Focus Of The Week: Franz Sanchez

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Franz Sanchez is a drug baron who believes loyalty is more important than money, Bond learns to exploit this view to his advantage. Calculating and cold-blooded — it is no coincidence that he keeps a chameleon as a pet — Sanchez has government officials in his pocket in countries ranging from the US to Chile. Operating out of the small nation of Isthmus, he uses the coded sermons of televangelist Professor Joe Butcher to sell his cocaine and launders the profits through his casino. Sanchez’s nefarious activities mean he is facing 139 felony counts and 936 years in prison if caught by the US government.

A rare visit to the US by Sanchez sees the net draw tighter. Drug Enforcement Agents, led by Felix Leiter and including Bond who is acting as an observer, capture the drug lord by hooking a cord to his plane as he attempts to escape into international airspace. Sanchez bribes DEA agent Ed Killifer with $2 million to spring him from US custody, undertaking an audacious escape from a high security transit. Sanchez wreaks revenge on Leiter by having his new bride Della murdered and torturing Felix by lowering him into a shark tank. He leaves Leiter maimed but alive to send out a warning to those who cross him.

Sanchez learns a major cocaine shipment to the US has gone wrong and the payment stolen by a mysterious stranger, unaware that 007 is behind the intervention. Using Sanchez’s own money, Bond arrives in Isthmus City and offers his services as a killer for hire to Sanchez. He earns Sanchez’s trust after the latter mistakenly believes Bond saved him from an assassination attempt and begins to cleverly sow the seeds of distrust between Sanchez and his accomplices.

Bond manages to infiltrate Sanchez’s inner circle and uncovers his master-plan: a scheme with an Asian drug cartel smuggle huge quantities of cocaine by dissolving the drug in ordinary gasoline, transporting it by ocean-going tanker, and then converting it back to cocaine. In a spectacular chase, Bond destroys the tankers one-by-one, ending on a mano a mano battle with Sanchez. When facing a machete wielding Sanchez, Bond takes a cigarette lighter, a thank you gift from Felix and Della, and uses it to set fire to the gasoline-soaked Sanchez.

007 Funko Pop! Vinyl Figures

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James Bond and other memorable Bond film characters will be available as Funko Pop! Vinyl figures this December. The series will include two versions of 007 from Goldfinger and The Spy Who Loved Me. The iconic “Golden Girl” from Goldfinger will also be available alongside supervillain Blofeld, complete with white cat, Oddjob and Jaws. Bond, as seen in Dr. No and Octopussy and Oddjob throwing his lethal hat will be sold exclusively in select stores.

Focus Of The Week: Live And Let Die Boat Chase

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On Friday 13 October 1972, the Live And Let Die production team started shooting on the film’s iconic boat chase.

The sequence sees Bond, having just set fire to a drugs factory, evade Dr. Kananga’s men by stealing a speedboat and heading out into the Louisiana Irish Bayou. Screenwriter Tom Mankiewicz recalled how the sequence was conceived: “I knew there was going to be a boat chase and until we almost started shooting, it just said, ‘The most terrific boat chase you’ve ever seen,’ because I never got around to writing it. That really happened as a result of going around the bayous and seeing the different stunts they could do.”

There were 26 boats used in the sequence, leaping across roadways and skidding across lawns. By the time the shoot was complete, 17 boats were destroyed. For the first part of the chase, Bond drives a Glastron GT-150, then, after a bullet punctures the propeller fuel tank, he swaps it for a CV-19. To let Director Guy Hamilton capture close-ups of Bond travelling at speed, Roger Moore learned to drive the boats. Although the actor didn’t emerge unscathed. During rehearsals, he drove the CV-19 into a boathouse on the shore, fracturing his tooth in the accident.

On 15 October, the piece de resistance of the set-piece saw stuntman Jerry Comeaux perform a boat-jump over Highway 39 at Crawdad Bridge over Sheriff J. W. Pepper and his car. To test the stunt was safe, the crew recreated the levee and the police car, even making a J.W. Pepper out of bamboo. The idea was that if the stunt could be performed three times without mishap, it would be safe to put an actor in there.

A crowd gathered to watch the stunt. On the second take Comeaux’s boat took off on a 40ft leap, hit the water, skidded in the wake of another boat and flipped up onto the bank but fortunately no-one was hurt. The impact of the completed stunt surprised even Comeaux. “When I finally saw film of the leap it scared the hell out of me,” he remembered.

The GT-150 is on display at Bond in Motion at the London Film Museum:

www.londonfilmmuseum.com

Focus Of The Week: Dr. No

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A scientific genius, Dr. No initiates a plan to sabotage American rocket launches from Cape Canaveral from his secret island base on the Caribbean island of Crab Key off the coast of Jamaica. He employs a nuclear reactor to create radio signals that interfere with the rockets’ gyroscopic controls.

In Dr. No’s own words, he is the “unwanted son of a German missionary and a Chinese girl of good family.” Becoming “treasurer of the most powerful criminal society in China,” he stole $10 million of their money and fled to the US. Shunned by the scientific communities in the East and West, Dr. No became a high-ranking operative in the terrorist organisation SPECTRE. His entire plan is driven by revenge against the East and West who rejected him: SPECTRE will not only determine who reaches the moon first but also decide which side will prevail in the Cold War.

Equipped with mechanical hands as a result of radiation experiments gone wrong, Dr. No considers himself one of the world’s leading experts in radiation power. Despite his intimidating appearance, he is also a man of culture, expertly mixing classical art (he owns Goya’s portrait of Wellington stolen in 1961) and antiques with modern design. Yet his exquisite taste belies a ruthless nature.

Dr. No rules by fear. On Crab Key, he keeps a small army of guards and a flame throwing swamp vehicle — painted to resemble a dragon — to scare off local interest. Metallurgist Professor Dent runs Dr. No’s criminal organisation in Jamaica deploying a clutch of associates including the Three Blind Mice killers, Mr Jones, a woman posing as a Daily Gleaner photographer and Miss Taro. Together, they keep an eye on Crab Key, taking note of anyone who takes too much interest in Dr. No’s organisation. This nefarious team is responsible for the death of secret service agent Commander John Strangeways, a murder that brings Bond to Jamaica to investigate.

When Bond and Honey Ryder are captured in Dr. No’s base, he initially treats them well hoping to convince 007 to join his organisation. Bond refuses — Dr. No dubs him a “stupid policeman” — and is incarcerated along with Honey. Dr. No prepares to topple the NASA moon launch, unaware that Bond has escaped and entered the nuclear reactor room disguised as a technician.  Bond overheats the reactor, forcing Dr. No to charge, the pair battling on the fuel elements carriage as it is lowered into the reactor pool. At the last moment, Bond knocks Dr. No into the pool, his metal hands unable to grip at the carriage as he boils to death in the bubbling water.

Focus Of The Week: GoldenEye Tank Chase

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On January 16th 1995, the GoldenEye second unit, led by director Ian Sharp, travelled to St. Petersburg to begin shooting the tank chase set-piece.

The sequence sees Bond (Pierce Brosnan) in a tank careening through the streets of St. Petersburg in pursuit of Colonel Ourumov (Gottfried John), who has Natalya Simonova (Izabella Scorupco) held captive.

The production bought three Russian tanks — two T-54s and one T-55 — at a cost of £9,000 to £11,000 each for the stunt. “We nicknamed the tank ‘Metal Mickey’ remembers second unit camera operator Harvey Harrison. “At 42 tons it didn’t stop for anyone.”

The St. Petersburg city authorities had concerns about damage to streets and historic buildings so the filmmakers undertook an engineering analysis to see if the sequence could be completed safely. Using the utmost care, the crew staged stunts and explosions in the heart of the city.

This sequence was augmented with shots staged on a two-block stretch of a St. Petersburg street and recreated by Production Designer Peter Lamont at Leavesden Studios in just over six weeks. Perhaps the most complicated stunt in the whole sequence involved Bond driving the tank into a lorry carrying Perrier cans and then into a statue of Tsar Nicholas on a winged stallion that gets scooped up on top of the tank. In the first instance, two crew members spent a week emptying around 90,000 cans of Perrier for the stunt sequence to prevent a fizzy explosion on impact. Then to affix the statue to the tank, special effects supervisor Chris Corbould attached a loop beneath the statue in the hope that it might catch.

“We came up with other complex and complicated methods, but I thought: ‘This one is worth a go,“ recalled Corbould. “We drove the tank at it and the statue stuck on the first tank.”

Stunt man Gary Powell drove the tank, often reaching speeds of 35 mph. Each shot was captured with a minimum of four cameras (and on one occasion six cameras) because the spectacular action was often unrepeatable.

“The tank is like Frank Sinatra,” quipped director Ian Sharp. “He only does one take.”

007 Zippo Lighter Collection

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Zippo has partnered with EON Productions to unveil a specially-designed 007 collection of windproof lighters.

The first lighter collection features the classic James Bond gun barrel, the 007 logo as well as movie poster designs from Dr. No and From Russia With Love. Discover the full James Bond Zippo collection at 007Store here.

007 Elements: A James Bond Cinematic Installation

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007 ELEMENTS is the new James Bond cinematic installation opening this winter built inside the summit of the Gaislachkogl Mountain in Sölden. The name 007 ELEMENTS reflects the visitor’s journey through a series of galleries, each distilling the craft of the signature elements that define a James Bond film. The installation will focus on Spectre, which was shot in Sölden, but will also feature other titles in the James Bond franchise.

The collaboration between the project’s Creative Director Neal Callow (Art Director on Casino Royale, Quantum Of Solace, Skyfall and Spectre) and Optimist Inc. Head of Design Tino Schaedler and his team has resulted in an immersive, interactive, and educational experience that places visitors inside the world of 007 while revealing how that world is made.

“Our aim with 007 ELEMENTS is to tell the narrative of the Bond story in an emotional and engaging way”, said Callow. “We want to use this incredible location to place our guests into Bond’s environment, and bring the stories to life in a unique and unforgettable way.”

Located 3,050 meters above sea level, the 1,300 square meter building has been constructed within the mountain and is arranged over two levels. Blending seamlessly with its surroundings, the impressive structure reveals itself through a tunnel and unfolds into two main areas offering spectacular views of the Tyrolean valleys.

The bespoke new building to house the installation was designed and is currently being constructed by Obermoser Architects. Tyrolean architect Johann Obermoser and his team have been planning and realising award-winning commercial and residential buildings since 1983 including the spectacular ice Q restaurant on the summit of the Gaislachkogl and the Gaislachkogelbahn and Giggijochbahn cable car stations in Sölden.

Combining state-of-the-art technology with stark contemporary architecture, 007 ELEMENTS creates a captivating experience with a dramatic cinematic soundscape set in nature’s awe-inspiring surroundings.

https://www.soelden.com/007-elements

Focus Of The Week: Tiger Tanaka

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In You Only Live Twice, Tiger Tanaka (Tetsuro Tamba) is the head of the Japanese Secret Service and a key ally in Bond (Sean Connery)’s mission to uncover the mystery of spacecraft disappearing in orbit and so defuse an impending World War III.

Genial but professional, Tanaka has Bond delivered by his top agent Aki (Akiko Wakabayashi) to his underground office via a hidden chute beneath Tokyo. He plays a vital role assisting Bond in uncovering Ernst Stavro Blofeld (Donald Pleasence)’s plot to abduct US and Soviet spacecraft, not only by providing Bond with intelligence analysis of materials obtained from Osata Chemicals & Engineering but also by offering the services of Aki who rescues 007 from Osata’s guards and gunmen on the docks.

Later, Tanaka trains Bond as a modern day ninja for the assault on Blofeld’s hideout. As 007 goes undercover as a Japanese fisherman, Tanaka provides Bond with a new identity, arranging a fake marriage to Kissy Suzuki (Mie Hama) on an island of Ama fishermen and pearl divers. Tanaka disguises himself as a local peasant farmer and leads his team of Ninjas as a back up for Bond. When Kissy reports that Bond has discovered a secret rocket base hidden in a mainland volcano, Tanaka mounts a ninja attack on Blofeld’s HQ, skilfully defeating the SPECTRE guards and technicians during the spectacular raid.

Focus Of The Week: Auric Goldfinger

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One of the world’s richest men, obsessed with gold and its acquisition, Auric Goldfinger (Gert Fröbe) plots to place an atomic device inside Fort Knox. He plans to increase the market value of his own sizeable gold hoard tenfold by irradiating the $15 billion of gold in the Federal Gold Reserve.

Bond gains a valuable insight into Goldfinger’s ultra-competitive, devious, and ruthless nature when he catches him cheating at gin rummy in Miami Beach. Goldfinger’s anger that his paid companion Jill Masterson betrayed him to Bond results in her horrific death from skin suffocation; he has her painted gold.

Rumours that Goldfinger has been smuggling gold ignite the interest of the British Secret Service and MI6 sets Bond on Goldfinger’s tail. Bond infuriates Goldfinger by out-tricking him in a golf match and then follows him to his factory in Switzerland. There, Bond discovers that he has been smuggling gold from England in the body panels of his Rolls-Royce.

Goldfinger then kidnaps Bond, who, having overheard mention of “Operation Grand Slam” convinces Goldfinger to keep him alive, instead of cutting him in half with an industrial laser.

Using most of the organised crime families in the US to smuggle in the components he needs to carry out his plan, Goldfinger gathers the crime bosses together at his stud farm in Kentucky, boastfully informs them of some of the details of “Operation Grand Slam”, and then proceeds to gas them all.

Goldfinger enlists Pussy Galore’s pilots from her Flying Circus to spray Delta-9 nerve gas over the Fort Knox area. Bond convinces Galore to reconsider. She works with the authorities to replace the deadly gas in the canisters. When Goldfinger makes his assault, he finds himself involved in a battle. Nevertheless, he manages to get his atomic device locked inside the depository, with Bond handcuffed to it, before escaping. The bomb is diffused but Goldfinger has one last trick. He hijacks a presidential jet flying Bond to the White House. During a fight with Bond on board Goldfinger fires his pistol. The shot shatters a window and as the cabin depressurises Goldfinger is suck through the opening to his doom.

Focus Of The Week: Moneypenny (Naomie Harris)

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In Skyfall (2012), Miss Moneypenny, played by Naomie Harris, is reintroduced to the series as a field agent, Eve. For Naomie, Eve is “very independent, intelligent, very witty, fun, courageous. She’s a woman I admire and would like to be, but I don’t have half as much courage as she has.”

She firsts assists Bond on assignment in Istanbul, driving a Land Rover Defender in pursuit of mercenary Patrice, who has stolen a clandestine Mi6 hard drive. During the breakneck chase, Patrice leaps from a bridge onto a speeding train and Bond follows suit. As the train starts to disappear into a tunnel, Eve, armed with an assault rifle, is ordered by M to “take the shot” to stop Patrice escaping. Eve suggests she hasn’t got a clear view and might hit Bond. M insists she fires. Eve’s shot accidentally hits Bond and he plummets into a river as Patrice escapes.

For ‘killing’ Bond, Eve is temporarily suspended and begins assisting the Intelligence and Security Committee Chairman Gareth Mallory during the transition between M’s ‘voluntary retirement’ and her unnamed successor’s arrival. At Mallory’s request, Eve is sent to Macau to help Bond. She flirts with him during an intimate shave but offers more vital back up by knocking out one of Severine’s bodyguards saving Bond’s life. Eve is further in the thick of things when Silva attacks M’s Board Of Inquiry, firing off shots in the gun battle, also aiding the escape of key government officials.

Following M’s funeral, Eve presents Bond with a Royal Doulton British Bulldog bequeathed to Bond by M in her will. Eve informs Bond she is leaving fieldwork to assist the new M — Gareth Mallory. It’s only at this point she reveals her full name to Bond — “Moneypenny, Eve Moneypenny.”

In Spectre (2015), Moneypenny becomes one of Bond’s key allies, risking her career to help him by bringing him the package left to him by M and by informing 007 the true identity of ‘The Pale King’ as Mr. White, a former member of Quantum. Later, along with M, Q and Tanner, she plays a pivotal role in the plan to arrest Max Denbigh.

“What’s really great about Spectre is that their relationship has really developed and they’ve become a lot closer,” Naomie says of Moneypenny and 007. “They really trust each other.”

Focus Of The Week: John Glen

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John Glen currently holds the record for directing the most Bond films of any director. His five films are marked by bringing a more grounded, realistic feel to the series while still retaining the trademark glamour and adventure.

Born in 1932, Glen started work in the film industry as a messenger at Shepperton Studios for Producer Alexander Korda. In 1947, he started work in cutting rooms, first as a runner, then as an assembly editor on such films as The Third Man (1949) and The Wooden Horse (1950).

Following a two-year stint in the Royal Air Force, he re-entered the film business as a sound editor and worked his way up to Second Unit Director on British television series Danger Man and Man In A Suitcase.

Glen’s big break came when Peter Hunt, Director of On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969), offered him the chance to direct the second unit and edit the film. Glen’s work on the thrilling bobsled chase sequence greatly impressed Bond Producer Albert R. “Cubby” Broccoli. Glen subsequently worked as Editor/Second Unit Director on The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) — he directed the classic Union Jack parachute jump — and Moonraker (1979), earning the reputation as a master of action filmmaking.

Glen was chosen to direct For Your Eyes Only (1981), bringing a ‘back to basics’ espionage driven approach following the extravagance of Moonraker. After the final two Roger Moore adventures, Octopussy (1983) and A View To A Kill (1985), Glen directed Timothy Dalton in The Living Daylights (1987) and Licence To Kill (1989) lending the character further realism and edge.

Focus Of The Week: Sean Connery

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Sean Connery was the first actor to play Ian Fleming’s James Bond. His sense of style, self-confidence, always with a dash of humour and charisma, helped defined the cinematic 007.

Thomas Sean Connery was born in Edinburgh, Scotland on 29 August 1930.  His upbringing in working class Fountainbridge was a far cry from the privileged background of Fleming’s Bond. Leaving school in his teens to work on a milk delivery route, he joined the Navy at an early age and subsequently worked as a bricklayer, lifeguard and French polisher. In his spare time he enjoyed bodybuilding and earned a bronze medal in the 1953 Mr Universe competition. Here, he learned a production of South Pacific was looking for male dancers for the sailor’s chorus. A natural athlete, he landed a role and started a career as a professional actor.

Following a brief flirtation with a career in football — manager Matt Busby offered him a contract to play for Manchester United — Connery joined a suburban London repertory company giving him exposure and experience on a weekly basis. He started gaining roles in low budget films including 1957 Action Of The Tiger directed by Terence Young, who promised the young actor a much better role in the future.

Connery garnered strong reviews taking the lead in Requiem For A Heavyweight after Jack Palance dropped out. Roles in Hollywood films such as Another Time, Another Place and Darby O’Gill And the Little People followed, leading to a variety of film, theatre and television roles but no big break.

After Cary Grant and James Mason had refused to sign contracts for multiple films, Broccoli was looking for an unknown to play his new secret agent hero and remembered Connery from Another Time, Another Place. Broccoli arranged for a screening of footage from Darby O’Gill And the Little People and invited his wife Dana for another perspective. “That’s our Bond!” she exclaimed. Dana’s enthusiastic reaction confirmed Broccoli’s instincts and the actor was called in for a meeting.

In the summer of 1961, Connery entered the Mayfair offices of producer Albert R. Broccoli for a meeting that would change his life “Connery walked into our office and had a strength and energy which I found riveting,” recalled Broccoli. “Physically, and in his general persona, he was too much of a rough cut to be a replica of Fleming’s upper-class secret agent. This suited us fine, because we were looking to give our 007 a much broader box-office appeal, a sexual athlete who would look great in Savile Row suits but with the lean mid-riff of a character who starts his day with 20 push-ups. Everything about Connery that day was convincingly James Bond.”

After the meeting was over, Broccoli, his producing partner Harry Saltzman and United Artists executive Bud Ornstein watched Connery stride across the street, his gait informed by movement lessons from Swedish dancer and drama teacher Yat Malmgren. “He moved,” Saltzman said later, “like a jungle cat.” They knew they had found their 007.

Dr. No director Terence Young, who had worked with Connery in Action Of The Tiger, became a pivotal figure in shaping the actor as Bond, taking him to restaurants and teaching him how to order expensive food and fine wines. “Terence insisted that Sean actually sleep in his Savile Row suit, together with his shirt collar and tie, so that he could wear it with the ease and nonchalance everyone associated with Bond,” remembered stunt coordinator Bob Simmons.

The role fit like a glove. Connery played 007 six times in EON Production’s Bond films. From Dr. No to Diamonds Are Forever, his adventures established the panache, danger and wit of the character.

An Oscar ® and BAFTA winning actor, Connery received a Lifetime Achievement award at the 1996 Golden Globes, a gala tribute at Lincoln Center and praise from President Clinton. Four years later, he received a knighthood in the New Year’s Day Honours list. In 2006, the American Film Institute honoured Connery with a Lifetime Achievement Award.