JAMES BOND
FACT FILES

These often lavishly produced glossy colour brochures were on sale at the World Charity Premiere of each James Bond film starting with Goldfinger in 1964. The first two James Bond films did not have World Premieres in the sense we know them today. Dr. No (1962) opened at the London Pavilion cinema Piccadilly Circus on October 5, 1962 where it had four public performances that day. The stars and invited guests attended a gala screening of the film in the evening. Similarly From Russia With Love opened at the Odeon Leicester Square on October 10, 1963; where once again it had already played to paying customers three times before the evening gala performance. No souvenir brochures were produced for these events.

Diamonds Are Forever (1971) was the only James Bond film not to have a premiere in London, first screening to the public at the 10.45am performance at the Odeon Leicester Square on December 30, 1971. The Press screening held at the cinema on December 29th had been attended by Sean Connery, who brought along friend Roger Moore as his guest. The film did have a Gala Scottish Premiere at the Odeon Theatre, Clerk Street, Edinburgh on Friday January 14, 1972 with Sean Connery in attendance. Although several James Bond films had opened first in Japan or the USA, they all had Charity ‘premieres’ in London [*indicated below] with stars, crew members and other celebrities attending the screening. Souvenir Brochures were also produced for these events. Usually printed by the charity that would benefit from the event, brochures were usually only available at the premiere and therefore produced in very limited numbers. In later years some charities did make spare copies available after the event in order to raise more money for their cause. Souvenir Brochures were also produced (with similar content) for some of the regional premieres of the films and fewer copies of these appear to have survived. Premiere Brochures still command high prices when they appear in auction, especially those signed by the stars who attended.

Premiere Brochures usually consisted of profiles of the cast and crew [often accompanied by stills not seen in any other publication], along with congratulatory messages and advertisements from many of the companies associated with the production. Once again, many of these advertisements were unique to the brochure.

Several James Bond films also had regional charity premieres but not all of these had souvenir brochures produced. Although Thunderball had opened in London on December 29, 1965 and in major cities across the UK in January 1966, it did not have its general release until mid-February. The Midlands premiere of Thunderball took place at the Odeon cinema, New Street in Birmingham on Saturday February 5, 1966. 2,400 people attended the midnight premiere which raised over £2,000 for the Birmingham and District Committees of the Drapers Cottage Homes charity. A 28-page souvenir brochure was on sale at the premiere with a cover price of at least 2s/6d (the equivalent of 30p today), which indicates that most people paid far more than the suggested amount for their copy. A rare surviving copy of the brochure sold for £500 at auction in 2015.

The Northern Charity Premiere of Thunderball was held at the Odeon Theatre on The Headrow in Leeds on Saturday February 19, 1966. 40-page individually numbered souvenir brochures were produced featuring similar content to the London and Dublin premieres. Actress Mollie Peters (who played Nurse Patricia Fearing in Thunderball) attended this event as part of a promotional tour she undertook throughout early 1966. Staying the weekend in Leeds, she then attended a press call and reception at the Arnold G. Wilson Ltd. Aston Martin showroom on Monday February 21, 1966. The showroom also had the B.S.A. Rocket-Firing Motor Cycle on display following its appearance at the Thomas Wallis department store in London's Oxford Street. Department stores took the opportunity to advertise in the regional premiere brochures with James Bond related tie-ins. You Only Live Twice did not have its general release in the UK until long after its London Premiere on June 12, 1967. Several cities held special midnight premieres in September 1967, including the Odeon Glasgow on the last day of the month.

By the time Pierce Brosnan took over as James Bond in 1995, UK cinema release patterns had been standardised, and new films generally opened countrywide on the Friday following the London premiere. Several cities did hold regional premieres in aid of charity on the day after the London openings of GoldenEye, Tomorrow Never Dies and The World Is Not Enough with generic souvenir programmes produced and tailored to the specific charity named as the beneficiary. With new films now opening at the same time across the country, the appeal of a regional premiere has been somewhat diminished.

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