CommanderBond.net
  1. Casino Royale The 'Lost' Stage Play

    By johncox on 2005-08-01

    Casino Royale the novel by Ian Fleming, Casino Royale the TV movie starring Barry Nelson, Casino Royale the spoof by Charles K. Feldman, Casino Royale the new James Bond film for 2006…

    Casino Royale the stage play by Raymond Benson?

    No, this is not fanboy fantasy, speculation or rumor. The play exists and was almost officially produced in 1986.

    In a CBn interview (conducted before we knew Bond 21 was going to be Casino Royale), Benson explained the story behind the story of his “lost” Casino Royale (A Play in Nine Scenes) adaptation, and the Fleming family’s brief flirtation with turning James Bond into a theatrical property.

    It was late 1985 and I proposed to Glidrose that I write a James Bond stage play. Because of the complicated rights situation (EON owned all performing rights for Bond, except, oddly enough, Casino Royale), the only thing I could do was adapt Casino Royale.

    Raymond Benson (Photo by Phil Goldman)

    Raymond Benson
    (Photo by Phil Goldman)

    Frankly, that’s really the only novel that could adapt to the stage. I wrote the play in 2-3 months and then held a staged reading of it in New York City in February 1986, using professional actors. The reading went very well and we then had a discussion with the audience about what worked and what didn’t. It’s a shame that Peter [Jansen-Smith] and his colleague at Glidrose couldn’t attend that reading because the outcome might have been different.

    Anyway, Glidrose paid me (which is more than what a lot of playwrights get!) and then they submitted the play to a British theatrical agent. She was very elderly and in my opinion she just didn’t get it. She recommended that the play not be produced. After further thought, Glidrose shelved it with the ultimate decision that a James Bond stage play simply wouldn’t work. The films had Bond in a monopoly and there was no way a play could compete. I disagreed, but it was their property.

    Since that time, EON bought the rights to Casino Royale, so now they own the production rights– however I own the actual copyright of the play itself. But I can’t do anything with it. I can’t publish it or produce it (because Glidrose owns publishing rights and EON owns production rights).

    The actors who participated in the 1986 New York reading were Ed Clark as James Bond, Elizabeth Huffman as Vesper Lynd, Robert Aberdeen as Le Chiffre, and Stuart Laurence as Felix Leiter. Yes, Felix Leiter replaced Rene Matthis in Raymond’s stage adaptation…which, other than that, remained very faithful to the original Fleming novel.

    Raymond went on write six original Bond novels, three novelzations, and four 007 short stories (one unpublished). He retired from the series in 2002 and is currently penning a bestselling series of books based on Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell. His second book, Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Operation Barracuda, is due for publication in Fall ’05.

    Eon Productions will finally release their film version of Casino Royale from a screenplay by Neal Purvis & Robert Wade (The World Is Not Enough, Die Another Day) next year. Eon has also recently gotten into the theatrical business by producing a stage version of Ian Fleming’s Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

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  2. 'Echoes of Paris': The Literary Soundtrack

    By Heiko Baumann on 2005-06-28

    CBn looks back on the Echoes Of Paris record, featured in the fourth James Bond novel, Diamonds Are Forever by Ian Fleming.

    Bond walked over to the gramophone and picked up the record. It was George Feyer with rhythm accompaniment. He looked at the number and memorized it. It was Vox 500. He examined the other side and, skipping La Vie en Rose because it had memories for him, put the needle down at the beginning of Avril au Portugal.

    Ian Fleming – ‘Diamonds Are Forever’, Chapter 5

    'Echoes of Paris'

    ‘Echoes of Paris’

    Those memories of course come from Casino Royale and Vesper Lynd, where La Vie en Rose is mentioned as well. Remarkable nonetheless, by Mr Ian Fleming. This Vox 500 record (named ‘Best light record ever made’ by Tiffany Case) can be identified as Echoes Of Paris, but both sides of this beautiful piano record have been recorded as a medley, without visible track marks on the record. Skipping one track on a record that one has never seen or listened to before seems to be quite difficult. And as Avril au Portugal actually is track #3 on the record, one wonders, why track #2, Trois cloches has been skipped as well. On a side note, La Vie en Rose, originally written by Edith Piaf, was a minor hit by A View To A Kill‘s Mayday, Grace Jones in 1977.

    Miss Case resumed the silent contemplation of her face in the mirror while the pianist played J’attendrai. Then it was the end of the record.

    Ian Fleming – ‘Diamonds Are Forever’, Chapter 5

    'More Echoes of Paris'

    ‘More Echoes of Paris’

    Fleming took his liberties with the track list anyway. J’attendrai is not the end track of one of both sides. It’s located in the middle of side 2. But this had to be, for the real end of side two features a mini-reprise of La vie en rose (not mentioned on the album’s track list). That one would have already brought up those unpleasant memories, thus giving away the dramatic effect of Bond skipping the song on purpose. It is of course possible that Fleming never heard the record himself and was only relying on a track list, maybe he just had consulted his friend Noel Coward on a record with La Vie en Rose on it. But this is subject to speculation. On the other hand, how could he have given such a matching description, had he really never heard the music?

    He thought that the music was appropriate to the girl. All the tunes seemed to belong to her. No wonder it was her favourite record. It had her brazen sexiness, the rough tang of her manner and the poignancy that had been in her eyes as they had looked moodily back at him out of the mirror.

    Ian Fleming – ‘Diamonds Are Forever’, Chapter 5

    About The Artist…

    George Feyer

    George Feyer

    George Feyer, born 27 October 1908 in Budapest as Gyorgy Fejer, studied at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest (alongside famous conductor Sir Georg Solti) and at the Budapest Conservatory.

    He had a reputation of being one of Hungary’s most promising young concert pianists and his decision to turn to popular music caused quite a stir. He started accompanying silent movies and touring Europe, and he and his partner, a drummer, played in the most exclusive night clubs and hotels in Paris, Deauville, Nice, Monte Carlo, The Hague, Geneva and St. Moritz. Feyer also had a regular weekly radio program on Radio Paris.

    If there is any originality in my arrangements, it lies in the fact that they do not try to be original. They are based on the eternal laws of music, which apply equally whether you play classical or popular, Mozart or Jerome Kern, Brahms or Johann Strauss.

    George Feyer

    He returned to Hungary when World War Two broke out and was put into a forced labour brigade by the Nazis after they took over the country. After his liberation from Bergen-Belsen and a short time of living in Budapest, he and his family went to Switzerland (this time on the run from the Communists) and moved to New York in 1951. He made his New York debut in famous Gogi’s La Rue, and played a series of gigs at clubs such as Delmonico’s. In 1955, he signed a contract as a piano player at the Hotel Carlyle, which would last until August 1968, when he was replaced by Bobby Short.

    He took off two weeks that summer, and Peter Sharp, who owns the Carlyle, asked Ahmet and Nesuhi Ertegun, of Atlantic Records, who to get as a replacement. They said, ‘Get Bobby Short.’ I did my best to make those two weeks as successful as anything I’d done, and when Feyer’s contract ran out they offered me half a year. Feyer found a better deal elsewhere, and I work there now eight months of the year.

    Bobby Short

    Feyer and his combo recorded numerous albums for Vox Records in the 1950’s, among them the highly successful Echoes series, which contained not only Echoes of Paris, but also a part 2, More Echoes of Paris and a variety of others, like Broadway, Italy, Vienna or Hollywood. None of the Echoes series have been released on CD until now.

    Having been a resident of the French metropolis for many years, and having absorbed its culture and spirit, Feyer presents this selection of well-loved tunes with the elegance and dash of the cosmopolitain artiste.

    ‘Echoes Of Paris’ Liner Notes

    It is said that, unlike his live performances, these are pleasant but unexciting, lacking perhaps their variety and spontaneity. But that has to be only normal for a studio recording. When you play for an audience, you can interact with people. Audiences loved his clever commentaries, nimble playing, and occasional cabaret-style singing, something that can hardly be caught on a studio record.

    He literally plays his audience, which invariably includes longtime fans, fitting in a remark to a table on the left, acknowledgement of a request from a far corner, drawing his listeners in with an anecdote, a recollection, or an Ogden Nash poem, and creating an ambience that is informal but delicately controlled.

    John S. Wilson, 1980 – New York Times

    His repertoire was literally limitless, he played the classics with a touch of Broadway, and Broadway with a touch of the Continent. After the Carlyle, he found a new home at the Hotel Stanhope’s lounge, were he played for twelve more years, then spending his last few years of active performing at the Hideaway Room in the famous Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. He retired in 1982 after his first wife’s death, though he appeared at private parties and rare hotel engagements, mostly as favors to friends. For many years, up to just weeks before his death, he put on a weekly show to entertain patients at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.

    George Feyer died in New York on 21 October 2001, just a week before his 93rd birthday.

    Record Information:

    George Feyer, piano, with rhythm accompaniment
    Echoes of Paris
    VOX VX 500, 1953
    10″ disc, 33 1/3 RPM

    Track Listing (Side 1):
    La vie en rose | Trois cloches | Avril au Portugal (April in Portugal) | La mer | Domino | Je n’en connais pas la fin | Darling, je vous aime beaucoup | Mon homme | Alouette | Sur le pont d’Avignon | C’est si bon | 14’55 total

    Track Listing (Side 2):
    Feuilles mortes (Autumn leaves) | Clopin-clopant | La ronde | La Seine | Pigalle | J’attendrai | Vous qui passez | Valentine | Paris je t’aime | 14’30 total

  3. The Blades Library Book Club: Thunderball

    By David Winter on 2005-06-09

    Welcome back to The Blades Library Book Club – the place for quality discussions of the books of James Bond!

    Every two months a book is chosen for the club members to read. A thread is posted in the club forums listing locations on where you can find the novel. Discussions about the book will go on as the book is read and when it is finished. Another thread will be created so that club members can post their review and give a rating on the current book.

    All fans of the Literary Bond are eligible for membership. All you need to do to sign up is register for the CBn Forums and then post your name in the sign up thread.

    The Book Club’s ninth Book

    Thunderball

    Thunderball

    Currently we are progressing though the novels in chronological order, since quite a number of members are using the club as an opportunity to read the books for the very first time. Therefore, Thunderball will be the book in the hands of readers for June 2005. Thunderball, written in 1961, is Fleming’s ninth Bond novel.

    Obtaining The Book

    Ordering online should be quite easy. Thunderball can be ordered online from the following sources:

    Online sources for other older versions of Thunderball:

    Discuss other places to buy Thunderball or where you got your copy in this thread.

    Discuss The Book While Reading

    Want to talk about the book while reading it. Post a new thread in The Blades Library. Be sure to title the thread with Thunderball and the chapter number you have read through.

    Review And Rate The Book

    After you have finished reading Thunderball, you can dicuss it with other club members in The Blades Library, and give the book your personal rating out of five in this thread.

    If you have any questions or suggestions just post them in a new thread. Happy reading.

    Previous Books Read

  4. The Blades Library Book Club: For Your Eyes Only

    By David Winter on 2005-04-01

    Welcome back to The Blades Library Book Club – the place for quality discussions of the books of James Bond!

    Every two months a book is chosen for the club members to read. A thread is posted in the club forums listing locations on where you can find the novel. Discussions about the book will go on as the book is read and when it is finished. Another thread will be created so that club members can post their review and give a rating on the current book.

    All fans of the Literary Bond are eligible for membership. All you need to do to sign up is register for the CBn Forums and then post your name in the sign up thread.

    The Book Club’s eighth Book

    For Your Eyes Only

    For Your Eyes Only

    Currently we are progressing though the novels in chronological order, since quite a number of members are using the club as an opportunity to read the books for the very first time. Therefore, For Your Eyes Only will be the book in the hands of readers for February 2005. For Your Eyes Only, written in 1960, is Fleming’s eigth Bond novel.

    Obtaining The Book

    Ordering online should be quite easy. For Your Eyes Only can be ordered online from the following sources:

    Online sources for other older versions of For Your Eyes Only:

    Discuss other places to buy For Your Eyes Only or where you got your copy in this thread.

    Discuss The Book While Reading

    Want to talk about the book while reading it. Post a new thread in The Blades Library. Be sure to title the thread with For Your Eyes Only and the chapter number you have read through.

    Review And Rate The Book

    After you have finished reading For Your Eyes Only, you can dicuss it with other club members in The Blades Library, and give the book your personal rating out of five in this thread.

    If you have any questions or suggestions just post them in a new thread. Happy reading.

    Previous Books Read

  5. 'Casino Royale' First Edition Sells for 21,000 Pounds!

    By johncox on 2005-03-12

    An inscribed first edition of Ian Fleming’s 1953 James Bond novel, Casino Royale, sold for £21,000 ($40,454 USD) as part of Bloomsbury Auctions Continental and English Literature and Modern First Editions sale held on February 24, 2005. The final sale was transacted after the auction had ended.

    SOLD! The Casino Royale First Edition

    SOLD! The Casino Royale first edition

    This rare copy of the first Bond novel (basis for the next James Bond film) came from the private collection of Fleming’s great friend, bookseller Percy Muir. The book carries the unique inscription: “To Percy who guided my early steps in literature – but not down those dark corridors! Affectionately Ian.” Loosely inserted is a colour photograph of Fleming with ornithologist and author of Birds of the West Indies, James Bond (mistakenly identified by Bloomsbury as Terence James Bond, who is a different person entirely), whose name Fleming adapted for his iconic agent 007.

    Fleming met Muir in the 1930s when he visited his bookshop and asked him to recommend and send books to him while he was studying at the University of Geneva. Some time later Fleming came to see him and announced that he had made £250 on the stock exchange and wanted to collect books that started something, such as the first book on zip fasteners. Muir persuaded Fleming to widen the scope of his collecting to include books and papers that changed the course of mankind. The collection grew swiftly until it numbered some 2000 pieces. The close friendship between the two men resulted in a varied and steady correspondence spanning many years.

    At one point, Muir offered Fleming a first edition of Casino Royale for his collection, for which Fleming replied; “Naturally I would love to have the Casino Royale — very fragrant thought of yours. Incidentally I think it is the only Fleming first worth having as I think the first edition was only 3000 copies.” (The actual number was 4,750, although a great many of these were reserved for libraries.)

    A group of letters relating to Fleming and Muir’s shared business activities at The Book Collector magazine (where Fleming was an enthusiastic though intermittent business partner) sold for £4,165 ($8,022 USD).

    OHMSS limited signed edition

    OHMSS limited signed edition

    Also up for auction was a special signed limited edition of On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, number 37 of only 250 copies, which sold for £4,760 ($9,168.27 USD). A regular first edition of that same novel, signed “To Birdie/From the same old beast!/x/Ian”, nabbed a surprising £3,332 ($6,417.91 USD). A first edition of Dr. No went for £524 ($1,009 USD).

    Two Fleming related BBC radio transcripts from 1966, together with the Address given at Fleming’s Memorial Service, fetched £893 ($1,720 USD).

    Bloomsbury Auctions is known for Modern First Editions and over the last few years has become the place to buy and sell Ian Fleming. Last November, Mr Kiss Kiss Bang Bang reported that a first edition of Ian Fleming’s novel From Russia With Love, once owned by Fleming’s friend Geoffrey Boothroyd (the model for gadget master “Q”), achieved a world record price for a Fleming first when it sold for £22,750 ($43,820 USD).

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  6. The Blades Library Book Club: Goldfinger

    By David Winter on 2005-02-03

    Welcome back to The Blades Library Book Club – the place for quality discussions of the books of James Bond!

    Every two months a book is chosen for the club members to read. A thread is posted in the club forums listing locations on where you can find the novel. Discussions about the book will go on as the book is read and when it is finished. Another thread will be created so that club members can post their review and give a rating on the current book.

    All fans of the Literary Bond are eligible for membership. All you need to do to sign up is register for the CBn Forums and then post your name in the sign up thread.

    The Book Club’s seventh Book

    Goldfinger

    Goldfinger

    Currently we are progressing though the novels in chronological order, since quite a number of members are using the club as an opportunity to read the books for the very first time. Therefore, Goldfinger will be the book in the hands of readers for February 2005. Goldfinger, written in 1959, is Fleming’s seventh Bond novel.

    Obtaining The Book

    Ordering online should be quite easy. Goldfinger can be ordered online from the following sources:

    Online sources for other older versions of Goldfinger:

    Discuss other places to buy Goldfinger or where you got your copy in this thread.

    Discuss The Book While Reading

    Want to talk about the book while reading it. Post a new thread in The Blades Library. Be sure to title the thread with Goldfinger and the chapter number you have read through.

    Review And Rate The Book

    After you have finished reading Goldfinger, you can dicuss it with other club members in The Blades Library, and give the book your personal rating out of five in this thread.

    If you have any questions or suggestions just post them in a new thread. Happy reading.

    Previous Books Read

  7. The Blades Library Book Club: Doctor No

    By David Winter on 2004-12-01

    Welcome back to The Blades Library Book Club – the place for quality discussions of the books of James Bond!

    Every two months a book is chosen for the club members to read. A thread is posted in the club forums listing locations on where you can find the novel. Discussions about the book will go on as the book is read and when it is finished. Another thread will be created so that club members can post their review and give a rating on the current book.

    All fans of the Literary Bond are eligible for membership. All you need to do to sign up is register for the CBn Forums and then post your name in the sign up thread.

    The Book Club’s sixth Book

    Doctor No

    Doctor No

    Currently we are progressing though the novels in chronological order, since quite a number of members are using the club as an opportunity to read the books for the very first time.Therefore, Doctor No will be the book in the hands of readers for December 2004. Doctor No, written in 1958, is Fleming’s sixth Bond novel. And rated by many as one of the best.

    Obtaining The Book

    Ordering online should be quite easy. Doctor No can be ordered online from the following sources:

    Online sources for other older versions of Doctor No:

    Discuss other places to buy Doctor No or where you got your copy in this thread.

    Discuss The Book While Reading

    Want to talk about the book while reading it. Post a new thread in The Blades Library. Be sure to title the thread with Doctor No and the chapter number you have read through.

    Review And Rate The Book

    After you have finished reading Doctor No, you can dicuss it with other club members in The Blades Library, and give the book your personal rating out of five in this thread.

    If you have any questions or suggestions just post them in a new thread. Happy reading.

    Previous Books Read

  8. The Blades Library Book Club: From Russia, With Love

    By Luke Freeman on 2004-09-01

    Welcome back to The Blades Library Book Club – the place for quality discussions of the books of James Bond!

    Every two months a book is chosen for the club members to read. A thread is posted in the club forums listing locations on where you can find the novel. Discussions about the book will go on as the book is read and when it is finished. Another thread will be created so that club members can post their review and give a rating on the current book.

    All fans of the Literary Bond are eligible for membership. All you need to do to sign up is register for the CBn Forums and then post your name in the sign up thread.

    The Book Club’s Fifth Book:

    From Russia, With Love

    Currently we are progressing though the novels in chronological order, since quite a number of members are using the club as an opportunity to read the books for the very first time.Therefore, From Russia, With Love will be the book in the hands of readers for September 2004. From Russia, With Love, written in 1957, is Fleming’s fifth Bond novel. And rated by many as one of the best.

    Obtaining The Book:

    Ordering online should be quite easy. From Russia, With Love can be ordered online from the following sources:

    Online sources for other older versions of From Russia With Love:

    Discuss other places to buy From Russia, With Love or where you got your
    copy in this
    thread
    .

    Discuss The Book While Reading:

    Want to talk about the book while reading it. Post a new thread in The Blades Library. Be sure to title the thread with “From Russia, With Love” and the chapter number you have read through.

    Review And Rate The Book:

    After you have finished reading From Russia, With Love, you can dicuss it with other club members in The Blades Library,
    and give the book your personal rating out of five in this
    thread
    .

     
    If you have any questions or suggestions just post them in a new thread. Happy reading.

    Previous Books Read

  9. Casino Royale Starring…

    By Evan Willnow on 2004-08-05

    With the news that Bond 21 will be based on Ian Fleming’s first James Bond novel, Casino Royale, it seems like a good time to revisit a CBn Classic from last year’s week long Casino Royale 50th anniversary celebration. So here’s a second look at Casino Royale Starring… by Evan Willnow.

    April 13, 2003
    Fifty years ago today, the thirteenth of April, 1953, a novel that would lead to a sensation was released. It had been penned by a journalist and former intelligence 007 Days Of Casino Royaleofficer named Ian Fleming and was about a secret agent by the name of James Bond. The book, titled Casino Royale, began a phenomenon that would include not only novels but comic strips, graphic novels, board games, video games, and most famously movies.

    Fleming’s James Bond novels have always been a mighty success, but James Bond’s literary success has since been vastly over-shadowed by his cinematic success. The film series has lasted forty years itself and has included twenty “official” films and five actors playing the lead role.

    With all of these films, and despite an early television interpetation and a later “spoof” version, over these fifty years there has never been an “official” version of Fleming’s first novel.

    With this in mind, we present to you something every Bond fan seems to enjoy: What if scenarios. We will show you here five scenes from Casino Royale interpreted for film. Each scene is set in a different era of the Bond films and each features a different Bond actor as James Bond.

    These scenes will hopefully give you a taste of the possibilities of what could have been, or at least what each scene’s author feels could have been as CommanderBond.net presents Casino Royale Starring…

  10. The Blades Library Book Club: Diamonds Are Forever

    By Luke Freeman on 2004-07-01

    Welcome back to The Blades Library Book Club – the place for quality discussions of the books of James Bond!

    Every two months a book is chosen for the club members to read. A thread is posted in the club forums listing locations on where you can find the novel. Discussions about the book will go on as the book is read and when it is finished. Another thread will be created so that club members can post their review and give a rating on the current book.

    All fans of the Literary Bond are eligible for membership. All you need to do to sign up is register for the CBn Forums and then post your name in the sign up thread.

    The Book Club’s Fourth Book:

    Diamonds Are Forever

    For now, we’ll continue though the novels in chronological order, since quite a number of members are using the club as an opportunity to read the books for the very first time. Therefore, Diamonds Are Forever will be the book in the hands of readers for July 2004. Diamonds Are Forever, written in 1956, is Fleming’s fourth Bond novel.

    Obtaining The Book:

    Ordering online should be quite easy. Diamonds Are Forever can be ordered online from the following sources:

    Online sources for other older versions of Diamonds Are Forever:

    Discuss other places to buy Diamonds Are Forever or where you got your copy in this thread.

    Discuss The Book While Reading:

    Want to talk about the book while reading it. Post a new thread in The Blades Library. Be sure to title the thread with “Diamonds Are Forever” and the chapter number you have read through.

    Review And Rate The Book:

    After you have finished reading Diamonds Are Forever, you can dicuss it with other club members in The Blades Library, and give the book your personal rating out of five in this thread.

     
    If you have any questions or suggestions just post them in a new thread. Happy reading.

    Previous Books Read