Exclusive Photographs From 'The Battle For Bond'
CBn has received several exclusive photographs from the upcoming book by Robert Sellers, The Battle For Bond.
Due for release on 18 June, The Battle For Bond has become one of the most anticipated literary 007 releases of the year. It tells the story of perhaps the most controversial part of the series’ legacy and includes previously unpublished material including letters, private documents and over 100 never-before-seen photographs and illustrations.
Photographs 1 and 2 from The Battle For Bond.
Photograph #1: Shark attack. Kevin McClory commissioned a series of seven drawings by John Huston’s art director Stephen Grimes in a bid to raise interest in his proposed Bond movie at the 1959 Venice Film Festival. This drawing focuses on the climactic underwater battle. All seven drawings appear in the book, the first time these historical images have been seen.
Photograph #2: Lawrence of Arabia himself, Peter O’Toole, celebrates with Jack
Whittingham, Kevin McClory and his wife Bobo, after the High Court success in the infamous 1963 Thunderball court case.
Photographs 3 and 4 from The Battle For Bond.
Photograph #3: Cubby Broccoli and Kevin McClory are handsomely greeted when they arrive in Tokyo for a publicity tour for Thunderball.
Photograph #4: On a location recce for Warhead in New York, Sean Connery visits the Statue of Liberty, earmarked for one of the film’s proposed big action sequences. The book features other photos of Connery in New York and pre-production artwork from Warhead.
Photograph 5 from The Battle For Bond.
Photograph #5: This is the telegram message from Ian Fleming to crime novelist Eric Ambler, a mutual friend of Hitchcock, asking if the master would consent to direct the first Bond movie. This is a major historical document, proof that Hitchcock was Fleming’s personal choice to bring Bond to the screen.
Pre-order The Battle For Bond: The Genesis of Cinema’s Greatest Hero from Amazon.co.uk.
Stay tuned to CBn for all the latest literary James Bond news.
Photographs and documents for #1, 2 and 5 courtesy of Sylvan Whittingham Mason. www.sylvanmason.com