JAMES BOND ‘THE SPY WHO LOVED ME’, 1977 – A COLLECTION OF PRODUCTION PAPERWORK AND ASSOCIATED MATERIAL (QTY)

A quantity of Lewis Gilbert’s production paperwork, majority mimeographed typescript including:

- A xeroxed copy of a three-page letter on Eon Productions Ltd. headed stationery, dated 8 April,76 from production manager David Middlemas to Lewis Gilbert concerning Facilities Required For Shooting On Board And Around The “Tabriz”

- A mimeographed typescript Unit List, dated 21 April 1976 – 21 June 1976, 6pp.

- A mimeographed typescript film unit telephone directory dated 6 May 1976, 1p. attached to a corresponding call sheet entitled: Recce No. 5 (Gareloch, Scotland; and a Unit List, dated 21April, 1976, 4pp. majority of pieces labelled Lewis Gilbert in red typescript;

-A typescript letter on Eon Productions The Spy Who Loved Me illustrated headed stationery, from Derek Coyte to Lewis Gilbert, dated 4 July, 1977, enclosing a running order and a seating plan for rows A and B; attached to a mimeographed typescript 2pp. Programme of Timings for The Royal Charity Premiere of “The Spy Who Loved Me” at the Odeon Leicester Square on Thursday July 7^th.1977; a corresponding Appendix of Ladies and Gentlemen to be presented to HER ROYAL HIGHNESS THE PRINCESS ANNE, Lewis Gilbert’s name No.20 in the running order of 25, Roger Moore’s name in the ultimate position No.25; and the two page seating plan mentioned in the letter;

- And two tickets for The Spy Who Loved Me, Royal Charity Premiere in the presence of H.R.H. The Princess Anne, Mrs. Mark Phillips G.C.V.O on Thursday July 7^th, at the Odeon Leicester Square WC2, the tickets for Stalls seats Nos. 20 & 21; and a corresponding illustrated souvenir programme;

- A 20-page mimeographed typescript document on Eon Productions The Spy Who Loved Me illustrated headed stationery, entitled Production Notes, labelled in green felt pen on the 1^st page Mr. Lewis Gilbert in an unidentified hand

- A Second Draft Schedule, based on Yellow Script 12.July. 76, Covering 1^st and 2^nd Unit work up to: Sunday, 7^th November, 76, 19 pp. mimeographed typescript, labelled on the front cover Lewis Gilbert in black felt pen in an unidentified hand;

- Four call sheets, various dates and locations:  2 June 76, Gareloch, Scotland, Clyde Submarine Base, Faslane; 3 June, 76 Sardinia And Egypt; 2^nd Nov.1976 The Atlantis Boardroom and 15 Nov.1976 Int. Atlantis – Sitting Room;

- A folder inscribed ‘The Spy Who Loved Me, General Hopeful Letters For Work’, containing seven letters (some file copy responses from LG) from actors / crew hoping for work, Feb – May 1976

- A red folder titled ‘International Artistes Representation’ – an agency portfolio of actors to be considered for roles with information on seven actors including Leslie Caron, including their photo and bios

- An 8x10 in. black and white press still of Roger Moore blowing out candles on a 007 cake at a party with Lewis Gilbert’s wife Hylda; and related material.

Photographs Sold Without Copyright

Footnote: The Spy Who Loved Me (1977), the tenth in the Eon Productions official 007 series, initiated a number of records for the James Bond franchise. It was Cubby Broccoli’s first solo 007 venture without co-producer Harry Saltzman, and he was determined that it should become the biggest and best Bond yet.  From the outset, the film’s path to success was beset with numerous difficulties and the screenplay itself went through more adaptations and revisions than any production during the 40-year history of 007 on screen. Problems began with Ian Fleming’s source material for the film’s title. Like the movie, it was Fleming’s tenth Bond novel in order, however it represented a departure from Fleming’s usual 007 format in that it is told from the viewpoint of a young Englishwoman who only meets the famous spy in the last few chapters of the book. For this reason, Fleming never wanted this book to be sold as a film project. His estate, however, gave Broccoli permission to use the novel’s title only. The book and film do also share one significant common element – Jaws,  who is loosely based on Fleming’s villain, `Horror’, who had steel-capped teeth. Nevertheless, the screenplay for The Spy Who Loved Me is considered to be the first Bond film whose story is completely original. After a visit to Russia, Broccoli devised a plot for a  new story which suited the film’s title and focused on a beautiful Russian agent who falls in love with James Bond. 

 It is said that twelve different screenwriters worked on fifteen separate drafts for the screenplay over a period of three years, in one of the most fiendishly complicated film pre-production processes in Eon’s history. Considering the quantity of different variants of the screenplay here in Lewis Gilbert’s personal film script archive, it appears that just over half of the fifteen screenplay versions are represented between lots 13-18.

Looking through the different variations of treatments and screenplays for The Spy Who Loved Me, a large proportion of which are represented in this collection, in the words of film historian Steven Jay Rubin they : “…offer a textbook look at script development…the material is priceless, since it allows the reader to see how typical Bondian situations are workshopped…”

 Literature:

RUBIN, Steven Jay Spy Who Loved Me Script Wars in The James Bond Movie Encyclopaedia, Chicago Review Press Incorp. Chicago, 2021

GILBERT, Lewis All My Flashbacks The Autobiography of Lewis Gilbert, Sixty Years A Film Director, Reynolds & Hearn, London, 2010

FIELD, Matthew & CHOWDHURY, Ajay Some Kind Of Hero, The Remarkable Story of The James Bond Films, Cheltenham Glouc., 2015

The Spy Who Loved Me Script History www.M16-HQ.com

www.IMDB.com

Bellmans is grateful to Wallace and Hodgson for their assistance with cataloguing the Lewis Gilbert Film Script and Production Archive.