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 [...]

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 ways, Sir [...]

Want to drive an Aston Martin DB5? Here’s a more (relatively) affordable alternative

In Goldfinger, James Bond drove as Aston Martin DB5. Want to buy one? Well, there were only about 1,000 made and they’re rather expensive. The Automotive Traveler Web site suggests a more affordable alternative. An excerpt:
On a list of cars that most auto enthusiasts would want to own some day, Aston Martins usually rank high [...]

Goldfinger’s 45th anniversary: even Keith Olbermann gets into the act

Even Countdown With Keith Olbermann will remind you this is the 45th anniversary of Goldfinger.
One segment of the MSNBC news/commentary show is the “World’s Best Persons,” a kind of sequel to the program’s “World’s Worst Persons” segment. Often, the “Best Persons” segment is actually an opportunity for Olbermann to criticize.
On the Oct. 8 program, [...]

The World Is Not Enough’s 10th anniversary (and why it’s a signficiant 007 film)

There are a lot of significant 007 film anniversaries this year. One such anniversary, the 10th since the November 1999 release of The World Is Not Enough, may not get the attention of others (Goldfinger, Moonraker, and the 100th anniversary of the birth of Albert R. Broccoli and Richard Maibuam).
Still, the 19th James [...]

MGM buys some time

From an Associated Press story on The New York Times’ Web site:
Less than two months after hiring restructuring guru Stephen Cooper as a top executive, debt-laden Hollywood studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. said Thursday it received a brief respite from making interest payments on nearly $4 billion in debt.
Just another reason why 007 fans have to check [...]

How ‘The Trouble With Harry’ still affects the 007 franchise

Our co-publisher has sounded the alarm on how troubles at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. could imperil the movie future of James Bond. But in many ways, it’s merely the latest chapter of “The Trouble With Harry.”
Harry, of course, is Harry Saltzman who launched the Bond series with partner Albert R. Broccoli with 1962’s Dr. No. Saltzman, though, [...]

On Her Majesty’s Secret Service to get a big-screen showing

On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, the sixth James Bond movie which is about to have its 40th anniversary, is going to get a big-screen showing this fall.
The Lafayette Theater in Suffern, New York, will show the film on Nov. 28, as part of its Big Screen Classics series. Films in that series are shown at [...]

What if k.d. Lang’s title song was used for Tomorrow Never Dies?

Here’s a song we know was proposed for a James Bond film. The official title is Surrender, it was written by David Arnold and Don Black and performed by k.d. Lang. We know this because it was used in the film Tomorrow Never Dies — in the end titles rather than the main titles.
With [...]

Alternate Quantum of Solace title songs

The title song to last year’s Quantum of Solace had, at best, mixed reviews. On YouTube, there’s a song that supposedly was submitted and rejected by the filmmakers. With YouTube, though, even a rejected song can have a life of its own. Witness this video where the song appears over the titles from the 2008 [...]