unknown set of gadgets.

Q Fact: Rear machine guns operated by the BACKFIRE button and a rear windscreen targeting device — only to discover the car has no ammunition. The EXHAUST button unleashes rear flamethrowers that slow down Hinx’s progress while an AIR button initiates a combined ejector seat and parachute that lifts Bond to safety as the car soars into the river. But perhaps most surprising is the ATMOSPHERE switch which plays a pre-loaded playlist for 009 so in the heat of the chase, Bond is faced with the opening strains of Frank Sinatra’s New York, New York.

Aston Martin DB5 (2021) in No Time To Die

For Daniel Craig’s final outing, Bond was reunited with the classic Aston Martin DB5, speeding with Madeleine Swann (Léa Seydoux) through the hilltop town of Matera, before being cornered in an ancient town square.

Q Fact: The DB5’s gadgetry has come a long way since Bond’s first Aston Martin in 1964. Among the updates are LED screen revolving number plates; mini mines that scatter from the boot; and thousand-round-a-minute guns behind the headlights. “I was very keen to have a big end moment,” says production special effects supervisor Chris Corbould. “So we came up with the idea of donutting around, spraying bullets 360 degrees, shredding walls and buildings. Bond hits the smokescreen and it completely fills the square in seconds, which gives him the opportunity to get away.”

007 Science: Inventing the World of James Bond at Chicago’s Griffin Museum of Science and Industry is open until 27 October 2024.

Bond In Motion at the International Spy Museum is open until April 2025.

007 Action launches in Vienna on September 7th 2024 at METAstadt Convention Centre.

James Bond Day 2024

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Happy James Bond Day! 5 October marks the annual celebration of cinema’s most beloved MI6 agent.

When our original James Bond, Sean Connery, made his legendary entrance at the casino table, introducing himself to Sylvia Trench (Eunice Gayson) as Bond, James Bond,” a new screen icon was introduced. His gritty portrayal of the charismatic secret agent is, without a doubt, a key factor of the success of the film series, along with an intoxicating mix of cast, great story arc, exotic locations, and magical music. The success of Dr. No began a new genre of filmmaking for cinema audiences worldwide.

                                                                                         – Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli

Beginning in 2012, during the franchise’s 50th anniversary, 5 October was selected as the celebration day marking the UK premiere of Dr. No in 1962. The golden commemorations included the release of Skyfall, and the creation of the insider documentary Everything or Nothing: The Untold Story of 007, now available to watch on Prime Video.

For the month of October, all 25 movies will also be available to stream on the platform alongside 2022’s 60th anniversary documentary The Sound of 007, which chronicles the films’ legendary soundtracks and iconic James Bond themes.

New for 2024 on Prime Video will be four mini-documentaries: 007 Destinations, 007 Action: With Chris Corbould, 007 Design and 007 DB5: Celebrating 60 Years. 

There is also a unique 007 experience this year for fans to enjoy at Burlington Arcade, Mayfair. The 007, is a brand new bar and boutique featuring signature cocktails, curated Goldfinger archive props and exclusive collectibles to purchase. Special activations will be happening across the weekend to celebrate James Bond Day. The 007 will be open until 31 December 2024.

Champagne Bollinger Goldfinger Limited Edition

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Champagne Bollinger have released their new Goldfinger 007 Limited Edition Cuvée.

The Goldfinger branded magnum of 2007 vintage Bollinger champagne is being released to commemorate the Sean Connery-starring film’s 60th anniversary, and is available in an edition of 200 numbered units.

Presented in a bespoke Globe-Trotter Air Cabin Case, the magnum also comes with four bespoke Bollinger champagne 007 glasses, making this a true collector’s item. 

The Goldfinger 007 Limited Edition Cuvée is available in-store at The 007 boutique in Burlington Arcade, and online at 007Store. The Cuvée is also available by the glass at The 007 bar, alongside other Bollinger champagnes. The 007 is located at House 12-13 Burlington Arcade, 51 Piccadilly, Mayfair, London, W1J 0QJ from 18 September to 31 December 2024. Opening hours are 10am-7pm Monday-Saturday, 11am-6pm Sunday.

The Goldfinger Gallery

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Following on from Dr. No and From Russia With Love, Goldfinger became James Bond’s third big screen adventure, pitting 007 (Sean Connery) against Auric Goldfinger (Gert Fröbe), one of the world’s wealthiest men, who is planning Operation Grand Slam, a plot to contaminate the Fort Knox gold reserve to increase the value of his own bullion. To celebrate the film’s sixtieth anniversary, enjoy this collection of behind-the-scenes images, documents, concept art and posters from the EON archive.

Seagull Surprise

Bond’s entry into Goldfinger sees him infiltrate a Latin American drug warehouse, emerging from the water with a seagull on his head (the waterfront was constructed on the water tank at Pinewood studios). In Ian Fleming’s novel, the mission was presented as a flashback beginning with Bond walking into a club. Original screenwriter Paul Dehn extended the sequence to show 007 coming out of the sea, scaling a wall and planting explosives. 

We Have Some Notes

Dated 3 February 1963, just five weeks before filming began, Richard Maibaum’s script notes reveal a script conference with the writer, Cubby Broccoli and Sean Connery, held in Los Angeles where the actor was shooting Hitchcock’s Marnie. The transcript reveals not only the highly collaborative nature of the process but also Connery’s intuitive grasp of tone, sharing concerns the current draft is too joke heavy and light.

Painted Lady

Bond wakes up from being knocked unconscious by Oddjob (Harold Sakata) and discovers Jill Masterson (Shirley Eaton), Goldfinger’s personal assistant, painted head to toe in gold, killed by skin asphyxiation.

After the make-up dept experimented with different paints to see what would work under the hot lights, the scene was shot on April 20. The gold was applied with a paintbrush by make-up artist Paul Rabiger and it took around 90 minutes to apply. There was no paint on Eaton’s front, allowing her skin to breathe.

“I did feel hot and uncomfortable,” remembered Shirley Eaton, “but (director) Guy Hamilton was very considerate of me. He got it done very quickly and the two shots were done in one morning.”

The scene became one of the iconic images in the series and was homaged in Quantum Of Solace when agent Strawberry Fields (Gemma Arterton) was killed in a similar fashion but with crude oil.

Bond To A Tee

Bond and Goldfinger battle it out in the most under-handed golf game ever filmed. The stakes between Bond and Goldfinger start small – “Shall we make it a shilling a hole?” suggests Bond – but soon escalates when 007 drops a bar of lost gold onto the green.

The Stoke Poges golf course was only a ten-minute drive from Pinewood Studios but the shoot was plagued by five days of bad weather. A different kind of duel took place as Connery and Fröbe engaged in a mock swordfight with golf clubs as the cast and crew waited for the conditions to improve. The scene played squarely to Connery’s passion for the game.

“The great joke about him was his absolute obsession with golf,” recalled Honor Blackman, who played Pussy Galore. “He was mad about it. A real addict. The rest of us had to steer him away from the subject or he’d go on for hours, giving us a ball-by-ball replay.”

The scene also provided an opportunity to show the threat posed by Goldfinger’s manservant Oddjob (Harold Sakata), firstly by crushing a golf ball in one hand and then by decapitating a statue by flinging his bowler hat. The moment was created by a series of shots captured at both Stoke Poges and in the gardens at Pinewood, stitched seamlessly together by editor Peter Hunt.

Taking The High Road

Following the golf duel, Bond tracks Goldfinger to Switzerland using a homing device hidden in the bullion dealer’s Rolls-Royce Phantom III. Guy Hamilton scouted for locations in a single weekend, looking for a winding road where Bond tails Goldfinger. The location at the Furka pass allowed Hamilton to create three separate planes of action with Bond being targeted by Tilly Masterson (Tania Mallet) while he is looking at Goldfinger. The Switzerland shoot was delayed not only by inclement weather but also by the clutch on the Aston Martin burning out, resulting in some hasty repairs.

The Tables Are Turned

The torture of Bond by Goldfinger, with 007 strapped to a laser table, was the first scene shot with Connery and Fröbe. The initial idea was to utilise a real laser but the pencil thin line disappeared under the powerful studio lights. While the laser’s beam was added in later optically, an acetylene torch actually cut through gold sheets (actually cut made with brass) mounted on an electrically operated unit underneath the table.

Positively Shocking Pages

The climax of Goldfinger takes place in Fort Knox as Bond thwarts Goldfinger’s Operation Grand Slam. Production designer Ken Adam meticulously recreated the exterior of Fort Knox in Black Park, an outside space adjacent to the back lot, while a more fanciful interior was created in the studio. 

The scene involved intricate fight choreography between 007 and henchman Oddjob. The script had Bond attack Bond with a forklift truck loaded with gold bars but Hamilton wanted something more. The final death scene sees Bond throw Oddjob’s steel rimmed hat that gets stuck between the bars in a grille, then electrocuting the henchman with a live wire as he goes to retrieve his bowler.

“Harold grabbed the hat and all the bang bangs were set off,” recalled Hamilton. “The bang bangs were very well done and very spectacular and I was intrigued. And the only timing I remember was that when the effects started to die, I will say ‘Harold’, and then he could fall down dead. The effects were rather fun and were going on so I didn’t say ‘Harold’ for quite a time. Eventually as they started to die down, I said, ‘Harold’, and then he – doink! – did a very spectacular fall.” 

Works Of Art

Goldfinger had its royal premiere in London at the Odeon Leicester Square on September 17 1964 (Honor Blackman called it “the most glamorous night of my life”). Released later in the US on Christmas Day, the film opened in 64 cinemas where it recouped its $3 million budget in just two weeks. The film went onto gross almost $125 million worldwide, breaking box office records globally.

Key to the film’s success was its poster campaign. The UK posters saw designer Robert Brownjohn riff on his title sequences, using Margaret Nolan rather than Shirley Eaton as the ‘golden girl’. The French poster design focused on the battles between Bond and Oddjob, while the Japanese poster puts 007 front and centre surrounded by key scenes from the film. 

The 2024 Advent Calendar Is Unveiled

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Seven decades, seven drawers, seven exclusive collectibles. The James Bond 2024 Advent Calendar is revealed, released in a limited edition of just 1,000 and only available to order at 007Store.com and The 007 Boutique at the Burlington Arcade, Mayfair.

This luxury calendar is the ultimate festive gift and features seven drawers of Bond-inspired designs to open in Christmas week. With a combined retail value of over £350, the unique numbered exclusives, collectibles and collaborations take you on a journey through James Bond’s 25 film history, moving through each decade, from Dr. No (1962) to No Time To Die (2021).

Reserve yours now at 007Store.com or The 007 Boutique. 

24 Carat Gold For Goldfinger

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As part of the Goldfinger anniversary celebrations, British car kit makers Agora Models announce a precious limited edition 24 ct gold-plated Goldfinger Aston Martin DB5 in 1:8 scale. With just seven models being created, the car will come complete with some of 007’s most famous gadgets, including functioning ejector seat and revolving number plate.

Made in collaboration with Eon Productions and Aston Martin, the meticulously detailed car will be available as a luxury self-build kit or complete model. 

The replica began with laser scanning of the original full-size Goldfinger car with hundreds of photos taken to capture every detail, including the engine, chassis, dashboard and gadgets. Up to 250 moulds were then created – each weighing well over a tonne – and painstakingly tested before final production began. The gold-plated body is made with 24 ct fairmined gold worked by specialists in Birmingham’s jewellery quarter and each car is individually certificated.

Discover an arsenal of functioning gadgets as designed by Q: ejector seat with removable roof panel, twin front-mounted Browning machine guns, bulletproof screen, tyre slashers, oil slick jets, revolving number plates, gadget control panel, radar tracker screen, weapons tray, extending over-rider rams.

Priced at £24,999 ($29,999; €29,999), the 24 ct gold model is currently on display at The 007, Burlington Mayfair and available to view at agoramodels.com. Due to a high volume of interest, Agora has a special ordering system with successful purchasers being notified from 5 October 2024, James Bond Day. Find full details on their website here.   

The Goldfinger At 60 Gift Guide

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To mark Goldfinger turning 60, we bring you a guide to our collectibles and product collaborations available at 007Store.com and The 007 Boutique at Burlington Arcade, Mayfair, London. Discover exclusive Ken Adam sketch prints, apparel, special release sock designs, and more to celebrate the adventures of James Bond, Pussy Galore, Auric Goldfinger and Oddjob.   

Art

The anniversary is marked with a newly created 60 Years of Goldfinger framed poster. The Goldfinger Ken Adam print set is a special new portfolio of six rarely seen sketches by the iconic 007 Production Designer in a numbered edition of just 300. Visitors to the Burlington Arcade boutique only will find three new framed Ken Adam sketches to order. These exclusives include the film’s Fort Knox set, the laser room set and the Aston Martin DB5.     

Clothing

N.Peal‘s silk & cashmere knit polos, sweaters and waistcoat let you recreate Bond’s look in a number of Goldfinger’s scenes. The Goldfinger anniversary sock box set contains five designs from The London Sock Exchange, including The 007 DB5 in racing green and a new golden Oddjob. Or pick up the Ken Adam DB5 t-shirt, available in a choice of colours.

Accessories

Tee off with Lock & Co.‘s Stoke Panama trilby hats and 60th anniversary Auric flat cap in pure wool, while using the new Goldfinger tees, golf towel and ball marker from Penfold Golf. Gold-plated Fort Knox bullion cufflinks complete any outfit; Barton Perreira‘s handcrafted Goldfinger sunglasses draw on Sean Connery’s on-set style. Globe-Trotter’s leather Oddjob hat luggage charm is a fun way to personalise your baggage – or simply keep it sharp with the Goldfinger “This is gold, Mr. Bond” quote pencil.

Collectibles

Until 5th October, get a first look at the Champagne Bollinger Goldfinger magnum set at The 007 Boutique. This numbered anniversary release is made in an edition of just 200, and will be available at 007Store.com and worldwide from 5th October. 

Auric and James Steiff collector’s bears are all set to come home with you, or select your favourite car model from the film. Complete the Goldfinger Aston Martin DB5 kit by Agora Models for a museum quality 1:8 scale replica, while the new Corgi Rolls Royce Phantom III is now available. Catch a replica Oddjob hat by Factory Entertainment – complete with iconic metal brim – or switch it up with the DB5 gearstick. Discover the new silver proof Goldfinger coin from The Perth Mint or take your pick with an Aston Martin DB5 keyring in a choice of chrome, gold or gun metal finishes.

Discover the complete collection at 007Store.com or visit the Burlington Arcade for The 007 Boutique and more 007 partner stores at 51 Piccadilly, London, W1J 0QJ. The 007 Boutique is open until 31 December 2024 and opens 10am-7pm Monday-Saturday, 11am-6pm Sunday.

Celebrating Goldfinger’s 60th Anniversary

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“This is gold, Mr. Bond. All my life I’ve been in love with its colour… its brilliance, its divine heaviness.”

Directed by Guy Hamilton, Bond (Sean Connery)’s third globe-trotting mission takes him from Latin America to Miami to Kent to Switzerland to Kentucky, this time thwarting gold-obsessed businessman Auric Goldfinger (Gert Fröbe) from controlling the world’s bullion reserves. 

To mark its sixtieth birthday, let’s celebrate how Goldfinger established the template for many of the adventures to follow…

The Title Sequence

The iconic title sequence for Goldfinger was created by advertising creative/graphic designer Robert Brownjohn. Building on his work in From Russia With Love, which projected slides of text onto the body of a dancer.

While the sequence ultimately featured images from all three 007 films, it delivered a tightly paced precis of Goldfinger’s key moments, from the chief villain Goldfinger to henchman Oddjob (Harold Sakata) to the revolving number plates of the Aston Martin DB5. It became a striking collage, all played out to John Barry-Anthony Newley-Leslie Bricusse’s unforgettable song. “I think the mixture of his images and the song was just perfect,” recalled Barry.

The Song

Goldfinger marked the first time composer John Barry composed the music for both the film and the title song. Hamilton wanted the song to be “dirty and gritty” and played Barry a recording of Mack The Knife as a guide to the feel he wanted.

“I sat down and wrote this rather strange angular thing, which for me was right,” said Barry. “It couldn’t be a freewheeling open melody. It had to have angles.”

Barry sent the music for the song to lyricists Anthony Newley and Leslie Bricusse, who were enjoying a huge West End hit with Stop The World I Want To Get Off. As neither had read Goldfinger’s book or screenplay, Barry explained it was a song for the main villain, using Mack The Knife as an example. After the lyric was written, Barry recorded a demo with a bass, banjo and Newley on vocals before moving into the studio to record with performer Shirley Bassey.

“There was a big screen in the studio and I had to sing over the titles and I’d never done that before,” said Bassey. “The titles were very sensual, I must say.”

“I said ‘Shirley, just sing it like you sing it, with all your conviction,” said Barry. “’Convince everybody that you know what it’s about. Belt it to the best of your ability’.”

The recording session went on all night, with the singer having to repeat the song over and over again.

“I had this restricting bustier on, so towards the end, I went to the bathroom to take it off and let it all hang out,” the singer remembered. “I felt much more comfortable and I was able to hit the last note better. I was holding it, and holding it, and I was looking at John and I was going blue in the face and he was going, ‘Hold it just one more second.’ And when it finished I nearly passed out.”

The song proved to be a huge hit, inspiring over 20 cover versions, the soundtrack album going to number one. Yet the combination of Barry’s writing and Bassey’s voice also gave the series its signature sound. 

“Shirley fit so well with that Bond style,” explained Barry. “It was the most natural thing.”

The Q Scene

While previous films had included scenes with M and Miss Moneypenny, Goldfinger became the first Bond film to take us into Q’s lab and showcase his workshop of gadgets. The scene not only sees Q (Desmond Llewellyn) replace 007’s Bentley 3 ½ litre with the now iconic Aston Martin DB5, equipped with an arsenal of extras that save Bond’s life, but also set the tone for the 007/Q relationship that would play out across the series. 

“At the rehearsal stage, I was working at a desk and Bond comes in and I got up to meet him,” remembered Llewellyn. “And Guy said, ‘No, no, no, no. You don’t take any notice of this man. You don’t like him.’ And I thought, ‘But this is Bond, this is James Bond and I’m just an ordinary civil servant. I must admire him like everybody else does.’ Guy says, ‘No, no, no, no. Of course, you don’t. He doesn’t treat your gadgets with respect, any respect at all. I mean, the briefcase that you gave him in From Russia With Love — he just ignored it more or less although it saved his life. So, when you’re describing the things on the car, you know perfectly well he’s not going to treat them with the respect they should have.’ And, of course, the penny dropped and the whole thing came together.”

Initially, the script skipped over Q’s explanation of the car’s capabilities but was rewritten at Cubby Broccoli’s insistence so the audience could enjoy the anticipation of Bond pressing buttons to escape. “I think Cubby was absolutely right”, recalled Hamilton.

The rewrite meant that Llewellyn had more technical jargon to learn but it also gifted him one of the series’ most memorable lines.

“Since they had the set there, it was quite easy to get me back on Monday and then they could choose whether it was used or not,” the actor recalled. “And, of course, it gave me the chance of producing I suppose one of the most famous lines: ‘I never joke about my work, 007’.”

The Car

Ian Fleming’s novel described Bond’s car as a gadget filled Aston Martin DB8 Mark III, an idea which had particular resonance with production designer Ken Adam.

“I had a Jaguar which was continuously being damaged by people parking badly,” he said. “Having guns at the back of the Aston Martin and the overriders becoming like boxing gloves and so on, became part of me releasing my frustrations.”

It was director Guy Hamilton who came up with the idea of revolving number plates because, “I was getting a lot of parking tickets at the time and I thought it would be absolutely marvellous to collect a parking ticket and then juggle the number plate, drive off, not be worried and you’d look at the meter man’s face.” 

Adam and Special Effects Supervisor John Stears visited Aston Martin Lagonda and fell in love with a red DB4 that was actually a prototype for the DB5. The car was so packed there was no space to add the mechanics to make the gadgets work so more practical means were sought. The rear lights that descended and oil slick were done for real with a big container of oil in the back of the boot – this meant removing the bullet proof shield to create more room.

The Aston Martin DB5 proved immensely popular. The following year, a Corgi die-cast model car was released just before Thunderball and has sold over 7 million DB5s in various editions since 1965.

The Huge Climactic Action Set-Piece

Pre-empting the likes of You Only Live Twice, The Spy Who Loved Me, and Moonraker, Goldfinger ends on a big set-piece involving a huge set designed by Ken Adam. While the exterior was a detailed recreation of Fort Knox on Black Park, the interior was pure invention.

“I thought if I can reproduce the exterior absolutely as a copy of the existing Fort Knox, then I can design whatever I like for the interior of it,” said Adam. “Since I felt gold was the important thing, I then stacked up gold 40 foot high behind a sort of prison like grille.” 

Filming in the vault began on June 12. On the first day of the shoot, Sean Connery was sent home with a swollen eye, testament to the physical nature of the action. As Goldfinger’s Korean army take on the US military, the sequence took ten days to complete, complicated by fight choreography and practical special effects. As Bond diffuses the bomb that is to irradiate the gold bullion, producer Harry Saltzman suggested a comedic beat that sums up a knowing lightness of touch that Goldfinger exemplifies.

“When you shoot an insert for the bomb and the thing is flying through, obviously you go down to zero,” observed Hamilton. “It was Harry Saltzman who said, ‘Stop it here. You should stop it at seven. 007’.”

007 Action VIP Opening In Vienna

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007 Action had its VIP opening yesterday (4 September) in Vienna, attended by Bond actresses Maryam d’Abo (The Living Daylights) and Caterina Murino (Casino Royale), special effects supervisor Chris Corbould OBE and stunt coordinator Lee Morrison. 

“It’s wonderful to be back in Vienna where we filmed The Living Daylights and see how the legacy of Bond continues to captivate new audiences,” said Maryam d’Abo. 

Caterina Murino added: “It’s an honour to be a part of the James Bond franchise and be here in Vienna to see this vast collection of iconic vehicles, watches and miniatures.”

“This wonderful collection of vehicles from over 60 years of the James Bond films certainly brings back some great memories of creating heart-pounding action sequences,” recalled Chris Corbould OBE.

Lee Morrison said: “I’m really proud of the stunts we created in the 007 films; these vehicles have certainly been put through their paces. It’s also good to see the addition of Bond’s classic OMEGA watches into the collection.”

007 Action at the METAstadt Convention Centre opens on Saturday 7 September. Tickets are on sale now.

Image: Andreas Tischler

On Location With Spectre

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Spectre represents the longest job of Supervising Location Manager Emma Pill’s career. “I started in December 2013 and finished in August or September 2015. Two birthdays, two Christmases,” Pill says. Responsible for finding and securing the filming locations, Pill had worked with filmmakers Steven Spielberg, Tim Burton and Christopher Nolan before she joined the world of 007, tasked by director Sam Mendes to track down locations as diverse as a remote alpine clinic and a North African base for SPECTRE operations.

“Sam [Mendes] was absolutely brilliant to work with,” Pill recalls. “With Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli, you do feel part of a family when you’re working on a Bond film. I hadn’t done one before but to actually get to do Spectre was great. Bond is a British institution.”

Below Pill takes us through the challenges, pitfalls and joys travelling the world to source the perfect locations for Spectre…

Mexico City, Mexico 

Spectre begins with 007, played by Daniel Craig, on a rogue assignment in Mexico City, killing assassin Marco Sciarra during the Day of the Dead festivities. With no such parade of this scale taking place in Mexico City at that time, the production staged its own celebration through Paseo de la Reforma, one of the capital’s principal avenues, and Centro Histórico, the central historical district.

“I sent my colleague Ali James to Mexico City. “She did an amazing job. It was quite a coup to get the area shut down for the entire shooting period,  We had something like a thousand police. It was a big deal and it looked spectacular on film.”

For the key location of Zócalo Square, the production team spent a year negotiating permissions to stage a helicopter fight high above the crowded parade. It’s testament to the power of the Bond franchise that the Mexican government officials said yes, as air traffic in the area was usually not permitted.

“The [James Bond] name opens doors from a location point of view because people are so excited about it,” says Pill. “It’s such an event and nice to be able to phone up and say, ‘Hello. I’m working on this. I can’t tell you too much about it. But can I have a look at your location please?’ More often than not, you get to see amazing stuff that Joe Public doesn’t get to see.”

Rome, Italy 

Bond heads to Rome to attend Sciarra’s funeral. From intel gathered from Sciarra’s widow Lucia (Monica Bellucci), 007 infiltrates a meeting of clandestine terrorist network SPECTRE run by Franz Oberhauser/Blofeld (Christoph Waltz), who authorises the murder of the mysterious ‘Pale King’. Bond is spotted in the shadows and a high-speed chase ensues through the streets of Rome, with Bond’s Aston Martin DB10 chased by Oberhauser’s chief henchman Hinx (Dave Bautista) in a Jaguar C-X75.

“I did the scouting for Rome,” says Pill. “We had to take the DB10 into the streets at night prior to shooting to see what the colour of the metallic body was against some of the streetlights.”

To shoot the pursuit, Pill’s team arranged one of the longest city lock-offs in the franchises’ history, blocking out roughly 3km of main roads entering Rome. On February 23 2015, the unit shot Bond and Hinx speeding alongside each other on Corso Vittorio Emanuele II, two of the fastest cars in the world barrelling through the streets at night.

“Everybody takes into consideration the precious, period nature of the city but there is also the public and crew safety aspect,” says Pill. “The planning that goes into chases is insane. They do some crazy things in Bond films, that’s what makes it exciting.”

Sölden, Austria

With Moneypenny’s help, Bond identifies ‘The Pale King’ as Mr. White (Jesper Christensen) and heads to Althuassee in Austria. The scouting for the snowy sequences was Pill’s first job on Spectre, the process starting in December 2013 because it is impossible to choose an alpine location without snow, “it looks completely different,” she says. Pill, alongside Production Designer Dennis Gassner and Associate Producer Gregg Wilson, spent six weeks exploring different European countries to find the perfect scenescape.

“Our first challenge was to look at all the different mountaintops, whether it be France, Italy, Switzerland or Germany,” Pill explains. “We looked at these incredible buildings that are perched on insane peaks and then we went out and scouted them. I don’t know how many ski lifts and cable cars we took but we did a lot of that.”

They landed on the ice Q, a restaurant in Sölden, Austria, that was a perfect space for the Hoffler Klinik. “I remember going up there for the first time,” she says. “It was a clear blue sky at the end of the day, that sort of dusk feeling. It was spectacular. Those moments are what I love.”

Once the ice Q was selected as the key location, it became the lynchpin around which the other locations were chosen in Austria. “You do have to have a bit of a plan for each country,” says Pill. “You start to try and form packages and parcels. We might have had an amazing lake up in Norway, but we weren’t going to go for a lake in Norway and a mountain in Austria.

Gara Medouar, Morocco

Conceiving the film visually, director Mendes wanted the film to play on a dynamic between hot and cold. After the freezing climates of Austria, the action switches to Morocco as Bond and Madeleine Swann (Léa Seydoux) track down SPECTRE’s HQ in the Sahara. Having shot in Tanzania previously, and after recce-ing Morocco, Pill suggested a crater caused by erosion in Gara Medouar near Sijilmasa for Blofeld’s lair. 

“When Sam [Mendes], Dennis [Gassner] and cinematographer Hoyte [Van Hoytema] flew over, we walked out and it’s this flat landscape with an amazing little canyon with a cauldron coming out of it. We were looking for the feeling of heat, big skies, huge scope.”

The River Thames, London 

When joining the project, Pill was convinced production wouldn’t need London locations because Mendes’ previous 007 film Skyfall had made extensive use of the English capital. She couldn’t have been more wrong.  “Sam sat down with a group of us and said, ‘I want to bring it to central London. I want to focus on the river’,” says Pill. “My eyebrows raised knowing how difficult that can be.”

After destroying Blofeld’s base, Bond and Madeleine return to London to stop Max Denbigh’s online Nine Lives initiative going live, with the action centred on the Thames. The conception for shooting the sequence was to close down the river from Vauxhall Bridge to Hungerford Bridge. To accommodate the planning and negotiations for the sequence, it was scheduled for the end of the shooting as it involved cooperation from numerous parties: the House of Commons, House of Lords, MI5, MI6, the Lambeth Film Office, the Westminster Film Office, The Port of London Authority and the Civil Aviation Authority.

With the sequence taking place at night, illuminating the stretch of river was a big undertaking. Huge lights were placed on rooftops from Vauxhall to Hungerford, with lighting cranes in front of Lambeth Palace and Tate Britain, as well as two placed on floating barges by Westminster Bridge.

“When you next watch the film, notice that each arch of the bridges – Lambeth and Vauxhall – is lit by little spotlights underneath. The Thames drops seven metres every tide and it’s never the same time. So, we had a rigging team three weeks prior to the first night shoot, working on flatbed barges with scissor lifts that could only get to certain arches at certain tides. The logistics of that whole sequence were mind blowing.”

Pill had a team of 150 people marshalling crowds, organising traffic closures and logistics, an army that required a separate car park just to serve them. Once filming started, the crew were confined to the river, meaning support boats had to provide food and drink. But, as well as on the water, Pill also had to worry about what was going on in the air.

“With the helicopters, we could only fly up till midnight due to residents – they didn’t want helicopters buzzing around their apartments all night. After midnight, we focused down on the river and the quieter stuff. We sent out 11,000 letters to local residents.“

Having planned the set-piece for months, Pill’s most exciting moment was to see all her hard work pay off and the cast and crew take centre stage. “I think it was 9pm on a Saturday night in May and I was on one of the support boats behind the hero boat. I’m sitting there and everything gets closed down and then the helicopter comes in and we’re off. That for me is like, ‘Oh, we got here’. When it all comes together it’s quite exhilarating.”

Daniel Craig Signed Triumph Auction For RNLI

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Two Triumph motorcycles hand-signed by Daniel Craig are to be auctioned in support of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI).

Donated from Daniel Craig’s personal collection, the #003/250 Scrambler 1200 Bond Edition and the #001/250 Tiger 900 Bond Edition bikes will be auctioned by Bonhams|Cars Motorcycles during the Classic Motorcycle Mechanics Show on 12 and 13 October, 2024.

The two models were inspired by the 25th James Bond adventure No Time To Die and sold out on their day of launch. Each lot also includes a riding experience at the Triumph Adventure Experience with stunt coordinator Lee Morrison and stunt double Paul Edmondson.

Daniel Craig said: “The RNLI has been close to my heart all my life since growing up near the RNLI station at Hoylake. I have incredible memories of going afloat with the RNLI crew at Ramsgate to experience firsthand what it’s like to be part of the organisation that has saved over 146,000 lives since starting up over 200 years ago. I am honoured and immensely proud to support the RNLI and hope the auction of Triumph’s Limited Edition Bond motorcycles proves popular. The riding experience with Lee Morrison and Paul Edmondson adds another unique and exciting dynamic to the lots. I worked with Lee on Casino Royale, all the way through to No Time To Die; the opportunity is not to be missed and will help raise funds for the truly lifesaving cause that is the RNLI.”