Focus Of The Week: Felix Leiter

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In Casino Royale (2006), Bond and Felix Leiter (Jeffrey Wright) meet for the first time at the casino in Montenegro. After Vesper Lynd refuses 007 further funds in the high stakes poker game, Leiter gives Bond $5 million to buy back in. In return the CIA will get to apprehend Le Chiffre once 007 has cleaned him out.

In Quantum Of Solace (2008) Leiter works under CIA South American Section Chief Gregory Beam. Leiter criticises the CIA’s involvement with Dominic Greene. In La Paz, Beam involves Leiter in a trap to kill Bond. Leiter tips Bond off and informs him that General Medrano cannot take over the Bolivian government until Greene bribes the Colonel of Police. In Spectre (2015), Bond gives widow Lucia Sciarra Leiter’s number and tells her he will help her to safety.

Focus Of The Week: Le Chiffre 

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Distinguished by a facial scar and a derangement of the tear duct that causes him to weep blood, Le Chiffre (Mads Mikkelsen) provides private banking services for the world’s terrorists. After receiving a large investment from Obanno, the leader of the Lord’s Resistance Army in Uganda, Le Chiffre plans to destroy a new Skyfleet plane. Bond foils the plot, causing Le Chiffre to lose over $100 million. To win back the money he organises a high stakes poker game at the Casino Royale in Montenegro but is beaten by Bond at the card table. Facing financial ruin he kidnaps and tortures Bond to obtain his account password. Before Le Chiffre can kill Bond, Mr White, a mysterious figure from the terrorist underworld, kills Le Chiffre.

Focus Of The Week: Vesper Lynd

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Vesper Lynd (Eva Green) works for the Financial Action Task Force of Her Majesty’s Treasury and has experience in illicit banking practices. She supervises the British government’s funds that finance Bond in a high stakes poker tournament organized by Le Chiffre. During the game she helps Bond overcome a Ugandan Warlord and saves Bond’s life when he is poisoned.

Vesper is kidnapped by Le Chiffre to lure Bond into a trap in order to extort the tournament winnings. Vesper makes a deal with Mr. White to spare Bond’s life in return for the funds. Before she can transfer the funds to Mr. White’s accomplice Gettler, Bond confesses his love for her and resigns from MI6.

In Venice, Bond uncovers Vesper’s deception. Although he kills her enemies, Vesper cannot live with her actions and she locks herself in the elevator of a collapsing building and drowns. Bond is devastated by her death and closes himself off emotionally.

Vesper leaves Bond an essential clue to help him trace the terrorist network – on her mobile, she stores Mr. White’s number.

Focus Of The Week: Peter Lamont

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Peter Lamont has a worldwide reputation as one of the leading film art directors and production designers. Born in 1929, Lamont began his relationship with Bond working as a draughtsman on James Bond’s third outing, Goldfinger (1964). He rose quickly through the ranks, working on the 1960s Bond classics starring Sean Connery and George Lazenby. In 1981 he became the production designer on For Your Eyes Only. He held this position until Casino Royale (2006); working on every film in between except Tomorrow Never Dies (1997), creating some of the most lavish and memorable scenes of the Bond franchise.

Beyond Bond, Lamont has worked on a number of other high-profile films, including Titanic (1997), for which he won an Academy Award.

Lamont has written a book titled The Man with the Golden Eye, which details his time working on the Bond films. The book is available to buy now www.amazon.co.uk/Man-Golden-Eye-Designing-James/dp/0995519110

Focus Of The Week: Casino Royale

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After the completion of Die Another Day (2002), producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli decided to make a film of Casino Royale, the first, darkest and most literary of the Bond novels. The producers felt the storyline, which sees Bond go after a Soviet operative who has squandered money and is desperately trying to win it back at gaming tables could be adapted to the world of modern terror networks.
 
The careful development of the script, a change of studios and the long process of casting contributed to a four-year gap between Bond films. With director Martin Campbell on board and a script in place, Daniel Craig, the producer’s first choice, was formally asked to take on the role of Bond.
 
An international cast filled the remaining roles, this included French actress Eva Green and Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen. Production began on 27th January 2006. The film tells the story of how Bond becomes a “00”, foils a bomb plot and defeats a weapons dealer in a high stakes game of poker at Casino Royale.
 
Casino Royale premiered on Tuesday, 14th November 2006, at the Odeon Leicester Square, London. Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, attended the performance. The film was a worldwide hit, becoming (at the time) the highest-grossing Bond film at the box office. Daniel Craig’s performance won universal praise and a BAFTA nomination for Best Actor.

Focus Of The Week: Camille Montes

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Camille (Olga Kurylenko) is the daughter of Ernesto Montes, once a powerful figure in the Bolivian military junta. As a girl she witnessed General Medrano murder her father, mother and older sister. Medrano then burned the house down; Camille still bears the scars from her escape on her back. Camille vows revenge on Medrano. After discovering a connection between Dominic Greene and Medrano she infiltrates Greene’s organisation. Bond kills an assassin sent by Greene to kill Camille after he discovers that she tried to buy secret documents relating to his Tierra Project. Having escaped the assassin Camille is then handed over to Medrano by Greene but her chance to kill Medrano is foiled by Bond. After joining forces with Bond to investigate Greene’s Tierra Project, Camille finally confronts and kills Medrano at the Perla de las Dunas hotel.

Focus Of The Week: Little Nellie

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James Bond uses a Wallis autogyro, nicknamed Little Nellie, in You Only Live Twice (1967) to carry out surveillance work in Japan in an attempt to locate Blofeld’s rocket base hidden on the southern islands.

Real life Wing Commander Ken Wallis designed this unusual machine in the early 1960s. Unlike a helicopter, only the autogyro’s rear engine provides power during flight. Once airborne the top rotor spins freely due to the force of the air. The Wallis autogyro has the advantages of precise handling, safe operation, high ground speed and high altitude operation.

Ken Wallis recalled that Little Nellie got her name following a tradition in the Second World War of nicknaming anyone called Wallis or Wallace, Nellie, after Nellie Wallace, the famous British music hall star and actress.

In You Only Live Twice, Q branch have modified the gyro so that it includes a number of gadgets and weapons, including two fixed machine-guns, and can be neatly dismantled into four trunks. Bond uses these on board weapons and gadgets to overcome four SPECTRE helicopters.

You can see Little Nellie at Bond in Motion: londonfilmmuseum.com/

Focus Of The Week: Roger Moore

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A worldwide star before even being cast as Bond, Roger Moore’s easy sense of grace and natural suaveness made the cinematic 007 an unparalleled success in the 1970s and 1980s.

Born in Stockwell, South London, Moore took a number of small acting roles before joining the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, where one of his classmates was Lois Maxwell, the future Miss Moneypenny. RADA’s elocution lessons smoothed his South London accent turning him into the perfect sophisticated leading man candidate.

After a short stint in military service, Moore took on roles in various television and stage productions in New York and London. He went on to sign a three year contract with MGM, which saw him in his first significant role in The Last Time I Saw Paris opposite Elizabeth Taylor.

Moore starred in numerous films and television productions throughout the 50s and was one of the names considered for the role of James Bond in 1961 when Connery was up for the role. When Connery announced he was leaving the franchise in 1966, Moore was again considered for the role. However political unrest in Cambodia, which was to be a key shooting location, coupled with Moore’s commitment to The Saint, prevented him from taking on the role.

Finally in 1972 the schedules matched and Moore took on the role of James Bond. His first outing as Bond in Live And Let Die significantly outgrossed Connery’s Diamonds Are Forever, confirming Moore’s casting a success. It was Moore’s decision to leave after A View To A Kill, having been with the franchise for 12 years and starring in seven movies. Moore was famously quoted as saying, “When they start running out of actors old enough to look as though they could be knocked down by Bond, and leading ladies are your mother’s age when you started making Bond, then it’s time you move on.”

By the time he had finished his last 007 movie in 1985, Moore had redefined the character of Bond and bought in over one billion dollars in the box office.

Global James Bond Day

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Welcome to the official Global James Bond Day – a celebration of the Bond franchise annually held on October 5th – the release date of Dr. No in 1962. This special day first began in 2012 when the Bond films enjoyed their golden anniversary with events all around the globe and the release of the theme song for Skyfall by Adele. Last year the day was marked with the release of the official video for Writing’s On The Wall, the theme song for Spectre, by Sam Smith. Let us know how you will be celebrating this special day. Head to the James Bond 007 Facebook page to find out how you can win some James Bond prizes.

www.facebook.com/JamesBond007/

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Focus Of The Week: James Bond

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James Bond, Agent 007, Licensed to Kill, has starred in the longest-running and most successful movie franchise of all time, spanning five decades. Six different actors have brought their own individual qualities to the role of the ruthless, stylish superspy saving the world from evil.

The James Bond of Ian Fleming’s novels is a veteran of World War II, whose path to becoming a “00” agent is shaped by his work with Naval Intelligence. The Bond of the early films appears to have a similar background but is too young to have served in any serious capacity in World War II. By Casino Royale (2006), Bond’s character and history had been re-examined for the post-Cold War era.

Bond’s pre-espionage life in the Bond movies, briefly mentioned in GoldenEye, is not fully explored until 2012’s Skyfall. Skyfall informs us that Bond grew up at Skyfall Lodge in Scotland. When his parents, Andrew Bond and Monique Delacroix, were killed, the gamekeeper Kincade informed the young James of their deaths. Andrew and Monique were buried in the Bond family cemetery. In Spectre we discover that Hannes Oberhauser, a ski instructor and the father of Spectre villain Oberhauser, brought Bond up following his parent’s deaths.

Bond maintains his athletic abilities for one simple reason: his life depends on being in top physical condition. Bond possesses a high tolerance for pain and incredible stamina, two attributes not only vital to his survival, but also qualities that give him confidence in taking on new physical challenges. 007’s keen conditioning makes him a deadly foe on land, sea or in the air.

Costume designer Lindy Hemming, who has dressed Bond a number of times, commented: “When Bond enters a room, he has to have status. You have to believe he could enter a room anywhere in the world and be perfectly dressed for the occasion, but not stand out from his surroundings. He’s a kind of an elegant chameleon.” James Bond’s wardrobe redefined the look of a spy, swapping fedoras and trench coats, for finely tailored suits, stylish casual wear and sleek commando gear.

It takes a certain kind of actor to convince the world he is James Bond. Anyone can put on a dinner jacket, drive an Aston Martin and drink vodka martinis, but it takes more than being surrounded by 007’s props to look the world in the eye and convincingly say the words, “The name is Bond, James Bond.” Each actor must not only look the part, but also bring something to the role beyond the requisite good looks, sense of timing, and ability to portray grace under pressure. Each of the six Bond actors; Sean Connery, George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig, have brought a unique personal touch to Ian Fleming’s “blunt instrument.”

Focus Of The Week: Lucia Sciarra

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The opening sequence of Spectre sees Bond on a rogue mission to Mexico City during the Day of the Dead celebrations. Having scaled the rooftops of the city, Bond finds his target and shoots. The mark, Marco Sciarra, escapes as the building explodes around him and a chase between Bond and the criminal ensues eventually ending in Sciarra’s death.

After killing Sciarra, Bond travels to Rome where he meets Lucia (Monica Bellucci), Sciarra’s beautiful widow at his funeral. Bond follows the widow back to her villa, where he saves her life from two assassins, knowing that she holds the secrets to help him with his mission. Lucia instantly distrusts Bond, angry that he has signed her death warrant by killing her husband. Eventually she gives in and tells Bond that the organisation that Sciarra worked for will meet that night to find his replacement. As Bond leaves he makes arrangements for Lucia to find safety with his old friend Felix but she warns him that he is “crossing over to a place where there is no mercy.”

Focus Of The Week: Aston Martin DB5

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No car is more closely identified with 007 than the Aston Martin DB5. It had a production run of only 1,023 cars and was produced between 1963 and 1965 – the DB5’s essential Britishness, bespoke craftsmanship, sleek, classic styling, made it a perfect fit for James Bond.

Ian Fleming’s Goldfinger novel specified that Bond drive a gadget-laden Aston Martin DB Mark III for the chase across Europe. The Mark III was introduced in 1957, the year before Fleming wrote Goldfinger. In preparation for the filming of Goldfinger, production designer Ken Adam and special effects’ John Stears visited Aston Martin Lagonda to make a deal with them for a car. On their visit they fell in love with the DB5 prototype and managed to secure it for the movie.

Production received just one car for the gadgets, no standbys, so it took some incredible work from the special effects team to fit them all into the confined space. John Stears said the first thing he did was make the hole for the ejector seat; “I marked it out, and taped off the roof of this beautiful car. I looked at it, went away and had a cup of coffee, came back, and got the drill, and drilled the hole.” Director Guy Hamilton claimed the revolving number plates were his input, saying wouldn’t it be “absolutely marvellous to collect a parking ticket and then juggle the number plate and drive off.”

Q shows the rest of the gadgets to Bond in his lab and Bond goes on to use many of these throughout the film. He uses the tracking system to follow Goldfinger’s Rolls Royce, the tire scythe to disable Tilly Masterson’s car, the smoke screen and oil slick functions to help him escape Goldfinger’s compound, protects himself with the rear bulletproof screen and ejects a guard riding with him out of the roof.

The DB5 returned in Thunderball, repaired after Bond’s crash in Goldfinger but then didn’t appear for another 30 years until GoldenEye. A version of the iconic car was also featured in Tomorrow Never Dies, The World Is Not Enough, Casino Royale, Skyfall and Spectre.

You can see 007’s Aston Martin DB5 at Bond in Motion at the London Film Museum. http://londonfilmmuseum.com