Wilson Talks Bond
Michael
G. Wilson, co-producer of the James Bond movies, spoke to the BBC
recently in London about the nature of his job and the particular
challenges that arise from being a producer on a highly successful
global franchise. In a short piece for the BBC news service, Wilson was
interviewed at the Jameson Empire Awards, where Skyfall and its director Sam Mendes had just picked up more well-deserved awards, voted for by readers of the popular Empire magazine,
which is currently the UK’s biggest-selling movie magazine. The veteran
007 producer made it very clear that he still thoroughly enjoys his
role as producer. He said his job is ‘thrilling, it’s a great job’ and
‘wonderful’. He also praised the crews, writers, cast and everyone
involved with the production of the James Bond films, and said that
everyone who works on the series ‘is a joy to work with’.
Future of the Franchise
When
the BBC interviewer asked Wilson whether he thought Bond will ‘continue
forever’, he responded: ‘Well, it’ll continue in some form, maybe not
with us, but it’ll always be around’. Quizzed about the current 007
Daniel Craig, the Bond producer was asked whether he could imagine
anyone else in the role of James Bond, and he responded: ‘I can’t
imagine anyone else right now, that’s for sure – he’s just fantastic’.
At another point in the interview, Wilson was asked about the
difficulties of maintaining the franchise’s appeal to a younger
audience. The EON producer said it had always been ‘a challenge’ and,
‘for 50 years’, they had been trying to keep the series ‘current and
exciting’.
Search for New Director Continues
Meanwhile, as many Bond fans know, the EON producers still have the
major challenge of finding a new director for Bond 24, which is being
scripted by John Logan, after the surprise decision of Sam Mendes not to
take up their recent offer to direct Craig’s fourth 007 instalment.
Interestingly, when Michael Wilson and his EON co-producer Barbara
Broccoli attended the special press evening for John Logan’s new play Peter and Alice in London, the journalist Richard Brooks, who writes for the ‘Culture’ section of the Sunday Times,
was able to briefly ask Wilson about this situation. According to
Brooks, Wilson said that half a dozen directors have already turned him
down: ‘I think we’ll end up with a comparative unknown’, said Wilson. As
Brooks noted in the Sunday Times, perhaps one of the reasons
why some big names have turned down the opportunity to direct the next
instalment of the world’s most successful movie franchise is precisely
because Skyfall has been such a critical and commercial success
– and Bond 24 is very likely to be compared unfavourably to its
predecessor. Some reports have claimed recently that John Logan, who is
single-handedly writing the stories for both Bonds 24 and 25, has
already shown the EON producers a very basic outline treatment for Bond
24, indicating some of the key likely themes.
On Her Majesty’s Semi-Secret Service
Interesting
news emerged in early April that Daniel Craig, along with his wife
Rachel Weisz, were part of a small but distinguished group of 20 guests
invited by Her Majesty the Queen for a private dinner party at Windsor
Castle, which is located a few miles outside London. Just the previous
week HM the Queen had received an honorary BAFTA award from actor
Kenneth Branagh who had dubbed her ‘the best Bond girl ever’ for her
role in the special film made by Danny Boyle for the 2012 Olympics
opening ceremony, where Her Majesty appeared to parachute from a
helicopter into the stadium with 007 actor Craig, much to the surprise
and bemusement of millions of viewers. That event clearly delighted the
Queen, and it would appear that she rewarded Daniel and his wife with
the special invite to Windsor so she could renew her acquaintance with
the UK’s most famous spy. Gossip in the British press claimed that there
was much amusement at the private dinner as the Monarch and the 007
actor talked about the making of the special Bond sequence. One guest
was quoted as saying afterwards that the Queen ‘was in sparkling form.
There was a very warm, jolly atmosphere’.
Celebration Royale
The
month of April, 2013, witnessed various celebrations of the 60 th
Anniversary of the publication of Ian Fleming’s very first James Bond
novel Casino Royale, which first saw the light in 1953. As part of this, the UK’s Sunday newspaper The Observer (April
14) published a nice set of pictures of some of the best dust-jackets
and cover design images from the various UK and US editions of the novel
over the years, including the first Jonathan Cape edition (1953), with
the famous ‘nine of hearts’ artwork devised by Fleming himself, the
first American edition in 1954 (from the Macmillan Company which,
curiously, changed the design to nine diamonds), the Signet Books 29 th
printing (which was a tie-in to the rogue Charles K. Feldman 1967
‘comedy’ movie version created by five directors), and the Jonathan Cape
4 th printing from 1957. All the covers were supplied by Michael
VanBlaricum, who has been collecting ‘Bondiana’ (as he puts it) since
1979, and is president of the Ian Fleming Foundation, which is based in
the USA. Mike also contributed a commentary to the Guardian website (the sister paper of the Observer), which gave some interesting notes on eleven of the Casino covers.
The Name’s... Secretan, James Secretan
It
also emerged in April that author Ian Fleming evidently had a
last-minute rethink about the cover name he was going to give James Bond
in Casino Royale when 007 was ‘in the field’ on his mission.
An early draft of the novel, made public to coincide with the 60 th
Anniversary of the publication of Fleming’s debut novel in 1953,
revealed that Fleming had chosen the name ‘James Secretan’ for Bond’s
cover-name, but then had clearly had second thoughts and crossed it out
in blue, replacing it with ‘Bond’, perhaps fearing it would create
confusion. In the early draft, when Bond met his CIA contact Felix
Leiter, in response to Leiter introducing himself by his name, Bond was
to have replied: ‘Mine’s Secretan. James Secretan’. The draft version
from 1952, released by Fleming’s niece, Kate Grimmond, also shows that
M’s faithful secretary, Miss Moneypenny, was originally named Miss
Pettavel by Fleming, or ‘Petty’ for short. Ian Fleming experts have
suggested that this may have been based on Kathleen Pettigrew, the
real-life personal assistant to the head of MI6, but Fleming may have
again had second thoughts, perhaps fearing he may have been close to
breaching the UK’s Official Secrets Act.
Solo Seven!
One
of the big news highlights of April was undoubtedly the official
announcement of the title for the new James Bond book, written by the
award-winning author William Boyd. In a special promotional interview
given at the London Book Fair on April 15, Boyd announced that he had
chosen the title Solo for his new 007 adventure. Some
tantalizing clues were also offered about the plot locations, with Bond
apparently travelling to three continents, the main focus being on the
continent of Africa. In fact, Bond’s experiences in Africa generate his
urge to take matters into his own hands and go to America. Explaining
his choice of title, Mr. Boyd told the assembled media in a press
release: ‘Sometimes less is more. For me as a novelist the simply beauty
of Solo as the title of the next James Bond novel is that this
short four-letter word is particularly and strikingly apt for the novel
I have written’. He continued: ‘In my novel, events conspire to make
Bond go off on a self-appointed mission of his own, unannounced and
without any authorization – and he’s fully prepared to take the
consequences of his audacity’. Corrine Turner, managing director of Ian
Fleming Publications Ltd, who commissioned Boyd to write the latest Bond
adventure, said: ‘Ian Fleming had a great aptitude for naming his books
and his Bond titles have become true classics. Solo is a simple yet striking title which fits perfectly alongside the other books in the Bond canon’.
Son of Sun?
While
on the subject of 007 book continuity authors, one of the Bond
discussion forums recently carried some interesting speculation about
the possible sequel plans of author Kingsley Amis, who had penned the
first post-Fleming Bond book Colonel Sun, under the pseudonym
‘Robert Markham’. Amis, who was a big Fleming and Bond fan, had shown
his love of the character in two non-fiction books, The James Bond Dossier and the more light-hearted The Book of Bond,
a guide for budding spies supposedly written by Bill Tanner. Amis was
commissioned by Glidrose Publications to write the first Bond
continuation adventure, which was published in March, 1968. The recent
forum discussion focused on whether Amis had considered writing a second
James Bond adventure, or whether this was just rumour. It would now
appear that there may have been something to this, in the sense
that Amis briefly contemplated writing not another novel but a short
007 story instead. Earlier in 1968, Amis had visited Mexico, travelling
from St. Louis to Mexico City by train. Amis had remembered that Fleming
had enjoyed placing his secret service hero on trains and, according to
his correspondence (Amis was a prolific letter writer), Amis considered
a short Bond story involving an incident on a train in Mexico, possibly
with an assassination attempt on Bond’s life. Alas, there is no
evidence Amis took this any further.
From Orlov With Love
The highly-acclaimed playwright and actor Steven Berkoff, who played the devious and hawkish Russian General Orlov in Octopussy (1983),
staged a fascinating exhibition in north London in April, entitled
‘East End Photographs’. Held at the Hendon campus of Middlesex
University (which is not far from the Royal Air Force Museum at Hendon),
the exhibition of Steven’s work was designed to tie in with his new
book of the same title, East End Photographs, which has been
published by Dewi Lewis Publishing Ltd. The actor, who was born in the
Stepney area of London in 1937 and still resides in east London today,
revealed to the media that he has been taking photos of his beloved
London East End, where he was raised, since being given a camera at the
age of 11. The keen young photographer went on to capture some truly
unique visual scenes of social life in the East End, recording life as
it then was some 50-60 years ago, including the streets, the shops, and –
especially – the local people. In fact, it was clear from the
exhibition that Berkoff has always been a keen observer of everyday
London cockney ‘characters’, and much of this has arguably fed into his
highly distinctive theatre and film work.
When East Met West
Since
forming his own London-based theatre group in the 1960s, Berkoff has
become renowned for his powerful character performances on stage and his
eye for the unusual and the ‘alternative’, and theatre remains his
first love. His memories of East End villains and other ‘over-the-top’
extroverts also influenced both his stage and film work. His first movie
role was in 1967 in the Hammer film Prehistoric Women, and he has appeared in more than 50 films. Although he had parts in major cinema films such as A Clockwork Orange and Barry Lyndon in
the 1970s (both directed by Stanley Kubrick), Berkoff did not really
come to mainstream Hollywood attention until the early 1980s, helped by
his appearances as villains in Beverley Hills Cop, the second Rambo film and, in particular, by his memorable performance as the maverick Orlov in Roger Moore’s sixth 007 movie Octopussy.
Indeed, in many ways, he has made something of a career out of taking
villainous roles in the movies, but has said this has allowed him to
plough his earnings back into his theatre productions. He appeared
recently in an episode of the British sci-fi TV series Dr. Who (heavily disguised) and his most recent mainstream movie role was in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo,
the remake version which starred current 007 actor Daniel Craig. While
he has been quite ambivalent at times about his own film work, Berkoff
has also made an effort in recent years to start appearing at film
autograph fairs, and has been pleasantly surprised to find he has a
dedicated following among young film and TV fans.
Gogol to Orlov: ‘You are a common thief!’
June, 2013, will mark the 30 th Anniversary of the premiere of Octopussy in
June, 1983. The JBIFC has numerous fond memories of the making of the
movie, and it seems a good time to share some of those in the run-up to
the Anniversary. During the filming of Octopussy in 1982, for
example, Steven Berkoff developed a good friendship with the actor
Walter Gotell and they used to pass the time spent waiting between takes
deep in conversation about the theatre, movies, literature, culture and
social issues generally (German-born Gotell was also a talented
businessman who could speak 5 languages). As Bond fans know, at one key
point in Octopussy, General Orlov ran through the railway gates at a German border crossing post, desperately trying to stop the Octopussy circus
train, and was shot by West German border guards after he failed to
stop. Walter Gotell, as General Anatol Gogol, was in hot pursuit, and
had to run along the tracks after him, only to witness Orlov being shot.
Steven Berkoff (as General Orlov) filmed his death scene in Octopussy one
Sunday morning in September, 1982, on the railway line just outside the
Ferry Meadows station of the Nene Valley Railway, near Peterborough
(Ferry Meadows had been re-named ‘Gutenfurst’ for the movie). This was
the last day of Main Unit filming on the Nene Valley Railway, and was
very carefully overseen by director John Glen. This was because filming
of the sequence had been postponed from the previous Thursday as Walter
Gotell, at one stage, had accidently slipped and hit his head on the
metal railway track, and had ended up with five stitches in his cheek.
Such are the hazards of trying to run down railway tracks!
Did You Know?
Walter
Gotell appeared in over 90 films, including seven Bond films. Walter
Gotell’s final appearance as General Gogol, in Timothy Dalton’s first
James Bond movie The Living Daylights (1987), was originally
going to be a much larger part. In an early draft, the KGB General
framed by General Koskov was to be General Gogol but, by then, Walter
Gotell had become too ill to play such a major role, so the character of
Leonid Pushkin (played by John Rhys-Davies) was created instead to
replace Gogol. As Bond fans know, Gotell did still appear briefly as
Gogol at the end of the movie, the General having been transferred to
the Soviet diplomatic service. Although he continued with his acting
career, Gotell began to devote more time to farming in Ireland, where he
owned a countryside property. Walter Gotell sadly died in May, 1997,
aged 73, after a battle with cancer.
Bond Bits: Brief Items of News You May Have Missed
Bond woman Olga Kurylenko, who played in Quantum of Solace, was one of the special guests on the BBC’s Graham Norton Show,
screened on Friday, April 5. She appeared alongside Tom Cruise and
Gerald Butler. Tom and Olga were promoting their new sci-fi
blockbuster...
Olga spoke a little bit about her role in Quantum,
commenting in particular on the all the rigorous training she had to do
as part of her preparation for her Bond role. She made it clear that
she remains very proud of her participation in the 007 series...
Spies-Are-Us: in some other good news for Olga’s career, former 007 Pierce Brosnan has confirmed that the Quantum actress is joining him in his new spy thriller November Man, which is based on the best-selling novel There Are No Spies,
by Bill Granger. Also joining the cast is Dominic Cooper, who has
recently been playing... Ian Fleming! Bet they’ll have some interesting
conversations on set...
The
new spy movie is shooting some of its scenes on location in Serbia.
Speaking in an interview, Pierce noted that Kurylenko had been working
with all the leading men in Hollywood: ‘She is a gorgeous actress,
beautiful woman. She started with Daniel Craig and she is going to end
up with Brosnan’, said Pierce, with a twinkle in his eye...
Gemma Arterton, who played MI6 assistant Strawberry Fields in Quantum of Solace,
joined actor Rufus Sewell on a BBC Radio-3 programme called ‘Words and
Music’, transmitted in the UK on Sunday, April 21. They each read out
carefully chosen pieces of verse and prose on the subject of ‘time’,
taken from authors such as Shakespeare, john Milton, D.H. Lawrence, and
H.G. Wells, backed by musical pieces...
Samantha Bond, who played Miss Moneypenny in the Brosnan 007 films, is one of the stars in a new West End production of Passion Play by
Peter Nichols: Bond, now 51, has been cast alongside Zoe Wanamaker as
two aspects of the same character, with Bond as Nell, the argumentative
‘inner voice’ to Wanamaker’s betrayed wife, Eleanor. The play will
preview at the Duke of York’s Theatre in London from May 1...
Now, pay attention 007: Pierce Brosnan has been busy promoting his new romantic movie Love Is All You Need, which opened in UK cinemas on April 18, and has received very good reviews from British critics. Interviewed in the London Metro newspaper
on April 22, Pierce said he’s found peace with the fact that, after
four films, he was suddenly replaced by Daniel Craig. He said: ‘You’re
forever Bond. It’s a small group of men that have played the role... and
every guy has his time on the stage’...
Brosnan also pointed out to the Metro that
Bond allowed him to start up his own production company, and he has
also been keen to diversify his recent roles: ‘You try to be an
unexpected surprise’...
Actress Lara Pulver, who is playing Ann Fleming, wife of Bond creator Ian Fleming, in the new four-part TV biopic Fleming currently being made by Ecosse Films, was interviewed in the BBC TV listings magazine Radio Times on April 13...
Perhaps inevitably, the interview turned at one point to her role and to
Dominic Cooper (who is playing Fleming). She said of her co-star: ‘I’m
playing opposite him in a biopic about Ian Fleming and the tempestuous
love affairs he had with many women, including Ann O’Neill, who
eventually became his one and only wife. Their relationship was
dysfunctional, abusive at times, and the script doesn’t shy away from
anything’...
When asked whether she would like to be Bond girl, Pulver told the Radio Times: ‘Definitely. But what is wonderful is that in a way I’m playing the ultimate Bond girl’...
Actor
Colin Firth, who was once seen as a possible candidate for the role of
James Bond, has just purchased the option to a new spy series. According
to the London Evening Standard newspaper (April 22), the
Oscar-winning actor has started the ‘Raindog’ film production company
with former Sony UK chairman Ged Doherty, and they have acquired the
rights to the best-selling novel A Foreign Country, written by
Charlie Cumming, the first of a trilogy by Cumming about disgraced spy
Tom Kell, who is brought back to MI6 to help track down the woman who
has been appointed as head of MI6 but has disappeared in mysterious
circumstances...
Raindog have purchased options to all three novels in the trilogy, with the second novel, A Colder War,
being published in 2014. Cumming is thrilled to have Firth possibly
playing Kell: ‘He would be perfect for the part because he is an actor
who can convey both great passion and great dignity, as well as superior
intelligence, all characteristics in Tom Kell’...
When
asked whether Kell could oust Bond (highly unlikely, we think!!),
Cumming responded: ‘It would be great to have a slightly more
“realistic” British spy portrayed on screen, in the way that Harry
Palmer and George Smiley were the opposite of Bond throughout the
Sixties and Seventies’...
The man with the golden touch? According to the UK’s Sunday Times,
which published its annual ‘Rich List’ on April 21, actor Daniel Craig
has now entered the ranks of the UK’s richest entertainers. The 45-year
old actor is now valued at £40m. His next two 007 movies will add
another £31m to the pension pot...
Rory Kinnear, who played Bond’s MI6 colleague Bill Tanner in Quantum of Solace and Skyfall, is currently back on stage in Othello,
playing opposite Adrian Lester, who takes the main title role. Both
actors have received some rave reviews for their performances. The play
opened on April 23 and runs at the National Theatre, on the South Bank
in London, until August 18...
The new ‘M’, actor Ralph Fiennes, is being mentioned for a possible role in a movie version of Our Kind of Traitor,
based on the spy story by John Le Carre, to be directed by Justin
Kurzel. The production is scheduled to start in autumn, 2013, and
Fiennes would be joining Ewan McGregor and Mads Mikkelson (who played Le
Chiffre in Casino Royale). Now that’s a cast to die for!...
Uncle Fleming would be pleased: the long-talked about new movie version of cult American spy series The Man From UNCLE, really looks like it has now finally taken off. British director Guy Ritchie (who recently helmed two movie versions of Sherlock Holmes) will direct Tom Cruise as Napoleon Solo and Armie Hammer (who?) as Illya Kuryakin...
Dedicated Bond historians will know that Ian Fleming created a character
called ‘Solo’ for a proposed spy series for US TV in the early 1960s,
and this eventually formed the basis for what later became The Man From UNCLE...
Barry
is forever! John Barry fans are in for a treat later this year. The
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra will hold a special concert entitled ‘The
Very Best of John Barry’ at the famous Royal Albert Hall on Friday,
October 4, starting at 19.30pm...
The spy who loved Jaws? Fans of actor Richard Kiel, who played the famous larger-than-life henchman ‘Jaws’ in The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) and Moonraker (1979),
are in for a treat. He will be interviewed at a special event entitled
‘An Evening With Richard Kiel’, to be held at the Misty Moon Gallery,
Ladywell Tavern, Ladywell Road, London, on Monday May 27, at 18.00pm.
The evening will also see a screening of The Spy Who Loved Me.. |
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