Bond On Bond (33 page)

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BOND

ON

SCREEN

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A
vital part of making any Bond film is promotion, publicity and premieres. It’s all very well having made a film, but people need to know about it and want to go and see it; only then will its success be judged at the box office. Personally, I don’t like to bring up the subject of money, but you can find the budgets and worldwide gross takings of each film towards the back of the book – it makes for interesting reading.

There is always a huge press and public interest when a new Bond film is announced. At the time of writing, for example, Daniel Craig’s third 007 adventure,
Skyfall
, is in pre-production just a few doors down the corridor from my office at Pinewood Studios. The Art Department has all manner of sketches, models and storyboards laid out; the runner’s office is bursting with mail, coffee machines and baskets of fruit and snacks; the executives, accountants and producers are ensconced in suites a few doors further along and everybody who walks down the corridor is fascinated by the names on the doors and asks, ‘So what’s this one about?’

During my tenure as Bond, there was no such thing as the Internet. Any titbits of information and production stills were released to the media through the Unit Publicist’s office, and they’d appear as ‘exclusives’ in newspapers and magazines around the world, all slowly building to a bigger and bigger deluge as premiere time approached, when United Artists swung its entire marketing team behind us. Back then, the various fan club publications carried the odd rumour, early photographs and potential storylines. Now all of that is on the web, with daily updates and interactive forums where anybody can post just about anything – and they are no doubt frustrated by the huge secrecy surrounding a production. Well, if you were spending $100 million+ the last thing you’d want is everybody to know everything about a film before you even make it.

By the way, everyone – but everyone – on the film is sworn to secrecy and has to sign a confidentiality agreement. Scripts are kept under lock and key and all are watermarked. But let me tell you all you need to know: it’s going to be a great film, with lots of action, wonderful gadgets and rather beautiful leading ladies – the rest is to be discovered and enjoyed in a darkened room with 350 of your local neighbours.

Product placement and tie-ins have always been a big part of the 007 movies. Sean promoted Smirnoff Vodka way back in
Dr. No
and mentioned a certain brand of champagne too. That wasn’t just by chance – that was paid for by the manufacturer. Bond tie-ins over the years have featured everything from the drinks, watches and cars I’ve written about elsewhere in this book, to things like airlines (Richard Branson’s Virgin), toys, clocks, soft drinks – Coke, 7Up, Perrier – Easter eggs, sweets, stickers, dolls, stationery, mugs, T-shirts, lighters and so very much more. I haven’t been surprised to see my face on ties or underpants either.

The exploitation of Bond is really all controlled by Eon, Danjaq and their marketing departments, as once run by Jerry Juroe, John Parkinson and Anne Bennett, and now Keith Snelgrove and Stephanie Wenborn. I am fortunate in that a few pennies occasionally find their way to me from my little involvement. It keeps an old actor in baked beans, y’know.

Ahead of any premiere, out-of-town journalists converge on London for a press junket. United Artists would take four or five rooms at one of the big hotels, set up TV cameras and wheel in the TV journalists one by one. I’d be in situ and they’d get a few minutes with me, before being given a tape of what we’d just recorded, and waved goodbye. This would go on all morning, then they’d call lunch … and I’d move into a dining room full of tables of twelve print journalists, all waiting to interview me. I’d spend three or four hours, shifting between tables while trying to eat the odd mouthful of food. It was always quite an exhausting couple of days – and one that was repeated in each major city we visited overseas.

Then there are the film festivals, the most famous and important of which is Cannes each May. There Jimmy usually graces the front of the Carlton Hotel on La Croisette. I must admit, when promoting
The Spy Who Loved Me
, it was rather intimidating to drive up and see my face all over the famous building. Okay, I admit there is a fizzy thrill the first time you see it, but after that passes, it becomes a little embarrassing. As a rule I always try to avoid festivals, as they’re simply too terrifying for modest actors such as I.

As for the previews and premieres, I could have quite probably seen any one of my Bond films twenty times over. Imagine having to endure that! After the Royal premiere, where, of course, I sat with the Royal Party, I’d then avoid sitting through the film again. Sure, I’d walk the red carpet of whatever city we were premiering in, but then Cubby and I would sneak out and head off for dinner.

These premieres are always very glamorous occasions, where the stars and principals of the movie, plus a few other stars from TV and film, come together to unveil the movie to world audiences.

Although the first two Bond films were just screened at the Pavilion Cinemas in Piccadilly Circus, from
Goldfinger
onwards there were premieres, usually at the Odeon Leicester Square. With its 2,000 seats (now reduced to 1,683), it really is the cathedral of British cinema, and helps launch each film with style, excitement and fanfare.