8 replies to this topic

[DaveBond21]

I am not sure if this has been discussed before, but the people behind the Bond movies seem to be a close-knit family and this has always been the case.

 

Cubby Broccoli and Harry Saltzman worked with people they knew, friends, and people they trusted and this has continued through Barbara and Michael G Wilson. They also included their own family, and today David Wilson and Gregg Wilson are involved in each Bond movie.

 

Here are some of the extensions of the "Bond family". I've deliberately stopped at these, to leave room for other answers and discussions.

 

- Roger Moore was friends with Broccoli and Saltzman for years before he got the role of 007. He often played cards with them. Christopher Lee was also a friend of all 3. Lois Maxwell also knew Roger beforehand.

 

- Terence Young knew Sean Connery before he became Bond

 

- Luciana Paluzzi knew David Hedison before they were both involved in the Bond movies

 

- Rik van Nutter was married to Anita Ekberg and well known to the producers ahead of Thunderball

 

- Pierce Brosnan's wife starred in FYEO and he visited the set

 

- Rory Kinnear's godfather was Judi Dench's husband

 

- Daniel Craig and Sam Mendes have been friends for years

 

 

Then there is the production team who are part of the family:-

 

- British special effects coordinator Chris Corbould has worked on every Bond since 1977

 

- British production executive, Anthony Waye, a Pinewood stalwart, has had some involvement in every Bond since FYEO

 

- Ken Adam worked on all the Bonds from Dr No to Moonraker

 

- Peter Lamont worked on all of them from 1964 until 1995 and then more up to Casino Royale

 

- Terry Madden has worked on every Bond movie since Octopussy

 

- Callum McDougall - every Bond since TLD

 

 

Does anyone have any more to add or any comments on the Bond family. They seem to work with the same people every time, many of whom are British, so that they know they can trust them. There is a also a card playing culture amongst the group - almost as if you must be a card player to join the gang.

 

Thoughts?

[Guy Haines]

John Barry. 11 Bond films scored, 9 in which he also co-wrote the theme song. He may not have been a "family member" at the outset but scoring 11 films suggests he became one, even though, like all families, there were rows, allegedly - Harry Saltzman was sometimes less than impressed with the theme songs. He reputedly was disgusted by the lyrics of Diamonds Are Forever, for example, and John Barry's response to that criticism was, er, robust! But Barry kept being re-hired. I understand he was even sought for advice when he wasn't available to score - I think he recommended Bill Conti for FYEO.

 

More recently, David Arnold became the first composer since Barry to score multiple Bond films - another composer the team could trust. And now Thomas Newman, though this seems as much being the friend and first choice of the director, Sam Mendes.

[New Digs]

- Ken Adam worked on all the Bonds from Dr No to Moonraker


Thoughts?

I think that statement needs clarification!

[stromberg]

 

- Ken Adam worked on all the Bonds from Dr No to Moonraker


Thoughts?

I think that statement needs clarification!

 

Thoughts?

I don't think that he worked on FRWL, LALD and TMWTGG. He was involved in OHMSS in the early stages of production, but when the shooting was delayed, he had to quit because he was bound by contract as a design supervisor to 'The Owl and the Pussycat' (in which he also had a cameo).

[DaveBond21]

Thanks for the clarification.

[hilly]

Roger Moore and David Hedison had been friends for years before LALD

Sean Connery knew Vladek Sheybal and suggested him for the role of Kronsteen in FRWL (and was apparently furious when Sheybal initially wasn't that interested)

[glidrose]

- Ken Adam worked on all the Bonds from Dr No to Moonraker


Thoughts?

I think that statement needs clarification!

Thoughts?
I don't think that he worked on FRWL, LALD and TMWTGG. He was involved in OHMSS in the early stages of production, but when the shooting was delayed, he had to quit because he was bound by contract as a design supervisor to 'The Owl and the Pussycat' (in which he also had a cameo).

I'm not so sure that "The Owl and the Pussycat" was the reason he didn't do OHMSS. (And where and what exactly is Adam's cameo in the film?) For one, "Owl" was shot in 1970, long after OHMSS was released. More likely "Goodbye, Mr. Chips" with Peter O'Toole. Adam was also involved with two other films - including a Peter Pan remake - during that time that did not go into production.

EDIT: I also just learned that Ken Adam worked on a mid-late-70s shelved Star Trek project called "Planet of the Titans". Philip Kaufman was to direct.

[glidrose]

"The Bond Family (1962-present) - knowing who you can trust"

 

Ahem.

 

knowing whom you can trust

[stromberg]

 

 

 

- Ken Adam worked on all the Bonds from Dr No to Moonraker


Thoughts?

I think that statement needs clarification!

 

Thoughts?
I don't think that he worked on FRWL, LALD and TMWTGG. He was involved in OHMSS in the early stages of production, but when the shooting was delayed, he had to quit because he was bound by contract as a design supervisor to 'The Owl and the Pussycat' (in which he also had a cameo).

 

I'm not so sure that "The Owl and the Pussycat" was the reason he didn't do OHMSS. (And where and what exactly is Adam's cameo in the film?) For one, "Owl" was shot in 1970, long after OHMSS was released. More likely "Goodbye, Mr. Chips" with Peter O'Toole. Adam was also involved with two other films - including a Peter Pan remake - during that time that did not go into production.

EDIT: I also just learned that Ken Adam worked on a mid-late-70s shelved Star Trek project called "Planet of the Titans". Philip Kaufman was to direct.

 

Got the info from a German Ken Adam bio. It's got an extensive filmography and names also the abandonned projects (and reasons why they didn't happen, if known). His cameo was a "customer" of Barbra Streisand (IMDb lists it as "middle-aged man"). He also talks about this in a documentary (have to check that one out again, could be that he talks about why he didn't make OHMSS in that one...)

 

Here's an example of his Star Trek work:

 

Edit: thread title corrected