Robert Sellers talks about Thunderball

Thunderball poster in 1965

The Spy Command interviewed Robert Sellers, the author of The Battle of Bond, about Thunderball ahead of the film’s 50th anniversary.

Because of its length, the FULL INTERVIEW is posted on our sister site, The Spy Command Feature Story Index. Here are some highlights:

Sellers on Kevin McClory’s bad side: “He was a shyster and thank God his Thunderball film never got off the ground, it would have sunk the franchise before it had a chance to get started.”

Sellers on McClory’s good side: “However, one must not underestimate the importance of McClory, after all he was the first person to fully realize the potential of Bond as a screen character when Fleming had already been turned down by most of Hollywood. He also contributed lots of ideas to the project.”

Sellers on Ian Fleming: “I think an element of arrogance seeped into his thinking…Maybe he thought his establishment credentials (Eton, Sandhurst, Naval Intelligence) lent him superiority over the brash, Irish and working class McClory.

Sellers on Jack Whittingham, the screenwriter hired by McClory, who turned in the first Thunderball-related script in 1960: “To a large extent Whittingham also changed the character of Bond himself from the one in the original novels to one that contemporary cinema audiences would find more palatable.”

Sellers on Thunderball itself: ” I love Thunderball, it’s my favourite Bond film. For me it retains the dark, edginess of Dr No and From Russia With Love, combined with the fun and campness of Goldfinger, while looking ahead to the all-out epicness of things like You Only Live Twice.”

To read the full interview, CLICK HERE.