JAMES BOND FACT FILES

1987 marked the 25th Anniversary of James Bond in the cinema, and the introduction of a new actor in the lead role. Pierce Brosnan was originally to appear as Ian Fleming's Secret Agent 007 in The Living Daylights, but the last minute renewal of his Remington Steele US TV series contract by MTM Enterprises resulted in the actor having to bow out of the production, and Timothy Dalton was announced as the new James Bond. The Exhibitors’ Campaign Book for The Living Daylights (1987), once more issued by distributor United International Pictures, featured an editorial section with background information on the production of the film, and a brief interview with the new 007, who talked about the Bond phenomenon.

The Official James Bond 007 Movie Book was commissioned by EON Productions to tie in with the release of The Living Daylights starring Timothy Dalton as the new James Bond. Ironically, written by the British independent film producer Sally Hibbin (1953- ), daughter of the outspoken feminist film critic Nina Hibbin (1922-2004), who had famously slated the early James Bond films in her reviews for communist newspaper the Daily Worker. Reviewing Goldfinger, Nina Hibbin remained unimpressed by the Bond formula of “constantly lurking viciousness, and the glamorisation of violence… the carefully timed peaks of titillation and the skilfully contrived sensationalism”. The Official James Bond 007 Movie Book was a film-by-film overview of the series, and although overseen by EON Productions Publicist Jerry Juroe, it contained a number of inaccuracies in the text. Released at the height of James Bond fandom in the UK, the book featured over 200 unusual and rarely-seen stills from the EON archives, and was advertised as the first and only authorized book covering all 15 films in the world's most successful movie series.

Hamlyn also published The Official James Bond Movie Poster Book by Sally Hibbin – a large format 48-page softcover volume featuring 20 full-page reproductions of the Bond film posters from Dr. No (1962) to The Living Daylights (1987).

The British company Little Lead Soldiers were commissioned by EON Productions to create dioramas depicting famous battles including Waterloo, Agincourt, Gettysburg & Northwest frontier (Afghan Wars) [containing over 6,000 figures], that were seen prominently at the climax of The Living Daylights in Brad Whitaker's (Joe Don Baker) Moroccan hideout, as Bond confronts and defeats the corrupt arms dealer [pictured below bottom left].

The company also produced a stationery range, James Bond character playing cards, Chess set (with pieces based on James Bond characters), and other unique gifts marketed to tie in with The Living Daylights (1987). The company also produced a small scale Aston Martin Volante and ‘The James Bond Bentley Motor Car set’ (limited to 1,000 pieces), which came with figures of James Bond, Honey Rider, Doctor No, Miss Moneypenny and Q. Inside the Bentley was a Harrods picnic hamper to match the one purchased by James Bond for General Koskov (Jeroen Krabbe) who is being held at the Blayden Safe House in The Living Daylights (1987).

A three-wheeled Unigate Milk Float is seen being driven into the grounds of the Blayden Safe House (filmed at Stonor House in Oxfordshire) by Necros (Andreas Wisniewski) in The Living Daylights after he has overpowered the milkman with a pair of Phillips headphones. To tie in with their prominent appearance in the film, British dairy Unigate ran a promotion via their exclusive home delivery service, with customers able to send in 12 bottle tops from ‘Farmers Wife Orange Juice’ brand (plus a cheque or postal order for £2.30) in order to obtain a free ticket for entry at Cannon/ABC or Rank/ODEON/Gaumont cinemas in the UK. A second promotion [not illustrated] allowed customers to collect 6 tokens cut out from promotional cartons of ‘Farmers Wife Orange Juice’ [pictured above right] to obtain the free cinema ticket.

UK software manufacturer Domark Ltd released a single-player Arcade Adventure Computer Game based on The Living Daylights (1987). As James Bond you must shoot your way through all eight levels before you at last come face-to-face with the evil arms dealer Brad Whittaker. Graphical quality varied across the different platforms. This was the second Bond game published by Domark following 1985's poorly received A View To A Kill: The Computer Game.

Another promotion designed to capture the imagination of children was launched by Jacobs, the makers of Trio chocolate biscuits. Inside each 5-pack of biscuits were 4 action stickers with 3 different sets to collect. The ‘007 logo’ was identical on each strip, with the promotion featured in a national television advertising campaign during July 1987, as The Living Daylights was on general release across the country.

Top Man branches ran a “Scratch Card” promotion throughout June 1987, with prizes including a Ford Fiesta XR2, Club 18-30 holidays and Philips audio equipment. The promotion was supported by radio advertising in key cities with branches also giving away free pin badges. Philips themselves launched their own advertising campaign to tie-in with their products seen in The Living Daylights (1987). The Dutch consumer electronics company provided many products for use in the film, but perhaps the most affordable was a working replica of the Key Finder used by James Bond (Timothy Dalton) and demonstrated by Q (Desmond Llewelyn) [pictured above]. The company also ran several competitions with Philips products offered as prizes.

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