Editor, Actor, and Cinematographer Celebrate Their Birthdays…Day 144 of Bond 365

Jim Clark at work

Jim Clark

Born this day in 1931

Editor for The World Is Not Enough

Englishman Jim Clark has done a bit of everything in front of and behind the camera. He’s been an actor, writer, editor, director, producer, and sound. He got his start at Ealing Studios. He worked as an Assistant Sound Editor for The Cruel Sea (1953) and the following year, was the Second Assistant Editor on The Love Lottery (1954), a position that he stayed in for much of his 50+ year career.

Clark received an Academy Award and a BAFTA for editing The Killing Fields (1984) and a BAFTA for The Mission (1986). And in 2005, Clark was honored with the American Cinema Editors Career Achievement Award. In 2011, he wrote his autobiography, Dream Repairman: Adventures in Film Editing.

Lonsdale as Sir Hugo Drax

Michael Lonsdale

Born this day in 1931

Hugo Drax in Moonraker

Parisian Michael Lonsdale has had a long and successful career as an actor. With a French mother and an English father, they moved from Paris to Guernsey then London and eventually Casablanca. After the war, he returned to Paris where he studied painting before taking an interest in acting. He started with stage acting and then in 1956, he moved to the big screen with It Happened in Aden in which he was cast as Sinclair.

Most of his acting credits are in French film and television, but he has done some English projects. For example, as Lebel in The Day of the Jackel (1973); as the Abbot in The Name of the Rose (1986) in which he starred opposite Bond alum Sean Connery; as Dupont D’Ivry in The Remains of the Day (1993); as Jean-Pierre in Ronin (1998) opposite Bond alums Sean Bean and Jonathan Pryce; and as Papa in Munich (2005) opposite yet another couple of Bond alums, Daniel Craig and Mathieu Amalric. In all, Lonsdale has over 230 acting credits! 

Bond Trivia: Because Lonsdale is bilingual, for the French version of Moonraker, he dubbed himself.

Deakins on set

Roger Deakins

Born this day in 1949

Camera Operator: “A” Camera for Skyfall

Director of Photography on Skyfall

Roger Deakins is an accomplished English cinematographer who has worked a who’s who of directors: Michael Apted, Roger Spottiswoode, David Mamet, Martin Scorsese, Ron Howard, M. Night Shyamalan, and Angelina Jolie. He has worked with the Coen brothers for the past 25 years, Sam Mendes for three films, and currently with Denis Villeneuve on the new Blade Runner project.

Deakins’ approach of utilizing limited lighting brings out the beauty of his scenes and actors in all of his films. His cinematic eye has led to several accolades over the years. Below are just a few examples:

No Country for Old Men (2007)

O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000)

The Shawshank Redemption (1994)

True Grit (2010)

Skyfall (2012)

© Copyright. Michele Brittany. 2011 - 2015. All rights reserved. All text, graphics, and photos are protected by US and International Copyright Laws, and may not be copied, reprinted, published, translated, hosted, or otherwise distributed by any means without written permission.

Happy Birthday Mr. Brosnan….Day 136 of Bond 365

I was out and about today and after enjoying Stuart Gibbs’ Spy School, I had to pick up the second and third books, Spy Camp and Evil Spy School. Ben Ripley returns for both books. And, I had the good fortune that the bookstore actually stocked the British version of GQ, which features an in depth article and cover of Austrian Christoph Waltz. I thought I was going to have to search eBay for a copy and now I don’t have to – yay! Anyway, reviews coming soon!

Pierce Brendan Brosnan

Born this day in 1953

James Bond in GoldenEye, Tomorrow Never Dies, The World Is Not Enough, Die Another Day, James Bond 007: Everything or Nothing (video game)

His likeness for James Bond 007: Nightfire (video game)

It’s birthday wishes to Mr. Pierce Brosnan who donned James Bond tuxedo for four films that spanned across two decades. If things had worked out between the producers at Eon Productions and the NBC television show Remington Steele, Brosnan’s reign as the suave British secret agent would have started with The Living Daylights (1987) when Timothy Dalton was originally not available. It would have been interesting to see what Brosnan brought to the table and the tone he would have set with those storylines. I don’t think we would have had the darkness of Dalton, but I believe that Brosnan would have tempered the over-the-top humor that defined Sir Roger Moore’s era.

We could speculate all day, but in the end, Brosnan came to Bond with GoldenEye (1995), which was his best outing. The actors collected for the film coupled with the story, worked well, however, I don’t think there was chemistry between Brosnan and his Bond Girls in the film. I actually turn to Tomorrow Never Dies (1997) and his on-screen chemistry with Michelle Yeoh, as Wai Lin, as the best Bond/Bond Girl relationship of the four films. Personally, I thought the storyline for Die Another Day derailed the franchise and unfortunately, Brosnan as Bond.

 Looking at the rest of Brosnan’s filmography, I realized that I had not seen very many of his movies. And, I never watched Remington Steele. I did see November Man and it was an entertaining film. It was great seeing Brosnan back in action, however I felt Olga Kurylenko’s ability to do action was missing, which she was capable of holding her own in Quantum of Solace (2008). Instead, she was relegated to portray an inept, damaged woman, who looks hot in a little party dress and wig. Of the films I haven’t seen, Seraphim Falls (2006) the western starring Brosnan and Liam Neeson looked intriguing, because I like westerns and I’m fascinated by Civil War storylines.

Anyway, there are several projects in the hopper for Brosnan for the rest of year, so there will be many opportunities to see our former James Bond at our local cinema house in the coming months.

Bond Trivia: Goldfinger (1964) was the first Bond film that Brosnan saw in the cinema. This film, along with Lawrence of Arabia (1962), greatly influenced him and inspired him to pursue acting.

© Copyright. Michele Brittany. 2011 - 2015. All rights reserved. All text, graphics, and photos are protected by US and International Copyright Laws, and may not be copied, reprinted, published, translated, hosted, or otherwise distributed by any means without written permission.

Carlyle and Chopping…Day 104 of Bond 365

Richard Chopping

Richard Chopping

Born this day in 1917

Illustrator of James Bond Dust Jackets

Of the covers for the Ian Fleming James Bond books, I greatly admire Richard Chopping’s covers the best for a number of reasons. First is the consistency throughout the eight covers, for example the text lettering and the background texture is typically wood, with the exception of Thunderball. Secondly, the artistic style is botanical, which lends to a timeless feeling. Thirdly, the symbolism of the objects selected for the covers is intriguing to me because Fleming provided guidance for what he wanted to see on the covers.

I know there is controversy and hard feelings surrounding the artwork, and I would like to discuss that another time. For this entry, I just want to focus on the positive: Chopping was gifted artist and through his and Fleming’s collaboration, we have amazing covers to accompany our favorite stories.

Robert Carlyle

Robert Carlyle

Born this day in 1961

Renard in The World Is Not Enough

Straight up, I admire Robert Carlyle and the acting roles he has undertaken. I know that many will know him best as Begbie from Trainspotting (1996) and while I did see that film, I hold his following roles in high regard: Gaz in The Full Monty (1997); Plunkett in Plunkett & Macleane (phenomenal soundtrack by the way!); Malachy in Angela’s Ashes (1999); Frank Keane in Marilyn Hotchkiss’ Ballroom Dancing & Charm School (2005); and most recently, as Mr. Gold/Rumplestiltskin in Once Upon a Time (2011-2015). I’ve seen him a number of others, but these are my favorites.

I think it’s cool that he is part of the Bond alum especially since he is a recognizable actors hailing from the UK. I thought he was brilliant as Renard; I wish he had more screen time!

© Copyright. Michele Brittany. 2011 - 2015. All rights reserved. All text, graphics, and photos are protected by US and International Copyright Laws, and may not be copied, reprinted, published, translated, hosted, or otherwise distributed by any means without written permission.

Here Comes the Sun. Colonel Sun….Day 87 of Bond 365

Colonel Sun

By Kingsley Amis as Robert Markham

UK book release this day in 1968

Kingsley Amis had written The James Bond Dossier and The Book of Bond as well as provide edits on The Man with the Golden Gun after Ian Fleming had died, so it did not seem all that fair fetched that Amis would be asked and readily accept the challenge of stepping in and continuing the James Bond story. Writing under the pseudonym Robert Markham, Colonel Sun was the first of many continuation Bond novels over the intervening decades. The UK publishing company Jonathan Cape released Amis book this day in 1968 with a cover contributed to artist Tom Adams, which is very much in the spirit of Salvador Dali’s painting titled Persistence of Memory (1931).

Ian Fleming Publications (at that time was Gildrose Productions) knew that the James Bond property was very profitable so they sought out a known author that they could commission to write a sequel. Having accepted the offer, Amis employed similar techniques that Fleming had used when writing his Bond novels. Amis drew from his travel experience by setting his story in Greece. He used the name of the boat he and his wife were on during their holiday, Bond Girl names came from friends and a family doctor becomes the doctor to Bond in an early chapter.

Amis pulled from Fleming’s prior to stories, settling on the concept of revenge. In the Fleming books, unless the movies, Bond has respect and admiration for M, which is interesting: apparently Amis did not like the character M, so in Colonel Sun, M is kidnapped. The villain, Colonel Sun Liang-tan is a nasty bit of work – a sadist and a torturer – and ushers in a new political power structure that sees Bond collaborating with the Russians, in opposition to the Chinese. Although the partnership structure has been modified, it is very similar to the dislike of the East expressed in Dr. No.

Colonel Sun did well financially and ranked very high in the bestseller lists at the time. Some critics welcomed the book and touted that Bond was back, however others were more critical and said Amis’ story paled in comparison with Fleming’s Bond stories. Even though the reviews were mixed the story was serialized in the Daily Express. The UK newspaper also ran it as a comic strip from 1969 – 1970. Titan Books, who has been reprinting those strips in omnibus volumes, reprinted this story in 2005.

Amis sought out opportunities to bring Colonel Sun to the silver screen, but ultimately was unsuccessful. That said, elements from his story have shown up in a few of the Eon Productions films. For example, the kidnapping of M happened in The World is Not Enough and Colonel Sun Liang-tan inspired Colonel Tan-Sun Moon in Die Another Day. And, Greece was used as a setting in For Your Eyes Only.

© Copyright. Michele Brittany. 2011 - 2015. All rights reserved. All text, graphics, and photos are protected by US and International Copyright Laws, and may not be copied, reprinted, published, translated, hosted, or otherwise distributed by any means without written permission.

Remembering Stuntman Bill Weston….Day 84 of Bond 365

Bill Weston as Blayden Butler in The Living Daylights

Bill Weston

Passed away this day in 2012

Stunts for You Only Live Twice, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, The Spy Who Loved Me, For Your Eyes Only, Octopussy, Never Say Never Again, and The World Is Not Enough

Stunt Double: Christopher Walken/Stunt Team on A View to a Kill

Blayden Butler in The Living Daylights

Bill Weston’s career as a stunt performer spanned approximately 40 years in almost one hundred projects that ranged from television to film. Interestingly, he worked on several Eon Productions (and one non-Eon) Bond films, yet his Wikipedia entry spotlights his work in Saving Private Ryan, Titanic and Raiders of the Lost Ark. All three are stunt heavy, but so are the Bond films!

Special note, Weston even worked on the Alex Rider: Operation Stormbreaker (2006) movie that starred a young Alex Pettyfer as Alex Rider, based on the novel by Anthony Horowitz. I read the book and found it to a fun, young James Bond oriented book.

© Copyright. Michele Brittany. 2011 - 2015. All rights reserved. All text, graphics, and photos are protected by US and International Copyright Laws, and may not be copied, reprinted, published, translated, hosted, or otherwise distributed by any means without written permission.

Spyfi & Superspies Hits 100 Posts! Today in Bond 365

I hit my 100^th post on Spyfi & Superspies with this blog entry! At the rate I was going last year, I seriously figured it would take me three years to reach 100! And with my Bond 365 in high gear, I’m on course to get to over 400 this year! Okay, now that I’m beaming, let’s get to it…..

Marc Lawrence

Marc Lawrence

Born this day in 1910

Slumber Inc. Attendant in Diamonds Are Forever; Rodney in The Man with the Golden Gun

Marc Lawrence had an amazing long career with 220 acting credits to his name. He started back in 1932 in If I had a Million as the henchman for Mike the Gangster and finished with Looney Tunes: Back in Action in 2003. Born as Max Goldsmith, he was often cast as gangster types throughout his acting career, in part due to his appearance.

Lawrence was called before the House Un-American Activities Committee. He admitted he had once been a Communist Party member and he provided names of other members. He was blacklisted and moved to Europe. He continued making films and when the committee was disassembled, Lawrence returned to the States and resumed his career.

Denise Richards

Denise Richards

Born this day in 1971

Christmas Jones in The World is Not Enough

Denise Richards was born and raised in the Chicago area then relocated with her family to Oceanside, California when she was 15. At 19, she was cast in her first role as Camille in Life Goes On in 1990. From there, she guest-starred in several television shows through most of the decade. She had a breakout role as Lt. Carmen Ibanez in Starship Troopers in 1997. She followed it up, for better or worse, as Dr. Christmas Jones in The World Is Not Enough two years later. In all, she has 64 acting credits to her name.

Richards won a Golden Raspberry for Worst Supporting Actress at the Razzie Awards in 1999. It was the first time that a Bond series had been nominated for the awards. In addition, Richards and Brosnan was nominated for Worst Screen Couple. Entertainment Weekly “criticized as not being credible in the role of a nuclear scientist” (Wiki: The World Is Not Enough) and Richards was ranked as one of the worst Bond girls. Personally, I do not think she was the worst or even one of the worst, but I think the casting could have been better.

Ian Fleming began writing Casino Royale

This day in 1952

The scent and smoke and sweat of a casino are nauseating at three in the morning. Then the soul-erosion produced by high gambling – a compost of greed and fear and nervous tension – becomes unbearable and the sense awake and revolt from it.

James Bond suddenly knew that he was tired. He always knew when his body or his mind had had enough and he always acted on the knowledge. This helped him to avoid staleness and the sensual bluntness that breeds mistakes.

Fleming had been telling friends that he wanted to write a spy story and today in 1952, he sat down at his desk at his Goldeneye estate in Jamaica. With his nuptials pending, Fleming’s internal muse was probably aroused and pushed into action. He wrote 2,000 words a day, not looking back, not editing what he had already written. About a month later, he had completed he first novel. It was a pattern he would follow in his subsequent novels each year.

Like all writers, Fleming was not enamored by his effort, however William Plomer, his friend and later editor, shared the story with the publishing company, Jonathan Cape. Fleming’s older brother, Peter, was influential in getting the publisher to take a chance with Casino Royale. And, the rest is history.

© Copyright. Michele Brittany. 2011 - 2015. All rights reserved. All text, graphics, and photos are protected by US and International Copyright Laws, and may not be copied, reprinted, published, translated, hosted, or otherwise distributed by any means without written permission.

Bond Women Via Apted.....Day 41 of Bond 365

Happy Tuesday! How is your week going? I've got quite a few items on my to-do list, but not before making an entry here for Bond 365. I'm thinking I would like to do something fun here in honor of Valentine's Day - any thoughts? Bond girls? James Bond? Hmmm, so many choices! In the meantime, let's have a look at Day 41!

Michael Apted

Born this day in 1941

Director of The World Is Not Enough (1999)

I am going to be honest: Michael Apted’s name is not at the forefront of my mind when thinking of Bond films. In fact, I am well aware of the Up Series (1964-2012), but I tend to forget that it was Apted that came up and directed a documentary that checks in with 14 children every seven years. However, looking over Apted’s filmography, I was surprised to see that I had seen several: Coal Miner’s Daughter (1980), Continental Divide (1981), Gorky Park (1983), Gorillas in the Mist (1988), Class Action (1991), Thunderheart (1992), and Enigma (2001). It is an interesting list of movies that kind of hit a lot of genres, although initially, I can see why people have questioned why Apted to direct a Bond film.

Happy Birthday, Michael Apted

The World Is Not Enough was the nineteenth Bond film and it marked a distributor change from United Artists to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It did well overall earning $361.8M (budget $135M), in spite of the criticism that was hurled its way. For instance, it was the first Bond film to win a Golden Raspberry for Denise Richards portrayal of Dr. Christmas Jones, a nuclear physicist. I still groan when I hear Bond utter “…and I thought Christmas only came one a year” or something very close to it.

In an interview with MI6, Apted mentioned that Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson were interested in him because he had experience directing strong female characters in his prior films. In The World Is Not Enough, Apted had three: Elektra King, Jones (let’s put aside casting and look at the role itself), and M of course. King is a powerful company executive, Jones a successful scientist, and M the head of MI6. All three hold important positions in careers/industries that are typically male dominated. In particular, I thought Sophie Marceau as King, who’s actions may or may not be the result of Stockholm’s Syndrome is a unique spin on Bond Girl to main villainess. In the same interview, he admits that he depended on his second unit director and stunt supervisor for assistance in the action sequence, I do believe Apted’s direction shined when it came the Bond women.

Now I want to go back and revisit The World Is Not Enough, but also a few of his other films where women feature prominently. I'm curious if I'll see any similarities between the films with regards to the women. 

 

© Copyright. Michele Brittany. 2011 - 2015. All rights reserved. All text, graphics, and photos are protected by US and International Copyright Laws, and may not be copied, reprinted, published, translated, hosted, or otherwise distributed by any means without written permission.

Maxy's Nightspot: Cheerful Little Earful

I've been up in North Hollywood this afternoon and evening, having a bite to eat at the House of Pies, then to Skylight Bookstore before settling in at the Steve Allen Theatre to see Janet Klein & Her Parlor Boys, who specialize in the music from the 1910s, 1920s and 1930s. Tonight was special because they were playing on a Saturday (they usually play the first Thursday of the month). Also part of the evening's entertainment featured Jerry Beck and his early cartoons. There wasn't any overt spy content, but Parlor Boy John Reynolds was dressed in a tux and looking suave as he played the guitar, banjo and a pretty darn mean kazoo to finish off the evening! It was a lot of fun, but now I'm running short of time for today's post.

Davd and Paul Bickers

Dave Bickers
Born this day in 1938
Stunt Engineer in Octopussy, The World Is Not Enough

Dave Bickers was a stunt engineer for two of the Bond films, however during the 1960s he was the Motorcross World Champion who was nicknamed The Coddenham Flier (he was from Coddenham England). He was even Motorcycle News Man of the Year in 1960. He founded Bickers Action and he and his son, Paul, worked together. 

Bickers created the Banking Rig, which attached to a motorcycle. A motorcycle would ride the vehicle, but it was really controlled by the rig. I wanted to find a picture of it, but it will have to wait for later. 

Bickers passed away last year. 

Total Film, December 2013

Total Film, December 2013 (Issue #213)

I purchased the December issue (#213) of Total Film this past week because of a short article on the upcoming series, Fleming, starring Dominic Cooper. The four part Bio-drama places Ian Fleming in World War II London at the time of his recruiting into Naval Intelligence. The series will broadcast next month on Sky Atlantic (UK) and BBC America (US).

  

As I perused the rest of the magazine, I came across two additional articles of Spyfi & Superspies interest. The first one reported on a "first look" at the rebooted 1960s American television series The Man From U.N.C.L.E. currently filming in Rome under the directorial vision of Guy Ritchie (Snatch and Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels). Henry Cavill (Man of Steel) and Arnie Hammer (The Lone Ranger) star as agents Napoleon Solo and Illya Kuryakin originally made famous by Robert Vaughn and David McCallum respectively. The film is set in the 1960s and does not have a release date as yet.

Villain regular Javier Bardem was featured in a lengthy interview to discuss his role in The Counsellor directed by Ridley Scott. Naturally, Bardem's role of the villainous Silva in Skyfall came up when he was asked about how he balances his characters so they don't come off to the viewer as over the top. Of course the suggestive dialogue and touch Silva engages in with Bond at their first meeting was brought up. Here is an excerpt from page 114:

Film Interview: Talking of Silva, was it your idea that he should flirt with Bond and rub his thigh?

Bardem: It was there on the page but it was not really there. Sam and I got together. He said, "Did you read that thing, that possibility?" and I said, "I fucking love that possibility." He said, "I agree, so let's work in that direction and see what comes."

FI: It was brave of Daniel Craig to go along with it....

Bardem: The brave part of that scene was James Bond saying, "Who told you it was my first time?" That's a brave line, and a fucking great line. Whether it's true or not, who cares? Bond is Bond because he knows how to fight the enemy, and the only way to fight Silva is with that line. It dismantles him.

Photo from Google Images

Bardem was then asked if it was true he had been offered the role of Renard in The World Is Not Enough that would be portrayed by Robert Carlyle. Bardem could not recall if that was the role or not but he did express that it was not the right time for him, not until he he was offered Silva. Personally, I think that Silva was the better choice for Bardem because it was a more complex character to get inside of -- it was the role to showcase Bardem's acting skills and innate ability to physically embody a character as well.

And, what was the first Bond film that Bardem saw? It was Roger Moore's Moonraker (1979), which just so happened to feature his favorite Bond villain: Richard Kiel's Jaws.