Eva Green re-creates Charlotte Rampling nude shot

Over at the Huffington Post Web site, there’s a short item about how Eva Green, who played Vesper in Casino Royale, did a nude shot to re-create a similarly posed nude shot by Charlotte Rampling in 1973.

To read the item, and see the photo, just CLICK HERE.

Attempting to read the (few) Bond 23 tea leaves

Over at the Commander Bond Web site, there was a Nov. 6 article about an appearance by Daniel Craig on the “Live With Regis and Kelly Show.”

The main thrust of the article was that Craig confirmed that Bond 23, the next 007 movie, is supposed to be out in 2011. Craig talked mostly about his play A Steady Rain so there weren’t a lot of details. But the full quote as reported by Commander Bond, was a bit intriguing:

“The plan is to start shooting the next one at the end of next year so it’ll be ready for 2011. So we’ve got a lot of work to do.”

That would imply there’s about a year of pre-production work left before cameras roll. That leaves more questions than answers, including:

1) How’s the script coming along? MGM and Eon Productions said in June that Peter Morgan would join 007 veterans Neal Purvis and Robert Wade in scripting the next Bond movie. In the press release, we were told a date for the start of production is yet to be confirmed and that Morgan also scripted the upcoming The Special Relationship for HBO and Hereafter for DreamWorks. He will turn his attention to Bond 23 on completion of these duties. So at that time, it wasn’t known when Morgan would even start work on Bond 23.

2. When’s a director going to be hired? While a lot of pre-production duties may not need a director on board, there’s only so much progress that can occur. A director wants to make his or her own impact on a script before shooting starts, for example. Also, certain key personnel (such as directors of photography) tend not to be hired a director is at work.

3. Why is Daniel Craig the only person talking publicly about Bond 23 lately? Eon bossman Michael G. Wilson only goes public so often and his half-sister Barbara Broccoli even less than that. When they have talked, it has been more about possible non-Bond projects than about Bond 23.

None of this is terribly satisfying. The sports equivalent is the “hot stove league” where baseball fans talk about possible trades or keep track of developments at their favorite teams during the off season. That’s not a perfect analogy, though. Baseball fans at least know when the next season starts. Nobody really knows that much about Bond 23.

Feds nab ‘Octopussy’

From the strange-but-true department, today (Nov. 5), a famous name in the 007 canon was invoked by U.S. authorities.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filed a complaint against “a pair of lawyers for tipping inside information in exchange for kickbacks as well as six Wall Street traders and a proprietary trading firm involved in a $20 million insider trading scheme,” according to an SEC press release.

So far, so good. One of the people involved, according to the SEC, was Zvi Goffer, described as “a proprietary trader at New York-based firm Schottenfeld Group.”

Here’s the kicker from the same press release: “Goffer was known as ‘the Octopussy’ within the insider trading ring due to his reputation for having his arms in so many sources of inside information.”

No word yet whether Eon Productions or MGM will file a lawsuit against Goffer for trademark infringement.

To read the entire SEC press release, just CLICK HERE.

UPDATE: The New York Times weighs on this story, and its James Bond references, in a story you can read by CLICKING HERE.

USC Film School celebrates Cubby Broccoli and James Bond

James Bond fans lucky enough to be living in Southern California can look forward to a nice weekend: starting this Friday, November 6, the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts will be celebrating the life of James Bond film producer Albert R. “Cubby” Broccoli. The three-day festival will feature panel discussions, an exhibition of 007 movie props, costumes, and other ephemera, and, of course, screenings of selected Bond films — introduced by USC film professor Rick Jewell.

Jewell, who teaches a pop-culture course on James Bond, will also be heading up two panel discussions on the subject. One, on “Bond Today,” will feature Barbara Broccoli, Michael G. Wilson, Marc Forster, and our good buds Neal Purvis and Rob Wade. The other, completely about Cubby Broccoli, will feature Broccoli & Wilson again, with Tom Mankiewicz, Richard Kiel, and the most yummy Maud Adams.

After this weekend, the exhibition will continue through Friday at the Hugh M. Hefner Exhibition Space in the George Lucas Building on the USC campus. (Ya gotta love SoCal institutions of higher learning!)

Read all about it at the USC website. There’s also a good story about it at the Los Angeles Times website.

Goldfinger’s 45th anniversary: even Michael Jackson wanted to get into the act?

Over at Examiner.com, they’re running a story saying Michael Jackson had wanted to perform the song Goldfinger. The quoted source for this? None other than Shirley Bassey, who became a star performing the title song of Goldfinger, first released in the U.K. in September 1964 and in the U.S. in December of that year.

A sample of the article:

Although Michael Jackson never had the opportunity to perform Goldfinger during a concert at London’s O2 Arena, Shirley Bassey had grown close to Michael Jackson and actually looked forward to hearing the King of Pop perform her most famous of the three James Bond theme songs she provided for the legendary film franchise.

“He loved Goldfinger and had said he wanted to do Goldfinger in his next show,” revealed Bassey.

1966: Fred Flintstone’s entry in the spy craze

By 1966, everyone wanted to get a piece of the spy craze and cartoon producers/directors William Hanna and Joseph Barbera were no different. So H-B did a movie featuring The Flintstones becoming involved in a spy adventure. And in 1966, there wasn’t going to be a new James Bond movies so it was a good a time as any.

Here’s the start of the movie, released by Columbia Pictures (and with Wilma Flintstone subbing for the “Columbia Torch Lady”), with the voices of the original Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble, Alan Reed and Mel Blanc, not to mention the grand dame of cartoon voices, June Foray, and Harvey Korman.

Appreciating Thrilling Cities

The cultural-observer website, When Falls the Coliseum, has posted today really terrific column by crime and espionage journalist, Paul Davis. In Through a Thriller Writers Eyes: The Life and Work of Ian Fleming, he celebrates Fleming’s two nonfiction books, Thrilling Cities and The Diamond Smugglers. The former volume, a collection of pieces on cities the author found particularly fascinating, was reprinted this year by Ian Fleming Publications.

Mr. Davis has a unique appreciation for the Fleming travelogue:

I carried a paperback copy of carried a paperback copy of Thrilling Cities with me throughout my time in the U.S. Navy in the early and mid-1970s. I was thrilled that I was able to visit many of the cities Fleming wrote about two decades before me.

The article concludes with an interview with the Bond creator’s nephew, Fergus Fleming; you can read it all RIGHT HERE. Mr. Davis’website, Paul Davis on Crime has his comments about the column, and a recently posted appreciation of the 1969 James Bond film classic, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, as well as a plethora of other interesting goodies.

OSS 117: Rio Doesn’t Answer Anymore

Kevin Collette, a French James Bond specialist and movie critic (who also reads this blog), passes on the following:

Back at the height of the James Bond mania of the ’60s, each and every civilized country of the world started producing 007 clones like crazy. The Italians had 077, James Tont, and the infamous (Operation ) Kid Brother with Neil Connery. The French proudly displayed the adventures of Hubert Bonnisseur de la Bath, code named …OSS 117.

The series lasted a few films (with various actors playing the part including John Gavin and Kerwin Matthews). As with all other imitators, finally the series disappeared in the early 70’s .

Two years ago a mad French director-screenwriter named Michel Hazanaviciius decided it was time to ressurect OSS 117, perhaps as a healthy reaction to the so-serious Casino Royale and Bourne productions of the times.

The first new movie, titled OSS 117, Cairo Nest of Spies became a cult hit, much to the surprise of its creators.
Although set in 1955 , the nod towards the Sean Connery 007 era were more than obvious , with a quasi french clone of a young Connery hired to play the part of our Hero.

Jean Dujardin mimicked so well some attitude and poses of the great Scot actor ,that even the non Bond fan couldn’t help noticing the link.
In fact , France had at last invented her own Maxwell Smart or Austin Powers.

Fast forward to 2009. A new OSS 117 adventure reached the French and European cinemas last April. With that great cheesy title OSS 117 : Rio Doesn’t Answer Anymore!

This time, Gaumont, the producer and distributor, took no chance. A mamoth OSS 117 campaign engulfed France. Teaser posters (conceived in a very You Only Live Twice type way ) were visible everywhere , clips from the upcoming movies shown on TV , a website designed, etc.

Jettisoning all logic , this new adventure is now set in 1967 while OSS hasn’t aged a bit ! The French agent is sent this time to Brazil to deliver a suitcase full of money in exchange for some top-secret microfilms.

Those documents are in the hands of an exiled Nazi officer , who’s hiding (or so the French Secret Service thinks) deep in the Brazilian jungle.

Aided by a beautiful Mossad agent (shades of The Spy Who Love Me) , OSS must first track down his target. What what better place to start than at the Brazilian German Consulate?

Once again, the whole movie is indeed played for laughs and the 007 winks are even more noticeable than in the first movie. There’s even a (sort of) precredits sequence set in Gstaadt , which is truly a copycat sequence from On Her Majesty’s Secret Service.

But, despite this obvious cinematic love for agent 007, this time the film lacks something .

The casting is still great , the villain exquisitely mad, the girls more beautiful than ever (special mention to the Nazi ‘ Countess’ , aka the delicious Moon Dailly) and Jean Dujardin definitly IS OSS 117. But, for my money, I would have added even more references to James Bond in the story .

For instance, there’s still no trace of gadgets whatsoever –- which is truly a pity since it could produce hilarious sequences in some sort of Q labs recreation shots.

Another danger is that the character hasn’t really evolved between the two films (and two decades !) , meaning he could easily become some sort of carboard secret agent very soon , if no background story is provided to him .

And the final point I should mention is perhaps that the main character may sounds finally too French. References to French Culture abound ( the Students Riot of May 68 , President DeGaulle , etc.,etc . ) but I’m not so sure those will work abroad as good as in the Red wine and beret country.

Anyway , still a very entertaining entry in the 007 clones catalogue I’d say .

Let’s just hope the next one won’t be set in 1974 , or God forbid, 1985.

This writer wishes to thank : AS Communication (Miss Sandra Cornevaux)

Joseph Wiseman, 1918-2009

Joseph Wiseman as Dr. No

We are saddened to report that Joseph Wiseman — Dr. No, the very first James Bond villain — passed away yesterday, October 19, in New York City. He was 91 years old.

Upon news of Mr. Wiseman’s death, HMSS senior editor James McMahon commented: “Joseph Wiseman holds a special place in [the] 007 pantheon as not just the first Bond villain, but still the best. His calm, almost robotic demeanor in the role lent the character an extra measure of menace, and seeming unassailability. A Caucasian playing an Asian is a tricky thing to pull off; so easy to over play and reduce to charicature. But Joseph Wiseman walked that line adroitly. I’ve never seen him in any role in which he wasn’t compelling, but for me, and most people too, I think, Doctor Julius No will always be his signature role.” The other HMSS editor’s take on Mr. Wiseman’s performance as the seminal James Bond villain can be found at or Villains Survey.

His obituary in the New York Times can be read here.

The publishers and editors of Her Majesty’s Secret Servant extend their sincere condolences to Mr. Wiseman’s family, friends, colleagues, and fans.

1959: Hitchcock draws the blueprint for Bond movies (and other ’60s spy entertainment)

That blueprint, of course, would be the director’s North by Northwest, which marked its 50th anniversary this year.

The film is normally written about its use of themes such as mistaken identity or use of familiar landmarks as settings that Hitchock employed in his prior films. Still, it’s also striking how the movie also seemed to inspire makers of 1960s spy entertainment.

The documentary Inside From Russia With Love comments on how the second James Bond film tips the cap to Hitchcock by including “an aerial assault on 007″ (a helicopter going after Bond) that wasn’t part of Ian Fleming’s original novel. In the Hitchcock film, Cary Grant faced this menace:

North by Northwest’s style may have also rubbed off on the Bond creative crew. Ernest Lehman’s script deftly balanced humor with the story’s suspense. For example, Cary Grant, after being forcibly inebriated by the villain’s henchman, does a double take staring into the camera when the car he’s driving is in a precarious spot on the edge of a cliff. Later, as Grant escapes the custody of U.S. intelligence, he walks on a ledge and into a woman’s hotel room. “Stop,” she says wistfully. It’s not that big a leap to the humor that Richard Maibaum and other screenwriters used in the early 007 movies to provide relief after a tense scene.

The Man From U.N.C.L.E., which like North by Northwest was filmed at MGM, also may have been influenced to some degree. Grant’s Roger Thornhill was, afterall, an innocent sucked into the world of espionage. The MGM television show utilized such characters as a surrogate for the audience. And, of course, U.N.C.L.E. ended up employing regular Hitchcock supporting player Leo G. Caroll, whose Alexander Waverly wasn’t all that much different than North by Northwest’s mysterious “Professor,” who is some kind of high-ranking U.S. spymaster.

Finally, Saul Bass provided Hitchcock with stylish titles for North by Northwest. Bass’ titles aren’t the same as the stuff Maurice Binder or Robert Brownjohn would turn out, but the title sequence was, and is, memorable: