Another Bond collection auction scheduled

U.K.-based Ewbank’s has scheduled an auction of the collection of Steve Oxenrider, the company announced on Instagram.

The auction will occur in two phases: Nov. 16 and 17 and spring 2024. An excerpt:

Steve Oxenrider is a retired educator from the USA, a world traveller and a life-long James Bond fan and collector. In 58 years, he has amassed thousands of Bond posters, stills, publicity and press material, toys and merchandising, programs, magazines, books, records and autographs.

According to the Ewbank’s website, here are some of the items to be auctioned.

—1965 Dr. No/From Russia With Love British poster. Estimate: £800 – £1,200, starting bid: £400.

—1964 Goldfinger British poster. Estimate: £5,000 – £8,000, starting bid: £2,400. Description: “This scarcely seen poster displays the rare style B design – James Bond (Sean Connery) and Pussy Galore (Honor Blackman) projected onto a gold hand. This alternate design by Robert Brownjohn was produced exclusively for promoting the film in Ireland whereas the English poster included the gold-coated Jill Masterson (Shirley Eaton). At the time, Irish censors were scandalised by the image of the bikini-clad Bond girl, resulting in this scarce yet similarly iconic ‘hand’ design.”

—From Russia With Love British advance poster. Estimate: £6,000 – £8,000, starting bid: £3,000. Description: “Joseph Caroff designed this 007 logo, commissioned by United Artists for press release letterheads for Dr. No (1962). The image was so well known that by the release of From Russia With Love, it was used alone for this country-of-origin British double crown.”

18th anniversary of Eon getting its mojo back

Daniel Craig

Today, Oct. 14, is the 18th anniversary of Eon Productions getting its mojo back, when it formally announced the casting of Daniel Craig as James Bond.

People may ask whether Eon had lost its mojo. But in 2005, Eon itself said it had. Consider this excerpt from a New York Times article.

“I was desperately afraid, and Barbara was desperately afraid, we would go downhill,” said Michael G. Wilson, the producer of the new Bond film, “Casino Royale,” with Ms. Broccoli. He even told that to Pierce Brosnan, the suave James Bond who had a successful run of four films, he said.

“We are running out of energy, mental energy,” Mr. Wilson recalled saying. “We need to generate something new, for ourselves.”

Running out of energy, mental energy. Sounds like Eon’s mojo was running low on both in the 2000s.

With Craig, it was the first casting that Eon principals Wilson and Barbara Broccoli got to pick their own Bond actor. Albert R. Broccoli had selected Craig’s predecessors. Broccoli’s widow, Dana Broccoli, kept an eye on her children until she passed away in 2004.

Enter Daniel Craig. Barbara Broccoli said in 2006 that Craig is “the actor that defies his generation of actors.” In a 2017 podcast with The Hollywood Reporter, Broccoli said that until Craig announced in August of that year he’d return for one last Bond film, ““My heart was breaking.”

The Eon boss said in that podcast that Craig was the best Bond actor. “He is particularly incredible.”

Today, it has been about four years since he filmed his last Bond scene and two years since his final Bond effort, No Time to Die, came out.

Still, to note the return of the return of Eon’s mojo in 2005, the official account on X, formerly Twitter, this post appeared:

On this day in 2005, Daniel Craig was announced as the sixth actor to play James Bond.

Look back at his time as 007 in the documentary Being James Bond on our YouTube channel. pic.twitter.com/doIWRLEUzJ

— James Bond (@007) October 14, 2023

Q the Music returns this weekend

Q the Music logo

At one point, it appeared Q the Music, the group that performs James Bond music and songs, was going away.

Well, you can’t keep a good group down. Q the Music is scheduled to perform a concert on Oct. 15 in London. Here’s an excerpt from a description of the show:

The show features all your favourite Bond songs such as Goldfinger Diamonds Are Forever Live and Let Die and Nobody Does It Better performed with the most authentic and dedicated arrangements to the originals ever heard but with such passion enthusiasm and flair: you can’t help but be wowed. This show will also focus on three huge anniversaries: From Russia With Love (60th) Live and Let Die (50th) and Octopussy (40th) with musical tributes to the scores as well as hearing memories from our special guests who appeared in the films.

The guests cited in the description are Kristina Wayborn as well as David and Tony Meyer from Octopussy plus Martine Beswick who appeared in From Russia With Love and Thunderball. The concert is to be hosted by David Zaritsky of The Bond Experience channel on YouTube.

Here is a YouTube video promoting the event:

About some YouTubers

There’s a lot to like about the Google-owned YouTube.

You can find digitally enhanced copies of shows originally broadcast live such as a 1953 adaptation of 1984, or the original 1954 broadcast of 12 Angry Men. Some YouTubers compile vintage commercials and promos from previous decades that haven’t been seen since they were originally shown. And you can find complete episodes of series originally broadcast decades ago.

YouTube also offers many original YouTube channels that offer various viewpoints. Your mileage may vary based on your own viewpoint.

But sometimes, YouTubers can be, shall we say, sensitive.

This week, the blog encountered a YouTube video that lasted almost four hours (three hours, 58 minutes and 45 seconds to be precise) that critiqued this year’s Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.

The video had good production values and raised points that merited a closer look at the fifth Indiana Jones movie. I watched more than an hour and left a compliment. What I viewed was mostly entertaining.

The YouTuber involved didn’t care for the compliment. “If you can’t be bothered to watch to watch the full video, what do you expect me to say to you?”

Actually, I didn’t expect him to say anything. Most people, when receiving a compliment, take the win and go home. Some people, I suppose, are sore winners. I deleted my compliment as a result.

I’m not sure there’s a larger point here. I’m not linking or embedding the video. Evidently, some people get offended if they receive insufficient compliments.

So it goes.

Phyllis Coates, a tough Lois Lane, dies at 96

Phyllis Coates, as Lois Lane, with George Reeves’ Superman

Phyllis Coates, the last surviving original cast member of the 1950s Adventures of Superman series, has died at 96, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Coates died this week at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills, California, THR said, citing her daughter Laura Press.

Coates played Lois Lane opposite George Reeves as Superman/Clark Kent in the movie Superman and the Mole-Men in 1951. Work began on the first season of the syndicated Adventures of Superman show afterward. The first season comprised 26 episodes, which included a two-parter (“The Unknown People”) edited from Superman and the Mole-Men.

The Coates version of Lois Lane was tough, especially for 1950s television. In one episode (“No Holds Barred”), Lois is angry with Clark Kent for convincing a college wrestler to take on a crooked professional wrestler who has crippled his opponents.

Lois tells Clark she hopes to never see him again “as long as I live.” The Coates version of Lois sounded as if she meant it. She displayed a tough attitude throughout the season. Her version of Lois could also scream with the best of them.

Coates departed after the show’s first season. Her replacement was Noel Neill, who had played Lois Lane in two Superman movie serials with Kirk Alyn as Clark Kent/Superman. Neill would stay with the show through the end of its six-season run.

Coates apparently didn’t look back. According to THR, she was only paid $350 an episode for The Adventures of Superman. Her IMDB.COM ENTRY lists acting credits starting in 1946 and extending into the 1990s.

WGA members ratify contract agreement

Writers Guild West logo

The Writers Guild of America has overwhelmingly approved a new contract agreement, the union said on its website.

The vote was 99 percent in favor, according to the union. The new contract will run from Sept. 25 through May 1, 2026.

The WGA went on strike on May 2 until it reached an agreement late last month with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), which represents studios and streamers. The walkout caused the production of movies and TV shows to halt.

SAG-AFTRA, which represents actors, remains on strike and is negotiating with AMPTP.

Previous WGA strikes affected production of two James Bond movies, Licence to Kill (1989) and Quantum of Solace (2008).

About why Thrush isn’t an acronym

A Thrush logo, as seen in The Yellow Scarf Affair, a first-season episode of The Man From U.N.C.L.E.

There’s a classic line in the Western film The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance: “When the legend becomes fact, print the legend.”

So it is with the notion that Thrush, the villainous organization in The Man From U.N.C.L.E., is actually an acronym, short for the Technological Hierarchy for the Removal of Undesirables and the Subjugation of Humanity.

It’s not true, at least in the actual 1964-68 series. In the show, Thrush was merely a name. Thrush even had a logo of a sinister-looking bird. It could be seen on the uniforms of Thrush thugs as well as on Thrush weapons.

The blog has written about this before. The notion of Thrush as an acronym originated with a tie-in novel, The Dagger Affair by David McDaniel. In McDaniel’s book, Thrush traced its origin to Professor Moriarty from the Sherlock Holmes stories.

That was pretty amusing. Except, the series itself presented its own origin for Thrush.

A second-season episode, The Adriatic Express Affair, featured Thrush official Madame Nemirovitch (Jesse Royce Landis) claiming to be the founder of the organization. Other than that, the show itself didn’t provide a lot of details about how Thrush got started.

Fans will be fans and many gravitated to McDaniel’s version. It became so popular even major news organizations (apparently without time to research it further) did so as well.

In 2016, with the death of U.N.C.L.E. star Robert Vaughn, The New York Times included Thrush as an acronym in its obituary for the actor.

But no character (Vaughn) played was as popular as Napoleon Solo. From 1964 to 1968, in the thick of the Cold War, millions of Americas tuned in weekly to “The Man From U.N.C.L.E.” to watch Mr. Vaughn, as a superagent from the United Network Command for Law and Enforcement, battling T.H.R.U.S.H. (Technological Hierarchy for the Removal of Undesirables and the Subjugation of Humanity), a secret organization intent on achieving world domination through nefarious if far-fetched devices like mind-controlling gas.

With last month’s death of David McCallum, The Washington Post’s obituary also included Thrush as an acronym.

Setting aside Cold War rivalries, the spies team up to fight an evil organization known as T.H.R.U.S.H. (the Technological Hierarchy for the Removal of Undesirables and the Subjugation of Humanity), which threatens to turn dogs against their masters, bring the dead back to life and unleash a toxic gas that causes a lethal case of the hiccups.

For the record, the episode about turning dogs against their masters did not involve Thrush. That was done by Gypies in a story written by former British spy Alan Caillou. The episode was titled The Bow-Wow Affair and was the first U.N.C.L.E. story where McCallum’s Illya Kuryakin had the bulk of the screen time.

Well, it has been almost 60 years since The Man From U.N.C.L.E. debuted. At this late date, facts are almost irrelevant. When the legend becomes fact, print the legend, it seems.

How film Bond may parallel cinema Batman

NOT an actual comic book cover (separate drawings by Jim Aparo, 1932-2005).

h/t to my friend “Jim from Detroit.”

Bond 26 and the future of the cinema James Bond remains uncertain. But it’s possible film Bond may resemble cinema Batman.

Consider the following:

Batman movies 1989-1997: Batman (1989), Batman Returns (1992), Batman Forever (1995) and Batman and Robin (1997) exist in the same continuity despite having three different actors as Batman/Bruce Wayne (Michael Keaton, Val Kilmer, George Clooney).

The four movies have the same Alfred (Michael Gough) and Commissioner Gordon (Pat Hingle). The continuity is reinforced in the last two movies with the same Dick Grayson/Robin (Chris O’Donnell).

James Bond movies 1962-2002: The first 20 Bond films made by Eon Productions loosely exist in the same continuity. In The Spy Who Loved Me (1977), the 10th Eon production, there’s a brief reference to Bond’s late wife Tracy originally seen in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service.

That reference is reinforced in the pre-titles sequence of For Your Eyes Only (1981), where Tracy’s headstone is seen and her year of death was 1969, the year Majesty’s was released. Even Licence to Kill (1989) includes a vague reference to Tracy.

Overall, there were five different Bond actors but they’re all playing the same version of Bond. A major piece of connective tissue is actor Desmond Llewelyn as Boothroyd/Q, who played opposite all five.

Batman’s “bubble universe”: In the mid-2000s, Warner Bros. opted to start over with Batman Begins (2005), with a new Batman/Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) as directed by Christopher Nolan. This version would be seen in two more movies, The Dark Knight (2008) and The Dark Knight Rises (2012). It would include some Bond film tropes courtesy of the director, a 007 fan.

Bond’s “bubble universe”: In 2006, Eon Productions decided to start over with Casino Royale (2006). Both of Eon’s principals, Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson, said the series was starting over.

Actor Daniel Craig was the new Bond actor. He would be in five films overall. At the end of No Time to Die (2021), Craig’s Bond is dust (if that) after missiles come down on his head. Craig claims he always wanted his version of Bond to die at the end. Well, that’s how it turned out.

Batman since the “bubble universe”: We got yet another version of Batman with Ben Affleck in Batman v. Superman and Justice League, plus small appearances in other films. The current Batman is Robert Pattinson, who played the title character in The Batman (2022). There’s a sequel in the works.

Bond after the “bubble universe”: That is what Eon is dealing with now concerning Bond 26.

Is another Bond reboot in the works? Do you pretend the Craig films never happened and resume with the loose 1962-2002 timeline?

I have trouble believing the latter is an option. Eon boss Barbara Broccoli had a “special relationship” with Craig, who she described (in a 2017 podcast with the Hollywood Reporter) as the best Bond actor. Also, it’s hard to come back from Bond as dust after No Time to Die.

A hard reboot may be the way to go. We’ll see. Meanwhile, many Bond fans are rooting for Christopher Nolan to become involved with Bond. Will history repeat itself? Personally, I’m doubtful, but we’ll see.

007: Road to a Million trailer debuts

For Global James Bond Day, a trailer for the upcoming reality show 007: Road to a Million came out.

The program features a competition of teams of two people. The contestants “must correctly answer questions hidden in the different locations around the world to advance to the next challenge,” according to an announcement issued earlier this year. The participants are seeking a prize of 1 million British pounds ($1.2 million).

Also present is The Controller, a character played by Brian Cox who creates complications. “The Controller revels in the increasingly difficult journeys and questions the contestants must overcome,” according to the earlier announcement. He figures prominently in the trailer.

007: Road to a Million is the only James Bond spinoff Amazon has come up with since it acquired Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Eon Productions boss Barbara Broccoli has said she’s not interested in Bond streaming shows and that 007 will remain a theatrical movie franchise.

The show will debut on Amazon Prime next month. Here’s the trailer Amazon Prime put out:

What’s up for Global James Bond Day 2023?

Global James Bond Day on Oct. 5 became a thing in 2012 ahead of the 50th anniversary of the debut of Dr. No, the first 007 film made by Eon Productions.

The idea was quickly adopted by Bond fans. With each passing October, fans have wondered if there will be a major announcement? A new Bond actor? A new Bond film project?

More often than not, the answer has been no. There have been some promotions. Some new merchandise sales. But nothing has moved the needle.

Yet, hope springs eternal. An American reference: Sort of like Charlie Brown trying to kick the football before Lucy pulls it away yet again. Maybe this time will be different.