| Femmes Fatales | Oct 4 2020 |
For me, at least, this thing brings to mind making love, not war.
Barbara Bach has had three distinct periods of fame. The first was as an actress in numerous Italian movies during the late 1960s and the entire decade of the 1970s. Her second stage came when she starred as Anya Amasova in 1981's James Bond adventure The Spy Who Loved Me. This was the third Bond outing for Roger Moore, and the last before he stopped taking the role seriously and began smirking and mugging his way through the role. Not that we disliked it. The smirky Moore was fun. Bach became globally recognized in that film, as all Bond girls do. Her third stage of fame was as the wife of one of the most recognized men in the world—Ringo Starr of the Beatles. Mixed into all of that were a few American movies, and one of them was a 1980 comedy called Up the Academy, from which the above promo photo came. The movie arrived on the heels of a string of successful comedies like Animal House that slayed at the box office, but Up the Academy bombed with critics and ticket buyers. We absolve Bach of any blame, though. We haven't seen Up the Academy, but we have zero doubt she was one of the best things in it.
| Intl. Notebook | Sep 10 2013 |
James Bond submarine car sells at auction.
We’ve shared a lot of James Bond memorabilia over the years (who can forget our Honeychile Ryder figurine), which means we couldn’t possibly let this story pass. The Lotus Esprit turbo used in the Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me sold at auction yesterday in London for £550,000, or about $864,000. The car is one of eight used in the film. For the sake of comparison, other Bond vehicles, such as the 1964 Aston Martin DB5 used in Goldfinger, have sold for millions. But probably the price was low here because the car, though equipped with a propeller and fins, is not a functional vehicle, according to the auctioneers RM Auctions. But what makes the story so interesting is that the car was found in a Long Island storage unit in 1989 by a construction contractor who’d bought the contents unseen. American storage companies often arrange blind auctions when rental payments on storage spaces lapse. Buyers take the chance that something valuable might be inside, but just as likely might find nothing but junk. This particular buyer had been hoping to find power tools or other useful items, but instead was shocked to find the Lotus. His purchase price for the storage unit—$100.
| Vintage Pulp | Aug 24 2010 |
Proudly serving Her Majesty since 1953
Below, nine first edition hardback dust jackets for Ian Fleming's James Bond series, by British illustrator Richard Chopping. You can see another first edition, Dr. No by artist Pat Marriot, at the top of a previous post here.
GoldfingerThunderballYou Only Live TwiceOctopussyFor Your Eyes OnlyOn Her Majesty's Secret ServiceFrom Russia with LoveThe Spy Who Loved MeThe Man with the Golden GunIan FlemingJames Bondcover artliterature
| Femmes Fatales | Jan 16 2010 |
There’s been a lot of death on the website recently, so today we’re reversing the trend by bringing back one of our earliest femmes fatales, Scottish actress Caroline Munro. She appeared such films as The Golden Voyage of Sinbad, The Spy Who Loved Me, and the awesome Starcrash. She was born today in 1950.
| Musiquarium | Nov 19 2009 |
Nobody does art better.
James Bond soundtrack albums and singles, with production art covers, plus paintings by Frank McCarthy, Robert McGinnis and others.
Dr. NoDiamonds Are ForeverOn Her Majesty’s Secret ServiceThunderballLive and Let DieMan with the Golden GunFrom Russia with LoveThe Spy Who Loved MeGoldfingerFrank McCarthyRobert McGinnisJames BondJohn BarryArt FarmerShirley BasseyNancy SinatraRoger MooreSean Conneryalbum art
