Sean Connery for Louis Vuitton
Posts Tagged ‘Dr. No’
Epitome of Cool…
March 8, 2010BondStars.com host private signing with Ursula Andress…
December 7, 2009Bondstars.com have annouced that they will hold a private autograph signing with Ursula Andress (Honey Rider in “Dr. No”). However, the signing will only go ahead if Bondstars.com receives a minimum of 100 pre-orders.
If you’re a fan who’d like to see this private signing go through, simply submit a form to Bondstars.com via the link below:
http://www.bondstars.com/ursulaandress/private/
By submitting the form, you don’t need to provide any order information. You’re simply letting them know that you’d be interesting in purchasing a personalized, signed photo of Ursula Andress.
Richard Todd dies at age 90…
December 4, 2009
Richard Todd had accomplished many things during his life. For starters, Mr. Todd was one of the first British officers to land in Normandy during the main D-Day landing in World War II. This, alone, made him a hero. He later became Britain’s highest-earning matinee idols of the post-war years. He’s best known for re-enacting his wartime experiences in “The Longest Day”, and also appearing in “A Hasty Heart” and “The Dam Busters”.
Among these great achievements, Mr. Todd had won the support of Ian Fleming during the casting stage of the first James Bond film — “Dr. No” — in 1962. As a matter of fact, if it weren’t because of a schedule clash, we would have probably seen Mr. Todd fulfilling Sir Sean Connery’s position in the film.
According to his agent, Richard Todd died of cancer on Thursday at his home in Little Humby, Lincolnshire in central England. Another film legend passes on. None the less, rest in peace, sir.
“You don’t consciously set out to do something gallant. You just do it because that is what you are there for.”
– Richard Todd
Celebrate Thanksgiving weekend with James Bond…
November 25, 2009The SyFy Channel will be airing a total of sixteen James Bond films this Thanksgiving weekend. Below is the full schedule:
Thursday – November 26th 2009
8:00 AM – Dr. No
10:30 AM – Licence To Kill
1:30 PM – Live And Let Die
4:00 PM – The Spy Who Loved Me
6:30 PM – Tomorrow Never Dies
9:00 PM – Casino Royale
Friday – November 27th 2009:
12:00 AM – For Your Eyes Only
2:30 AM – The Man With The Golden Gun
08:00 AM – Thunderball
10:30 AM – From Russia With Love
1:00 PM – You Only Live Twice
3:30 PM – Diamonds Are Forever
6:00 PM – Casino Royale
9:00 PM – GoldenEye
Saturday November 28th 2009:
12:00 AM – Goldfinger
2:30 AM – Never Say Never Again
All times are EST.
Joseph Wiseman dies at age 91
October 20, 2009
It’s a sad time in the world of Bond.
Joseph Wiseman, best known for portraying James Bond’s first on-screen nemesis, Dr. No, passed away Monday at age 91 in his home in Manhattan.
Mr. Wiseman’s daughter, Martha Graham Wiseman, confirmed the death, saying that her father had recently been in declining health.
According to the New York Times, Mr. Wiseman’s other film credits include “Detective Story” (1951); “Viva Zapata!” (1952); “The Garment Jungle” (1957); “The Unforgiven” (1960); “The Night They Raided Minsky’s” (1968) and “The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz” (1974).
He had guest roles on many television shows, among them “Law & Order,” “The Streets of San Francisco,” “The Untouchables” and “The Twilight Zone.” In the late 1980s, he had a recurring role as the crime boss Manny Weisbord on the NBC drama “Crime Story.”
On Broadway, Mr. Wiseman was seen most recently, in 2001, as a witness for the prosecution in Abby Mann’s stage adaptation of his film drama “Judgment at Nuremberg.” In 1994, he appeared Off Broadway in the Tony Kushner play “Slavs!” in the role of Prelapsarianov, “the world’s oldest living Bolshevik.”
Dr. No, portrayed by Mr. Wiseman, is my favorite of the Bond villains, and his legacy will always live on.
Rest in Peace.
Wine Spectator.com’s talk with Sean Connery
October 7, 2009Sir Sean Connery, 79, burst into stardom in 1962, with his portrayal of British secret agent James Bond in Dr. No. But Connery appeared in dozens of films between his debut in 1954 and his retirement in 2003, and he won an Oscar as best supporting actor for his 1987 role as Jim Malone in The Untouchables. In 2000, he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II. Connery was born in Scotland, has lived in Spain and Switzerland, and now spends most of his time in the Bahamas. He spoke with executive editor Thomas Matthews, who has equated Connery, Bond and the good life since seeing From Russia With Love in 1965.
Wine Spectator: Tell us about your interest in wine.
SC: I can tell you more about whiskey than wine. I’m not an aficionado by any means, mostly because I have a heart condition and am not supposed to take much alcohol. But I do drink red wine, because of my great friend David Murray [a Scottish entrepreneur who owns two French wine estates, Château Routas in Provence and Domaine Jessiaume [in Burgundy]. He showed me the evidence that it was good for the health.I favor Merlots from Chile for their value, and I keep a good deal of California wine in my cellar. Don’t ask me to tell you their names. I have one that cost me $2,000 for two cases, which I think is rather steep, but people are prepared to pay it.
WS: Is there a particular wine that has really stuck in your memory?
SC: I once lived a few years in Spain. It was around the time I was doing The Man Who Would Be King [in 1975]. I enjoyed a wine called Vega Sicilia, and back then, you could get it by the bucketful. Now it’s several hundred dollars a bottle.WS: Do you ever visit wine country?
SC: I spend a week every year in France with David Murray. He’s got the two main bases. We fly to France, then pick up the car, drive down to the coast and spend a week. Château Routas is 1,300 meters above the sea, and it’s just a perfect site for health.There’s nothing but wine down there. It’s amazing to see how it’s all done, from soup to nuts, and how important it is to everyone. The people are really in tune with what they are doing, and it gives a great atmosphere.
We have good food and wine every night [chuckling]. When we’re at his places, we drink his wines. But when we’re traveling, we try everything. He’s a great wine connoisseur, and I just go along with him. Providing you have nothing else to do, it’s a marvelous way to spend some time.
WS: As James Bond, you played a character whose connoisseurship of wine was a defining trait. How much of that was from your own experience?
SC: That was all part of the character. I remember the Dom Pérignon scene in Dr. No. But I can’t really claim I had any knowledge of wine at the time. The director, Terence Young, put a great deal of sophistication into the films [Dr. No, From Russia With Love and Thunderball], and he never got the credit he deserved. He taught me, and helped develop the character. I can wear the clothes well, but he was the one who picked them out.Dr. No cost $1 million in 1962. Today, to make that film would cost $100 million or more. That gives you an idea how it’s gone. Wine is the same thing.
This was an interesting interview, and deserved to be posted. I especially liked his praise for Terrence Young.
Sir Sean Connery is 79 Today…
August 25, 2009Birthday wishes go out to my favorite Bond actor, and one of the most legendary film actors of all time – Sir Sean Connery.
He was born Thomas Sean Connery in Edinburgh, Scotland on 25th August 1930. His debut Bond outing was Dr. No, and his acting career launched off from then on.
At 79, he’s still looking great.
All the best, Sir Sean!
Zena Marshall (1925 – 2009)
July 14, 2009I regret to inform you all that actress Zena Marshall has passed away at the age of 84. You’ll recall that she played Miss Taro in the first James Bond film, Dr. No.
There hasn’t been an official obituary posted yet, that I know of, but she supposedly passed on Friday, July 10th, 2009, after a short illness.
What a shame. Dr. No is my favorite Bond flick, and Miss Taro was such a memorable character. Zena Marshall will be missed, and my condolences go to her family members and close friends.
Zena Marshall
“Miss Taro” – Dr. No
January 1st, 1925 – July 10th, 2009
Rest In Peace.
BondStars.com Private Signings (August 2009)
June 22, 2009I thought I’d post this, as it may interest the Bond autograph/merchandise collectors visiting this blog.
Bondstars.com will be holding private signing sessions with Eunice Gayson (Sylvia Trench of Dr. No and From Russia With Love), Honor Blackman (Pussy Galore of Goldfinger), and Jenny Hanley (Irish Girl of On Her Majesty’s Secret Service) on August 23rd, 2009.
A signed item will cost you £26.00, or about $43.00. The links below will take you to the BondStars website, in which you can purchase what you need:
All orders must be received by August 7th, and personal items cannot be signed.
Other instructions can be found at the provided links.
Best of luck! I think I’ll buy the Gayson and Blackman autographs. They’d be a nice addition to my collection.
Licence To Blog 
Watchmakers International sponsors Ian Fleming’s Rolex in Bond Exhibit
February 15, 2010COLUMBIA, PA: For over 50 years, James Bond fans have had the need to know what watch Agent 007 wears. Fans fantasize: They are James Bond when wearing his watch.
Vintage Rolex watches — similar to the Sean Connery Submariner in Dr. No, the George Lazenby pre-Daytona chronograph in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, and the Rolex Explorer worn by the literary Bond and author Ian Fleming — can be restored today to their original performance standards.
Bob Ridley of Watchmakers International gives a new lease on life to even the oldest (and most desirable) James Bond Rolex models, including those originally worn in the earliest Eon Productions films. Watchmakers International has also signed on as exclusive sponsor for display of Ian Fleming’s personal Rolex 1016 Explorer throughout the upcoming National Watch & Clock Museum exhibit, “Bond Watches, James Bond Watches,” June 18, 2010, through April 30, 2011.
“These watches were meant to be worn,” says Ridley. “My team makes that possible.”
This is particularly important to Bond watch owners. “When I approached Bob with my own 1016 Explorer, my hope was that he could take it to a point where I could wear it on special occasions without a lot of worry,” recalls Dell Deaton, guest curator of the James Bond Watches exhibit. “Bob said he could bring it back to a standard where I could wear it every day, the way it was designed to be worn.”
Vintage Rolex Explorer 1016 wristwatch with original Radium dial — just like James Bond wore in the 1963 novel, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. Background items include a copy of that first edition book, a pre-publication Uncorrected Proof, and the very first publication of this story (part 1 of 3) in the April 1963 issue of Playboy magazine. Photo copyright http://www.jamesbondwatches.com, 2010.
“If you think about the 6538 Submariner that fans associate with the movie Goldfinger,” Ridley adds, “these Rolex watches are increasingly hard to find in any condition. Proper functional restoration often begins by addressing neglect, water damage, and quite frequently the need to back-out previous misdirected repair issues. With that, we almost always have to source Rolex parts or fabricate corrections based on a watch that even the most experienced Rolex researchers haven’t seen more than a handful of times in an entire career.
“By focusing only on the Rolex brand, we’ve developed that necessary familiarity. We’ve also earned a respectable interface with Rolex technical support departments, with which we exchange information.”
At the same time, Watchmakers International brings a true collector’s eye to restorations — balancing desired performance against a commitment to retain investment value. “The dial on my 1016 Explorer is cracking,” Dell Deaton notes. “But replacement and even refinishing are out of the question: My Rolex is just like what Ian Fleming saw on his wrist when he wrote that ‘Bond glanced at his watch’ in the final pages of On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. That’s what I will still want to see after any work on it is done.”
“I gave Dell a number of proprietary options we’ve come up with for arresting the deterioration without any visual change to aesthetics,” Bob Ridley explains. “These are things we have done for Watchmakers International clients that we’ve served for many, many years; the proof of longevity is reconfirmed upon intake inspection each time one of these watches comes back now for routine maintenance.”
“The addition of Bob Ridley, personally, and Watchmakers International, as a sponsor, raises an already high bar on what we expect this exhibit to deliver,” says Noel Poirier, director of the National Watch & Clock Museum. “As an international association and repository for horology, our Museum and this exhibit can both show a great range of Bond-affiliated wristwatches, and then go beyond that to provide a great depth of understanding about how many of them functioned then and now, their design evolution paths, and, in particular to the Ian Fleming Rolex 1016 Explorer and related pieces, what their present condition tells them about their service to wearers as timekeepers.
“Watchmakers International is the ideal sponsor for the Ian Fleming Rolex as part of our ‘Bond Watches, James Bond Watches’ exhibit. We’re truly honored to have them be a part of this.”
Watchmakers International is the exclusive sponsor for bringing the original Ian Fleming Rolex Explorerer 1016 to the entire run of this year-long exhibit. With over 30 years experience in fine wristwatch work, certified horologist Bob Ridley offers a unique balance of technical skill, resources, and an understanding of value-aesthetics to the sole of his business: Vintage Rolex restoration. See www.watchmakers.com for more information.
Dell Deaton is guest curator of this “Bond Watches, James Bond Watches” exhibition and author-creator of www.jamesbondwatches.com. He is a member of both the National Watch & Clock Association and American Marketing Association, and an internationally recognized expert on Ian Fleming and James Bond horology.
“Bond Watches, James Bond Watches” will be unveiled at the NAWCC Annual Convention on June 17, 2010, and runs June 18, 2010, through April 30, 2011, in Columbia, PA.
The National Watch and Clock Museum is operated by the National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors, Inc., a nonprofit 501(c)(3) association close to 20,000 members, representing 52 countries. April through November the Museum is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 4 p.m. December through March hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Discounts are available to seniors, students, AAA members, and groups of 10 or more. Groups of 10 or more are encouraged to call ahead. For more program information, directions, or general Museum information, call 717-684-8261 or visit our website at www.nawcc.org.
Tags:007, Dr. No, George Lazenby, Goldfinger, Ian Fleming, James Bond, Literature, National Watch and Clock Museum, On Her Majesty's Secret Service, Rolex, Sean Connery, watches
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