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Ray Aghayan, who designed costumes and wardrobe for Our Man Flint and In Like Flint, has died at 83.
The New York Times, in an obituary you can read BY CLICKING HERE, says Aghayan had a noteable career.
Mr. Aghayan was nominated for the Academy Award three times, and in 1967 he and (his partner Bob) Mackie shared the first Emmy ever awarded for costume design, for their partnership in the TV movie “Alice Through the Looking Glass.”
The partners received Oscar nominations for the 43 ensembles worn by (Diana) Ross in “Lady Sings the Blues,” the 1972 Billie Holiday biopic, and for the 1930s-style dresses, hats, gloves and shoes worn by Ms. Streisand in “Funny Lady,” the 1975 sequel to “Funny Girl.” Mr. Aghayan received his first Oscar nomination for “Gaily, Gaily,” a 1969 comedy set in Chicago in 1910.
Some of Aghayan’s costume design work can be seen in the trailer for Our Man Flint:
Graham Rye’s 007 Magazine has a new issue on the short-lived Timothy Dalton era of Bond films. The publication looks at The Living Daylights and Licence to Kill.
For more information, YOU CAN CLICK HERE. The magazine costs 9.99 British pounds, $15.99 or 11.99 euros.
While it was only two films, the Dalton period was eventful. It included composer John Barry’s 007 finale (one of the articles in the magazine) and Licence’s box office numbers ($156 million worldwide, but less than $35 million in the U.S.) caused producer Albert R. Broccoli to re-evaluate his options. The co-founder of Eon Productions ended his long association with screenwriter Richard Maibaum and decided five 007 films was enough for director John Glen.
Broccoli also for a period considered a sale of his interest in Bond. But he opted against it. Instead, he ended up in a legal fight with the then-owners of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (which then, as now, controls half of the franchise) and a six-year hiatus ensued. Licence was Broccoli’s last credit as producer of a Bond movie. He got the usual “Albert R. Broccoli presents” credit on GoldenEye, but stepson Michael G. Wilson and daughter Barbara Broccoli did the heavy lifting.
Dalton also divides 007 fans, with fans saying he comes closest to the literary Bond of Ian Fleming’s novels while detractors not caring for his portryal.
Bond 23 is start production on Nov. 7, according to a report in U.K. newspaper, The Sun. The story is brief but contains this passage:
When shooting starts on November 7, the actor will have to switch from a Range Rover to a Jaguar – with both motors on the move.
Jaguar and Land Rover were part of product placement in 2002’s Die Another Day in a deal meant to show off Ford Motor Co.’s European luxury offerings. Gustav Graves was driven to receive his knighthood (after making a showy parachute jump) in a Land Rover while Graves henchman Zao drove a tricked-out Jaguar in a car chase with an Aston Martin driven by Bond (Pierce Brosnan).
Ford sold off Aston Martin in 2007 and Jaguar and Land Rover in 2008. Jaguar and Land Rover are now owned by India’s Tata Motors Ltd.
Sir Roger Moore, the seven-time film 007, celebrated his 84th birthday on Oct. 14. He’s the oldest of the cinema James Bonds. His 1973-1985 tenure tends to divide older fans who grew up with Sean Connery, with some (including members of our own staff) disliking Moore’s lighter touch.
Still, there’s little debate that his time as Bond was financially successful. His 007 debut, Live And Let Die, had a worldwide gross of about $161 million, the biggest Bond box office at the time, and the first 007 film to top 1965’s Thunderball at the box office. After The Man With The Golden Gun dipped, 1977’s The Spy Who Loved Me set another 007 record (about $185 million) with 1979’s Moonraker topping that ($210 million). No 007 film did better until 1995’s GoldenEye, Pierce Brosnan’s debut, at $356 million.
Fans of the Moore 007 don’t really care about statistics. Instead, they focus on how he helped keep the film series going. That doesn’t sound like much today but many wondered whether Bond could survive Connery’s departure(s). As a former 007, Sir Roger has been involved in humanitarian causes.
Of course, if you count televison, Sir Roger played 007 eight times. We’ve posted this before, but in honor of the actor’s birthday we’ll do it again:
Before we proceed any further, let’s address the question some of you are asking. Morton who?
Morton Stevens (1929-1991) wrote one piece of music almost everybody knows, the Hawaii Five-O (or with the new show, Hawaii Five-0) theme. But that can explained away. He was just a one-hit wonder. Not really. Still, in the early- to mid-1960s, Stevens did a lot of episodic television along with Jerry Goldsmith, John (then Johnny) Williams and Lalo Schifrin. Goldsmith, Williams and Schifrin all became major film composers.
Stevens didn’t. He ended up, starting in the spring of 1965, taking a job as head of CBS’s West Coast music department. TV and movie music historian Jon Burlingame, in a commentary for the DVD set of the Thriller television series DVD set, says Stevens expressed some regret about that toward the end of his life. In the late ’60s and early ’70s, CBS dabbled in feature films. Stevens could have assigned himself to score The Reivers but assigned the job to Williams. That helped Williams achieve the status of a movie composer.
Still, Stevens shouldn’t be forgotten. The composer did at least one score for 11 of the 12 seasons of the original Five-O series (1968-1980). Here’s a clip from the ninth-season opener, Nine Dragons. Stevens provides the score staring around the 1:40 mark. It may be a trifle padded but that just gives the viewer more of an opportunity to enjoy Stevens’s work:
Three years earlier, Stevens scored the sixth-season opening episode, Hookman, for which he earned an Emmy. Here’s the “coming next week” preview and the start of the episode:
Stevens was also there was the original Five-O finished up its 12-year run. His music would be the best thing about Woe To Wo Fat:
Years later, CBS decided to do a new Hawaii Five-0 series (with the 0 replacing the capital O). When the pilot was produced in early 2010, it had a “rock music” version of Stevens’s theme. Before the network broadcast the show, the decision was made that a more traditional version was needed. Musicians who worked on the original show were called in:
On the Thriller commentary track, Burlingame quotes composer Bruce Broughton as saying that any Five-O composer had to be aware of the template that Stevens provided. In the commentary, Burlingame likens the situation to James Bond movie composers following in the steps of John Barry. That’s high praise indeed, but praise that’s earned. Arguably, Stevens is one of the composers that people don’t know but who should.
UPDATE: We can’t help it, but we have to include the end to a first-season episode (in fact, it’s one of the earliest filmed episodes), where Stevens’s score is a perfect match to McGarrett outfoxing a Hawaiian crime boss.
Composer David Arnold, who has composed the score for five James Bond movies, said on Twitter on Oct. 9 that he doesn’t know yet if he’ll do an encore for Bond 23.
Arnold, the composer for 1997’s Tomorrow Never Dies through 2008’s Quantum of Solace, was asked on Twitter if he’ll do the same on next year’s James Bond film. To view the exchange, CLICK HERE. There’s not much to read. It goes like this:
If Arnold doesn’t return, who might get the job? Thomas Newman, part of a Hollywood dynasty of composers (his father Alfred Newman composed the “20th Century Fox Fanfare” that precedes every Fox movie), has worked with Bond 23 director Sam Mendes on a number of movies. Anyway, it’s too early to tell. Still, it’s possible Bond fans may be exposed to a new musical voice.
Meanwhile, to give you an idea how long the Newman music clan has been around Hollywood, here’s Alfred Newman’s FINAL composing credit, which occurred 41 years ago It’s a 1970 movie where the first actor to play James Bond (Barry Nelson) was part of the cast:
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts Los Angeles said today it’s renaming one of its awards in honor of Albert R. Broccoli, co-founder of Eon Productions, which produces the James Bond movie series.
Los Angeles, October 11, 2011 — The British Academy of Film and Television Arts Los Angeles® (BAFTA Los Angeles) announced today that it will rename its Britannia Award for Worldwide Contribution to Filmed Entertainment in honor of Albert R. “Cubby” Broccoli, pioneering producer of the James Bond franchise. The first Cubby Broccoli Britannia Award for Worldwide Contribution to Filmed Entertainment will be presented to Academy Award winner John Lasseter at the 2011 BAFTA Los Angeles Britannia Awards on Wednesday, November 30 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.
The Wrap, a rival entertainment-news Web site, ran a short article on the news, which you can read BY CLICKING HERE.
Javier Bardem, in a segment last week on ABC’s Nightline, confirmed he’s playing a villain in Bond 23. He said it will be “fun” while “I cannot tell you many details about that.”
If you CLICK HERE, go to “Javier Bardem’s Passionate Cause.” Most of the segment is about refugee camps in the western Sahara and how Bardem is working on a documentary about them.
Former James Bond continuation author Raymond Benson has done another interview to promote his new novel, The Black Stiletto. It’s on the Comicbook Nerd Web site. Here’s a brief excerpt:
When I wrote Bond (gosh, that was over fifteen years ago when I started) I was required to write an outline of the story first. That trained me very well, so I’ve always done it. Some writers like to outline, others don’t. I like it. It’s tantamount to writing a treatment of the novel first. That way you can look at the story with a bird’s-eye view and figure out what works and what doesn’t. It’s easier to throw out or re-write a paragraph or two of an outline than it is to wreck two full chapters of prose! I’m very proud of my Bond novels, but they were very early in my novel-writing career. I believe I’ve improved immensely as an author since then. The Black Stiletto is my 26th published book. I’ll probably never write another Bond novel, but I’m pretty sure that if I did, my older ones would pale in comparison.
Character actor George Baker, who appeared in both James Bond movies and the original version of the televison series The Prisoner, has died at 80, according to an obituary on the BBC’s Web site.
Baker played Sir Hilary Bray, who James Bond (George Lazenby) impersonates, in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service and a British naval officer in 1977’s The Spy Who Love Me. He also was one of many Number Twos, in The Prisoner. To view his credits on IMDB.com, JUST CLICK HERE.
UPDATE: Here’s part of the scene where Bond meets with Sir Hilary:
The Spy Command 