JAMES BOND
FACT FILES

In addition to the widely-available general interest film magazines, there were a number of specialist publications that focussed on the more technical aspects of the industry; and contained more in-depth, and often far more critical appraisals of the James Bond films. From the early 1970s the 007 series was also regularly featured in children's television programmes such as Screen Test (BBC-TV 1970-84) and Clapperboard (Granada Television for the ITV network 1972-82), which promoted the films to a more junior audience. The Diamonds Are Forever Moon Buggy was featured on Screen Test in April 1972, and Desmond Llewelyn showed off some of Q's gadgets seen in the James Bond films a month later. As the James Bond films began to be shown on UK television for the first time in the mid-1970s, popular children's magazine Look-in alerted younger viewers to their screening (in addition to featuring the Roger Moore films upon their original cinema release), although they were originally broadcast in an adult timeslot, and frequently on a school night!

Although the James Bond films were usually featured in the month of their original West End debut, Film Review would often publish articles as they later went into a wider general release across the country. Other features would specifically mention the James Bond series and include photographs when promoting other films at the height of the spy craze in the mid-1960s. Casino Royale (2006) was the last James Bond film feature on the cover of Film Review. Unusually, neither A View To A Kill (1985) nor The Living Daylights (1987) were afforded this honour. A behind-the-scenes preview of Quantum of Solace (2008) appeared in issue #701 (December 2008), which was the last printed issue before the magazine became an online presence in 2009. Daniel Craig was later featured on the cover of the Film Review Year Book 2009 [not pictured], which also included interviews with the stars of Quantum of Solace (2008).

films and filming ceased publication in 1980 following the suicide of editor Philip Dosse, whose publishing company Hansom Books became the stable for arts magazines with six other monthly titles: dance and dancers; plays and players; music and musicians; records and recording; art and artists, and what became their flagship title, books and bookmen. films and filming was resurrected in 1981 to appeal to a wider audience, and ran until 1990 when the publication was merged with the more mainstream Film Review. Robin Bean, who joined films and filming in 1961, and edited it from 1968 to 1980, attracted notoriety with his provocative cover images and sexually explicit picture spreads. He later launched a monthly films and filming clone simply titled films [on screen and video], which ran until 1985 (when it was incorporated with films and filming), and finally Movie Scene which ran from 1985-86. Robin Bean died in 1992 aged 53.

The magazine FILM artiste was published quarterly from 1963-68 by the Film Artistes’ Association, affiliated with the Trades Union Congress and the Federation of Film Unions. As such it was not a standard general interest film magazine that would appeal to ordinary cinemagoers. The objective of the magazine was to publicise the British Film Industry, and reported on films then in production and on release. Several issues featured brief reportage and photographs from four James Bond films: From Russia With Love (1963), Goldfinger (1964), Thunderball (1965) and You Only Live Twice (1967). FILM artiste often published unusual images not seen in any other magazine; such as the still of James bond (Sean Connery) garrotting Donald ‘Red’ Grant (Robert Shaw) in the From Russia With Love (1963) preview, and two behind-the-scenes photos of Sean Connery from You Only Live Twice (1967) used in Vol 3 No.2.

The first issue set out the magazine's mission statement, and featured a page of congratulatory messages from British artistes including future James Bond star Roger Moore. FILM artiste was also a guide to the productions then filming at the seven significant studios in England. Volume 3 No. 3, published in the first quarter of 1967, featured a brief editorial on the financial and logistical difficulties that faced the production of Casino Royale (1967) under the title “Will ‘Casino Royale’ Ruin Columbia?” FILM artiste was one of the few publications to openly comment on the troubled production and its over-expenditure; but ended by saying “The avant-garde critics will have a bash, as usual, but Producers Feldman and Bresler will be laughing all the way to the bank.”... and they did!

Amateur Cine World was a British specialist magazine launched in 1934, and issued weekly by Fountain Press before ceasing publication in 1967.

The James Bond films would occasionally feature in specialist magazines showcasing the work of of an individual rather than promoting a forthcoming film, although these were usually published as a new 007 adventure was then in UK cinemas.

Films Illustrated was published monthly from 1971-1982 and frequently offered more in-depth articles and lengthier reviews than most popular general interest film magazines.

One of the regular contributing writers to Films Illustrated was Andrew Rissik (1955- ), whose boyhood enthusiasm for the early James Bond films led to two other pieces of work inspired by the genre - a 1983 book The James Bond Man: The Films of Sean Connery; and a five-part BBC4 radio thriller, The Psychedelic Spy (1990) which was set in 1968, and starred several names from cult TV and films of the period including Gerald Harper, Joanna Lumley, Charles Gray and Ed Bishop.

Continental Film Review was first published in November 1952, and a way for British readers to keep up with the latest developments in European cinema. As censorship rules relaxed, the magazine presented more and more nudity, and the publication became a go-to for many enthusiasts, but for all the wrong reasons!

The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) and For Your Eyes Only (1981) were the only James Bond films to actually feature significantly in the publication. The provocative image of seven bikini-clad Bond Girls (without Roger Moore) on the cover the June 1981 issue featured Tula Cossey [standing centre above], who was exposed as transgender by British tabloid News of the World following her appearance in the film. Consequently, the brief four-page coverage of For Your Eyes Only was also more focussed on the scantily-clad poolside Bond girls than the film itself. Barbara Carrera featured on the cover of the February/March 1984 issue, with a colour portrait of Kim Basinger from Never Say Never Again (1983) on the first page. Continental Film Review ceased publication later in 1984.

Launched in Spring 1932, Sight and Sound was published quarterly for most of its history until the early 1990s, apart from a brief run as a monthly magazine in the early 1950s. In 1991 it merged with another British Film Institute publication, Monthly Film Bulletin, and has been issued monthly ever since. In 1952 the Sight and Sound team had the novel idea of asking critics to name what they believed were the best films ever made. Sight and Sound has conducted poll every decade since, asking an international group of film professionals to vote for the ten films they considered the greatest of all time. Until 1992 the votes of the invited critics and directors were compiled to make one list. However, since 1992 directors have been invited to participate in a separate poll.

Sight and Sound reviews all new releases, including those with a limited (art house) release, as opposed to most film magazines which usually concentrate on those big-budget titles with a general release, and therefore aimed at a more mainstream audience. Consequently, Sight and Sound's coverage of the James Bond films was sporadic and they never made the cover of the well-respected publication until November 2002. The first mention of James Bond was in editor Penelope Houston's (1927-2015) perfunctory review of Dr. No (1962) in the Autumn 1962 issue. There was no significant coverage of From Russia With Love in 1963, but Goldfinger fared better with a two-page picture spread in the Summer 1964 edition; and a second in-depth three-page overview of the 007 oeuvre. This was followed by an interview with Production Designer Ken Adam in the Winter 1964/65 issue, showcasing his work on the Bond films. Goldfinger was awarded a three-star rating in the Autumn 1964 issue, although Sight and Sound were less impressed but Thunderball [Spring 1966], awarding only one star and noting that “... the formula begins to pall a little...”. The rest of the series was similarly dismissed, with less-than-kind comments regarding Casino Royale [Summer 1967] and You Only Live Twice [Autumn 1967]. George Lazenby's one-off outing as 007 in On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969) was not reviewed, but Sight and Sound's surprising two-star rating of Sean Connery's return in Diamonds Are Forever [Spring 1972] regarded it as the best film since Goldfinger. Roger Moore's debut in Live And Let Die [Autumn 1973] was criticized for lacking any style, with The Man With The Golden Gun [Spring 1975], The Spy Who Loved Me [Autumn 1977] and Moonraker [Autumn 1979] all similarly berated.

The Winter 1979/80 issue carried an advertisement featuring the January 1980 season of James Bond films at the National Film Theatre - the first time any of the series had screened at the British Film Institute's prestigious South Bank venue. The front cover of the January 1980 BFI members’ booklet featured the original unaltered version of Renato Fratini's illustration of Sean Connery, that had only ever been used on a newspaper advertisement for the 1969 double-bill of You Only Live Twice/From Russia With Love when the pair played at the New Victoria cinema in London. Unusually, given the Bond films had now been elevated in status by playing at the National Film Theatre, Sight and Sound did not review For Your Eyes Only (1981) or Octopussy (1983) when they were released, but did praise Sean Connery's comeback in Never Say Never Again (1983) in the Winter 1983/84 issue, although they did not now apply star ratings to new films. A View To A Kill (1985), The Living Daylights (1987) and Licence To Kill (1989) were not reviewed in Sight and Sound.

It would not be until the release of GoldenEye in 1995 that Sight and Sound again devoted significant coverage to the James Bond films, with an in-depth look at the work of main title designers Maurice Binder (1918-1991) and Daniel Kleinman. The November 2002 issue celebrated the 40th Anniversary of James Bond in the cinema with a look at Die Another Day starring Pierce Brosnan, in what turned out to be his final outing as 007.

Launched in Autumn 1985, to help offset the then-decline in audience attendance in the UK, Flicks began life as quarterly newspaper-style publication distributed free of charge in cinema foyers, although could also later be purchased via an annual subscription.

Look-in was a children's magazine which originally featured interviews, crosswords and competitions, and had pin-ups of TV stars and pop idols of the time. However, its main feature was comic strips of popular children’s television programmes, all of which were being shown on the ITV network at the time. Subtitled ‘The Junior TVTimes’, Look-in originally ran from January 9, 1971 to December 28, 1991.

ABOVE: BOND CONNECTIONS - One of the comic strips presented in Look-in was based on the popular ITV children's series Follyfoot (1971-73) which starred Desmond Llewelyn as The Colonel - owner of Follyfoot Farm. Desmond Llewelyn appeared in all 39 episodes of the three series, and it was his commitment to Follyfoot that prevented him from reprising his role as Q for the seventh time in Live And Let Die (1973). Two episodes of Follyfoot were directed by Michael Apted, who would be reunited with Desmond Llewelyn for his final appearance as Q in The World Is Not Enough (1999).

FACT FILES INDEX

US Magazines from the height of ‘Bondmania’

007 MAGAZINE AVAILABLE ISSUES