James Bond Tidbits and Facts

Thunderball-1965

• The Shrublands resort was actually a converted hotel near Pinewood Studios.
• Disco Volante means Flying Saucer which was the name of Largo's boat in Never Say Never Again
• All the underwater sequences were practiced in a parking lot in the Bahamas.
• In order to accomodate crowds, New York's Paramount Theatre ran the film 24 hours a day.
• While filming sequences with the jetpack, Sean Connery and his stuntman had to wear a special Dacron suit so the color would not fade as a result of contact with the jet fuel.
• The sharks in Largo's pool were rented at the cost of $500 a day and had to be shipped in every day for filming from an off-shore vessel.
• During an in-flight stop-over, Aldolfi Celi (Largo) purchased the Ian Fleming's book Thunderball. Later that week he learned he was to meet with EON productions regarding a part in the film.
• Thunderball is the only movie which Albert "Cubby" Broccoli was not the executive producer for: it was Kevin McClory due to winning a plagarism suit.
• Thunderball was supposed to be the first Bond movie, but due to legal entaglments with Kevin McClory, Dr No proceeded as the first.

You Only Live Twice-1967

Aki's convertable Toyota was Japan's first convertable car.

• The only reason Kissy's name is known is because it is in the novel. Her name is never mentioned in the movie except during the ending credits.
• Little Nellie was an actual helicopter that could fly up to 130 mph
• The men in Blofeld's base who flew through the air after being hit by a grenade were actually propelled by trampolines.
• Blofeld's base was a fully working set with a monorail, elevators, heliport, and a full-sized rocket that rose 50 feet.
• When Mie Hama came down with poor health for a few days, Sean Connery's wife, Diane Cilento, doubled for her in a diving sequence.
• When filming some of the "fisherman scenes", the producers paid $100,000 to local fishermen to keep their boats onshore during the duration of filming.

On Her Majesty's Secret Service-1969

• The voice of Draco was dubbed by David de Keyser.
• Lazenby and Rigg were rumoured to have had a bad relationship on set. One of the more ridiculous suggestions was that Rigg ate garlic before filming the love scenes.
• Lazenby was the only actor to ever break the "fourth wall" of Bond movies and say he wasn't the same guy.
• Early drafts of the script had a subplot of Lazenby getting plastic surgery to explain the change in appearance.
• Telly Savalas, suffering from a fear of flying, had a "no-flying" provision worked into his contract. He still had to take the gondola up 10,000 feet to film some scenes in Switzerland though.
• The actors who were originally supposed to play Bond and Tracy were Sean Connery and Briggite Bardot. They would later star together in Shalako.
• Actresses considered for the part of Tracy Draco included Brigitte Bardot and Catherine Deneuve. Diana Rigg was finally chosen partly because of her appearance as Emma Peel in British TV's spy series ``The Avengers''.
• At 140 minutes, this is in the longest 007 movie.
• George Lazenby appears for the first and last time as James Bond.
• Originally intended to follow Goldfinger (1964) then Thunderball (1965).
• Lazenby was previously a car salesman with a part time job as a male model.
• The search for a new Bond was compared with the search for Scarlett O'Hara.
• Lazenby was determined to get the role, he spent most of what money he had on a Saville Row suit and a Rolex watch, then while having a Bond type haircut Broccoli walked into the same salon, made the connection and later offered him the part.
• Blofeld's headquarters was a partially completed restaurant on top of Mount Schilthorn. The owners allowed filming on condition EON paid $125,000 to refit the interior and construct a helicopter pad. When the restaurant opened it was given the name Piz Gloria used in the film.
• Director Peter R. Hunt had previously edited many 007 movies, the job of editor (and second unit directing) went to John Glen (II).
• Lyrics were originally intended for John Barry (I)'s main theme, but were later rejected in favour of Louis Armstrong's memorable rendition of ``We Have All The Time In The World''.
• Lazenby was originally offered a three picture deal, but when this film performed badly at the box office he rejected the contract believing that being associated with a series which he thought had no commercial future would harm his career.

Diamonds Are Forever-1971

• Sean Connery recieved the highest salary in movie history to return to the Bond series, which he then donated to charity.
• When Bond climbed the Whyte House, he was actually climbing the Las Vegas International Hotel (now called the Las Vegas Hilton).
• Howard Hughes owned the hotel and rather that asking for money to film there, he asked for a 16mm print of the finished movie. Needless to say, Hughes was a huge fan of the series.
• Because the public deemed it unfashionable to smoke, Bond did not in Diamonds are Forever
• During one sequence, the namplate on the desk of Burt Saxby says "Albert R. Saxby" - a "joke" from the crew of the movie.
• In the scene were Bond is taking a bath in his casino suite, Sammy Davis Jr. is on the cover of the magazine 007 is reading. Originally, Sammy Davis Jr. was to make a cameo in the movie, and the scene sequence was actually shot. However, director Guy Hamilton felt the scene to be too much, and it was cut in post-editing.
• The entire movie idea orginated from a dream that producer Albert "Cubby" Broccoli had in which Bond was captured by a man pretending to be Howard Hughes. Broccoli was very good friend with the mogul, and the character Willard Whyte was based on Hughes.

Live and Let Die-1973

• In early drafts of the script Solitare was Haitian and Rosie Carver was caucasian.
• The power-boat jump over the causeway set the world record for distance: 110 feet. The second boat was not scripted to collide with the police car, but after this happened while shooting the stunt, the script was changed to accommodate it.
• Roger Moore's first appearance as James Bond.
• All of Moore's contracts include an unlimited supply of hand rolled Monte Cristo cigars (in one 007 movie the final bill comes to 3176.50 pounds).
• Before Roger Moore even got to say his first line as 007 he had to be rushed to the hospital due to a kidney stone attack.
• Whenever something went wrong during filming, at least one crew member would call out, "Send for Sean" as a joke.
• UA wanted an American to play Bond: Burt Reynolds, Paul Newman and Robert Redford were all considered. Producer Cubby Broccoli, however, insisted that the part should be played by a Briton and put forward Moore. Sean Connery previously turned down the then astronomic sum of $5.5 million to play James Bond.
• Moore was author Ian Fleming's original choice for Bond, but he was committed to "Saint, The" (1962) when the earlier films were in production.
• Moore should not have been available for the part since at the time he was committed to Sir Lew Grade's ``The Persuaders'' with Tony Curtis, but when the show flopped in the US he was prematurely released from his contract.
• Live and Let Die is the first 007 score not to involve John Barry (I); former Beatles producer George Martin (I) does the job instead.
• Unlike the previous four Bond movies, it is not filmed in Panavision.

The Man with the Golden Gun-1974)

• The Solex was inspired by the energy crisis of the 70's.
• Scaramanga's base was actually a volcanic rock island called Khow-Ping-Kan in the Phang Nga Bay of Thailand.
• Christopher Lee is the cousin of Ian Fleming. Fleming wanted him to play Dr. No, but somehow Lee was not able to do that.
• Britt Ekland, real name Eklund, is the ex-wife of Peter Sellers
• Britt Ekland was pregnant during the shooting

• Title role originally offered to Jack Palance, but was eventually played by Christopher Lee. Lee is author Ian Fleming's cousin. See also Dr. No (1962).

• Britt Ekland auditioned for the role of Scaramanga's mistress, but director Guy Hamilton offered her the role of Mary Goodnight after seeing her in a bikini.

• J W Pepper (Clifton James) is a sheriff from Louisiana that James Bond met in Live and Let Die (1973). While chasing Scaramanga, Bond teams up with Pepper, who is on holidays in Thailand.

• The spiral ``Javelin Jump'' was inspired from an American Motors Corporation promotional tour which was running around the time the movie was made. The jump was performed of a modified 1974 Hornet X: special suspension, a six cylinder engine (for reduced weight), centered steering wheel, and a special fuel system to stop the car stalling when turning over. During AMC's promotional tour, they had a few mishaps (including a roof landing when the car stalled on approach to the ramp), but the stunt that appeared in the film was done on the first take. A group of university students came up with the original idea, and used a computer to calculate the necessary environment. Although the bridge halves look dilapidated, they were constructed to these exacting specifications. The stunt car had to approach the ramp at right-angles, do a sharp turn, and then hit the ramp at a predetermined speed.
• Alice Cooper's ``Muscle of Love'' album has a song ``Man With the Golden Gun'' on it. The CD version includes notes claiming it was to be the theme song of the movie, but the producers chickened out.
• First 007 movie to be shown at the Kremlin.
• The last 007 movie co-produced by Harry Saltzman. Following many creative differences, he sold his 50% share in the Bond franchise to United Artists.

The Spy Who Loved Me-1977

• The idea for Atlantis came from a Japaneese floating exhibit named Aquapolis used in Expo '75.
• The submarine car was nicknamed Wet Nellie, an obvious referance to Little Nellie.
• First megalomanic villian.
• Jaws was played by Richard Kiel, who played an almost identical part a year earlier in Silver Streak(1976).
• Richard Kiel could only wear the metal teeth for a few minutes at a time because they hurt so much.
• The first 007 movie in which the theme song focuses on Bond, rather than the villain.
• First 007 movie to be filmed in Dolby Stereo.
• $1 million of the $13.5 million budget was spent by production designer Ken Adam on building the largest sound stage in the world: 336'x139'x44'. The set was used for the interior shots of Stromberg's supertanker. The tank had a capacity of 1.2 million gallons .
• Fleming was so displeased with his novel that his contract with EON only allowed the title to be used. One storyline had Blofeld returning, but Kevin McClory (who co-wrote Thunderball (1965)) threatened legal action, claiming that he had exclusive use of the SPECTRE concept. At the same time, McClory begins work on his rival Bond movie ``Warhead'' (renamed Never Say Never Again (1983)).
• Rick Sylvester was paid $30,000 for the skiing stunt in the opening sequence.
• After the film's release, demand for white Lotus Esprits surges to the point that new customers had to be placed on a three year waiting list.

Moonraker-1979

• Corrine Dufour was originally named Trudi Parker but was renamed for the actress who played her.
• The glass museum battle was originally intended to be in the Cairo Museum of Antiquities in The Spy Who Loved Me.
• The pre-credit parachute sequence took 5 weeks and 92 jumps to film. Each jump could only be filmed for one minute in freefall before the stuntmen had to open their parachutes.
• A public letter writing campaign brought back Richard Kiel as Jaws.

For Your Eyes Only (1981)

• Carole Bouquet (Melina) was originally supposed to play Holly Goodhead in Moonraker. She passed it up because she was already signed to do the film That Obscure Object of Desire. When she got the opportunity to be in For Your Eyes Only she jumped at the chance.
• Sheena Easton becomes the first vocalist to appear during the credits sequence.
• Roger Moore announces that he is reluctant to play 007 again, but is lured back at the last moment for an undisclosed sum. To cover the possibility of a new actor playing Bond, and to provide continuity, the script writers included a scene in which 007 visits the grave of his murdered wife.
• Director John Glen (II) had previously edited and was second-unit director on a number of previous Bond films.
• The pre-title sequence is a dig a Kevin McClory, who owns the rights to Ernst Stavro Blofeld and SPECTRE. The unnamed man in a wheelchair is obviously mean to be Blofeld, and disposing of him so early was producer Broccoli's way of saying that the success of 007 did not depend on him.
• To enter the identigraph booth, Q enters a four digit code. Those four digits were the first four notes to the chorus of ``Nobody Does It Better'', the theme to The Spy Who Loved Me. James Bond responds by entering the final three notes.
• Stuntman Paolo Rigon died during the filming of the bob sleigh chase.
• Bernard Lee (I), who played M for the last eleven 007 films, died while preparing for the role. As a mark of respect, Broccoli refused to recast the role, changing the script to say that M was on leave.
• One of the Bond girls was played by Tula Cossey, who was later revealed to be a former male.

  Octopussy-1983

• Maud Adams (Octopussy) previously appeared (and was killed) in another James Bond film (Man with the Golden Gun, The (1974)). Faye Dunaway and Sybil Danning were considered for the role.
  
• Vijay Amritraj is a professional tennis player in real life.
  
• The ``company'' taxi used to pick up 007 was specially constructed at Pinewood Studios, and capable of speeds in excess of 70mph.
  
• Robert Brown (I) appears as ``M'' for the first time.
  
• The pre-title sequence with the Acrostar plane was originally intended to be a Little Nelly type battle sequence in Moonraker and was to take place above the Angel Falls in Brazil. It had to be scrapped when the falls' river bed dried up.

A View to a Kill-1985

• Roger Moore's final appearance as 007. Lois Maxwell's final appearance as Moneypenny.
• Filming was delayed when the ``007'' stage at Pinewood Studios burns down. It was totally rebuilt in less than four months, and renamed ``The Albert R. Broccoli 007 Stage''.
• Tanya Roberts got the role after Broccoli saw her in The Beastmaster, (1982).
• During filming, Grace Jones' boyfriend was a little-known actor named Dolph Lundgren. Lundgren has a small part in the film
• Grace Jones was cast as May-Day for the sole reason of her popularity with the teens at the time. The producers wanted to bring in a whole new crowd for a Bond film.

The Living Daylights-1987