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Authors: Roger Moore

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Paul and Linda McCartney, who sang the theme tune, attending the premiere of
Live And Let Die
.

On the evening of the
Goldfinger
premiere, 5,000 fans gathered outside the Odeon Leicester Square to watch the cans of film being delivered by armoured truck, but little did they know that Guy Hamilton was still shooting the final scenes in those cans in America just a few days earlier.

‘The first thing to be locked on any Bond film is the premiere,’ Guy told me. ‘And that date is set in stone – you have to hit it. No excuses.’

Sean didn’t attend the opening, as he was in Spain shooting
The Hill
. However, all his co-stars were there, including Honor Blackman, who wore a diamond ring worth £10,000.

As did I and Jane Seymour, where we were presented to Her Majesty The Queen Mother. Jean-Pierre Cassel (with whom I was filming
That Lucky Touch
), looks on.

When
Thunderball
premiered in December 1965 at the Hibiya Cinema in Tokyo, Japan had become the epicentre of Bondmania and old Jim was dubbed ‘Mr Kiss Kiss Bang Bang’. How appropriate.

A miniature Bonding session. And a fan magazine.

At the New York premiere a few days later, United Artists arranged for one of the Bell Jet-Pack pilots to fly off the marquee of the Paramount Theatre at 1501 Broadway, Manhattan, as a promotion at the launch. A number of United Artists publicity personnel and the pilot were arrested as no one had sought permission from the authorities. The UK hosted dual premieres in London on 29 December 1965 at the Rialto Theatre and Pavilion Theatre, Piccadilly Circus.

You Only Live Twice
premiered on 12 June 1967 at the Odeon Leicester Square, and marked Sean’s first attendance at a Bond opening since
From Russia With Love
. The unofficial spoof version of
Casino Royale
also opened the same year, and United Artists pulled out all the stops to ensure
You Only Live Twice
scored bigger at the box office, and insisted that posters read Sean Connery IS James Bond.

To mark the event, two television specials were broadcast. The first, on BBC1 in the UK, was a special edition of
Whicker’s World
with a behind-the-scenes look at the film. NBC in the USA meanwhile broadcast
Welcome To Japan, Mr Bond
, featuring skits by M, Q and Moneypenny.

The premiere was graced by the appearance of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and her husband Prince Philip – their first James Bond premiere – and it broke the opening-day record at the Odeon and instantly became the number one film in the USA when it opened there the following day.

Director Guy Hamilton and his wife Keri are presented to HRH the Duke of Edinburgh in the Royal line up at the Odeon Leicester Square for
The Man With The Golden Gun
.

By the premiere of
On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
in December 1969, the new 007, George Lazenby, had already decided to quit when he attended the event. Against the wishes of the producers, he arrived sporting long hair and a bushy beard, looking nothing like his on-screen persona. Although profits were down compared with earlier films,
On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
has since been regarded by critics and fans as one of the best Bond films, outside of my own, of course.

Diamonds Are Forever
premiered on 17 December 1971 at the DeMille Theatre in New York, followed by a British premiere on 30 December at the Odeon Leicester Square, London. The film broke records again at the Odeon, taking £35,000 in its first week (£13,500 more than the previous high).

Although there was no premiere for
Dr. No
, the first-night opening was attended by cast and crew at the London Pavilion followed by a dinner. Sean was accompanied by Zena Marshall.

Unlike
On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
, which overshot by two months, principal photography on
Diamonds Are Forever
wrapped on Friday, 13 August, bang on time, and no doubt in part due to Sean’s contract adding an additional $145,000 on top of his salary of $1.25 million for every week the production overran.

NERVOUS, JIMMY?

I can honestly say that the only time I was nervous about being the new James Bond was on the way to the premiere of
Live And Let Die
. We’d been shooting for months, I’d attended countless press conferences and interviews, but in the car on the way to the Odeon Leicester Square on 5 July 1973, the labour pains started. ‘The baby is coming out and it’s too late to do anything about it,’ I told myself.

HRH Princess Anne graced the event, and thankfully the audience didn’t all get up and walk out halfway through. They asked me back for a second film, so all was not lost.

The Man With The Golden Gun
premiered on 18 December 1974, at the Odeon Leicester Square in the presence of HRH Prince Philip.

Incidentally, this was the first James Bond movie to be shown at the Kremlin. When the movie had finished, one Russian official turned around to Cubby and said, ‘we didn’t train Scaramanga very well, did we?’

For Your Eyes Only
was HRH Princess Diana’s first Royal Premiere, which she attended with HRH Prince Charles and HRH Princess Margaret.

The Spy Who Loved Me
premiered on 7 July 1977. The date on the posters read 07/07/77. Jim’s lucky numbers. This was Cubby’s first solo Bond production, and he was obviously anxious it was a success. After Rick Sylvester (doubling for me in the ski stunt) launched himself off the snowy cliff top to reveal a Union Jack parachute, the audience leapt to their feet and cheered – and Cubby smiled widely. 007 was back!

A limited number of gold Lotus Esprit models were produced for the evening, and presented to the Royal Party, myself and one or two other notables.

The post-premiere party was held at the InterContinental Hotel in Park Lane and cost £143,000 – the budget of a small British film.

When
Moonraker
premiered, the original plan was to do it in Houston, to coincide with the first launch of NASA’s new space shuttle. However, the space shuttle was delayed for two years, and we returned to the Odeon Leicester Square on 26 June 1979 instead.

The
Moonraker
post-premiere party was at the Playboy Club in Park Lane.

A large model Moonraker space shuttle was driven around the square, accompanied by two extras in space suits and greeting celebrity guests including Richard Kiel, Michael Lonsdale, Corinne Clery, Blanche Ravalec, Bernard Lee, Toshiro Suga, former Bond girl Britt Ekland, along with big names of the day Joan Collins, Dodi Fayed, Dino De Laurentis, Michael Winner and Richard Johnson.

A post-premiere party was held at the London Playboy Club with the bunny girls dressed in space outfits. The Odeon took £86,084 in its first week, breaking records once again.

For Your Eyes Only
premiered on 24 June 1981 at the Odeon Leicester Square in the presence of Prince Charles and (the then) Lady Diana Spencer. It was the first ever premiere they’d attended together, and my daughter Deborah was asked to travel to Kensington Palace to meet and escort them. Thousands of fans waited hours for the Royal couple, who were also accompanied by Princess Margaret.

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