Sex and Snow...Day 23 of Bond 365

Now that I have your attention, it’s time for Day 23 of Bond 365! Happy Friday, by the way! 

Maggie Wright

Born this day in 1944

Air Squadron Leader in Goldfinger

According to her IMDB profile, Maggie Wright was the first person to appear nude in a stage production in the UK. She played Helen of Troy in Christopher Marlowe’s Faustus back in September 1968. This was not Wright’s first brush sexually charged roles nor was it her last. For instance, she was in What’s New Pussycat (1965) and Sex and the Other Woman (1972). She was also the Air Squadron Leader (although there is some discussion that another actress actually was) in Goldfinger (1964), which just happened to be her first role.

Ms. Maggie Wright (Aveleyman.com)

I am not going to pursue a deeper discussion about Pussy Galore’s flying circus girls in the film, but rather the unique fact that they were (I hope) inspirational for some girls and women who dreamed of flying, but perhaps never thought they could. Thinking back to the movie, I think it is cool that there was a squadron of women pilots assembled in the film, regardless of the fact that their stunt doubles were men in women’s wigs and flight uniforms. It’s an illusion that creates magic and builds dreams that may one day come true. I know the first time I saw Star Wars, and I am not ashamed to admit this, I truly believed in the concept of the "Force".

After Goldfinger, Wright had a supporting with another Bond, Sir Roger Moore in The Saint. Probably not surprising, she also was in a Hammer film, Twins of Evil (1971) starring Peter Cushing and a dashing David Warbeck, who had been considered at one point for the role of James Bond. She also starred in the television mini-series, The Martian Chronicles (1980), as Ylla, and her last role was in 1982.

Renaissance Man, Willy Bogner (Kurier.at)

Willy Bogner

Born this day in 1942

Ski Cameraman for On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, The Spy Who Loved Me, For Your Eyes Only, A View to a Kill

And now for the snow portion of the program, I turn to Willy Bogner, who was a professional skier and participated in the 1960 and 1964 Winter Olympics. He came from a family of exceptionally skilled skiers, and coupled with his interest in film, Bogner became a ski cameraman for four of the Bond films: On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, The Spy Who Loved Me, For Your Eyes Only, and A View to a Kill. Bogner was the first to choreograph and film skiers for films he made through his own film production company, Willy Bogner Film GmbH, which he founded in 1968. 

His talent and abilities does not stop there though. He also worked in the family business, Bogner, which has been designing and manufacturing sportswear. The business, which was established by Bogner’s father in 1932, has been the official sportswear supplier for the German Olympic team (18 times according to the Bogner website!). The fashions are quite lovely and his films about skiing are creatively composed and obviously executed with precision by a person with an eye for detail and aesthetic grace and beauty. I’ll leave you with a snip-it of one of his ski films from 1964.  

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