IT'S PAINTING AND DRAWING HERE From Monday 25th. April

James Bond Fan Club Newsletter

The Challenge of  
SPECTRE:Bond producers speak

During the recent SPECTRE location shooting in Mexico City, the James Bond producers - Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson - gave a detailed interview to IGN's Roth Cornet, and talked (among other things) about the first SPECTRE teaser trailer (released on March 27-28), the story continuity in the Bond series, the sheer challenge of topping Skyfall, and the question of the theme song for the new 007 adventure. When asked about the teaser trailer, which was released the day before the interview (and has been widely watched on the internet),
Michael G. Wilson said that they 'wanted to create something as a teaser that's a bit of a puzzle and a mystery. From what I saw online, people are really putting it together. It's a little puzzle people can enjoy'. His co-producer Barbara Broccoli, questioned on the continuity or not of the storyline, added that: 'It's always a challenge. We try to get the right blend of classic Bond and a contemporary twist, and come up with new storylines. I think we've done a really good job on this one'. She added that she thinks Sam Mendes 'is an amazing director and we've got a great cast and a great story. So we have to let the public decide'.
Pressure Royale

When the two EON producers were asked about the pressures of the latest entry in the series, especially after the success of Skyfall, both acknowledged the enormous challenges involved. Wilson explained: 'I think when you come off a successful film, I think all of us felt we had to keep some momentum going. We really want to come up to the plate and not try to rest on our laurels. So there were tremendous pressures there'. Similarly, referring to the fast schedule involved in producing Bond, Wilson said: 'It's a lot of pressure, it puts all of us under huge pressure. But a release date hovers there; we've all got to aim for it'. When asked about the theme song for SPECTRE, Broccoli commented: 'We're still figuring that out. That's one of the last pieces in the puzzle, but it's one of the fun things we look forward to. So it'll be awhile'. She added that they have had 'a lot of interest from a lot of exciting people. It's kind of a long list, and we're working our way through it'.
Day of the Dead
 
The IGN interview also covered the general casting philosophy of Broccoli and Wilson and elicited some of their impressions of the Mexico City pre-credits filming (which was still ongoing at the time, and uses the annual Mexican 'Day of the Dead' festival as a backdrop to the action). Broccoli explained that Sam Mendes is a 'real magnet for actors' when it comes to casting: 'He's a real actor's director and a great storyteller and - as it turns out, now, after these two movies - a great action director, too. So I think he's a real magnet for actors. They want to work with him. So putting a cast together is easy. They want to work with Daniel and Sam'. Wilson said they 'always try to make the pictures surprising', but also emphasised that there has to be elements in them that are 'Bondian' in the sense that people 'won't be disappointed in the picture when they go see it. So that's the fine line we've got to tread'.
Referring to the location shooting in Mexico City, which involved some complex logistical planning (including the employment of 1,500 extras, extensive set-dressing and filming of streets and buildings, and some spectacular helicopter stunts), Wilson said: 'This is a big picture... We did the carnival down in Rio (for Moonraker), and that was a big project, staging that - but this is much bigger. This is really pretty big'. Broccoli added: 'But it's a lot of fun. That's the thing... It's very exciting for everybody. It makes them step up to the plate when you have a challenge like that. Sam had a real vision of his version of the Day of the Dead, and everybody really embraced it. Tom Newman created special music for it and everything. So it feels like a big celebration to us'. On the question of how long Daniel Craig will continue as 007, Wilson said: 'We want him for as long as he'll have us', while Broccoli revealed: 'He's got an open-ended contract'.
Pre-credits 'biggest ever done'?
 
As the Mexican shooting neared completion, and people witnessed some of the spectacular action that was being captured by Mendes and his team in Mexico City, there was growing anticipation that the pre-credits sequence to SPECTRE is set to be the biggest opening sequence ever seen in the EON James Bond franchise. This is the result of comments from both the EON producers themselves and also the main star, Daniel Craig. EON co-producer Michael G. Wilson, for example, told the UK's popular movie magazine Empire recently that 'it is maybe the biggest sequence we've done'. Similarly, Craig - speaking to the UK's Daily Mirror newspaper when he was still filming in Mexico - commented: 'It's one of the biggest opening sequences I think the Bond franchise has ever done'. After considerable pre-shooting preparations, the main unit's filming in Mexico City took just under three weeks, and included a gritty post-explosion chase sequence on foot between Craig's Bond and Marco Sciarra (played by Alessandro Cremona). This culminated in a truly breathtaking fight sequence, with two stuntmen, shot on board a helicopter over the streets of central Mexico City.With most of the principal location shooting by the main unit now in the bag, thoughts are turning to what still needs to be carried out in London and also in Tangier, Morocco. 
Mineraker: Bond meets Moon
 

Daniel Craig, who took a short break after the Mexico filming to have some minor surgery on his knee in New York, was recently given a special new mission - to rid the world not of fictional super-villains, but of something equally as deadly: landmines. In a brief ceremony held at UN Headquarters in New York on April 15, the UN General-Secretary Ban Ki-Moon announced that he had appointed Daniel as the first UN advocate to campaign for the eradication of the remnants of wars around the world, devices that often linger in the ground for long periods of time and cause death or serious injury to many innocent civilians, including children. The Bond star's official title is now UN Global Advocate for the Elimination of Mines and Explosive Hazards. Mr. Ban said at a special ceremony in New York: 'As 007, Mr. Craig has a licence to kill. Today we give him a licence to save'. The UN chief also said that he was 'excited' that Craig had agreed to use his star power to draw attention to the 'noble causes of mine destruction and mine awareness'. The current Bond said he looked forward to taking up the UN's invitation to visit mine action programmes in the future, and that he was 'humbled' by his new designation. Craig, who has been a strong supporter of UN mine action over the last two years, also made a special video recently (released online) to mark the 10th anniversary of the observance of the International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action (designated as April 4 each year).
For Their Eyes Only: Mr. White speaks
 

One of the surprises about the cast for SPECTRE was the addition of Jesper Christensen, who is reprising his role as the mysterious 'Mr. White' for his third Bond film (having previously appeared in Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace). He was not included in the original line-up announced at the Pinewood SPECTRE press-call back in 2014, so the news that he was back certainly created a lot of interesting speculation among Bond fans. Shortly after he completed his work on the new Bond movie, Christensen gave an interview to the Danish newspaper BT (February 2). He revealed that it was great fun to be back on the Bond set but, in response to the inevitable questions from BT about his precise role, the 66-year old actor pointed out that he could not talk about it in any detail: 'Yes, I must not say anything about the new Bond film. Well, I'm done and have made it... And I can say that it was fun'. The respected Danish actor said that his third Bond film had personally been for him the best Bond experience of them all: 'Yes, the scene was damn fine', he said, and added that he thought highly of the director Sam Mendes: 'He was such a director I like'. Christensen said that Mendes listened to his suggestions for the delivery of his lines, and he was pleased when they were accepted. 
Too Hot to Handle
 
Christensen also told BT that he was under strict orders to take precautions against leaks, and there was 'Jesper Christensen' and a number across every page of his own copy of the script. He said the film-makers were paranoid about leaks for good reason, 'for the whole hysteria surrounding the Bond universe is quite massively huge'. He also pointed out that an early manuscript was hacked in 'Sony-gate', so he understood the paranoia. As many fans now know, Christensen made an appearance in the first SPECTRE teaser trailer, looking somewhat different from his smart-suited appearance in his two previous Bond films. When faced with Craig's Bond in his lakeside house in the Austrian Alps, the rather dishevelled Mr. White comments to 007: 'I always knew death would wear a familiar face, but not yours'. When Bond reveals that he had recently been at a meeting, where White's name had come up, and then presents him with a ring with the iconic Sp.e.c.t.r.e 'Octopus' symbol on it, White warns: 'You're on a kite dancing in a hurricane, Mr. Bond'. Intriguing stuff. Whatever can he mean? We can't wait to find out!
Role of Honour: Christoph Waltz speaks
 
The main villain of SPECTRE (Franz Oberhauser) is, of course, played by the acclaimed Austrian actor Christoph Waltz, and there has been much speculation over the precise role of his character in the movie. There is certainly growing media interest in Waltz, and the British GQ magazine obtained a nice coup when they were able to interview Mr. Waltz at length for their May, 2015, issue (with the 58-year old actor also featuring prominently on the front cover). Conducted at the Corinthia Hotel in London, when Waltz was taking a break from filming, and entitled 'We've been expecting you, Mr. Waltz', the 10-page profile provided a run-down on his acting career and an opportunity to give Waltz a chance to explain his approach to cinema. GQ also tried to delicately tease out some brief details on the topic of his Bond role, something quite brave to do with the notoriously cautious Waltz. First of all, the magazine noted that Waltz, in general conversation, is engaging, amusing and inventive - until you broach the subject of his own life, at which point he becomes evasive and very guarded. As GQ noted, Waltz was unknown to most English-speaking audiences until Quentin Tarantino had the wit to cast him as SS Colonel Hans Lada in the quirky and entertaining Inglorious Basterds (2009), and his Oscar-winning performance (followed by another Oscar for Tarantino's Django Unchained in 2012) gave him sudden global recognition after decades of trying. Waltz was especially praised for the way he delivered his lines in both movies and appeared to enliven the scripts even more.
Live and Let High
 
Tackled on the question of whether the Bond series can also help him realise the same high spirit of artistic endeavour, Waltz told GQ: 'A James Bond film can be artistically fulfilling. Absolutely it can. It can be complex and it can be interesting. I consider Bond movies to be an extension of popular theatre, a kind of modern mythology'. When he was asked whether he hesitated before agreeing to appear in Bond 24, Waltz commented: 'I did, yes. I always hesitate... You ask yourself, hang on: what James Bond are we talking about?' He then explained: 'The thing about Spectre is that it is not the work of hack writers. It does not have a hack director. The actors are not hams'. Waltz also revealed that the new movie does include some scenes that will resonate with old-school Bond aficionados: 'The action scenes in Mexico are extravagant to say the least. The scenes in Austria are traditional Bond in the snow'.
He added: 'These films with Daniel Craig have shifted the tone. They don't depend on a set formula that forces actors simply to go through the motions'. Interestingly, Waltz confirmed that he did not have to audition for his role in the movie, and the role was, in a way, written for him: 'Let's say it was tweaked in my direction'. However, he also strongly denied rumours that he is playing James Bond's long-standing nemesis, Blofeld: 'That is absolutely untrue. That rumour started on the internet, and the internet is a pest. The name of my character is Franz Oberhauser'.   
The Living Stagelights: 'M' plans ahead
 
Shhh! Eyes only, 007: that man Blofeld certainly causes a lot of secrecy among his opponents, including at the very top of MI6: according to the Mail On Sunday (April 5), Ralph Fiennes, who plays the new 'M' Gareth Mallory in SPECTRE, commented recently: 'All I can say is that my hair has more chance of playing Blofeld's cat than I have of being allowed to reveal the plot of the new Bond film'. Interestingly, journalist Baz Bamigboye revealed in his showbiz column in sister paper The Daily Mail (March 27) that his involvement with the 007 franchise is allowing Fiennes to spend more time on the stage, the great love of his life. The 'healthy' pay cheque that Fiennes gets from his Bond commitments gives him the freedom to venture more into the theatre. He has been wowing audiences in G.B. Shaw's Man and Superman at the National Theatre on London's Thames embankment, and in January and February, 2016, he is due to play Ibsen's emotionally flawed architect Halvard Solness in a new version of The Master Builder, which will run at the Old Vic theatre. The ever-busy Mr. Fiennes is also in talks to do some Shakespeare at the Almeida theatre later in 2016 or possibly in 2017. In the meantime, the JBIFC understands that Fiennes, who shot his first new scenes as 'M' for SPECTRE last December, carried out some more filming work on the new movie during April, and is back on the Bond set this month (May) to complete further takes for his role as Mallory.
Licence to Spill
 

As far back as April, 2014, the movie trade magazine Variety claimed that award-winning actor Chiwetel Ejiofor (of 12 Years a Slave fame) was a contender for a role in Bond 24. At the time, according to un-named sources, the acclaimed British star was said to be a strong contender for the role of lead villain. It now turns out that this report had some truth to it. Interestingly, according to a recent report in The Times (April 20), which was in turn based on some more of the recent illegally-leaked Sony Pictures e-mails, it has emerged that Hollywood executives considered casting Ejiofor as Bond's nemesis Ernst Stavro Blofeld! Ejiofor, who won a BAFTA for his portrayal of the black slave Solomon Northup in the 2013 movie, apparently told the Bond director Sam Mendes that year that he wanted to play Blofeld (if we are to believe an e-mail exchange between executives). In another e-mail exchange, some further beans are spilled (so to speak): the possibility of a female Blofeld was also floated, and three-times Oscar winner Meryl Streep was touted to play the role - one executive remarked that Blofeld as a woman 'is idiotic unless Meryl Streep does it'. Intriguing, to say the least: perhaps SPECTRE nearly became The Property of a Lady? Now... we know our Ernst was into plastic surgery in a big way, and also sometimes dressed as a woman for a quick escape, but would he be desperate enough to have a complete gender change operation?!
The Man with the Golden Voice
 

The JBIFC was sad to learn of the recent death of actor and dubbing expert Robert Rietti, who passed away on April 3. As a film, television and radio actor, Rietti was arguably best-known for his highly memorable and versatile voice, and was often in big demand for his ability to dub multiple roles, using different accents (exemplified in his work for the epic movie Waterloo in 1970). In many ways, he was one of the great unsung heroes behind the scenes in the film world, but when employed on dubbing his name was often absent, which was a source of frustration for him. As well as speaking English, he was also fluent in Italian, German, French and Russian. Moreover, any Bond fan worth his salt will also know that Rietti had some significant involvement in the James Bond films, starting with Dr. No (1962), where he was the voice of secret agent John Strangways. The latter was killed in the opening scenes, of course, but minutes later Rietti was providing the voice for someone else - as one of the Baccarat players in the London casino! More importantly, Rietti dubbed the Italian actor Adolfo Celi's voice as villain Emilio Largo in Thunderball (1965), and also dubbed the Japanese actor Tetsuro Tamba as Tiger Tanaka in You Only Live Twice (1967). When John Hollis appeared in the pre-credits to For Your Eyes Only (1981) - as the un-named Ernst Stavro Blofeld - it is Robert Rietti's distinctive voice that we hear threatening Roger Moore's Bond in the helicopter cabin sequences: 'Really, Mr. Bond! Have you no respect for the dead?'
  

Nobody Did it Better
 

Interestingly, Rietti also appeared on-screen, too, as one of the staff in the casino in On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969), and also had a small role in Never Say Never Again (1983), which was apparently arranged by Kevin McClory as a 'thank you' to his old friend from the Thunderball days. In all, Rietti worked on seven Bond movies. He told Empire magazine in 1994: 'In nearly every Bond picture there's been a foreign villain and in almost every case they've used my voice'. After Thunderball Adolfo Celi was showered with offers of other film work, and Rietti came as part of the package (so to speak); as he quipped to the BBC's Film 94 TV programme, 'I had a job for life!' On the 1974 Agatha Christie adaptation And Then There Were None, for example, he re-voiced Celi as well as four other parts, including the German actor Gert Frobe (Goldfinger)! Celi was an army General and Frobe was a police official in the movie.Interestingly, when actor Robert Shaw ('Red' Grant in From RussiaWith Love) died in 1978, Rietti was called in to dub Shaw's voice in parts of three movies for which Shaw had not completed the recording. Rietti styled himself 'The Man With a Thousand Voices' - and one can certainly see why! R.I.P., Robert. But your voice lives on.
Double-O Heaven: Film mags cover SPECTRE

One of the great pleasures of witnessing the production of a new 007 adventure is seeing which of the popular British film magazines will be the first with detailed Bond coverage designed to wet our appetites. The ball quickly got rolling not long after Christmas. First came Total Film (April, 2015, issue), which carried two pages on SPECTRE, including early photos from the snowbound Austrian scenes. With a run-down on the key locations, and a page on 'Everything you need to know about Bond's bĂȘte noire' (i.e. the Sp.e.c.t.r.e. organisation), the magazine commented that the new film 'is shaping up to be the most globe-trotting Bond to date. Our ex-spectre-tions are running sky high on this one'. Meanwhile, Empire (April, 2015, issue)took things much further, with a 14-page profile (no less) of SPECTRE and other aspects of the James Bond universe, plus an excellent Daniel Craig cover-page. The magazine had been allowed special access to the set at Pinewood Studios, and included interviews with the Bond producers and also with Bond's new leading women, French beauty Lea Seydoux and gorgeous Italian star Monica Bellucci. There were also comments from stunt co-ordinator Gary Powell and Dave Bautista (who plays henchman 'Mr. Hinx'). According to Bautista, Hinx will be a 'badass' but will also have a sense of humour. He also commented 'James Bond and Mr. Hinx are not friends'. Oh dear, sounds like our James is in for a very tough time! Thanks Empire - a great issue: you did Bond fans a real service. More, please. 
Big on Bond: Yaphet Kotto interviewed
 

Acclaimed actor Yaphet Kotto, who was, of course, an excellent 'Mr. Big' (and Dr. Kananga) in Live and Let Die (1973), gave a rare and welcome interview to the UK's weekly magazine The Big Issue on April 9. Unsurprisingly, the veteran actor offered some forthright views, including some (arguably very sensible) comments on the latest stage in the 'Black Bond' debate that seems to have become something of an obsession with journalists. According to Kotto: 'James Bond cannot be black. Political correctness be damned, we have to stay with what is literally correct. He was established by Ian Fleming as a white character, played by white actors. It's silly. Play 003 or 006 but you cannot be 007. A lot of people say we should be allowed to play everything. Don't be ridiculous. If I say I want to play JFK I should be laughed out the room. Why should James Bond be black? It's silly'. He continued: 'I don't think it's right for black actors or writers to do roles that whites have made historically white heroic roles. These roles were not written for black men. Black men should stop trying to play white heroes. We have pens. Put a black man in a role that no one else has established'. Concerning his role as 'Mr. Big', Kotto agreed that his role could have been a terrible stereotype: 'That was the danger of that role. When I read the script, I said man, if this is played the wrong way... I had to play Kananga in a way that was so believable you became mesmerised. You see a guy who is completely together - almost together as James Bond himself'. Regarding his wider film career, Kotto confirmed that he chose roles that would change the black stereotype on screen: 'That was my plan, to play parts that would open up the doors for others, and it worked'. Kotto, who is a member of the Academy in Hollywood, said movies should be 'judged on the integrity of their creative art and not political reasons'.
Golden Touch: Honor Blackman interviewed
 

The UK's popular Daily Mirror newspaper (April 7) carried an interesting interview with former Goldfinger (Pussy Galore) star Honor Blackman, who is now an amazing 89-years old and is still taking occasional TV roles, the latest being a part in the comedy YouMe and Them, alongside Anthony Head and Eve Myles. Blackman became a household name in the UK back in 1962 when she took what soon became the iconic role of leather-clad karate-chopping Cathy Gale in TV's spy drama The Avengers, opposite Patrick Macnee. But it was really Goldfinger that elevated her to international stardom, and still brings her fan mail even today. Interestingly, Honor was asked by the Mirror what she thought of the latest 007 star Daniel Craig? She revealed that she felt Craig delivers a more multi-dimensional character than Sean Connery could: 'I'm sorry to say he's a better actor - but I think Sean would acknowledge that. I think Dan is terrific. He's capable of so much more. Sean was perfection as Bond only as Ian Fleming wrote it. He was a Mr. Universe entrant, he was handsome and very, very sexy and had that ridiculous accent. Now it is no longer like Ian Fleming, it's more like The Bourne Identity. It's a different kind of film. But that doesn't make any difference to the fact they're super films and Daniel is probably the best actor that ever played Bond'. Honor, who turns 90 this summer, revealed to the Mirror that she is suffering from scoliosis, a back condition that gradually twists the spine. As a result she is set to bring her long and distinguished career to an end; 'By the end of this year I'll probably chuck it in. It'd be a great regret because my career has been so interesting - some of it fun, some of it torture - but it has filled my life. It's an effort at this stage of life. And since nobody is forcing me to make it, I don't see any point in putting myself through it'. We still love you, Honor! May the force be with you.

Did You Know?
 

Bond producer Albert 'Cubby' Broccoli once said that Honor Blackman was cast opposite Sean Connery in Goldfinger because of her success as the popular black-leathered judo expert Cathy Gale in The Avengers spy series on British TV, alongside Patrick MacNee. Broccoli knew, of course, that most American cinema-goers would not have seen the British TV programme, but he reasoned: 'The Brits would love her because they knew her as Mrs. Gale, the Yanks would like her because she was so good. It was a perfect combination'. 
Bond Bits: Brief Items of News You May Have Missed
 
Never say never: Australian actor Rod Taylor, who sadly passed away in January, aged 84, arguably saw his career really take off in Hollywood with The Time Machine in 1960. According to his obituaries, shortly afterwards he was asked to test for a small British movie, but declined. The name of the movie? Dr. No...

 
Taylor once recalled: 'Producer Cubby Broccoli wanted me to screen test for James Bond, when he was preparing Dr. No in 1961. I refused because I thought it was beneath me. I didn't think Bond would be successful in the movies. That was one of the greatest mistakes of my career. Every time a new Bond picture became a smash hit, I tore my hair out! Cubby and I have laughed about it ever since'... 

 
Taylor did, of course, play a kind of reluctant Bond-style secret agent, Brian 'Boysie' Oakes, in The Liquidator (1965), based on the first 'Boysie' Oakes novel written in 1964 by new author John Gardner...
The movie, which also starred Jill St. John and had a theme song by Shirley Bassey, was apparently planned by MGM to be the first in a Boysie Oakes series, designed to tap into the spy-mania of the mid-1960s. But the movie did not generate enough money at the box office, so the plans were quietly dropped...

 
Jill St. John and Shirley Bassey were reunited (in a sense) for Diamonds Are Forever (1971), while John Gardner, of course, was commissioned to resurrect the James Bond novels for the 1980s, starting with Licence Renewed in 1981...

 
For special services - a blue plaque for the first 'M': Sir Mansfield Cumming (1859-1923), the first head of Britain's Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), was commemorated on March 30 with a special blue English Heritage plaque outside his London office (2 Whitehall Court)...
Cumming, a former Admiral in the Royal Navy, wrote in green ink and signed his secret memos and correspondence 'C', and this is thought to have influenced Ian Fleming when he created Bond's boss 'M'. The green ink and 'C' habits were continued by Cumming's successors, and this is generally seen now as standing for 'Chief' of MI6...

 
The blue plaque was unveiled in the presence of the current 'C', Alex Younger, who made his first public speech since taking over as MI6 Chief in October, 2014. He described the similarity between the secret service created by Cumming in 1909 and the MI6 of today, calling both of them small organisations achieving big things. One journalist present wondered if this included the prevention of World War Three by a certain Mr. E.S. Blofeld?! Funnily enough, we wondered that, too...

 
The famous British satirical magazine Private Eye has had a lot of gentle fun with the new Bond movie SPECTRE in recent months. Not long after the special press event at Pinewood to announce the film and introduce the principal cast, Private Eye (December 12) carried a photo entitled 'New "Older" Bond Girl' - which turned out to be Daniel Craig with the Queen of England!...

 
The magazine was back for more quips a short while later (December 20). Covering embarrassing real-life allegations about MI6's possible knowledge of secret use of torture by the CIA, Private Eye gave a 'Bond' angle to them. Tapping into the 'Sony-gate' leaks, the mag carried what it called 'That leaked James Bond movie script - redacted version', with key bits of dialogue heavily blanked out, but with an interesting conversation between Felix Leiter and 007 set in a dungeon: Bond asked: 'Do you expect him to talk?', to which Felix responded: 'No, Mr. ----, I expect him to die!'...

 
Bond girls 'Torture Galore', 'Plenty O'Violence', and 'Solitaire Confinement' were also featured in the 'leaked script', dancing to the hit Bond theme 'Lie and Let Die'!...

 
Recently, in March, Private Eye used the news about how young teenagers were being 'radicalised' into terrorism by internet sites to carry a piece which asked 'Was Ernst Blofeld Radicalised by MI6?' According to this, 'Close friends of Ernst Stavro Blofeld have insisted that Ernst was a quiet, friendly, studious chap and that his desire to bring Western civilisation to its knees only happened as a result of numerous encounters with James Bond'...

 
The friend added: 'Ernst was just going about his business, peacefully planning world domination from his secret lair, but James Bond just wouldn't leave him alone... But for MI6 and James Bond harassing him, I'm certain Blofeld and his global criminal organisation SPECTRE would never have caused anyone the slightest bit of trouble'. Was this 'friend' named Irma Bunt, by chance??... 

 
Has Idris Elba finally put to bed the constant rumours linking him to Bond, the ones that are so beloved by the UK press? It was a rumour that started on the internet, was not taken seriously by most people, and then seemed to snowball out of all proportion. According to the London Evening Standard (March 19) ('Elba dashes Bond hopes'), the actor - who previously encouraged the 007 speculation - has now said that he's not interested: 'Nah, I'm too old now. It's nice to be described as a classy British brand but, you know, it's just a massive rumour. I think I've probably put the Bond team off even thinking about me now because I've talked so much about it'... 

 
Author William Boyd, who penned the James Bond novel Solo, was at BAFTA's Piccadilly HQ in London on April 1, attending a short story event. At one point, he was asked by a fan when he would return to film-making? Boyd's only directorial effort remains The Trench, released in 1999, which starred a young actor named Daniel Craig and an even younger new actor named Ben Whishaw! Boyd responded: 'The film is famous because of the then very unknown actors, and now they're very successful'. He laughed: 'So of course they owe it all to me! I will do it again one day. But it's also very hard work, and we're very spoilt and lazy, us novelists: working until late in the night isn't quite what one signed up for'...

 
The latest author to take up the challenge of writing a James Bond novel, Anthony Horowitz, announced in January that, after 13 highly successful years, his popular TV detective series Foyle's War has now definitely come to an end...

 
The series, which starred Michael Kitchen (Bill Tanner in two of Pierce Brosnan's Bond movies), saw the very final episode air on the UK's ITV channel on Sunday, January 8. Sunday nights will never be the same again! The series regularly drew in very large audiences...

 
Horowitz, who has written an astonishing 42 books, including two Sherlock Holmes novels, has been able to use some original unused Ian Fleming material short-story material for part of his new 007 novel, which is set in the 1950s...

 
When Bassey met Bros: former James Bond Pierce Brosnan looked resplendent in black bow tie and tuxedo when he attended the St. Pancras Renaissance Hotel in London on April 29, where the philanthropic organisation 'Lots of Charity' held a dinner. Three-times Bond singer Dame Shirley Bassey was also in attendance...  

 
Brosnan, whose gritty spy movie November Man hit the screens in 2014, is now currently developing a new entry in what could be a November Man franchise of films. The new movie is being developed by Pierce in conjunction with his long-time producing partner Beau St. Clair and their successful Irish Dream Time film company...

 
Samantha Bond, who was Miss Moneypenny in Brosnan's four 007 films, is back on British TV, starring in ITV's wartime drama Home Fires. In an interview about her career in the 'Weekend' magazine of the Daily Mail (May 9), the former Moneypenny said at one point that 'there's whole generation of men who get misty-eyed when they meet me because I was their Moneypenny when they were growing up'...

 
For Your Ears Only: former Bond composer David Arnold has three concerts of his film music lined up for June in the UK: David's special 'A Night at the Movies' concerts will be held at the London Barbican on June 18, the Birmingham Symphony Hall on June 26, and Nottingham's Royal Concert Hall on June 28...

 
Now, pay attention 007: The Bond team have been doing a lot of teasing with the release of photos of their clapperboards. The official still of the clapper-board from the set of SPECTRE dated May 1 was most intriguing: a powerful-looking motorbike, equipped with two lethal-looking machine-guns. It has already led to loads of speculation...

 
The latest clapperboard (dated May 9) was also tantalising: it showed a boat moored indoors, looking very much like the one we saw in during the early stages of SPECTRE filming in central London. We tried to contact the MI6 chief-of-staff Bill Tanner at the Vauxhall Bridge HQ to find out more. But, for some reason, the telephone line was still out of action...

The James Bond International Fan Club
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