Focus Of The Week: Tee Hee

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A loyal henchman to Dr. Kananga/Mr. Big (Yaphet Kotto), Tee Hee (Julius Harris) earned his name through his constant sniggering but, behind the laughs, lies a ruthless assassin. He has a metal arm, a replacement for the one bitten off by a crocodile named Albert, graced with a set of pincers to cut and claw his victims.

Bond (Roger Moore) first encounters Tee Hee at Kananga’s Fillet Of Soul restaurant in New York. When Kananga’s medium Solitaire (Jane Seymour) divines 007 is armed, Tee Hee reaches into his pocket, picks out the Walther PPK and twists the barrel, making it impossible for use. When Tee Hee returns the out-of-shape gun with a broad smile, Bond quips, “Funny how the least little thing amuses him.”

During another interrogation by Kananga, Tee Hee is ordered to snip Bond’s finger off to see if he is telling the truth. Solitaire confirms that he is and Kananga orders Tee Hee to let 007 go. Instead, Tee Hee knocks him unconscious.

Bond is taken to the crocodile farm, which Kananga uses as a cover for his heroin laboratory. Pointing out the crocodile that snapped off his arm, Tee Hee lures 007 to a small island surrounded by the deadly reptiles and leaves him to die. With no visible means of escape, Bond improvises the crocodiles as stepping stones to get off the island and subsequently destroys Kananga’s operation.

After he thwarts Kananga’s evil plans, Bond and Solitaire board The Crescent Passenger train. Tee Hee smuggles himself on board inside a mail bag and battles Bond in the small cabin. Bond severs the release wires of Tee Hee’s pincer claw, causing his mechanical arm to lock onto the window handle. Bond throws him out of the train window, ripping his metal arm off. When Solitaire asks Bond what just happened, he replies, “Just being disarming, darling.”

Focus Of The Week: Martin Campbell

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A filmmaker with both a flair for action and skill with character, Martin Campbell is in the unique position of launching two actors as 007: Pierce Brosnan in GoldenEye (1995) and Daniel Craig in Casino Royale (2006).

Campbell was born in New Zealand where he spent his childhood before moving to England in 1966 to work as a cinematographer making his directorial debut with The Sex Thief (1973). Campbell became a producer on Black Joe (1977) and worked as an associate producer on Scum (1979), Alan Clarke’s tough, controversial, acclaimed study of the British borstal system for young offenders.

In the late seventies, Campbell moved into television, directing episodes of such popular UK shows as Shoestring, The Professionals and Minder. Yet he cemented his reputation with two miniseries; Reilly: Ace Of Spies (1983) starring Sam Neill and Edge Of Darkness (1985) starring Bob Peck, the latter winning a BAFTA TV award for Best Drama.

It was his work on Edge Of Darkness that brought him to the attention of Bond producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli who chose him to direct GoldenEye. The film not only reintroduced the character after a six-year gap but also presented Pierce Brosnan as the new 007. Campbell delivered action with realism but with an added panache that was different from other 90s cinematic heroes.

“There were all these other heroes, the Bruce Willises and the Arnold Schwarzeneggers – they’re all blue collar,” he observed. “But there are no sophisticated antiheroes around. So I made GoldenEye a showcase for that kind of hero.”

Audiences welcomed the new Bond, the film becoming the most financially successful 007 film since Moonraker. After GoldenEye, Campbell stayed in the action genre with The Mask Of Zorro and Vertical Limit, as well as more serious fare such as Beyond Borders. He returned to the world of Bond with Casino Royale, again introducing a new 007 in Daniel Craig. The film included some of the most exciting action sequences in the series to date — a foot chase through a construction site shot in the Bahamas, a Venetian villa that crumbles into the Grand Canal and a Guinness World Record breaking Aston Martin barrel roll stunt — while making smaller, more intimate scenes, such as the central poker game, equally intense.

“The card game was probably the most difficult scene I’ve ever had to film,” he recalled. “It’s one thing to shoot a game of chemin de fer or 21, that’s very simple. When you’re playing Texas Hold’em poker with ten players around a table, that’s tough because it’s a more complex game and, with ten players all looking at each other. It’s very tricky to film.”

The finished film garnered multiple nominations, including a BAFTA win for Best Sound and further nominations including Outstanding British Film and Best Actor for Daniel Craig. Casino Royale became the first 007 film to earn other over $100 million at the UK box office and became the highest-grossing Bond film up to that point.

Focus Of The Week: Eiffel Tower Leap

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The jump from the Eiffel Tower during A View To A Kill’s Paris chase is a triumph of both the practical and the courageous. Bond (Roger Moore) pursues May Day (Grace Jones), bodyguard of industrialist Max Zorin, up the iconic French landmark. Clad all in black, she parachutes from the tower and, pursued by Bond in a car, escapes in a Glastron speedboat.
The sequence had its roots in a lunch between producer Michael G. Wilson and stuntman B.J. Worth. Worth indicated to the producer he would love to jump off the Eiffel Tower for an action sequence. The idea took four years and A View To A Kill to bring Worth’s dream to fruition. 
 “The Eiffel Tower was tricky because they have very strict rules about stunts being performed,” says Director John Glen. “The problem with the Eiffel Tower as a jumping platform is that the top is very thin. But the bottom is very wide so it slopes outwards very quickly.”
Worth began practicing the stunt by jumping from hot air balloons. Key to the stunt’s success was figuring out how long the stunt man had before he had to open the parachute. Michael G. Wilson did the calculations: “I said to him, “You’ve got about three and a half seconds, then you’ve got to pull it.”
Worth needed two permissions from the French authorities, one to jump from the tower, the other to land in Paris. After French production manager Serge Toubout facilitated the access, a ramp was built for Worth to jump off. Weather conditions had to be just right: any sudden gusts of wind could blow Worth back into the tower. The duration of the fall was so short there was no time to open a second parachute. 
At dawn on August 4, Worth, dressed as May Day, prepared to jump from the 300 metre tower. “I inhaled deeply and shouted ‘This one’s for Cubby!” he remembered. “I bolted down the plank and dove over the edge, throwing my chest to the horizon. Time almost stopped.”
The jump went off without a hitch. 30 seconds later Worth landed safely on Paris terra firma, next to his wife and children. Within the hour Producer Cubby Broccoli had delivered a case of champagne to Worth’s hotel room for a job well done. 

Focus Of The Week: Boris Grishenko

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A supremely talented hacker, Boris Grishenko, played by Alan Cumming, is crucial to Alex Trevelyan (Sean Bean)’s plot to hit London with GoldenEye, an electromagnetic pulse weapon and electronically steal billions of pounds from the Bank Of England.

With computer skills second to none, Grishenko is a fixture at the Severnaya Space Weapons Control Centre in Siberia. His hobby is to hack into the world’s securest computer systems, taking joy in creating passwords with elaborate riddles. Boris is often unaware of the moral ramifications of his actions; instead he sees the world as one big computer game often ending with his victory yell “I am invincible”.

Boris gives the signal for General Ouromov (Gottfried John) and Xenia Onatopp (Famke Janssen) to begin the massacre at Severnaya and later luring fellow programmer Natalya Simonova (Izabella Scorupco) into a trap in St. Petersburg. His actions become even more dangerous in Cuba, programming the GoldenEye satellite to detonate over London while hacking into the Bank Of England mainframe.

Boris is happy to see Natalya in Cuba, oblivious to her anger at his actions. As Natalya alters the course of the GoldenEye to harmlessly explode over the Atlantic Ocean, Boris tries to hack her pass codes. Bond and Natalya hurry to destroy the satellite command centre. Boris survives the crash of the transmitter and antenna through the station’s roof but is frozen solid by a cascade of liquid nitrogen. He was not invincible after all.

Focus Of The Week: Dr. No

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In 1961, American producer Albert R. ‘Cubby’ Broccoli wanted to bring Ian Fleming’s James Bond novels to the screen. Teaming up with Canadian producer Harry Saltzman, who had optioned the rights to the series, Broccoli landed the financing from United Artists, raising $1 million to bring 007 to the screen.

Initially Broccoli and Saltzman wanted Thunderball to be the first Bond adventure. When their intention was scuppered by copyright issues, they turned to Dr. No, the sixth Fleming novel that featured a topical story (the space race) and plenty of action, all set in a dazzling tropical location. To direct the picture, the producers chose Terence Young, a filmmaker Broccoli knew could bring the elegance, style and panache that were hallmarks of the character.

To adapt the screenplay, the team selected Wolf Mankowitz, who initially introduced Broccoli to Saltzman, and Richard Maibaum who had penned Broccoli’s first big hit The Red Beret alongside Johanna Harwood and Berkely Mather.

The final screenplay cleaved closer to Fleming. James Bond (Sean Connery) is sent to Jamaica to investigate the suspected murder of a fellow agent. Bond, with the help of CIA operative Felix Leiter (Jack Lord) and islander Quarrel (Jack Kitzmuller), follows a trail that leads him to scientist Dr. No (Joseph Wiseman). Landing on Dr. No’s private island, Crab Key, Bond encounters sea-shell collector Honey Ryder. The pair are captured by Dr. No’s private army and Bond learns of the scientist’s plan to destroy the US space program as a first step towards world domination. Bond outwits Dr. No, knocking him into a nuclear reactor pool, and rescues Honey before the island explodes.

The biggest question revolved around the casting of James Bond. The producers considered casting big names such as Richard Burton, James Mason and Cary Grant (the best man at Broccoli’s wedding). When Mason and Grant refused to sign up to multi-picture deals, Broccoli and Saltzman sought an unknown, discovering a young exciting Scottish actor named Sean Connery. It took Terence Young, who had worked with Connery on Action Of The Tiger, to school the actor in the ways of sharp suits, expensive food and fine wines. The role ultimately fit Connery like a glove.

For Honey Ryder, the producers cast Swedish actress Ursula Andress, who took the role at the prompting of her husband John Derek. To play the title role of Dr. No, Ian Fleming himself suggested friend and playwright Noel Coward. Coward sent a typically witty response by telegram: “Dear Ian, the answer to Dr. No is No! No! No!” The producers finally cast New York stage actor Joseph Wiseman.

Filming began in Jamaica on January 16 1962 before moving to Pinewood to shoot interiors. From Maurice Binder’s title sequence to Ken Adams’ sets to Monty Norman’s theme arranged by John Barry, the film established many of the elements now associated with the series. Equally ground-breaking was the film’s sense of pace and action. “The secret of the James Bond fights is that they are dramatic but are never real enough to be violently sickening,” said stunt arranger Bob Simmons. Dr. No opened in England on October 5th 1962 to huge critical praise and box office success. A new cinematic hero was born. The 5th October now marks, ‘Global James Bond Day’.

Focus Of The Week: The Spy Who Loved Me Chase

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The ski chase that opens The Spy Who Loved Me is among the most thrilling sequences in the entire series. On assignment in Austria, 007 is pursued down a mountain by KGB assassins when he is confronted by a cliff face. All looks lost when Bond skies off the edge to a certain death — until, after a few heart-stopping moments, a parachute opens emblazoned with a Union Jack.

The body of the chase sequence was filmed by the second unit in St. Moritz, Switzerland during January 1977. Despite Roger Moore’s skill as a skier, stunt doubles replaced him during the chase. “If the action’s sufficiently fast you can — by sleight of hand and clever editing — believe it’s the real person,” said Assistant Editor John Grover. “Roger’s a good skier but not a stunt skier. Sorry Roger!” Cameraman Willy Bogner, who had previously captured the skiing sequences in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969), tracked the stunt men on skis using a handheld camera to give the action an extra dynamic edge.

The moment Bond skis off the mountain was inspired by an advertisement for Canadian Club of a skier zooming off Mount Asgard in Canada and then opening a parachute. “We were looking for an opening sequence,” recalled Wilson. “I said, ‘Let’s find this guy’.”

‘This guy’ was climber and stuntman Rick Sylvester. Although the stunt was later revealed to be falsified. Sylvester was convinced it could be done for real. Producer Cubby Broccoli remembered the daredevil as “born with an irresistible urge to cheat death, preferably on skis, he was a natural worry to his mother.”

So, led by second unit director John Glen (who went onto direct five Bond films), Sylvester and a crew of ten headed to Mount Asgard in Auyuittuq National Park on Baffin Island, Canada to film the stunt. The shoot stretched the crew to the limit.

“We were in this very desolate part of the world, inside the Arctic circle with an Eskimo village about 30 miles away,” said Glen. “Each day we had to travel out by helicopter to set up the climbing pylons so the crew could get up there with the cameras. The weather was atrocious.”

Glen waited for ten days, the harsh conditions almost scuppering the stunt. But with a brief respite in the wind and clouds parting, the crew only had a fifteen- minute window to pull off the stunt. “The last thing I said to him was “Go Rick, and don’t forget, you’re James Bond,” recalled John Glen.

Out of the three cameras rolling, only one managed to capture the stunt and an instantly iconic moment was born. As Broccoli put it, “It was brave and it was beautiful. It was the pure essence of James Bond.”

 

Focus Of The Week: Quantum Of Solace

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Quantum Of Solace (2008) represented a first in the 007 series. With the action picking up just ten minutes after the end of Casino Royale (2006), it became the first direct sequel produced by EON Productions.

The idea for the film initially had much closer ties to Casino Royale, with Bond going in search of Vesper’s boyfriend. The finished story ultimately took a different path. Bond’s search for the reasons behind Vesper’s betrayal brings him into contact with Quantum, a sinister organisation with operatives all over the world. 007’s investigation takes him to Haiti, where he meets Camille, an agent looking to avenge the death of her family at the hands of former Bolivian dictator General Medrano. Camille leads Bond to Dominic Greene, the CEO of eco-friendly company Greene Planet and a high-ranking member of Quantum. Greene, who is in league with Medrano, is plotting to store away Bolivia’s water supply underground with the idea of using it as leverage to run the entire country.

Marc Forster (Monster’s Ball, Finding Neverland) was hired to direct a screenplay by Paul Haggis, Neal Purvis and Robert Wade. On January 25 2008, the production confirmed the title as Quantum Of Solace, after a 1960 Ian Fleming short story in which Bond is told an anecdote over dinner in Jamaica. “Ian Fleming always had an emotional line through his books,” recalled Daniel Craig. “Quantum Of Solace is a moving story debating relationships and how they hurt. He suggests if you don’t have a quantum of solace in your relationship, you should give up.”

Starring alongside Daniel Craig was Olga Kurylenko as Camille, a woman as desperate for revenge as Bond. Respected French actor Mathieu Amalric played faux environmentalist Dominic Greene. Rising star Gemma Arterton played Agent Fields, who meets a sticky end covered in oil in homage to Goldfinger, where Jill Masterson is painted gold. Regulars returning to the series included Jeffrey Wright (Felix Leiter), Jesper Christensen (Mr. White), Giancarlo Giannini (Mathis) and, of course, the inimitable Judi Dench as M.

Quantum Of Solace filmed in more overseas locations than any previous Bond film to date — 13 out of the 22 weeks were on location. Filming started at Pinewood Studios, the production travelled to Panama City and Colón in Panama and the Atacama Desert in Chile before moving onto Italy, visiting Siena, Carrara and Lake Garda. The main unit ended in Bregenz, Austria, with additional aerial sequences shot in Mexico. For a moment when Bond and Camille freefall out of a DC-3, the unit took over the world’s largest sky-diving wind tunnel in Bedford. Working with stunt coordinator Gary Powell, Craig and Kurylenko simulated the experience of freefalling at 170 mph.

The film’s other stunning action set-pieces included a rooftop foot-chase in Siena, a high-speed pursuit through the streets and tunnels of Lake Garda and a boat sequence shot in Colón doubling for Haiti. The production took a more believable approach to spectacle. As Producer Barbara Broccoli puts it: “One of the reasons we had much more realistic action was because Daniel was able and wanted to do it. When your leading-man does it, then everyone follows suit.”

Quantum Of Solace had its royal world premiere on 29th October 2008 at the Odeon Leicester Square. Opening to the public two days later, the film would go on to earn a phenomenal box office gross of $586 million.

 

Focus Of The Week: Guy Hamilton

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The second director to make a 007 film following Terence Young, Guy Hamilton added flair and panache to four Bond adventures. Born in Paris in 1922, Hamilton spent his formative years in France. He got his first job in the film industry aged 16, working as a clapper boy for French director Julien Duvivier. At the outbreak of World War II, he was evacuated aboard a ship and found himself sleeping on piles of coal.

Arriving in London, he started work at the Paramount News film library before a stint in the Royal Navy. After the war, he became an Assistant Director, working with such respected filmmakers as Carol Reed and John Huston. It was Reed who helped Hamilton get his first directing job with The Ringer (1952). Over the next ten years, he earned a reputation as director of male dominated films like The Colditz Story (1955), The Devil’s Disciple (1959) and The Best Of Enemies (1962).

Hamilton turned down the opportunity to direct Dr. No (1962) in order to make The Party’s Over (1965), a film that was delayed due to censorship laws. Hamilton’s opportunity to make a Bond film came with Goldfinger (1964), ramping up the humour, glamour and gadgetry. “I always think of Goldfinger being almost the perfect Bond film,” says producer Michael G. Wilson.

Hamilton returned to the Bond fold for Diamonds Are Forever, Live And Let Die and The Man With The Golden Gun, easing the transition between Sean Connery and Roger Moore. “Roger is not Sean and Sean is not Roger,” he once said. “You’ve got to forget whatever images you have in your mind.”

After Bond, Hamilton continued to direct well-crafted action films before retiring to Mallorca. He passed away at the age of 93 in 2016. This year he was honoured by the Atlantida Film Festival in Mallorca.

Focus Of The Week: Tomorrow Never Dies

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The 18th James Bond film and Pierce Brosnan’s second outing in the role was made under an intense deadline: a December 1997 release date set out by the studio.

GoldenEye writer Bruce Feirstein came up with the most modern of villains, a media mogul, encapsulated in a simple pitch: “Words are the new weapons, satellites, the new artillery.” In an early draft of the script, the news mogul was named Elliot Harmsway (he became Elliot Carver) and in later drafts the film had the working title ‘Tomorrow Never Lies’. It featured key elements from the finished film, including Harmsway’s (Carver’s) stealth boat and 007’s remote controlled BMW.

The final story sees Bond investigate media baron Elliott Carver (Jonathan Pryce) who is looking to provoke a war between China and the United Kingdom by sinking the British frigate HMS Devonshire in Chinese waters via a Stealth ship. Bond has 48 hours to discover the truth behind the sinking to prevent the two countries going to war. After tailing Carver to Germany, where he seduces Carver’s wife Paris (Teri Hatcher), Bond travels to South China to explore the wreck of the Devonshire. He meets Wai Lin (Michelle Yeoh), a Chinese agent who is working the same case. The pair are captured in Carver’s HQ but escape and team up to stop Carver firing the decisive missile at Beijing, exposing his ‘invisible’ ship to the Royal Navy.

Hong Kong action legend Michelle Yeoh was cast in the role of the Chinese agent  —Wai-Lin — very much an equal to Bond, not a sidekick. Jonathan Pryce, perhaps best known at that point for Miss Saigon, was recruited to play the power hungry mogul. Teri Hatcher, star of TV show Lois & Clark, signed on to play Paris, an old flame of Bond’s and now Mrs. Carver.

With Pinewood and Leavesden Studios completely booked up, the filmmakers, as with GoldenEye, created a new studio space, this time in a former warehouse in Frogmore, England. With the film now retitled Tomorrow Never Dies, the shoot began in January 1997 with Second Unit Director Vic Armstrong capturing the pre-credit Arms Bazaar sequence in the French Pyrenees.

Armstrong later orchestrated a spectacular car chase inside Brent Cross Shopping Centre car park doubling for a multi-storey car park in Hamburg. To achieve the idea that Bond is controlling the car via a touchpad on his cell phone, special effects supervisor Chris Corbould’s crew reconfigured four BMW 750iLs to be driven by a hidden stunt driver on the back floorboard, steering the car by watching video monitors. In the four-minute sequence, over 17 cars were used.

The team also created a stunning motorcycle helicopter chase, merging Bangkok locations with UK sets. At Frogmore, French motorcycle expert Jean-Pierre Goy riding a BMW R1200 motorcycle leaped between two buildings over a prop helicopter. Equally heart-stopping, parachute specialist B. J. Worth undertook eighty parachute jumps, falling 12,000ft over Arizona and 1400ft over Florida.

To meet the December 9 premiere date, composer David Arnold composed and recorded the score in sections during production. Arnold’s score felt modern while honouring the musical tradition of the series. Sheryl Crow wrote and performed the title song while k.d. lang sung the end title song ‘Surrender’, very much in the vein of a Shirley Bassey Bond classic.

Following Cubby Broccoli’s passing on June 27 1996, the film would be the first Bond film to carry the credit  ‘Albert R. Broccoli’s EON Productions Presents…’ (It previously said ‘Albert. R Broccoli Presents). The film proved to be both a fitting tribute and a huge success, earning $333 million worldwide. It also cemented Pierce Brosnan in the role, redefining Bond once more as the series approached a new millennium.

Focus Of The Week: Q (Desmond Llewelyn)

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Q is so much more than the Quartermaster his initial stands for. An endlessly inventive scientific genius, he runs a department within British Intelligence that stands at the forefront of technological innovation and often lifesaving ingenuity. His creativity and craftsmanship have rescued Bond in tight situations on many occasions.

After Peter Burton played armourer Major Boothroyd in Dr. No (1962), Desmond Llewelyn stepped into the role in From Russia With Love (1963), the first time the character is addressed as Q. He presents Bond with a seemingly normal attaché case that conceals some exotic but deadly gadgets; .25-calibre ammunition, a flat throwing knife, an ArmaLite AR-7 folding sniper’s rifle and a tear gas cartridge disguised as a tin of talcum powder — the latches must be turned horizontally before opening or the cartridge will explode.

In Goldfinger (1964), Q’s irritation with Bond’s wit (“Now pay attention”) and reckless disregard for his equipment comes to the fore. In return, Bond regards Q as a slightly dotty inventor. This sense of unease continues between the pair as Q travels into the field with bespoke gadgetry, be it in the Bahamas (Thunderball, 1965) and Japan (You Only Live Twice, 1967). The ice finally melts between the pair when Q attends Bond’s wedding to Tracy Di Vicenzo in Portugal (On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, 1971), finally demonstrating affection for the man who has used — and often abused — his equipment while saving the world. This sense of warmth and loyalty between the two men is evident when, in Licence To Kill (1989), Q travels to Isthmus a city with a bag of tricks to help Bond in his personal mission of vengeance against Franz Sanchez.

Just as Bond’s adventures have broadened in scope, so have Q’s operations, setting up bustling research labs in Egypt, Brazil and India. His technical wonders have also grown even more ambitious; a portable stereo housing a rocket launcher, a fake sleeping gaucho (South American horseman) that splits in two to reveal two firing machine guns and a set of bagpipes that transforms into a flame-thrower.

Llewelyn’s Q retired in 1999, mentoring his assistant R to become his replacement. He delivers his final piece of advice to Bond — “Never let them see you bleed and always have an escape plan” — as he exits on an elevator.

Focus Of The Week: The Lotus Esprit S1 

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One of the iconic cars  from the Bond films, the Lotus Esprit S1 from The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) was small in size — 419 cm long, 185.4cm wide and 117.7cm from ground to rooftop — but huge in stature. Q’s modifications not only equipped it with cool gadgets and heavy firepower but also with the capability to transform into a submarine. None of this sacrifices the Esprit’s speed or ability to handle the tightest of corners.

Bond (Roger Moore) picks up the Lotus in Sardinia during his joint mission with Russian agent Anya Amasova (Barbara Bach) investigating shipping tycoon Karl Stromberg (Curt Jürgens). When Stromberg’s killers chase the pair down mountain roads, Bond uses a cement sprayer hidden behind the rear number plate to blot out the assailants’ car window. To avoid a helicopter gunship, Bond drives the Lotus into the sea.

The Lotus now deploys its full range underwater conversion system; rudders and fins emerge from the sides, a propeller replaces the back bumper, blackened windows block out glare and a periscope rises from the roof. To destroy the hovering helicopter, Bond launches an air-to-sea missile using the car’s gearshift. As Stromberg’s divers attack the car, 007 deploys front-mounted torpedoes, an ink cloud and a mine. 007 re-configures the car back into a land vehicle, emerging from the sea to the surprise of some startled tourists.

Work on the sequence started in Nassau in August 1976. Lotus supplied seven shells for the filmmakers to adapt. One of the cars was sent to Perry Submarines to be motorised, the others were converted to represent the various stages of the transformation. To achieve the thrilling moment where the Lotus drives into the sea, the empty shell of a car was launched into the water by an air cannon.

For the underwater sequences, a miniature Lotus was guided through the clear waters of the Bahamas on ultra-thin wires. But the sequence was not without its dangers. As Visual Effects Supervisor Derek Meddings recalled, “It was quite amusing because a couple of times when we were filming underwater, we nearly got run down by the motorised Lotus.”

The finale of the sequence, with the Lotus emerging on a crowded beach, was shot at Capriccioli in Sardinia. Assistant Director Victor Tourjanksy played one of the surprised bathers. In a neat running joke, Tourjanksy also had guest appearances in Moonraker (1979) and For Your Eyes Only (1981).

You can see ‘Wet Nellie’ at Bond In Motion http://londonfilmmuseum.com

OMEGA Bond Exhibition In London

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Since GoldenEye in 1995, James Bond’s choice of watch has been the robust and stylish OMEGA Seamaster. This month, that partnership is being celebrated with a special exhibition of 007 watches at the OMEGA Boutique at 260 Regent Street in London. From November 20th until the 27th, guests can explore over 20 years of James Bond memorabilia and Seamaster watches, including the same models worn in the films and the Limited Edition tributes such as the most recent “Commander’s Watch” which was launched earlier this year.