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 [...]

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 [...]

Joseph Wiseman, 1918-2009

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 [...]

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 [...]

Matt Helm movie update

The News In Film Web site reports that Gary Ross is close to being named to direct a new Matt Helm movie. An excerpt: According to The Playlist, George Clooney and Jon Hamm were considered for the title character, but eliminated for separate reasons. Bradley Cooper (The Hangover, The A-Team) is the front runner for [...]

Happy birthday, Sir Roger Moore

Sir Roger Moore, UNICEF representative and seven-time James Bond, celebrated his 82nd birthday on Oct. 14. We’ve talked before about how some fans are split about his performances as 007. And, truth be told, the HMSS staff has taken its shots at Sir Roger at times in reviewing and discussing the films. However, in many [...]

James Bond is back… on the radio!

Actors Martin Jarvis and Rosalind Ayres are re-teaming with BBC Radio 4 to bring James Bond back to the radio. As part of last year’s Ian Fleming centenary, the Jarvis and Ayres production company adapted Doctor No for the beeb, having been given special “one-off” permission by Eon Productions for the event. Toby Stephens (Gustav [...]

John Barry to receive Max Steiner award

John Barry, the 11-time 007 composer and five-time Academy Award winner, is about to pick up another piece of hardware: the Max Steiner Life Achievement award. Barry was scheduled to get the award at the Hollywood In Vienna program on Oct. 14. However, because of an illness by his wife, he can’t make it. Barry [...]

1967: Bulldog Drummond gets revived to cash in on the spy craze

James Bond spurred production of many spy-oriented movies and TV shows in the 1960s. One Bond-inspired production was a film series that dusted off the character of Hugh “Bulldog” Drummond. Ian Fleming, in discussing his James Bond novels, said they were written to be modern, including depictions of sex and violence, unlike the Bulldog Drummond [...]

For sale: some pricey 007 props

At the Heritage Auction Galleries Web site, there are some James Bond props up for sale by the Ian Fleming Foundation for the serious 007 collector: For example, there’s: –A temperature gauge from the Goldfinger Aston Martin DB5 with an opening bid of $600. – A prop cell phone from Tomorrow Never Dies with an [...]