Michael Cimino’s film, retitled Heaven’s Gate, ended up being one of the biggest money losers of all time. The effects took time to ripple through United Artists to alter their production methods. This financial disaster would change the manner in which the studio produced films. By the time pre-production began on the twelfth James Bond film, things were going to be done differently. There was a financial crisis due to the recession, and oil price rises and increased inflation meant that a 1980 US dollar would go less far than before. The sums spent would be less than that of Moonraker’s astronomical budget and cash flow would be held tightly in check.1 An important aspect of that cost was going to be the price of key above-the-name talent: the man who would play Bond.
On the Sugarloaf Mountain set of Moonraker noted British film journalist, Barry Norman, was implored by producer Cubby Broccoli to become a spy himself, ‘Ask him if he’s gonna make the next one. I have to know.’ Norman, whose father had directed Roger Moore in both The Saint and The Persuaders television series, was not about to give away vital intelligence. When Cubby asked Norman, ‘What did that asshole of an actor have to say?’ Norman passed on Moore’s non-committal response, Cubby went away cursing.2
Roger Moore was in a strong negotiating position. Moonraker was the highest grossing Bond film in history to that point and with Sean Connery still lurking in the wings developing a rival Bond, Moore seemed to be holding all the aces. However, Cubby was no mean player himself and kept his cards close to his chest stating at the time, ‘Peculiarly enough, we have put Roger in the fortuitous position that he is in. I think it is fortuitous being Bond, but having done that we normally get pummelled by the agents to get more money.’3
A number of contenders entered the running to become the next James Bond. Michael Jayston, who would later go on to voice Bond in audio books and a 1990 radio production of YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE, was a favourite.4 Broccoli remembered Timothy Dalton and sounded the actor out again.5 Dalton recalled, ‘I went to see Cubby Broccoli in Los Angeles. At that time they didn’t have a script finished. It was never quite clear at that time if Roger was giving it up.’6
In July 1980, upon release of The Sea Wolves, his third film with director Andrew V. McLaglen, Moore told a press conference ‘I don’t want to take another six months out of my life playing James Bond again.’7 Roger by this time had established himself as an international action movie star. A number of his films had been produced by Broccoli’s protégé, Euan Lloyd, and Michael Klinger. Moore explained his ire, ‘I’m not competitive by nature and I can usually get a bag of toffees without having to ask. If they hadn’t been testing other actors we would at least still be talking. I think they’ve been rather ill-mannered about it. I have told Cubby that is it and that I’m not available to do the film. Yes, it does mean that I won’t do another Bond.’8
After Moonraker Broccoli felt, ‘We were overcrowding the public on fantasy and outer space … I found it very boring too. It might suit somebody else but it didn’t have to be Bond. Everyone keeps on saying, “When are you going to do another Russia With Love type of thing?” so we’re trying the adventure, Hitchcockian sort of thing, full of suspense, excitement and thrills.’9
Broccoli’s vision for Bond’s future coincided with that of the studio, ‘We were asked by United Artists, by the distributor to do it, and we felt we wanted to go back to, I can only describe it as more of the Russia With Love/Goldfinger type of story. More of the possible, a little less of the probable, more adventure.’10 With that in mind, Cubby discussed bringing back previous Bond veterans Terence Young, Peter Hunt and Guy Hamilton to direct.11 Both Lewis Gilbert and Guy Hamilton had received a percentage of the producer’s profit for their last Bond pictures so cost may have precluded their return.
John Glen remembered meeting Cubby for lunch with various Bond stalwarts discussing the names of previous Bond directors who could return – a lunch in which the ambitious Derek Meddings volunteered to helm the picture. Later that week, Cubby, Dana and Michael Wilson requested to meet Glen at Pinewood. This time he was alone. They offered the film to him to direct.12 Glen was brought aboard in early 198013 and announced as the director in June 1980.14 John Glen, who like Peter Hunt before him, had never directed a feature film before. Once again, Broccoli promoted from within his organisation, and gave new talent a chance to flourish. John Glen was eager and began assembling a new team to rework a new James Bond film for the eighties.
Glen knew that team would require some changes:
We were becoming increasingly budget conscious. Sometimes Ken [Adam] was probably a little too extravagant in certain areas. Peter [Lamont] was in the wings, working as art director. He was also very well qualified. He was reaching a stage in his career where we were either going to promote him to production designer or he was going to leave the fold and do his own films for someone else because he was that good you couldn’t ignore him anymore.15
Lamont recalled he had just come back from shooting the Sphinx in Egypt and for the first time in years, he had no work booked. Then the phone rang, ‘Reg Berkshire [long-time production controller of the Bond films] said, “Who would you like to work for next?” Ken’s gone off to America with Herb Ross. “Why not me?”’16 Berkshire made a phone call and fifteen minutes later, Lamont had been promoted to production designer. ‘My wife said to me “Are you crazy?” I said, “Well, if it doesn’t work, I’ll go back to be supervising art director and I’ll never try it again.”’17
Lamont understood he was stepping into some big shoes. ‘Ken [Adam] was my mentor. I worked on eleven films with him in all positions. He’s a flamboyant character – very talented. He’s a different animal to me. I’m not an artist like Ken, he’s very flamboyant with his Flowmaster and all that.’18 Lamont ‘read the script first and then broke it down into sets, locations.’19 Lamont’s way of working developed, ‘I did sketches in those days but my problem is this: it’s rather like an illustrator – like the Ralph McQuarries of this world (who are wonderful, don’t get me wrong) - but they don’t have any concept of how you’re going to arrive at what he’s done. I prefer models, when you have a model everybody knows what you’re going to do.’20
Next, Glen brought back his Baffin Island camera crew from The Spy Who Loved Me expedition. Cinematographer Alan Hume remembered John Glen’s loyalty, ‘I believe [Glen] had to work hard at convincing Cubby because I was really considered as a “modest budget” film-maker, as my Carry On films had so epitomised. I can imagine Cubby felt a little apprehensive at having a new director and two DoPs [directors of photography] with very little “big film” experience. Full credit to John though, he argued for us and Cubby said OK.’21
John Glen obtained the services of a key team member from the ski jump sequence, ‘I conned Alec Mills to come on my film as camera operator because I thought Alec was the best.’22 Mills remembered his first job on the film was to go up to Grimsby to capture establishing shots of the St. George’s spy ship.23
Glen also brought on board Arthur Wooster – another veteran from his second unit team. Wooster would shoot most of the daring action unit material on For Your Eyes Only. However, for a cameraman expected to be nimble in a tight situation, his first meeting with Cubby Broccoli was inauspicious. Unknown for big budget film work and wearing thick pebble glasses, Wooster tripped up and fell on the floor upon entering Cubby’s office in Pinewood Studios. Glen had to work extra hard to convince an already sceptical Cubby to hire Wooster.24
Glen was keen to use the extraordinary ski cameraman he worked with on his first Bond film, ‘I used my old friend Willy Bognor to good effect which was a direct leftover from OHMSS. When we came to my first movie he was foremost in my mind to use on the [snow] sequence.’25 Elaborate car stunts involving small, manoeuvrable cars were performed by L’Equipe Rémy Julienne. The French father and sons stunt team had burst to fame realising the kinetically precise car chase involving Minis in The Italian Job, a film on which Glen had worked as an assistant sound editor in 1969.
Glen was pleased to have another Bond stalwart on the team, ‘Derek [Meddings] was the most marvellous special effects man. He helped me an awful lot on the films I did with Michael Klinger.’26 Bob Simmons returned as the action sequences arranger. Finally, Al Giddings, was brought in from Los Angeles to do the complex underwater filming in the Bahamas which doubled for the Ionian Sea. With all the new or promoted talent assembled, Broccoli hired Tom Pevsner as associate producer on the picture. With a career dating back to the fifties, Pevsner’s immense experience helped to guide the production cost effectively.
Glen appreciated he had assembled a new team for his Bond and that For Your Eyes Only represented a big opportunity for all of them, ‘We were people who know our Bonds very well – we’d put our time in – and this was our big opportunity. So we had the nucleus [of] fairly new guys. Cubby had told me he wanted to get back to the Fleming style – more hard-edged.’27
Glen was determined to set his stamp on the film. ‘There’s an awful lot of me in that movie, all of my experiences that I gathered over the years, this thirst for action – I was determined that the action would be fantastic.’28 Glen has a vision for Bond, even early on. ‘All the time I was editing the earlier Bonds, all I remember thinking is that, if I ever get a chance to direct, let it be a Bond film, because it was my forte. I have that enthusiasm and knowledge of the characters and the instincts for what it takes to pull one off.’29
Michael Wilson, after his attempt at action directing on Moonraker, now turned his hand to another expression of creativity, teaming up with Richard Maibaum for the first of five Bond screenplays they would write together. Maibaum described how they worked:
When we start out, we do a very full treatment, sometimes 50 or 60 pages long. I’ve done [many films] with Cubby and he likes to know beforehand what it’s going to be. We lay it our very carefully and very thoroughly in scripting. Sometimes we sit there and write together. Sometimes Michael will write the first draft or I will write the first draft and we give it to the other fellow and argue about it. There’s an awful lot of arguing that goes on. But, you know what they say, if collaborators don’t argue, then there’s one collaborator too many.30
Glen remembered, ‘If Cubby ever asked for Dick to remove anything from his scripts, [he] would drop to one knee throwing his arms out and making an impassioned and theatrical plea to preserve the scene.’31
Maibaum wrote in long hand and typed up the screenplays later, while Wilson used a word processor.32 According to Maibaum, it was ‘a close, fruitful collaboration.’ Maibaum thought Wilson had ‘lots of good ideas. He’s a versatile, accomplished man. He’s a lawyer, engineer, businessman, writer and, all in all, a solid contributor.’33 Cubby was proud of his stepson, ‘I brought Michael into the Bond pictures. He came in a very eager young man, quite knowledgeable about various aspects of the film business. He learns rapidly and I think he’s probably now technically more informed than I am in certain matters.’34
Glen recalled working with Maibaum and Wilson in Hollywood. Cubby would advise them to ‘Look at earlier films to study their structure – where are the bumps?’35 Glen explained what Cubby meant by bumps, ‘What we try to do is put James Bond in a situation form which he just gets out and then throw him straight into another and then another and another … I work very closely over a script. I devise a lot of the action stuff.’36 The issue with a Bond screenplay was to strike a fine balance between preserving a tried and tested formula and treading new ground.37
Maibaum remembered that coming up with the story is the hardest part of the Bond script, ‘It’s murder, but once you’ve got the caper, you’re off to the races and the rest is fun.’38 In the case of For Your Eyes Only, in keeping with Cubby’s wishes, a serious tale of Cold War espionage was crafted from two of the eponymous collection of five short stories first published as a collection in the UK on 11 April 1960.
FOR YOUR EYES ONLY sees Bond avenge the death of the Havelocks, personal friends of M. The enforced purchase of the Havelocks’s Jamaican property, Content, will effectively launder dirty funds of two murderous thugs – a renegade from Cuba’s Batista regime, Gonzales and Von Hammerstein, an ex-Nazi. Bond tracks them down to a remote estate in an autumnal valley in Vermont. While reconnoitring the estate, Bond meets Judy Havelock, the daughter of the murdered couple. She is armed with a bow and arrow and is bent on revenge. After a tense vigil, morning arises and Gonzales takes a dive only to be perforated by Havelock’s arrow. A furious gunfight ensues in which the villains are vanquished, the sound of the gun fight resounding around the valley. The original title of Fleming’s story was ‘Death Leaves an Echo’. While keeping true to the Fleming character of Judy – now renamed Melina – Maibaum attempted to do something different with the love story, ‘The whole idea was that the great lover, James Bond, can’t get to first base with this woman because she’s so obsessed with avenging her parents’ death.’39
RISICO concerns a blood feud between two Italian resistance fighters, Kristatos and Enrico Colombo. One is smuggling heroin for the Soviets and Bond is sent to terminate the pipeline. Set in Rome and off-season Venice, Bond encounters a Lisl Baum, the mistress of the mysterious gangster, the Dove. After posing as a novelist exploring the underworld, Bond is chased across a live mine field before tracking down and shooting the villain in a two handed grip at the top of a mountain.
These two short stories were kept more or less intact and intertwined with a contemporary Cold War story involving the then topical problem of spy ships and Polaris missiles. The MacGuffin, the Automatic Targetting Attack Communicator – ATAC – is a direct throwback to the Lektor decoding machine in From Russia With Love. If ATAC falls into the wrong hands, it could retarget and control the West’s nuclear arsenal. For the first time in a decade, fealty to Fleming was achieved, something John Glen was keen on, ‘I am versed in Fleming and a great admirer of Fleming. I like his style and the way he’s written scenes. I’ve stuck to it as closely as I could.’40 For this film, the Fleming fan went even further – other unused elements from novels already filmed were included, chiefly the keel-hauling sequence from LIVE AND LET DIE. John Glen recalled, ‘That was a scene that had been in and out of Bond scripts for as long as I can remember. It is a scene which no one really wanted to shoot, except for Cubby. The reason it was rejected by most directors was because it was such a complex sequence to shoot with no guarantees you were going to get it.’41
Whatever went on between Cubby, Roger and the studio was something Glen kept pretty tight to his chest. ‘I wasn’t party to the negotiations. All I know was my brief was to find a new Bond.’42 Glen also sought continuity with the previous series due to the uncertainty over whether Roger Moore would return. ‘We had to be prepared in case the negotiations broke down to break in a new Bond. So the opening in the churchyard was my idea.’43 The pre-title sequence references the death of Tracy Bond in 1969 where Bond is visiting her grave inscribed ‘We Have All the Time in the World’. This mention of Glen’s first Bond film, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, was perhaps an inauspicious reference for any putative new Bond, considering the fate of that film’s 007. Glen remembered, ‘Quite often we used to refer back in the series. The scene that followed with the helicopter that was sent for him was quite a good idea. I was walking round the studio with Cubby one Sunday and one of the carpenters brought his son into the studio and he had what was then a novelty – a remote control car.’44 In the film Bond is collected by a Jet Ranger helicopter emblazoned with the words ‘Universal Exports’. In the novels this was the cover name for the British Secret Service: this touch of Fleming was another element last cited in the films in OHMSS. The helicopter ferrying Bond back to his office in an emergency is then revealed to be a remote-controlled vehicle being flown with wild abandon by the villain. This sequence had originally been written to cap the car chase in Spain but it was felt that would be too similar to the helicopter chasing scene in The Spy Who Loved Me. Eventually, after some initial reluctance and months looking for another idea, the remote-control flight became the pre-title sequence.45
Incidentally, the villain is revealed to be a wheelchair-bound, bald-headed villain with a white cat. A scripted reference to the tenth anniversary of their last meeting – For Your Eyes Only was to be released in 1981, ten years after Blofeld’s last appearance in 1971, was nixed due to the legal position with Kevin McClory. The wheelchair-bound character was kept deliberately ambiguous.
Once an initial treatment had been drafted, Glen explained, ‘Michael Wilson and Tom Pevsner and I will do a lightning reconnaissance. You wouldn’t believe the speed the three of us whizz around at. On For Your Eyes Only we were intending to shoot in Athens, around the Acropolis. So we went there and quite frankly didn’t like what we saw. It looked impossible and the local co-operation wasn’t very good and they’re sensitive about people even walking on the ground and anyway it’s not the most attractive place in the world.’46 Glen was concerned Athens was so polluted the photography would suffer badly. ‘It’s like continual haze. You’ve only got to half close your eyes and realise it wouldn’t look good. It’s a great shame but it’s a fact of life. It was such a busy disorganised place [and logistically difficult].’47 The Bond crew had better luck further north, in mainland Greece. Broccoli remembered, ‘We went on a recce, to see these marvellous monasteries in Kalambaka. We talked to the bishop and the bishop agreed. We paid them a rather substantial sum of money to shoot there.’48 Glen thought the flexibility of a Bond script was helpful, ‘One advantage of sandwiching location surveys with intervals of working closely on the script was the ability to adapt action scenes to fit the locations. Our surveys must have been the shortest on record.’49
As the screenplay was being finalised, there was still uncertainty over who would play Bond. One of the would-bes who came close to becoming Bond in For Your Eyes Only was Michael Billington, a historical Bond-in-the-wings, who, in the intervening years, had become close to the Broccoli family. He remembered, ‘The troops were gathering to go to Corfu to begin filming but Roger was being “coy”. I think the money was an issue. Cubby had me fitted out with Wardrobe and flew me to Corfu.’50 Billington recalled even having a costume picture shoot.51 The actor claimed to have been on standby for Moore in case a deal could not be reached.52 Glen recalled, ‘We tested so many people,’53 using the execution of Professor Dent scene from Dr. No and two scenes from the second Bond film: Bond meeting Tatiana in his bed and him ordering his Turkish breakfast.54
Moore never discussed financial matters with Cubby directly, ‘We were playing backgammon and it was Cubby’s turn to throw the dice. He picked them up, popped them in the cup and hesitated. “You can tell your agent to shit in his hat.”’55 Eventually Roger Moore’s agent agreed terms with Broccoli and Moore resumed the role of 007 for the fifth time. Moore was familiar with John Glen, ‘[He] knew exactly what a frame of film was worth. [He] knew very much what was needed because he was an editor.’56
Maibaum recalled the screenplay could now be made to fit Moore’s signature style, ‘In the treatment stage of writing a screenplay, Bond is just a character. But when we get down to writing the scenes, we tailor it to Roger. He has a particular personality and the scenes must be written accordingly.’57
Casting Director Debbie McWilliams populated the twelfth James Bond film.58 Carole Bouquet had auditioned for Holly Goodhead in Moonraker59 and John Glen remembered seeing her on the Paris set of that film.60 Bouquet eventually won the role of Melina Havelock, avenging daughter of Sir Timothy Havelock and her mother, Iona. The French actress later admitted to being a bit po-faced on set, ‘I wanted respect at least. I didn’t want to be a bimbo. It’s a great movie to look at and it’s a great movie for special effects but [not] for actors who are trying to act. I was dreaming of Shakespeare which is absurd now but at the time it was important to me.’61 Bouquet was ambitious, ‘I never intended to become just another Bond girl. I’m not simply a plastic doll like the rest of them.’62 Broccoli recalled that Bouquet’s boyfriend had drug problems which caused her to be late to the set.63 She further compounded the froideur by tactlessly saying the 53-year-old Roger Moore reminded her of her father.64
Topol recalled he was at a ‘Fourth of July party at some American’s house in London, and Dana Broccoli said to Cubby, “How about Topol for the part?”’65 The Israeli actor was promptly cast as the mysterious Colombo. Topol recalled, ‘[I added] the nuts. I love pistachio nuts. It had that Mediterranean quality that I think I wanted to chew.’66
Julian Glover had appeared in The Saint including one episode directed by Roger Moore. Glover had been asked to go and see Cubby Broccoli on the strength of his appearance in a 1980 television drama-documentary called Invasion, where he played doomed Czech leader, Alexander Dubcek, ‘Cubby saw it and he wanted someone tremendously honest to play his villain. Not someone who seemed to be like a villain but someone who has got a really nice track record and is a frightfully nice bloke.’67 Glover remembered, ‘I went on a Sunday morning to the Broccolis’ flat in Grosvenor Square, around the corner from the Eon offices in South Audley Street. I just talked with Broccoli and Dana and then [they] went off and the costume bloke, Tiny Nicholls, said “It’s in Dana’s hands, Julian.’”And indeed they came out with a broad smile and they asked me to do it.’68 Glover felt Kristatos ‘didn’t reveal himself by being a horrible person. When things started going wrong then he revealed his true colours. John Glen helped me with my efforts to remain plausible. I said to him “You must watch out if I ever seem villainous and please don’t let me do that.”’69
Lynn Holly Johnson was cast as Olympic hopeful, Bibi Dahl, ‘I had already done Ice Castles and had already worked with Bette Davis in London. Michael Wilson wanted to create a character that antagonised Bond and wrote the character of Bibi Dahl. The audition was like no other audition I have ever been on. I went to Cubby’s house in Beverly Hills. We didn’t really talk about the business too much or the character he just wanted to see what I was like. Next thing I knew I had the part.’70 As a professional skater, Johnson, ‘Always had costume dresses made by somebody who only did skating competition dresses. In London they took me to (Bermans and Nathans) a place who had never done a skating dress. It’s particular because the skirt has to flow in a particular way and I remember thinking this is not going to work, these people have never done a skating dress. But they made a beautiful dress and I still have it.’71
Bibi’s mentor, Jacoba Brink, was played by acclaimed English actress, Jill Bennett. Bennett had a three-way connection with the Bond team. She had once been married to Harry Saltzman’s Woodfall partner, the playwright John Osborne, had starred in Hell Below Zero, co-produced by Cubby and had attended RADA with Roger Moore.
Rounding out the principal female cast was Australian actress Cassandra Harris who played the ersatz Austrian Countess Lisl von Schlaf.72 According to John Glen, ‘Every time [writer Maibaum] created a leading lady for one of his scripts it was always based on [his wife Sylvia], or more specifically, his romantic view of her as a fairytale princess from Austria.’73
Main unit filming of the twelfth Eon James Bond film commenced on 15 September 1980 at the Villa Sylvia on Kanoni Island, near Corfu.74 Alan Hume remembered, ‘We’d just set up and were almost ready to shoot when I felt a hand on my shoulder. It was Cubby. “Good luck, Alan,” he said as he patted me on the shoulder and I know only too well what he meant – mess it up and you’re for it!’75
The Greek island was used extensively to double Spain for the resulting car chase shot around the winding roads surrounding Pagi. Bond, seeking a quick getaway, runs to his Lotus Esprit Turbo only to find a villa guard, played onscreen by Stuntman Bob Simmons, has activated the burglar protection facility: a self-destruct system blows the Lotus and the thief up. This was a reversal of what had recently become a normal Bond trope: a huge chase sequence with Bond commandeering a gadget-rigged vehicle. It was a signature motif of new writer Michael G. Wilson, who later explained, ‘I don’t like the use of gadgets. We’ve seen too many of them. They’re always a cheat. Usually you set up a gadget that can only be used in a very unique situation that wouldn’t apply generally. What I like best is when you set up a situation that the gadget is perfect for and Bond really needs it. Just as he takes it out of his pocket, it’s knocked from his hand and plummets nine stories down to the ground. Now what’s Bond going to do? That’s the fun.’76
Glen mused, ‘People have conventions. In Bond movies you have to do the unexpected.’77 The use of a Citroën 2CV was due ‘partly to the fact we were using French actress, Carole Bouquet, somehow they went together. Derek Meddings came up with the yellow colour – I’d always seen it as a blue one – it was nice because it photographed well.’78 The resultant chase as Melina and Bond escape the heavies in this underpowered car became a signature sequence of the film. Vehicle Stunt Arranger Rémy Julienne felt, ‘You cannot make a spectacle with Mercedes on these roads, they are too large. Cubby asked, “What do you think the best cars would be for the villains?” I said something like a Peugeot 405, an average car, something easy to work with. Tom Pevsner said, “But Cubby, we have a financial agreement with Mercedes.” Cubby said, “I don’t care.”’79 Julienne doubled the size of the engine in the Citroën, giving the car more power.80 Six identical yellow 2CVs were donated by Citroën and they were all returned still running, ‘despite their bodywork [being] badly in need of surgery.’81
This action sequence became Glen’s style, ‘I developed a technique where I always put the audience in the driver’s seat. The way you shoot it, it’s from the point of view of the audience, to let them experience it themselves. It’s a technique that you can’t do with multi-cameras. You have to plan it very, very carefully. The audience really gets into it that way. Because you can only watch car chases for so long; it gets pretty boring seeing cars screech back and forth unless you get inside the car and see it from that perspective.’82 The sequence impressed writer Maibaum, who later said, ‘I think there’s no doubt that John Glen is the premier action director in the world today. He is absolutely fantastic. Everyone does a car chase, but there’s always something different and unexpected in his action sequences. He’s really a genius in that way.’83 Another aspect of Glen’s direction was to shape action with humour. In this chase, he borrowed a trick he’d used for the stock car sequence in OHMSS, and inverted the film so it looks as if the chasing black Peugeot is spinning upside down.
Shooting on the southern part of Corfu on the beach near Lake Korission where Countess Lisl meets her demise being hit by a sand buggy was problematic. The sand kept disrupting the engines and the shoot went days over schedule. Coming at the start of the film, Glen felt the pressure especially as this part of the shoot was attended by cost-conscious executives from UA. Glen appreciated Cubby’s discreet way of protecting his crew from the studio brass and also giving any advice privately and tactfully.84
It was here that Glen first noticed the striking but little-known actor, Pierce Brosnan. Glover remembered, ‘He came to visit Cassie and we spent several wonderful evenings together. [At] that time we were all saying he ought to play James Bond!’85 Brosnan remembered, ‘It was a terribly exciting time for us all, being part of a Bond movie, to go to Corfu. I’d been in the West End theatre for about a year and a half in a play and I was out of work so the job came at a very appropriate time. I remember Roger being extremely cordial – just charming and effervescent really with his kind of bonhomie towards myself and the children and towards my late wife.’86
This last scene proved to be a point of minor conflict for director and star. Moore felt uneasy kicking Locque’s balancing Mercedes over the edge, believing the action too brutal for his interpretation of Bond. He preferred tossing a pin of The Dove – left at the scene of death of his colleague in Cortina earlier in the film – to unbalance the car. Glen argued it was in keeping with the character of Bond, that he be seen to shove the car over in vengeance for the death of his colleague. He felt it was the hard-edged side somewhat missing in previous films.87
On 17 October 1980 the crew moved to mainland Greece to shoot at Trinity Rock in Meteora,88 the location discovered and paid for on Glen’s earlier recce. However, the production was to face disruption at the monastery. Broccoli remembered, ‘Even though the bishop made the deal, two new monks came in – the only two monks in the entire monastery that wouldn’t permit us to come in there. The bishop tried to tell them that we were entitled to access, but no way. These gentle monks hung all kinds of things around: paraphernalia, flags, everything to make the background unusable.’89 The monks protested at their holy establishment being used in a film promoting sin. The crew solved the problem by building a mock monastery on a neighbouring barren rock for long shots.90
After performing the parachute jump in The Spy Who Loved Me, Rick Sylvester had suggested if the Bond films ever did a mountaineering sequence to keep him in mind. When the Bond team contacted Sylvester, he suggested the production use an expanding piton device to assist the ascent. Sylvester was disappointed that not more was made of this ‘James Bond device’. Indeed, the device was only included because of the suggestion of Pat Banta, the husband of Cubby’s daughter, Tina, who had joined Sylvester’s mountaineering crew.91 Sylvester remembered, ‘Climbing is a very exciting thing but it’s a very slow thing. When Hollywood thinks of climbing, they think of falling. Now falling is dramatic.’92 Attempting to get up to the rendezvous where the ATAC will be exchanged to the Soviets, Bond must climb the sheer cliff face of Meteora. At some point, Bond’s pitons are removed by a guard. Bond falls half a mountain-length, jerked to a halt by his rope attached to the mountain. For this sequence, Sylvester had to liaise with the effect department to help baffle the instant deceleration after the fall. An ingenious method of tying sand-bags to the coiled rope so that as it unspooled, it would slow the rate of fall was devised and the resulting stunt was breathtaking.93
In November 1980 the crew went to London and back to Pinewood Studios. In the intervening years, the British had elected the Conservative Party back into power. Headed by a forceful and charismatic leader, Britain now had a female Prime Minister for the first time. One of Margaret Thatcher’s first initiatives was to lower the tax rate in an effort to encourage the entrepreneurial spirit. This enabled the Bond films to return home after their Parisienne adventure for Moonraker.
Pinewood meant continuity with Bond tradition. As did certain cast members, including Bernard Lee who was again hired to play spy chief, M. However, this time, things would turn out, alas, differently. Desmond Llewelyn remembered his co-star was ‘brought down to Pinewood but he just couldn’t do it, he was very ill.’94 Glen recalled Lee knew his time was up, ‘It was very obvious he wasn’t up to it. He admitted that, he accepted that.’95 Tragically, before he could return to complete his scenes as M, Bernard Lee succumbed to stomach cancer on 16 January 1981 at the age of seventy-three. The producers did not wish to recast the role of M. Instead they introduced the character of Tanner, in the novels, Bond’s best friend in the service and a contemporary of 007’s. The first onscreen Tanner, James Villiers recalled, ‘Roger and Broccoli came to a play I was in at the time. They said they wanted me to be in the next Bond film – get down to Pinewood tomorrow, it’s urgent.’96
Desmond Llewelyn filmed his scenes as Q in a relatively gadget-free adventure. The actor was soon embroiled in an elaborate joke played on him by John Glen and Roger Moore, ‘I was sitting in the corner of the set, rehearsing my part, when John came over and said, “Look, I’d like you to learn these extra lines for this afternoon’s shooting”, and handed me a sheet of paper covered in technical gobbledegook, “I can’t possibly learn this in time,” I replied aghast. Whereupon John muttered, “Of course you can” and pushed off. Two hours later, he returned with Roger, both grinning broadly, “Don’t worry Q.” They chorused, “We’ve decided not to use those lines after all.”’97
Q’s major scene featured a computerised identification database known as the Identigraph, a gadget taken from the GOLDFINGER novel. The scene was problematic and kept going wrong despite a professional being brought on to explain it to the actors. Llewelyn remembered that Roger Moore ‘did the whole thing a damn sight better than the professional. Roger was brilliant. Not only could he reel off his lines without faltering, but mine too.’98 Lois Maxwell returned as Moneypenny and John Glen, again, channelled the past with Bond, anachronistically, throwing his hat on the hat stand. Glen reinjected Moneypenny’s scenes with humour and affection. Maxwell was amused by the offscreen antics, ‘[Roger] comes through the door at the wrong time, and on my mark is an enormous electrician. Roger places a carnation in his hand and says, “Oh, be still, my bleeding heart.”’99 Geoffrey Keen returned as the Minister of Defence.
Large portions of the film were shot underwater as the sunken wreckage of the St. Georges in the Ionian Sea becomes the centre of attention as it contains the ATAC device. Lamont designed what he called the film’s ‘pièce de résistance’: a ruin of an underwater temple complete with Grecian columns. The set was built at Pinewood and put together like a puzzle in 60ft of water near Coral Harbour in the Bahamas. In the evening, the columns had to be laid flat on the seabed to give the surface traffic enough room to manoeuvre.100 Al Giddings supervised the underwater shoot and once completed, sets and Gidding’s camera housing and rigging were transferred to Pinewood in the underwater tank on the 007 Stage. Bouquet had a problem with her inner ear preventing her going underwater. All the shots of Bouquet and Roger Moore were done dry with wind fans blowing the actors’ hair and the film shot at high speed through fish tanks placed in the foreground. To give the impression of being underwater, the footage was slowed down so that the actors appeared to be in buoyant water. From the lessons learned on Moonraker, the negative was double exposed, overlaying the actors with actual bubbles shot underwater.
Famed Margaret Thatcher impersonator, Janet Brown, together with John Wells, playing her husband, Dennis, were hired to give Bond a comical send-off. Unbeknownst to them, the voice at the other end of Bond’s Seiko watch was a parrot, Max, played by Chrome, a parrot owned by none other than Mrs. Bond herself – Diana Rigg.
The Paddock Tank was host to some amazing Derek Meddings’s miniatures: the St. Georges spy ship was sunk and the imperceptible recreation of the Albanian coast later destroyed in spectacular 007 style. Meddings was also involved in the shooting of the pre-credit sequence in Becton Gasworks with the clever use of foreground miniatures.101
In November 1980 the pre-title helicopter sequence was shot over the Beckton Gas Works in London. Martin Grace, doubling for Roger Moore, was tasked with climbing out of the helicopter and hanging underneath while it did all kinds of daring manoeuvres to shake Bond off, ‘Every day was an adrenaline rush, roaring engines first thing each morning being lifted swiftly above chimney tops to 400ft above ground. The chopper would drop like a stone only to recover and make dangerous flights down through rows of pipe work. We had an excellent pilot, Marc Wolff, an American, the best in movie-making and I had complete trust in his ability.’102
In late January 1981 the crew moved to Cortina D’Ampezzo, in the Italian Dolomite mountain range for snow sequences set in and around the town which had played host to the 1956 Winter Olympics. Unfortunately, the town experienced the mildest spring for years resulting in the crew having to truck snow into the town from nearby mountains. Bond stayed at the Miramonti Hotel and meets his local contact, Luigi Ferrara, at the observation post on Mount Tofana.
The town’s Olympic ice rink and ski jump were used effectively for sequences shot by Willy Bognor. Roger Moore recalled the dangers of being Bond, ‘On the ice hockey sequence I got banged up quite badly.’103 The star damaged his shoulder on the penultimate night of shooting in Cortina but he was heroic to the end. Hospitalised, Moore realised, ‘We would then be stuck for a week, so I said that I would have a needle and a local anaesthetic and worked the next night.’104
Unfortunately for the unit, this ice-bound injury would not be the last. Rémy Julienne recalled, ‘They asked me to perform as a consultant, to go and find locations in Cortina d’Ampezzo, to give input. They told me they would not hire me to perform the sequence, as they already had a team. I had a lot of experience with motorcycles on snow, on ice, with special nails they used.’105 While shooting the bob-run sequence in the nearby facility, Rémy Julienne and Willy Bognor worked together to capture amazing shots of a motorbike, a skier and a bobsleigh chasing each other at speeds of 55 miles per hour. Bognor had to be connected to the bobsleigh by wire to keep pace with the action. However, during the shooting of this sequence, a bob overturned trapping Stuntman Paolo Rigon underneath. He was dragged to his death leaving a pall over the unit. Principal photography was completed in February 1981.
John Barry was unable to score the film in the UK because he had had problems with the British tax authorities. On his recommendation, Cubby spoke with Bill Conti, who had won an Oscar for best score for Rocky in 1976. Cubby put the composer and his family up in London for two months while Conti worked on the score and title song. Conti updated the Bond sound for the eighties, employing brass and synthesizers. Originally, he wanted to use Barbara Streisand to record the song, but then Sheena Easton was suggested to him. Easton had had a transatlantic hit album after being discovered in the BBC talent documentary, The Big Time. Conti and Cubby were concerned the album only showcased a thin pop vocal – Cubby cited to Conti ‘the big voiced heritage of Bond.’106 However, after meeting with Easton’s producer, they were assured she had a powerful voice. Prior to presenting the song, Conti bumped into Maurice Binder who expressed a desire that the title of the film should appear as they are sung into the titles. Conti quickly implored lyricist Michael Leeson to rewrite the song, beginning with the words, “For Your Eyes Only”.107
Easton remembered the recording ‘took a long time because I was with Bill and Micky – they called me in from time to time to have me sing parts of it to see how it sounded on the voice. The recording took a couple of days for me to sing it and for the musicians to put it down.’108 The song went on to become a Top 10 hit either side of the Atlantic and was nominated for an Academy Award.
Maurice Binder, was also taken with the singer, ‘After I had already shot part of the titles, Cubby showed me a tape of a television show Sheena had done. I was looking for beautiful faces with beautiful eyes to coincide with the title. I told Cubby, “This girl has a beautiful face. Gee, I could use those eyes.” And Cubby said, “Why don’t you use Sheena in the credits?” We only had a few weeks left for shooting. We were right up to the starting gun.’109 Easton noted it was uncomfortable as she had to wear a neck brace to keep her face perfectly still for the camera.110 Binder felt, ‘Sheena was fun to work with, bright and very co-operative. No moods. If we had to do a shot over, we did it. Putting her in the titles did present a problem, the words and the lips must work together, so it becomes like a miniature musical.’111 Easton became the first and only Bond singer to appear in the opening titles.
Maurice Binder also cut the film’s trailer but the new emphasis on character caused problems with the censor. Binder had included the scene in which Bond kicks the Mercedes off the cliff, ‘The British censor said, “No, you can’t show that happening.” I said, “Why? The guy inside is a vicious assassin who almost killed Bond. And Roger is just giving the car a little extra kick to send him on his way.” But the censor still said, “No, we consider that killing a man in cold blood.”’112 Binder was also creative when it came to showcasing the female lead, Carole Bouquet, ‘Cubby said to me, “This girl, she doesn’t smile. She has a beautiful smile, and she’s not smiling.” I said, “I do have a take where she does smile.” And he said, “Well, why don’t you use it?” and I said, “Well, the dialogue went like this – ‘By the way, we haven’t met, my name is Bond, James Bond. I guess a little fuck would be out of the question?’” I took the dialogue from the first take and cut to the smile.’113
On 24 June 1981 For Your Eyes Only had its royal world charity première in London at the Odeon Leicester Square in the presence of Prince Charles and his fiancé, Lady Diana Spencer. They were to be married that July and their attendance caused a global stir. Also present was the recently bereaved Harry Saltzman and his children, Steven, Christopher and Hilary who remembered, ‘Cubby invited [us]. They hugged each other and were very happy to be in each other’s company and there were no hard feelings.’114 It was a healing for Cubby and Harry after many years apart. Pierce Brosnan also had fond memories of the occasion, ‘I was then working on a show called Nancy Astor and I wore the costume which was a beautiful black tie affair. There is a photograph of Cassie in the line-up on the red carpet with me standing behind her grinning like a Cheshire cat with a moustache.’115
For Your Eyes Only went on to gross over $194 million worldwide and over $52 million in North America. The new team who had been assembled to make the film ushered in a new era of Eon talent who would stay with the series for decades. An antidote to the bloated budget of Moonraker, the inflation-busting ingenuity of the new Bond team yielded sizeable dividends. The gamble had paid off and Bond was back to Earth with a bang.
1 John Cork and Bruce Scivally, The James Bond Legacy, Boxtree an imprint of Pan MacMillan Ltd, 2002, p. 186
2 Barry Norman, and why not (as I never did say)? Memoirs Of A Film Lover, Simon and Schuster Ltd, 2002, p. 259
3 Roy Moseley with Philip and Martin Masheter, Roger Moore: A Biography, New English Library, 1985, p. 259
4 Alan Barnes and Marcus Hearn, Kiss Kiss Bang! Bang! The Unofficial James Bond Film Companion, B.T. Batsford, a member of Chrysalis Books plc, 2nd Edition, 2000, p. 135
5 Albert R. Broccoli. Broccoli with Donald Zec, When the Snow Melts, Boxtree, 1998, p. 280–1
6 David Giammarco, For Your Eyes Only Behind The Scenes Of The James Bond Films, ECW Press, 2002, p. p. 198
7 Martin Sterling and Gary Morecambe, Martinis, Girls and Guns: 50 Years of 007, Robson Books Ltd, 2002, p. 236
8 Paul Donovan, Roger Moore, W. H. Allen, 1983, p. 162
9 For Your Eyes Only Press Conference by Richard Schenkman, Bondage #11, The James Bond 007 Fan Club, 1981
10 For Your Eyes Only Press Conference by Richard Schenkman, Bondage #11, The James Bond 007 Fan Club, 1981
11 John Cork and Bruce Scivally, The James Bond Legacy, Boxtree an imprint of Pan MacMillan Ltd, 2002, p. 186
12 John Glen, For My Eyes Only, B.T. Batsford, 2001, p. 109
13 John Glen, For My Eyes Only, B.T. Batsford, 2001, p. 110
14 ‘John Glen Signed To Direct Next James Bond Pic’, Daily Variety, 25.06.1980
15 John Glen: Authors’ interview, 11.04.2001
16 Peter Lamont: Authors’ interview, 03.01.2014
17 Peter Lamont: Authors’ interview, 03.01.2014
18 Peter Lamont: Authors’ interview, 03.01.2014
19 Peter Lamont: Authors’ interview, 03.01.2014
20 Peter Lamont: Authors’ interview, 03.01.2014
21 Alan Hume with Gareth Owen, A Life Through The Lens, MacFarland and Company Inc. Publishers, 2004, p. 117
22 Peter Lamont: Authors’ interview, 11.04.2001
23 Alec Mills, Shooting 007 And Other Celluloid Adventures, The History Press, 2014, p. 169
24 John Glen, For My Eyes Only, B.T. Batsford, 2001, p. 117
25 John Glen: Authors’ interview, 11.04.2001
26 John Glen: Authors’ interview, 11.04.2001
27 John Glen: Authors’ interview, 11.04.2001
28 John Glen: Authors’ interview, 11.04.2001
29 David Giammarco, For Your Eyes Only Behind The Scenes Of The James Bond Films, ECW Press, 2002, p. 175
30 Richard Maibaum Veteran Screenwriter For A Brand New Bond, Starlog 120 July 1987, Starlog #120, July 1987
31 John Glen, For My Eyes Only, B.T. Batsford, 2001, p. 111
32 Richard Maibaum Veteran Screenwriter For A Brand New Bond, Starlog 120 July 1987, Starlog #120, July 1987
33 Richard Maibaum Veteran Screenwriter For A Brand New Bond, Starlog 120 July 1987, Starlog #120, July 1987
34 Albert R. Broccoli Broccoli by Adam Pirani, Starlog #99, October 1985
35 John Glen, For My Eyes Only, B.T. Batsford, 2001, p. 110
36 James Bond Returns Director John Glen by Stephen Payne and Gary Russell, Starburst, No. 107 July 1987
37 John Glen, For My Eyes Only, B.T. Batsford, 2001, p. 111
38 Richard Maibaum Veteran Screenwriter For A Brand New Bond, Starlog 120 July 1987, Starlog #120, July 1987
39 ‘Richard Maibaum 007’s Puppetmaster’ by Lee Goldberg, Starlog #68, March 1983
40 The John Glen Interview by Richard Schenkman and Tom Sciacca, Bondage #12, The James Bond 007 Fan Club, 1983
41 The John Glen Interview by Richard Schenkman and Tom Sciacca, Bondage #12, The James Bond 007 Fan Club, 1983
42 John Glen: Authors’ interview, 11.04.2001
43 The John Glen Interview by Richard Schenkman and Tom Sciacca, Bondage #12, The James Bond 007 Fan Club, 1983
44 John Glen: Authors’ interview, 11.04.2001
45 The John Glen Interview by Richard Schenkman and Tom Sciacca, Bondage #12, The James Bond 007 Fan Club, 1983
46 James Bond Returns Director John Glen by Stephen Payne and Gary Russell, Starburst, No. 107 July 1987
47 John Glen: Authors’ interview, 11.04.2001
48 For Your Eyes Only Press Conference by Richard Schenkman, Bondage #11, The James Bond 007 Fan Club, 1981
49 John Glen: Authors’ interview, 11.04.2001
50 http://www.michaelbillington.org.uk/
51 http://www.michaelbillington.org.uk/
52 http://www.dpriol.com/
53 Alan Hume with Gareth Owen, A Life Through The Lens, MacFarland and Company Inc. Publishers, 2004, p. 117
54 Alan Hume with Gareth Owen, A Life Through The Lens, MacFarland and Company Inc. Publishers, 2004, p. 117
55 Roger Moore with Gareth Owen, My Word is My Bond, Michael O’Mara Books Ltd, 2008, p. 295
56 Roger Moore: Authors’ interview, 26.04.215
57 On Location with A View To A Kill by Lee Goldberg, Starlog #92, March 1985
58 John Glen, For My Eyes Only, B.T. Batsford, 2001, p. 112
59 Tim Greaves, The Bond Woman 007 Style, 1–Shot Publications, 2002, p. 60
60 John Glen, For My Eyes Only, B.T. Batsford, 2001, p. 112
61 Tim Greaves, The Bond Woman 007 Style, 1–Shot Publications, 2002, p. 60
62 Tim Greaves, The Bond Woman 007 Style, 1–Shot Publications, 2002, p. 60
63 Albert R. Broccoli. Broccoli with Donald Zec, When the Snow Melts, Boxtree, 1998, p. 255
64 Albert R. Broccoli. Broccoli with Donald Zec, When the Snow Melts, Boxtree, 1998, p. 255
65 For Your Eyes Only Press Conference by Richard Schenkman, Bondage #11, The James Bond 007 Fan Club, 1981
66 For Your Eyes Only Press Conference by Richard Schenkman, Bondage #11, The James Bond 007 Fan Club, 1981
67 Julian Glover: Unpublished interview by Richard Toogood 20.10.1999
68 Julian Glover: Authors’ interview, 27.04.2015
69 Julian Glover: Authors’ interview, 27.04.2015
70 Lynn Holly–Johnson: Authors’ interview, 30.05.2015
71 Lynn Holly–Johnson: Authors’ interview, 30.05.2015
72 Tim Greaves, The Bond Woman 007 Style, 1–Shot Publications, 2002, p. 12
73 John Glen, For My Eyes Only, B.T. Batsford, 2001, p. 112
74 For Your Eyes Only production notes, United Artists, 1981
75 Alan Hume with Gareth Owen, A Life Through The Lens, MacFarland and Company Inc. Publishers, 2004, p. 117
76 On Location with A View To A Kill by Lee Goldberg, Starlog #92, March 1985
77 John Glen: Authors’ interview, 11.04.2001
78 John Glen: Authors’ interview, 11.04.2001
79 Rémy Julienne: Authors’ interview, 21.10.2008
80 Rémy Julienne: Authors’ interview, 21.10.2008
81 ‘The Citroën Interview John Glen A Sense Of Direction’ by Anne Gregg, Citroën Magazine #6, June 1981
82 David Giammarco, For Your Eyes Only Behind The Scenes Of The James Bond Films, ECW Press, 2002, p. 175
83 Licensed To Thrill by Edward Gross, Starlog Yearbook, Vol. 5 1989
84 John Glen, For My Eyes Only, B.T. Batsford, 2001, p. 118
85 Julian Glover: Authors’ interview, 27.04.2015
86 Pierce Brosnan: Authors’ interview, 23.05.2015
87 John Glen: Authors’ interview, 11.04.2001
88 John Cork and Bruce Scivally, The James Bond Legacy, Boxtree an imprint of Pan MacMillan Ltd, 2002, p. 190
89 For Your Eyes Only Press Conference by Richard Schenkman, Bondage #11, The James Bond 007 Fan Club, 1981
90 John Cork and Bruce Scivally, The James Bond Legacy, Boxtree an imprint of Pan MacMillan Ltd, 2002, p. 190
91 Rick Sylvester: Authors’ interview, 09.03.2015
92 Rick Sylvester: Authors’ interview, 09.03.2015
93 Rick Sylvester: Authors’ interview, 09.03.2015
94 Desmond Llewelyn: Authors’ interview, 23.04.1999
95 John Glen: Authors’ interview, 11.04.2001
96 Alan Barnes and Marcus Hearn, Kiss Kiss Bang! Bang! The Unofficial James Bond Film Companion, B.T. Batsford, a member of Chrysalis Books plc, 2nd Edition, 2000, p. 138
97 Sandy Hernu, Q: The Biography of Desmond Llewelyn, S.B. Publications, 1999, p. 112
98 Sandy Hernu, Q: The Biography of Desmond Llewelyn, S.B. Publications, 1999, p. 112
99 Moneypenny Talks’ by Anwar Brett, Film Review Special no. 21, 1997
100 Royal Premiere: For Your Eyes Only, Thames Television broadcast ITV 24.06.1981
101 American Cinematographer Vol..62 No. 8, ASC Holding Corp. August 1981
102 Martin Grace: Interview with Anders Frejdh.
103 For Your Eyes Only Press Conference by Richard Schenkman, Bondage #11, The James Bond 007 Fan Club, 1981
104 For Your Eyes Only Press Conference by Richard Schenkman, Bondage #11, The James Bond 007 Fan Club, 1981
105 Rémy Julienne: Authors’ interview, 21.10.2008
106 The Monday Movie Hour, BBC Radio 2, Producer Andy Wilson introduced by John Benson 23.03.1987
107 The Monday Movie Hour, BBC Radio 2, Producer Andy Wilson introduced by John Benson 23.03.1987
108 For Your Eyes Only Press Conference by Richard Schenkman, Bondage #11, The James Bond 007 Fan Club, 1981
109 Maurice Binder by Don McGregor, Starlog #75, October 1983
110 For Your Eyes Only Press Conference by Richard Schenkman, Bondage #11, The James Bond 007 Fan Club, 1981
111 Maurice Binder by Don McGregor, Starlog #75, October 1983
112 Maurice Binder by Don McGregor, Starlog #74, September 1983
113 Maurice Binder by Don McGregor, Starlog #75, October 1983
114 Hilary Saltzman: Authors’ interview, 29.11.2011
115 Pierce Brosnan: Authors’ interview, 23.05.2015