Latest news with #IanFleming
NZ Herald
13 hours ago
- Entertainment
- NZ Herald
Ranking the best James Bond actors to hit the big screen
Pulpy, punchy and at times problematic, Ian Fleming's British superspy James Bond has lit up screens for the better part of 60 years, with no signs of slowing down. As a new era of 007 approaches – with Oscar-winner Denis Villeneuve at the directing helm and
CTV News
a day ago
- Entertainment
- CTV News
Here are 007 Canadian ties to James Bond as Quebec auteur Denis Villeneuve takes helm
TORONTO — News that Quebec auteur Denis Villeneuve will direct the next James Bond movie adds yet another Canadian tie to the blockbuster franchise about a British secret service hero. The 'Dune' visionary is set to take over the next iteration of 007 for Amazon MGM Studios with fellow Canadian and partner Tanya Lapointe serving as executive producer. The film franchise sprang from a collection of post-Second World War spy novels by British writer and former naval officer Ian Fleming, who centred his adventures on a suave English operative with an affinity for martinis and a deadly faculty in eliminating threats. But look closely and you'll find several Canadian touches in the books and films. Here's a look at 007 of them. 001 Intrepid Bond is said to be at least partly inspired by Canadian spy and war hero Sir William Stephenson, whose clandestine activities admittedly make it hard to establish definitive ties. But the Winnipeg-born Stephenson, who died in 1989, was a close friend of Fleming's after the two met at a spy school the Canadian founded in Whitby, Ont., called Camp X. Stephenson was code-named Intrepid during his mission days and his accomplishments rivalled that of any big-screen hero: lightweight boxing champion, First World War flying ace, millionaire inventor and entrepreneur, adviser to former U.S. president Franklin D. Roosevelt, confidante to former British prime minister Winston Churchill and chief of an elaborate British spy operation in New York. Fleming has said he drew inspiration from multiple people he met throughout his wartime naval career. But, according to Dwight Hamilton's book, 'Inside Canadian Intelligence,' Fleming described Bond as 'highly romanticized' while 'the real thing, the man who became one of the great agents of the (Second World War), is William Stephenson.' 002 The films The origins of the franchise can be traced back to Canadian theatre and film producer Harry Saltzman, who co-produced the movies until he sold his share to United Artists in 1975. Saltzman was born in Sherbrooke, Que., in 1915, and entered the film business in the 1940s, according to a New York Times obituary. He co-founded Eon Productions in Britain 1961 with Albert R. (Cubby) Broccoli, with whom he had bought the film rights to Fleming's novels. Lore has it that Saltzman and Broccoli cast Sean Connery as the star of their first film, 1962's 'Dr. No,' without a screen test, citing his 'dark, cruel good looks' as a perfect match for Fleming's description of the hero. Saltzman died in a Paris suburb in 1994 at age 78. 003 The villain The first Bond villain to grace the screen was played by Montreal-born Joseph Wiseman, whose turn as the eponymous evil genius in 'Dr. No' helped set the stage for future outlandish malefactors. Wiseman played the even-keeled Chinese-German scientist Julius No as a cool-tempered maniac in a Nehru jacket with shiny black prosthetic hands — his real hands explained away as the 'cost' paid for failed radioactive experiments. Born in 1918, Wiseman made a splash on Broadway in Sidney Kingsley's 1949 play 'Detective Story,' launching a film career marked by offbeat characters, according to a 2009 obituary in the Guardian. His film career included 1951's 'Detective Story' with Kirk Douglas, 1952's 'Viva Zapata!' with Marlon Brando, and the 1974 Canadian film 'The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz,' opposite Richard Dreyfuss. TV roles included Manny Weisbord in the '80s series 'Crime Story.' 004 Moneypenny Among the most constant characters to span the films is Miss Moneypenny, a relatively minor one afforded little development until recent films but nevertheless beloved by fans. Canadian actress Lois Maxwell was the first to portray the character of the secretary to the head of the British Secret Service and Bond's boss, M. Maxwell was born Lois Ruth Hooker in Kitchener, Ont., in 1927 and, according to a CBC obituary, left home at age 15 to join the army. She moved to Hollywood at 20, scoring a series of roles including 'That Hagen Girl' with Shirley Temple and Ronald Reagan. But it was the Bond role that made her famous. She appeared in 14 features between 1962 and 1985, including 1964's 'Goldfinger' and 1983's 'Octopussy,' according to IMDB and the James Bond Wiki. Maxwell also starred in the CBC-TV series 'Adventures in Rainbow Country' and in the 1980s, wrote a column in the Toronto Sun under the byline Miss Moneypenny. 005 The song There's some intrigue behind how k.d. lang's song, 'Surrender,' came to close the 1997 film 'Tomorrow Never Dies,' in which Pierce Brosnan stars as the dapper operative. The 'Constant Craving' singer applied her velvety vocals to a well-received anthem co-written by Bond score composer David Arnold with David McAlmont and Don Black. It was initially meant to be the main theme, but was famously passed over for Sheryl Crow's eponymous title song at the last minute. In a look-back for the 25th anniversary of the movie in 2022, lang told Yahoo that the sudden change 'was super disappointing to me because I thought I was doing the opening song.' 006 The books Fleming's 1962 novel 'The Spy Who Loved Me' is narrated by a French-Canadian woman named Viv Michel, who recounts her story in a stylistic departure from previous books and was largely panned by critics. Bond doesn't even appear until more than halfway through the story, and Fleming reportedly disavowed it after publication as an experiment that had 'obviously gone very much awry.' When he sold the film rights to Saltzman and Broccoli, they were allowed to use the title but nothing else, according to Eon Productions' Bond website Production on the resulting 1977 film 'The Spy Who Loved Me' — starring Roger Moore as Bond — coincided with Saltzman selling his share of Eon and the film became the first to list Broccoli as sole producer. 007 The getaway 'The Spy Who Loved Me' features a dramatic ski chase in which Bond is being pursued by KGB agents when he comes upon a cliff face, and leaps off the mountain, escaping near-death with the help of a parachute. The sequence was partly shot on Baffin Island, where harsh weather conditions forced the crew to wait 10 days to attempt a jump off Mount Asgard in Auyuittuq National Park, according to When the clouds finally parted, the team had just 15 minutes to capture the stunt. 'We were in this very desolate part of the world, inside the Arctic Circle with an Inuit village about 30 miles away,' said John Glen, second-unit director. 'Each day, we had to travel by helicopter to set up the climbing pylons so the crew could get up there with the cameras. The weather was atrocious.' This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 27, 2025. Cassandra Szklarski, The Canadian Press
Daily Mail
2 days ago
- Politics
- Daily Mail
The name's Deaver, Jeffery Deaver: How 007 kick started Jeffery Deaver's reading...and writing career
What Book... ... are you reading now? The Next Civil War: Dispatches From The American Future, by Stephen Marche. It articulately and troublingly describes the titular event, which need not be a revisiting of the 1860s horror; there are a number of ways nations can fracture into division and debilitating conflict. Actually, this is one of several well-done books on my shelf about the present state of my country. So I'll add Twilight Of Democracy: The Seductive Lure Of Authoritarianism, by Anne Applebaum. Written five years ago, but talk about prescient . . . ... would you take to a desert island? How To Build A Successful A.I. Data Farm On A Desert Island by… Wait. No. Do over. The Complete Works Of William Shakespeare. An island inhabitant would never grow bored with the vast landscape of characters and stories the Bard created. Drama, history, humour, and, damn it, he did the whole thing in verse. Maybe I could learn something from Prospero's magic to help me escape. ... first gave you the reading bug? Two answers: One, the entire contents of the Glen Ellyn Public Library in Illinois. I'll explain. I was a nerd as a boy (in the true sense, not like now, when nerds are billionaires). With no talent for sports – or interest therein – I sought and found solace in the library. Books saved me from adolescent demons. The second answer: From Russia With Love, by Ian Fleming. Having read that (then the rest of the series as they came out), it was off to the reading races for me. Writing too. I was 12 at the time, and a day or two after finishing it, I sat down and wrote my first novel (OK, short story, though it comprised three whole chapters). My tale was, wait for it, about a spy. ... left you cold? Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace. I'll concede its breathtaking prose and conceptual brilliance. Yet trying to follow the plot(s) was like grabbing eels in a tank (I'm speaking figuratively; I've never tried). Too experimental and self-indulgent. But then, I'll pick Beethoven over John Cage any day. The novel was, of course, put on some best books of the year lists and widely praised. So there you go.
Forbes
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Forbes
A Charming $4.2 Million Maine Cabin Once Belonged To The Real-Life James Bond
Bond Camp, located in Mount Desert, Maine, recently listed for $4.2 million. When author Ian Fleming was working on his character James Bond, he took inspiration from real-life spies from his time in the British Naval Intelligence during World War II, wartime figures, diplomats, and other covert figures. But few know that Fleming directly got inspiration for his titular character's name from the real-life James Bond. While writing his now-famous series at the luxury Goldeneye resort in Jamaica, Fleming was reading the book 'Birds of the West Indies' by James Bond, a renowned 20th-century American ornithologist. Fleming poached the author's name, thinking it would be a great name for a spy. Funnily, Fleming and the real James Bond had much in common: both were educated in England and had a particular love for the Caribbean, including Jamaica. Bond split his time between the Caribbean, Philadelphia, and Maine where he researched birds and wrote books. The main cabin. According to author Jim Wright's book 'The Real James Bond,' Bond and Fleming met unexpectedly in Jamaica and engaged in friendly conversation. It was during that conversation that Fleming revealed to the real Bond that he wove subtle clues about his identity into his text, often referencing the field of ornithology and the fictional spy's passion for birds. Not by coincidence, a birdwatcher in British lingo is another name for a spy. The large deck overlooking the water. While the real Bond, who died in 1989, shared an identity with one of the most famous fictional characters in history, he found a name for himself in his own right. The celebrated ornithologist wrote several books on birds and was the definitive expert on birds of the Caribbean. He was also the nephew of Carroll Sargent Tyson, an American painter and art collector most famous for his bird lithographs. From the time Bond was born until he died, he spent every summer in Mount Desert Island in the southeastern part of Maine and also the state's largest island. He owned a large cabin-style property called Bond Camp, which was recently listed for $4.2 million by the current seller. The secluded cabin offers true rustic charm in one of the country's most unspoiled locations. There are four cabins on the property. The private wooded parcel sits on 15.7 acres with 785 feet of shorefront on Pretty Marsh Harbor. Woven within the natural forest, thickets of woodland, and wildflowers, there are four modest cabins connected by pathways with a total of five bedrooms, three full bathrooms, and a half bathroom. The main cabin has a charming living space with vaulted ceilings, a granite boulder fireplace, dining area, kitchen and large deck overlooking the water. The additional cabins offer modest bedrooms, all which face either the woodland or water. It's a great compound for those who crave solitude or for larger families looking to escape the city, as there are several rooms with double beds. There's also a windowed artist studio. An artist's studio overlooks the water and forest. Finally, the property has a deep-water dock and moorings, granite outcroppings, a gravel beach area, and pathways throughout the sprawling acreage. The property is also near the villages of Mount Desert and Tremont, offering easy access to town. Bond Camp is listed with Story Litchfield of LandVest|Christie's International Real Estate.
Scottish Sun
3 days ago
- Business
- Scottish Sun
World's deepest bar to open in the UK as part of huge new £120million attraction
Plus, London's newest tourist town is in a 'forgotten' district and is a £1.3bn attraction with hotels, theatre and rooftop bar DEEP DIVE World's deepest bar to open in the UK as part of huge new £120million attraction Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) A NEW underground attraction is coming to London and it will be home to the world's deepest bar. Set to open by 2028, The London Tunnels will be a mile-long series of tunnels that "have been kept secret for 70 years", according to The London Tunnels website. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 7 Set to open by 2028, The London Tunnels will be a mile-long series of tunnels that "have been kept secret for 70 years" Credit: Not known, clear with picture desk 7 The new tourist attraction is set to cost £120million Credit: The London Tunnels PLC 7 The tunnels were built between 1940 and 1942 by the Government to protect the public from the Blitz during World War II Credit: City of London The new tourist attraction is set to cost £120million and will reopen tunnels built between 1940 and 1942 by the Government to protect the public from the Blitz during World War II. Formerly known as The Kingsway Exchange Tunnels, plans include creating a variety of historical heritage experiences and a cultural, multi-sensory, digital experience. In addition to the new exhibits and experiences that immerse visitors in the decades gone by, the destination is due to open the world's deepest bar. The bar is set to be in the deepest part of the tunnels - 30metres below the streets of London - and will have a unique nightlife experience. The bar will aim to attract both tourists and history enthusiasts keen to see one of the most historically significant sites in the capital. In total, the tunnels span 90,000 square foot and stretch deeper than most of the city's tube stations. The tunnels themselves are large - with the height in parts tall enough to fit a double-decker bus - allowing the attraction to restore them as well as create an expansive visitor experience. The cultural exhibition space is expected to have a World War II memorial dedicated to the 40,000 people who lost their lives during the bombings and an immersive experience that combines history and entertainment, according to Tour and Travel World. The British Military Intelligence Museum is also expected to relocate into the tunnels to showcase over 300 years of British Military intelligence including rare artefacts and cases of espionage. By 1942 the construction of the tunnels was complete but the Blitz were no longer occurring and so the tunnels were never used for shelter. World's most luxurious apocalypse-proof bunkers But two years later, in 1944, the tunnels housed spy headquarters when James Bond author Ian Fleming worked in them for naval intelligence. The tunnels are believed to have inspired Q Branch - where 007 goes to get his specialist equipment. They were also home to a special bunker that would protect Government officials in the case of a nuclear attack. Currently the tunnels boast a maze of old generators, pipes, rusty bolts, bundles of cables and switches and levers. 7 Formerly known as The Kingsway Exchange Tunnels, plans include creating a variety of historical heritage experiences and a cultural, multi-sensory, digital experience Credit: Times Newspapers Ltd 7 In addition to the new exhibits and experiences that immerse visitors in the decades gone by, the destination is due to open the world's deepest bar Credit: Getty 7 The bar is set to be in the deepest part of the tunnels - 30metres below the streets of London Credit: PA:Press Association There are also the remains of a staff bar and canteen doe the 200 workers who used the tunnels in the 1950s and 1960s when it was a telephone exchange. The project aims to revitalise the historic spot and hopes that up to three million people will pay over £30 each year to visit the new attraction. The tunnels are located between London's West End and the Square Mile - stretching between Fulwood Place and Furnival Street, deep below Chancery Lane tube station. The team behind the project includes one of the UK's leading architectural firms - WilkonsonEyre - who were also responsible for the major restoration of London's Battersea Power Station. In the mean time, a beautiful new water attraction will also soon open in Europe with lagoons, 40C pools and waterfalls. Plus, London's newest tourist town is in a 'forgotten' district and is a £1.3bn attraction with hotels, theatre and rooftop bar.
