Two Connery Bond Movies on the Big Screen in 35mm This Father's Day in Los Angeles

Hollywood's famed Egyptian Theatre will show 35mm prints of From Russia With Love and Goldfinger on June 17 - Father's Day. Bond on film has become a relatively rare commodity in recent years (even the once ubiquitous Goldfinger!), as most revival screenings nowadays tend to be projected digitally. Personally, I find that no matter how sharp the transfer, a DCP just doesn't feel like film... and I'd always rather watch a Bond flick on film. So if you feel like I do, and you'll be in the Southern California area mid-June, you should definitely go! The double feature kicks off at 7:30, starting with From Russia With Love. Tickets ($12 covers both films) are available through Fandango, or at the Egyptian Theatre box office.

Quartet Releases Two Expanded Spy Soundtracks: CASINO ROYALE and THE RUSSIA HOUSE

Quartet Records have announced half a quartet (sorry) of newly expanded spy scores. And the two movies are about as far apart as you can get within the same genre: Jerry Goldsmith's somber, intimate, jazz-infused score for the 1990 John le Carré adaptation The Russia House, and Burt Bacharach's infectious, iconic score for the bloated 1967 James Bond spoof Casino Royale.

Fred Schepisi’s film of The Russia House starred Sean Connery as one of le Carré’s most memorable characters, Barley Blair, a publisher who becomes unwittingly entangled in East/West spy games and a dangerous romance with Michelle Pfeifer’s Katya. James Fox, Roy Scheider, Michael Kitchen, and Klaus Maria Brandauer co-starred. Besides a romance between two of the screen’s most popular stars, the film was notable for being one of the first Western movies to be shot in Russia, and makes an excellent time capsule of the late Soviet era. Goldsmith’s score was atypical for him in that era (coming right after the more bombastic Total Recall), and remains controversial among fans of the composer and le Carré. The decision to go with a sax-driven, romantic jazz sound reflects Blair’s own musical taste. The original MCA album contained 61 minutes of music, but Quartet have dug up an additional 15 minutes’ worth of previously unreleased material including what they call “some key suspense cues.” According to the label, “the new edition was produced by Mike Matessino, with tracks prepared by Neil S. Bulk (Die Another Day) and mastered by Matessino from the original mixes by Bruce Botnick. The package includes a 16-page full color booklet with [le Carré fan] Dirk Wickenden providing in-depth liner notes and musical analysis of this masterful Goldsmith score.”

As for Casino Royale, you're probably asking, "Hasn't that score already been reissued twice in time this blog's been around?" And you would be right. (Or at least partially right, because you don't seem to be counting the Varese Sarabande reissue which was pretty much identical to the original Varese release, and apparently a subsequent reissue of one of the legitimately expanded versions.) The famous score, long sought after on LP owing to its reputation among audiophiles as the ultimate demonstration record, was first released in an expanded edition by Kritzerland in 2010. The original master tapes were allegedly damaged or destroyed, so they set about repairing the issues caused by that damage. They also attempted to replicate the vaunted sound of the LP by including as a bonus program a direct transfer of the record itself. Then in 2012, Quartet put out a 2-disc release with lavish packaging and a stellar, 60+ page book of liner notes by Gergely Hubai in honor of the film's 45th anniversary. That release was motivated by the discovery of a quarter-inch stereo tape copy of the original album in the vaults of Sony Music Spain, and new access to MGM's DVD elements which permitted a complete film score release (albeit reflecting the sound mixer's dialogue-motivated volume shifts) for the first time. Both of those releases were limited editions, and both sold out. Apparently there was even a second printing of the Quartet one. And now they are releasing a brand new 50th Anniversary edition with completely different audio. Here's the label's reasoning:

This edition is an important landmark for this legendary score, and we can proudly say that it now sounds better than ever. This new edition has been produced, restored and mastered by wizard engineer Chris Malone, rebuilding the score from the ground up. Malone’s work has focused on addressing unintended technical anomalies (such as filling dropouts and covering analogue splices) rather than broadly applying a modern sound palette. He has eschewed dynamic range compression and retained the brilliance of the original recording. Because the LP program derived from the original film recordings (with some edits made for a more pleasure listening), we have included it on our CD and added all the music composed by Bacharach that was not on the LP to make a 77-minute CD. The bonus tracks are in mono (music stems are still the only available source to date), but Chris has worked them in a very different mood from our previous edition, respecting the mono without adding any stereo reverb and carefully restoring each track in a very warm way. We can say the sound is day and night compared with our previous edition. Live and learn.

So they seem to be, sort of, apologizing for their previous version? Understanding its less than ideal sources, I never had any issues with it and appreciated its completeness. Though I still preferred the sound on the Kritzerland version, and it sounds as if Malone may have approached this new one along the same lines they did. The new Quartet release appears to be just one disc as opposed to the 45 Anniversary's double-disc version, and does not include the original booklet. It does, however, boast all-new liner notes (20 pages of them!) by film score expert Jeff Bond. It's kind of strange that this odd-duck step child of the Bond saga as by now proven to be the title most frequently revisited on CD, but they've got me curious. I'll definitely be buying this one, as I have all the others. They always sell out, so my advice is to act quickly if you've missed out on the previous limited editions.

The discs can be ordered now directly from Quartet, or pre-ordered from Screen Archives Entertainment:

Casino Royale
The Russia House

Coming on the heels of La-La Land's recent expanded Die Another Day score, this winter is proving a boom time for collectors of spy soundtracks!

Rare Connery and Moore Movies Coming to Blu-ray This Fall

Michael Caine isn't the only superspy coming to Blu-ray this fall from Kino Lorber Studio Classics. You'll also be able to trace the gathering age lines on Roger Moore and Sean Connery in high definition in some of their post- (or nearly post-) Bond best non-spy roles. Perhaps most excitingly, the company will release the 1984 Golan Globus action thriller The Naked Face, starring Roger Moore, on both DVD and Blu-ray on October 24. Why is this the most exciting? Because the Chicago-set, Bryan Forbes-directed Sidney Sheldon adaptation (which co-stars Rod Steiger, Elliott Gould, Anne Archer and Art Carney) has never before been available in the United States on DVD! And it's one of Moore's best non-Bond actioners. So Moore fans should definitely check this one out.

On September 16, Kino will release a pair of Seventies Sean Connery movies that have previously been on DVD (though are now out of print and quite pricey), but never before on Blu-ray: Michael Crichton's 1978 Victorian caper The Great Train Robbery (co-starring Donald Sutherland and Lesley-Anne Down) and Ronald Neame's 1979 all-star disaster spectacle Meteor (co-starring Natalie Wood, Karl Malden and Martin Landau). The latter may not be considered a Connery Classic, but it is one of my own favorite guilty pleasure movies of that era. Then on December 2, the company will release Connery's own career-favorite performance in Sidney Lumet's The Offence (opposite Trevor Howard). The Offence has previously been available in America only as an MOD title. Finally, spy fans may also be interested to know that Kino will put out Hickey and Boggs on Blu-ray the same day. While not a spy movie, the 1972 private eye tale is notable for reuniting one of the most famous spy duos of the Sixties, I Spy's Bill Cosby and Robert Culp. Whew! It's going to be an expensive fall!

Another Chance to See Never Say Never Again on the Big Screen in Los Angeles, Paired With The Rock

Well, I suppose Never Say Never Again screenings are like those proverbial city busses. You wait and wait for one to come along, and then there's another one right behind it! Only two months ago I was writing about how rare it was to see the 1983 Rogue Bond picture play at revival houses. In my fourteen years living in Los Angeles, it hadn't played once, whereas in that same time span all of the other Bond movies (including the other rogue one, the '67 Casino Royale) had played at least twice each—and far more often that that in the case of the other Connerys! So for the sake of the film's relative rarity, I encouraged anyone in the area, even those Bond fans who (for some odd reason) dislike the movie, to be sure to see it when it played for three nights at the New Beverly on a double bill with Diamonds Are Forever. And now, just a scant few months after that, it's playing once again on the big screen in L.A., this time at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood. (My favorite local theater—and the same one that's showing Prisoner episodes a few days later.) And this time on an even better double bill than before. It's a Sean Connery night with Never Say Never Again (1983) and The Rock (1996). They're running this double feature as part of their "Unofficial Sequels" series, as Connery's character in The Rock is a former British agent and the script makes some sly nods to Bond. You could also call it a Connery/Clement/La Frenais night, since writers Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais (Otley, Spies of Warsaw) contributed to both scripts (albeit on both occasions uncredited). Whatever the reason for the pairing, I think it's a great combination! For me, Connery got tougher and tougher as he grew older, and as much as I love him in the Bond role in the Sixties, he's at his peak of asskicking in these two movies. The double feature screens on Friday, April 25 at 7:30pm. Tickets are $11 for non-members, and available for pre-order through Fandango.

As I said the last time I was writing about a local Never Say Never Again screening, personally, I really like the movie a lot. Sure, the plot is a rehash of Thunderball; (but let's face it: that can actually be said of quite a lot of movies over the years!) sure, it may not have the Bond Theme for legal reasons, and sure, there are unfamiliar staff holding down the fort at MI6 (though I get a huge kick out of Edward Fox's quarrelsome M and Alec McCowen's cockney Q), but it does have SEAN CONNERY back in the role he had abandoned twelve years prior—and looking fitter and more interested than he did in his last official picture, Diamond Are Forever. And it's got Barbara Carrera as one of the best (and best costumed) Bond villainesses ever (and a virtual prototype for Xenia Onatopp, another contender for that crown), Klaus Maria Brandauer as a superbly unhinged villain, Bernie Casey as a terrific Felix Leiter, a fight with Pat Roach, and stellar cinematography (all the better in glorious 35mm!) by the man who shot Raiders of the Lost Ark, Douglas Slocombe! And it's got the immortal line, "I wouldn't know. I've never lost." Yeah, I really love it.

It was also my own frustrating White Whale for a long time in one intangible, experiential aspect of my personal Bond collection: collecting big screen viewings. My first cinematic Bond experience as a kid was Licence to Kill, but over my years living in Los Angeles I managed eventually to rack up all the others in theatrical screenings. (Most far more than once.) But Never Say Never Again eluded me until 2012, when it played in New York while I just happened to be visiting that city. Unfortunately, I took the wrong train, and ended up missing the first half of the film. So when the opportunity came to see it at the New Beverly earlier this year, I went twice in one weekend! And now I guess I'm making up for lost time all these years, because I'm planning to go to this showing as well.

Incidentally, in other Never Say Never Again news (and more helpful news for people who don't happen to live within driving distance of Los Angeles), the Blu-ray, which has been out of print for some time and was commanding prohibitively steep prices last year, has recently come back into stock at Amazon through third part sellers for reasonable prices. I don't know if this actually means that it's back in print (doubtful), or just that someone uncovered some unsold stock. In any case, if you don't already own it on Blu-ray (and it's a shockingly good high-def transfer for a film EON would rather MGM bury somewhere and forget), you might want to grab it now while the grabbing is good, because in a few months the supply might dwindle and it might go back to being a $60 disc.

Los Angeles Spy Fans: A Rare Opportunity to See Never Say Never Again on the Big Screen This Week!

Attention Los Angeles area spy fans! This week marks a very rare opportunity to see Sean Connery's 1983 return to the role that made him famous on the big screen. It's not often you'll have this opportunity. I'd hazard that thanks to this city's robust revival circuit (there are at least five full-time theaters dedicated to playing older movies in town, not to mention universities and special screenings), L.A. affords cineastes more chances to watch old movies projected in 35mm (or, more and more commonly now, in DCPs) on the big screen than just about any other city in the world. Yet, in the fourteen years that I've lived here, this is the first time that Never Say Never Again has ever screened at one of those revival houses. For comparison, I'd estimate that every other James Bond film (including that other black sheep of the series, the 1967 Casino Royale) has played at least twice in all that time. The vast majority of them have been shown many more times than that, and Connery's earlier entries average about once a year. (Less often for You Only Live Twice, sadly, but more often for Goldfinger, so they even out.) But, let me repeat, Never Say Never Again has never screened here in at least the last decade and a half. That makes this week's showing at the New Beverly Cinema roughly the cinematic equivalent of a first edition of Casino Royale for its obscurity. (Okay, maybe not quite that rare, but damn close!) So if you're a Bond fan, even if you don't rate that rogue entry particularly highly, I definitely recommend making a trip out in the next three days to see this elusive unicorn of a Bond film.

Personally, I really like Never Say Never Again a lot. Sure, the plot is a rehash of Thunderball; (but let's face it: that can actually be said of quite a lot of movies over the years!) sure, it may not have the Bond Theme for legal reasons, and sure, there are unfamiliar staff holding down the fort at MI6 (though I get a huge kick out of Edward Fox's quarrelsome M and Alec McCowen's cockney Q), but it does have SEAN CONNERY back in the role he had abandoned twelve years prior—and looking fitter and more interested than he did in his last official picture (Diamond Are Forever, which is also on the docket at the New Bev)! And it's got Barbara Carrera as one of the best (and best costumed) Bond villainesses ever (and a virtual prototype for Xenia Onatopp, another contender for that crown), Klaus Maria Brandauer as a superbly unhinged villain, Bernie Casey as a terrific Felix Leiter, and stellar cinematography (all the better in glorious 35mm!) by the man who shot Raiders of the Lost Ark, Douglas Slocombe! And it's got the immortal line, "I wouldn't know. I've never lost." (Old spy hands Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais, writers of one of my favorite spy send-ups, Otley, did an uncredited dialogue pass on the script, and the dialogue generally sparkles.) Yeah, I really love it.

It was also my own frustrating White Whale for a long time in one intangible, experiential aspect of my personal Bond collection: collecting big screen viewings. My first cinematic Bond experience as a kid was Licence to Kill, but over my years living in Los Angeles I managed eventually to rack up all the others in theatrical screenings. (Most far more than once.) But Never Say Never Again eluded me until 2012, when it played in New York while I just happened to be visiting that city. Unfortunately, I took the wrong train, and ended up missing the first half of the film. So I've only seen half of it in a theater to date, and that doesn't really count. Hence, I'm looking forward to striking it off my list tonight and completing my virtual "collection"... and then probably seeing it once more for good measure on Monday or Tuesday.

As I mentioned above, Never Say Never Again isn't playing alone. It's on a double feature bill along with Diamonds Are Forever (nowhere near as rare, but also not among the more commonly screened Connerys), so for one low price you can see Sean Connery's last two Bond movies at the New Beverly Cinema February 15 through the 18th. (Yeah, I'm a day late in getting the word out here, but you've still got three chances!) Both titles are screening in 35mm (as do all movies at that wonderful theater), which I'll take over a DCP any day of the week. Tickets are $8 (what a bargain for two Bond flicks!) and can be purchased at the door or online here. On Sunday, Diamonds Are Forever starts at 5:10pm and Never Say Never Again at 7:30, and on Monday and Tuesday Diamonds Are Forever plays at 7:30 with Never Say Never Again beginning at 9:50. Make the trip! It will be well worth it. (Also, while there's no guarantee, the New Beverly usually programs thematically related vintage trailers with their double features, so hopefully we'll get a taste of some other Bond and spy films, too.)

Incidentally, in other Never Say Never Again news (and more helpful news for people who don't happen to live withing driving distance of Los Angeles), the Blu-ray, which has been out of print for some time and was commanding prohibitively steep prices last year, has recently come back into stock at Amazon through third part sellers for reasonable prices. I don't know if this actually means that it's back in print (doubtful), or just that someone uncovered some unsold stock. In any case, if you don't own it already on Blu-ray (and it's a shockingly good high-def transfer for a film EON would rather MGM bury somewhere and forget), you might want to grab it now while the grabbing is good, because in a few months the supply might dwindle and it might go back to being a $60 disc.

Matt Damon's Still Grumpy About Bourne

I love Matt Damon in the Bourne movies. But boy is he grumpy! He seems to be emulating Sean Connery's post-Bond attitude about 007, though after just three movies as opposed to Connery's eventual six (in the official line-up), I'm not sure he's earned it. He first got grumpy right after The Bourne Ultimatum, saying on the press tour for that film that "we have ridden that horse as far as we can" and adding that he felt like "a bit of a prostitute" for going as far as he did with Bourne (along with the Ocean's sequels). Later, promoting Invictus, the actor declared that he flat-out wouldn't return to the role without director Paul Greengrass at the helm. (Greengrass had already passed on a fourth film.) He's stuck with that ultimatum, but now taken to badmouthing the direction the franchise has gone in without him while he's at it. (Damon and Greengrass had a very public feud with Tony Gilroy, the screenwriter who contributed to all three Damon films and went on to write and direct this summer's spin-off The Bourne Legacy.) Even though Gilroy was hopeful earlier this summer that Damon would return to the series to face down or team up with Jeremy Renner's Aaron Cross (and went out of his way in interviews to praise and placate Damon), the original Bourne star does not seem eager. Last month he rather dismissively told Movieline that he hasn't seen The Bourne Legacy, but, "from what I understand, it kind of relives [Ultimatum] from a different perspective. What that means, because they use our actors and characters, is that whatever they said [in Legacy] is true and so we'd have to acknowledge it in any Bourne movie that we'd do. And that makes it really tough." According to the website, he then laughed and added,"I don't think we can do the Dallas it-was-all-a-dream scenario. I don't think the audience would go for that after they paid money to see a movie," before finally acknowledging that, "I'd really love to do another one because I love the character."

Of course, if Damon ever gets around to watching Gilroy's film, what he'll learn is that Gilroy bent over backwards not to impact the events of the Damon/Greengrass movies, much to the detriment of Legacy, which ultimately offers zero forward momentum in the series. It would be a shame if the producers went to such lengths to leave the door open for the return of Damon and Greengrass only to have them refuse forever, but as of now that seems to be Damon's stance. He went on to tell the interviewer that it would be "a real struggle" to continue the adventures of his character, since Bourne's motivation in the first three films was to find his identity, which he finally did. "Where do you go next?"

Well, personally, I'd offer him the answer that I always bring up in these stories: go back to the books! There are two and a half whole entire Ludlum plots that the movies haven't touched, since neither Supremacy nor Ultimatum remotely resembled the novels. There are also huge chunks of the first book yet to be explored, including its primary antagonist, the international assassin Carlos the Jackal. While the real-life Carlos was finally captured in the 1990s, it would be easy enough to create a fictional present-day analogue, wouldn't it? I think it would be amazing if the films returned to the much more detailed plot of that first novel, and revealed that there was a whole other layer to Bourne's missing memories than he's yet discovered, and that what he thinks are answers may only lead to more questions. With a little finesse, I think they could pull that off. Ludlum's Supremacy might be easier to tackle, however, since the story more or less stands alone and takes place primarily in the Far East, which is new territory for Damon's mostly Europe-bound Bourne. (It's a slight problem that the films killed off Marie, who plays a major role in that book, but with a little creativity surely the filmmakers could substitute Julia Stiles' character, Nicky?) The primary mover away from the books was Tony Gilroy, who publicly disparaged them. Therefore, it's very easy for me to side with Damon and Greengrass (not that I know the ins and outs of the dispute) over him as curators of the series' future. But Damon really needs to stop being such a grump about it all the time!

See Bond Pitted Against Bond

Brad Hansen, co-host of that epic Bondathon last year and creator of the excellent time-lapse video chronicling it, has edited a very clever new video pitting all the Bond actors against one another. It's quickly gone viral (including hitting the front page of Yahoo!), and deservedly so. Take a look, and be sure to watch all the way to the end, which might be the most brilliant bit.

Dr. No Back on the Big Screen Tonight, For One Night Only!

Nearly fifty years after Dr. No first opened, James Bond fans in America have the opportunity to see the movie that started it all on the big screen once again, for one night only. Tonight, AMC Cinemas across the country will show James Bond's big screen debut, starring Sean Connery. Find out which theaters near you are playing it and get tickets on AMC's website. Also, attending fans will receive a free James Bond 50th Anniversary print while supplies last!

Sky Movies HD Promo Cuts All the Bonds Into One Spectacular Car Chase

This is just an ad for the UK's new Sky HD 007 satellite channel (which is, admittedly, a pretty cool thing, since it collects all the Bond movies in HD in the same place), but it's really well done. Sky's editors have cut together several classic Bond car chases to create one massive cliffside car chase involving all six official James Bonds! The opening Aston Martin chase from Quantum of Solace proved an especially good framework to cut the other pieces into since it itself was so nonsensically edited to begin with! I particularly like the exchange created between Brosnan and Moore:

Operation Kid Brother Comes to DVD... In its MST3K Version, Anyway

Operation Kid Brother may be the most famous Eurospy movie, mainly because of its notoriety among Bond fans. When series veterans Bernard Lee and Lois Maxwell agreed to appear alongside Sean Connery's brother, Neil, in the 007 spoof, Sean was very upset. He thought they were exploiting Neil. Of course, as Maxwell personally explained it to me decades later, they weren't exploiting anyone. They were simply collecting a paycheck, as they were jobbing actors who didn't enjoy a Sean Connery level salary that afforded them the luxury of turning down work. And, to be honest, Neil looks like he's having so much fun in the movie that I kind of doubt he felt exploited, either! In fact, aside from the awful dubbing on the leading man, Operation Kid Brother (which also stars Bond vets Daniella Bianchi and Adolfo Celi) is an awfully enjoyable Eurospy movie. (And the killer score by Ennio Morricone and Bruno Nicolai may be my very favorite Eurospy music.) In fact, because it's relatively famous for its genre (even enjoying a cover story in Cinema Retro a few years ago), I've been surprised that it hasn't turned up on DVD or at least MOD. And, sadly, it still won't in its unmolested version... but the good news (according to Satellite News, via TV Shows On DVD) is that Shout! Factory is releasing the MST3K version in their latest DVD collection, Mystery Science Theater 3000 XXV! Because of rights issues, they just have to use the (better, in my opinion) Operation Kid Brother title instead of the alternate title Operation Double 007, which appears on screen in the episode. (The film is also known as OK Connery.) Of course, this doesn't do much for fans who crave a beautiful widescreen print uninterrupted by wisecracking robots. (There's a really good fandub floating out there to tide them over.) But it's still exciting.  Like the other Eurospy titles mocked on that show Secret Agent Super Dragon and Danger! Death Ray (which I really wish Shout! would release) and decidedly unlike the Mario Bava masterpiece Danger: Diabolik (which MST3K wrongfully maligned), Operation Kid Brother is ripe for some good-natured riffing. Eurospy fans with a sense of humor about the genre will likely find this version highly entertaining. But, of course, what this release really has me wondering is, does this possibly portend a straight release for this film down the road? I certainly hope so.

The other titles in the Mystery Science Theater 3000 XXV set are Robot Holocaust, Kitten With a Whip and Revenge of the Creature, which makes it a pretty darn good set. Shout! has routinely produced some good extras for some of these MST3K sets, so... dare we hope for a Neil Connery interview? That would certainly make this a must-buy for fans of the genre. It's a must-buy already for me. As far as I know, no date has yet been announced for this release.

See Every Bond Movie on the Big Screen in Los Angeles This Summer!

I've seen a lot of James Bond retrospectives at a lot of different Los Angeles area revival theaters over the years, but I've never seen one on this scale before! The American Cinematheque, in conjunction with BAFTA-LA, will celebrate the cinematic 007's 50th Anniversary by screening every single official Bond film this June between their Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood and Aero Theatre in Santa Monica. That's right: all 22 movies, from Dr. No to Quantum of Solace, will be projected on 35mm film prints! (Not a dreaded DCP to be found according to the Cinematheque's listings, thank goodness.) The movies will be spread out over ten nights and two theaters, parsed out in double and triple features. Tickets, which can be purchased on Fandango, are $11 for the general public or $7 for members. (That means that if you're planning to attend every screening, the savings almost pay for the membership.) While most of the Connery films screen fairly regularly at revival houses, some of these titles, like A View To A Kill and The World Is Not Enough seem unlikely to ever play except during a complete retrospective! The full schedule is:

Friday, June 8 Dr. No and From Russia With Love at the Egyptian, 7:30*

Saturday, June 9 Goldfinger and Thunderball at the Aero, 7:30

Sunday, June 10 You Only Live Twice and On Her Majesty's Secret Service at the Aero, 5:00

Thursday, June 14 Diamonds Are Forever and Live and Let Die at the Aero, 7:30

Friday, June 15 The Man With the Golden Gun/The Spy Who Loved Me/Moonraker at the Egyptian, 7:30

Saturday, June 16 For Your Eyes Only/Octopussy/A View To A Kill at the Egyptian, 7:30

Sunday, June 17 The Living Daylights and Licence To Kill at the Aero, 7:30

Friday, June 22 GoldenEye and Tomorrow Never Dies at the Aero, 7:30

Saturday, June 23 The World Is Not Enough and Die Another Day at the Egyptian, 7:30

Sunday, June 24 Casino Royale (2006) and Quantum of Solace at the Aero, 7:30

*Author Bill Desowitz will be signing his book James Bond Unmasked preceding this event.

New 007 Book: James Bond Unmasked

This year we'll see a whole lot of new non-fiction books looking behind the scenes of the James Bond films in honor of the series 50th anniversary and to tie in with Skyfall's fall premiere. (The fall titles I'm most looking forward to thus far are Roger Moore's Bond On Bond: The Ultimate Book on 50 Years of Bond Movies, George Lazenby's autobiography, Jon Burlingame's The Music of James Bond and Jon Gilbert's authorized, exhaustive limited edition Ian Fleming bibliography.) But the floodgates have already opened! Getting a jump on the rest of the pack is film journalist Bill Desowitz's James Bond Unmasked from Spies, publisher of Charles Helfenstein's truly remarkable tome The Making of On Her Majesty's Secret Service. While there have been dozens of books on the Bond phenomenon over the years, Desowitz managed to find a fresh and potentially fascinating approach: he interviews each of the six actors to have played 007 in the official series. I can't wait to read what they have to say!

The Men Who Would Be King - Together For the First Time At Last!

The Men Who Would Be King - Together For the First Time At Last!

I've written many times about how much I love the UK DVD distributor Network. I love them for releasing obscure ITC shows that no one else realizes there's an audience for, I love them for releasing so many spy things, but most of all I love them for seemingly creating brand new old gems from whole cloth. Of course they're not really new, but they're new to me, and I love discovering them through these fantastic Region 2 releases. For example, despite being a huge fan of the two frequent spy stars, I never realized that Sean Connery and Michael Caine had been in a movie or TV show together prior to their epic team-up in The Man Who Would Be King. But now, thanks to Network's newly relaunched website, I know that they both starred in the 1969 TV movie Male of the Species, which the company will release on DVD (for the first time ever on any home format) on October 10. Connery and Caine don't actually appear together, but they're both in it and they're both on the cover and either one of them alone would be enough to get me to buy this! Apparently Male of the Species was originally conceived for British television as a series of three half-hour plays by Alun Owen airing in consecutive weeks on ITV’s celebrated anthology series Saturday Night Theatre. Each episode explored the relationship between Mary MacNeil (Anna Calder-Marshall) and a different man in her life. Connery plays her father in the first part, and Caine plays her smooth lover in the second. Paul Scofield appears in the third, and Laurence Olivier narrates. The three plays were apparently aired together as one TV movie on Masterpiece Theater in the United States. Network's Region 2 PAL DVD will retail for £15.31, but it's currently discounted on their website to £9.18.

Upcoming Spy Screenings: Fantastic Harry Saltzman Double Feature In Los Angeles

Attention LA spy fans!  Here is an event you will not want to miss!  It's one film short of being the ultimate 1967 spy triple feature, but it is the ultimate Harry Saltzman 1967 spy double feature.  Los Angeles' awesome New Beverly Cinema (recently purchased by Quentin Tarantino) will screen You Only Live Twice and Billion Dollar Brain on Wednesday and Thursday, August 18 and 19.  Really, that's one of the best double features I can imagine.  It's the LA spy event of the year!  We're lucky enough to see James Bond double features fairly regularly in this city, between the New Bev and the Egyptian and the Aero.  But the idea of pairing Bond with Harry Palmer was truly inspired... particularly those two titles from the same year.  I love all three Sixties Harry Palmer movies, but Ken Russell's phantasmagorical third film has become my favorite over the years (as I've written about extensively in the past).  And, honestly, you've never seen it if you haven't seen it on the big screen.  This will be a fantastic evening at the cinema with Sean Connery and Michael Caine.  Personally, I plan on attending the Thursday night show.  Shoot me an email if you're in the area and want to meet up.

You Only Live Twice starts at 7:30; Billion Dollar Brain follows at 9:50. You can purchase tickets online here.

Read my review of Billion Dollar Brain here.

Connery Back In A DB5 In New Film

Sir Sean Connery is back behind the wheel of a familiar Silverbirch Aston Martin DB5 in his new film... or rather, a videogame-ish animated approximation of the actor is, in a scene from the computer animated Scottish film Sir Billi, for which Sir Sean emerged from retirement to lend his voice (and likeness).  /Film points the way to a YouTube video of a sizzle reel (not an actual trailer) for the film, which is still a work in progress.  They also have a commentary that's worth reading.  It's certainly an oddball project.  Despite whatever faults Sir Billi may have, it's notable to Bond fans for reuniting three iconic elements of Goldfinger: Connery, an Aston Martin and Shirley Bassey, who provides the theme song, as previously reported.)

Tradecraft: Shirley Bassey, Sean Connery Reunite

In a front page story, The Hollywood Reporter reports that "the voices of Shirley Bassey and Sean Connery have been drawn together on a feature for the first time since they were both involved in Goldfinger back in the day. Bassey has signed up to sing the title song named 'Guardian of the Highlands' for the CGI animated movie Sir Billi, which stars Connery's voice." Sir Billi is the indepently-produced Scottish film Connery has been involved with for several years. Goldeneye's Alan Cumming also lends his voice. The song was written especially with Bassey in mind, and she loved it. The final sentences of the Reporter's story are so weird that I'm going to reproduce them verbatim: "Connery is an exec producer and has been heavily involved with the independent studio project since its inception. The movie centers on a retired, skateboarding veterinarian who lives in a remote Scottish village and who spearheads the rescue of an illegal fugitive who also happens to be a beaver."

Upcoming Los Angeles Spy Screenings: On Her Majesty's Secret Service And From Russia With Love

The great Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood (my personal favorite movie theater anywhere) will show two of the best James Bond movies on the big screen on Saturday, September 26 as part of their IB Technicolor Festival. That means they will be gorgeous 35mm dye-transfer Technicolor prints. And what does that mean? As the Egyptian explains it on their website, these films "were released using the brilliant, deeply saturated hues of dye-transfer Technicolor (commonly known as I.B. or 'imbibition'). Dye-transfer Technicolor prints are becoming increasingly scarce since Technicolor stopped U.S. production of them in 1974." So it's very rare to see an actual Technicolor print of either of these films, even if you see them on the big screen in 35mm.

I saw OHMSS when it played at the Egyptian's Technicolor festival for the first time about five years ago, and the print was utterly stunning. It was far and away the best presentation I've ever seen of my favorite Bond film, including Lowry's impressive 4K digital restoration on DVD. (The day-for-night fight scene on the beach at the beginning has never been transferred to any home video format as it appears on the Technicolor print, and it's a revelation to see it that way.) In fact, it was that first IB Technicolor screening that solidified Peter Hunt's film as my favorite Bond, as up until then it generally contended with two or three others for the top spot depending on my mood. Hopefully this September's screening will be the same print. Assuming it is, I highly recommend that any local Bond fans make every effort to see this screening!

OHMSS is up first at 7:30, followed by From Russia With Love, which will probably start a little after 10PM. Go to the Egyptian's website for more details.

New Spy DVDs Out This Week

Lots of new spy DVDs out this week, although many of them are on the more obscure end of the spectrum. Which certainly doesn't make them any less essential! The biggest and most mainstream release is Intelligence: Season 2, from Acorn Media. And it's not as mainstream in America as it should be. The Canadian spy/crime drama follows officers of Canada's intelligence service CSIS and their assets (including drug runners and prostitutes). As with Sandbaggers and the early seasons of MI-5, the most interesting aspect of the series is the politics. The politics here are cut-throat, and the officers even use their assets to spy on each other as they claw for important promotions while trying to rid the service of moles and double agents. Season 2 begins with the series' most action-packed episode yet as criminal/asset Jimmy Reardon (in a continuation from Season 1's cliffhanger ending) finds himself set up by the DEA and framed for murder in Seattle. His first step is crossing the border back into Canada, which proves problematic... Meanwhile, back at CSIS, would-be director Mary Spaulding finds the political waters murkier than ever, and relations with the United States' intelligence services seriously strained, to say the least. It's like The Wire meets MI-5. Not quite as good as either of those shows, but still highly compelling, intelligent intelligence drama.

Today also sees the separate releases of two rare Antonio Margheriti Eurospy titles. As previously reported, Lightning Bolt is included in Media Blasters' latest Rare Flix compilation, Rare Flix Vol. 4. Lightning Bolt starts off slow, but if you stick with it it actually builds to a pretty spectacular finale. It's the rare case where most of the budget was saved for the end of a Eurospy movie, so that the action actually builds rather than petering out. The film also boasts a fun sense of humor and one one of the Eurospy genre's more tolerable heroes. Its second half alone qualifies it as one of my personal favorites. Read my full review here. I wasn't familiar with Media Blasters' Rare Flix series, but apparently Volume 3 (released late last year) included the rare Eurospy movie Killer Likes Candy, which I hadn't realized had ever had a legitimate DVD release in America. [UPDATE: Rare Flix Vol. 4 appears to have been delayed until next week.]

I haven't seen the other Margheriti flick out today, but I've wanted to for a while, so I'm looking forward to it. Mr. Superinvisible (1970) was Margheriti's contribution to the Italian costumed adventurer branch of the Eurospy family, but more family-oriented than some of the other fumetti movies. Ubiquitous Sixties Disney star Dean Jones stars (hoping to evoke said Disney films) as a scientist who, naturally, invents an invisibility formula, thus attracting the attention of various nefarious groups. Besides having one of the greatest titles ever, Mr. Superinvisible also features an invisible monkey sidekick. Did you hear me? I said invisible monkey sidekick! Why aren't you buying it already? This release, from a company called Wham! USA, seems slightly dubious. Hopefully the quality of the transfer is at least a little better than the quality of their cover art... Click here to read my recent week's worth of costumed adventurer reviews.

Finally, the BBC keeps unearthing lost performances from Sean Connery's younger days! Following on the heels of their rediscovery a few weeks ago of his Hotspur in Shakespeare's Age of Kings, this week they're putting out a 1961 adaptation of Tolstoy's Anna Karenina in which he co-stars with Claire Bloom. According to the BBC's description, Connery plays "the dashing soldier, Vronsky" with whom Bloom's Anna has a torrid affair, setting herself on a tragic trajectory.

New DVDs Out Today: Sean Connery's Stab At Shakespeare

I had no idea that this was coming out! I had no idea that it had even survived the BBC's notorious policy of "wiping" tapes of old programs in the Sixties. It's not a spy movie, but it is one of the rarest, most sought-after (well, by me, at any rate... surely there are others?) early performances by the King of the Spies himself, Sir Sean Connery... as Hotspur! And, as reported by the LA Times (via CommanderBond.net), it's out on DVD in the United States today! (Courtesy of BBC/Warner.) Off the top of my head, I think this is Connery's only filmed take on the Bard. The Times offers up a brief description of Shakespeare's An Age of Kings, which was a fifteen-part BBC series compiling "eight of Shakespeare's historical plays -- all of "Richard II," both parts of "Henry IV" and "Henry V," all three parts of "Henry VI" and "Richard III" -- and spans the history of the British monarchy between 1377 to 1485." It aired in 1960 in England and 1961 in America, on public television. Like most British TV programming of its time, it was shot live on video in black and white, so don't expect Kenneth Branagh production values. Besides Connery, the series also features Bond vets Julian Glover and Judi Dench. Robert Hardy plays Prince Hal. The DVD retails for $49.98, though Amazon has it for $34.99.

Never Say Never Again Reissue Artwork

Fox has provided the cover art for March's Never Say Never Again Blu-Ray. The artwork is the same on the Special Edition DVD. Interestingly, like the previous DVD edition, the MGM logo is nowhere to be found on this packaging, front or spine. It's the only title I've ever seen MGM issue without their logo. And one of the few discs I've ever seen with no studio logo whatsoever! I assume it must be contractual, in an effort to distinguish this rogue production from the official line of Bond movies... but that seems a bit bizarre since otherwise the artwork is clearly trying to look like Bond and fit in with the currently available packaging. Weird. The last version didn't say "James Bond" or "007" anywhere on the front; this one manages to sneak it on there via an entirely non-subjective Variety quote. Still nothing in the title treatment, though.