007 makes Sports Illustrated (sort of)

Puns, quips and witticisms are part of the copy editor’s stock in trade. Witness the Nov. 30 issue of Sports Illustrated and its letters to the editor page. One letter published concerned a story in Nov. 9 issue about the University of Iowa’s football team. The letter noted that the Hawkeyes weren’t “winning every game [...]

James Bond’s influence on Jonny Quest

We came across an excellent documentary on The Adventures of Jonny Quest, the Hanna-Barbera prime time cartoon that debuted in September 1964. There’s a lot of fascinating behind-the-scenes information, including some James Bond ties to the series. Producers William Hanna and Joseph Barbera hired cartoonist Doug Wildey to spearhead the project. It was originally intended [...]

The murky origins of the James Bond theme: a sequel

Eleven months ago, we posted about the murky origins of the James Bond Theme which included a link to a portion of a U.K. documentary. The gist of the documentary was that while Monty Norman wrote the theme originally, John Barry contributed a great deal with the way he arranged and orchestrated it. And it [...]

OHMSS’s 40th anniversary Part I: The men who would be Bond

In a few short weeks it will be the 40th anniversary of On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. The film is a) one of the best, if not the best, James Bond movies; b) the “first major hiccup” in the Bond series (as TCM weekend host Ben Mankiewicz put it in introducing Diamonds Are Forever when [...]

MGM update: 007 main asset of interest to would-be buyers

As Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer management considers its options, it’s interesting to note how few assets MGM has right now except its half interest in the James Bond franchise. For example, in this Nov. 20 story on Bloomberg.com there’s an interesting reference about 007: MGM’s only new release this year, a remake of the 1980 film “Fame,” generated [...]

The David Arnold-composed QOS theme — sung by Shirley Bassey!

Here’s a little pre-holiday treat: For those who didn’t care all that much for Another Way to Die, the Jack White/Alicia Keys theme song to Quantum of Solace; for those David Arnold admirers who wish the Bond Film producers would let him compose the main theme songs; for those Shirley Bassey fans who would love [...]

Saab, once 007′s ride, is on the endangered list

Back in March, we ran an article on how the literary James Bond once drove a Saab and how that Swedish brand was facing tough times. Things haven’t gotten easier for Saab. In fact, Bloomberg is reporting that General Motors Co. may close Saab after sports-car maker Koenigsegg Group AB canceled a planned acquisition of [...]

Cinema Retro’s look at Robert Vaughn’s birthday bash

Over at Cinema Retro’s Web site, Lee Pfeiffer describes Robert Vaughn’s 77th birthday party. A brief excerpt: The black tie affair began with a cocktail hour attended by the likes of Ben Gazzara, Dick Cavett and Joe Sirola, who had played a villain in several episodes of The Man From U.N.C.L.E. As with all Players [...]

Salute to Maurice Binder’s non-007 work

The late Maurice Binder is closely associated with the world of James Bond, starting with his gunbarrel logo that began Dr. No to the main titles of 14 007 movies. But Binder did many creative main titles for other films that ought not be overlooked. Binder did some interesting collaborations with composer Henry Mancini. For [...]

James Bond Theme is played during Oregon-Arizona college football game

ABC (well technically ESPN via ABC) is showing the Oregon-Arizona college football game on Nov. 21. Around 8:30 p.m. ET, one of the bands of the teams involved played the James Bond Theme. It remains to be seen whether one of the best-known movie themes shows up again during the broadcast.