CommanderBond.net
  1. Merry Xmas 2022

    By Heiko Baumann on 2022-12-24
  2. Driving Miss Tracy – The Erich Glavitza CBn Interview Part 3

    By Heiko Baumann on 2019-04-19

    In part One and Two of this interview, former racing and stunt driver Erich Glavitza from Austria told us how he got the job as a stunt driver for the 6thJames Bond movie “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service”. We also heard about his preparations, how he managed to get enough cars, the necessary equipment and find the drivers. After that, he told us about the rehearsals, working with the movie crew and how he taught Dianna Rigg how to drive on ice. It is widely known that back then, leading actor George Lazenby wasn’t the easiest guy to work with, and Glavitza told us about this special experience, too. 

    In this third and final part, we’re going to hear about the shooting of the car stunts. Also, Glavitza reveals the hitherto virtually unknown names of the other drivers – as far as he remembers them 50 years later – and talks about his life after Bond.

    Erich, after we heard about all these preparations, please tell us about the actual shooting…

    About time, eh? (laughs) We started with the scene at the telephone booth in Lauterbrunnen with the Cougar driving off with screeching tyres. I had some concerns, and said “Screeching tyres on an icy road? Not even a hamster would buy that.” But Peter Hunt just shrugged it off and said “No one will notice that, anyway.” And he was right – nobody did. Then came the pursuit before the race, which was shot on the road coming from Grindelwald. When that was done, we did the opening scene of the race with me crashing through the gate. 

    continue reading…
  3. Driving Miss Tracy – The Erich Glavitza CBn Interview Part 2

    By Heiko Baumann on 2019-04-12

    In the first part of this interview, former racing and stunt driver Erich Glavitza from Austria gave a detailed account about how he got “a call from James Bond” which resulted in him getting hired for the 6th James Bond movie “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service”. In this second part, you’ll read about the rehearsals with the film crew and the drivers, teaching Diana Rigg how to drive on ice and the experience of working with her and George Lazenby.

    Erich, in the first part, we heard about how you got the job and how you got the cars and the necessary equipment. But the racing scenes wasn’t everything they wanted you to do…

    Erich Glavitza and Diana Rigg

    There also was the car chase before the race. I was to be the stunt driver for Tracy’s dark red Ford Mercury Cougar XR-7. It was a real beast of a car, with a 7-litre V8 engine and around 400 horsepower. It definitely needed more and better spikes than the other cars. Also, our chief mechanic Willy Neuner had to modify the suspension and the shock absorbers to improve the handling. The power steering wasn’t optimal, and the brakes… oh well, we didn’t need to brake that much, anyway. The car was great fun, so I didn’t care that much.
    Of course, all the action had to be well-planned. There were lots of meetings and discussions on how to mount the cameras on and inside the cars, how to shoot the street chase and all those things.

    continue reading…
  4. Guy Hamilton dies at 93

    By Helmut Schierer on 2016-04-21

    According to various sources – here The Guardian – four time Bond director Guy Hamilton has died at the age of 93 at his home on Majorca.

    Guy Hamilton was a household name of British cinema at least since he directed The Colditz Story in 1955. A number of hugely successful films followed with Goldfinger, Funeral in Berlin, Battle of Britain and of course his further Bond duties at the helm of Diamonds Are Forever, Live and Let Die and The Man with the Golden Gun. Earlier in his career he acted as director’s assistant and worked three times with director Carol Reed, amongst them on The Third Man.

     

    Our condolences to his family and friends.

     

     

     

  5. By Helmut Schierer on 2016-03-22

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  6. Sad losses…

    By Helmut Schierer on 2016-03-11

    2016 is already shaping up to become known as a year of sad losses. This past week has been considerably cruel in taking away two of the most accomplished men of our time, two major characters whose influence on our culture will go far beyond their lifetime.

    On 08. March Sir George Martin passed away at the age of 90. His merits as music producer have been lauded for decades and will no doubt continue to be praised. He has been right at the epicentre of the music business in the last century, putting his mark on pop culture – before the term was even used – like only a very few before or after him. His score of Roger Moore’s 007 debut Live and Let Die and the spectacular main title song remain a favourite of the entire series with many fans, me included. As he also produced Shirley Bassey’s Goldfinger he is behind two of the most popular classic Bond songs.

    On 10. March Sir Ken Adam died at the age of 95. His influence on production design is already legendary, his work is so iconic that it is now a central piece in any class of film/motion picture design. He donated his considerable archive with countless sketches and storyboards to the Deutsche Kinemathek in Berlin, the major German film archive. Since I’m a fellow countryman of Sir Ken I’d particularly like to express my thanks for his services in freeing Europe and my – our – home country.

     

    CommanderBond.net team and members hereby express our condolences to the families.

    Gentlemen, we salute you.

  7. Merry Xmas from Commanderbond.net

    By Heiko Baumann on 2015-12-24

  8. Vous n’êtes pas seuls

    By Helmut Schierer on 2015-11-14

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    (image © Max Braun/Flickr)

  9. SPECTRE World Premiere announced

    By Heiko Baumann on 2015-07-17

    spectre top

    The Press release:

    ALBERT R. BROCCOLI’S EON PRODUCTIONS, METRO-GOLDWYN-MAYER STUDIOS,

    AND SONY PICTURES ENTERTAINMENT ANNOUNCE WORLD PREMIERE

    AND UK RELEASE DATE FOR “SPECTRE”: MONDAY, 26 OCTOBER

     

    LONDON, July 17, 2015 – Albert R. Broccoli’s EON Productions, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, and Sony Pictures Entertainment are delighted to announce that the World Premiere for SPECTRE will take place in London on Monday, October 26, 2015.

     

    For the first time ever, the film will open on the same night at cinemas across the UK and Ireland, giving audiences the opportunity to be the first in the world to see the hugely-anticipated 24th film in the James Bond franchise.

     

    Following the World Premiere and release in the UK and Ireland, SPECTRE will begin its rollout in territories around the world. The film will release in the US on November 6, 2015.

     

    No information about a venue or public availability of tickets was given.

  10. Shooting SPECTRE – Clapperboard #8

    By Heiko Baumann on 2015-05-01

    Only a day after a new videoblog which featured heavily on cars, we are treated to another clapperboard image. Surprisingly, there’s a motorbike in this one. And it has machine guns…