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Between Sean Connery’s suave and humorous take on the Brish spy to Daniel Craig’s more rugged version in the modern era, Pierce Brosnan’s take on the character often gets overlooked by fans. After Die Another Day dropped the ball among critics, Brosnan’s stint as 007 came to an abrupt stop, and Daniel Craig was brought in to reinvent the character for the modern audience with Casino Royale.

While he never got his farewell moment as Craig did with No Time to Die, one James Bond theory could bring him back for one final run as the charismatic spy.

The Codename Theory Could Explain Pierce Brosnan’s Return Pierce Brosnan as James Bond | 20th Century Fox

According to the codename theory, every James Bond feature, from Dr. No to Die Another Day takes place in the same universe. The theory suggests that James Bond is just a codename...

“Bond, James Bond.”

62 years, 25 films and 6 lead actors — but it all began with this iconic line from Sean Connery in Dr. No.

This iconic British character, conceived by author Ian Fleming in 1953, has captivated audiences worldwide as the world’s most famous secret agent in the history of cinema.

To tell the full story of how 007 began, Eon Productions opened its archives of photos, designs, and production materials to Taschen. The result is this remarkable account of the making of Dr. No.

Related: James Bond Movies In Order: Filmography, Bond Women & Iconic Villains

Director Terence Young debuted Dr. No in 1962, featuring Ursula Andress as Honey Ryder, Bernard Lee as M., Joseph Wiseman as Dr. No, and Lois Maxwell as Miss Moneypenny.

The companion book provides a glimpse into the day-by-day account of what took place, which scenes were shot and who made the decisions that shaped the story and characters as it was filmed.

It seems only natural that Severin Films would follow up its two Eurocrypt of Christopher Lee box sets with a collection of some of the more offbeat entries in the filmography of Peter Cushing, Lee’s legendary Hammer Films co-star. Cushing Curiosities collects five films and the remaining episodes of a TV series that highlight the diverse aspects of Cushing’s always authoritative on-screen persona. Featuring crisp new 2K restorations sourced from original elements, Severin’s compelling new set comes complete with loads of bonus materials, including some priceless audio interviews with the man himself and commentaries by historians, as well as Peter Cushing: A Portrait in Six Sketches, a 200-page book by film historian Jonathan Rigby.

Cushing appears as a stiff-necked yet urbane airline pilot in 1960’s Cone of Silence, a modestly compelling exposé based on the actual investigation into a 1952 airplane crash. Reprimanded for a crash that killed his copilot,...

Severin Films is celebrating the late Peter Cushing with an unprecedented box set highlighting the most unexpected gems from the filmography of the legendary horror actor.

Cushing Curiosities, releasing August 29, presents 6-discs of rarely seen feature films and television broadcasts restored and scanned from original vault sources, plus a curated plethora of Special Features that celebrate Cushing’s unique career like never before.

From Hammer Films to Star Wars, he remains one of genre films’ best-loved actors. Now celebrate six of the most unexpected, rarely seen and decidedly curious performances from the legendary career of Peter Cushing: Cushing delivers a rare villain turn in the 1960 aviation thriller Cone Of Silence. That same year, Cushing brought gentle dignity to The Boulting Brothers’ cold-war drama Suspect. In 1962’s The Man Who Finally Died, Cushing co-stars opposite Stanley Baker as a former Nazi hiding a grave post-war secret.

Cushing returns to his...

Daisy May Cooper is under consideration to take over from Dame Judi Dench as M in the next iteration of the James Bond franchise, per multiple reports.

The Gloucestershire-born actor and writer is best known for her West Country comedy series This Country, which she wrote and starred in.

According to The Sun, Cooper’s potential casting came about after Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s work on No Time to Die paved the way for more comedy in the franchise.

“Daisy is a close pal of Phoebe, whose involvement in Bond was such a success that it sparked an unlikely conversation,” a source told the tabloid.

“Suddenly the production team were getting excited about the prospect of really taking ‘M’ in a different direction.”

Eon Productions chief Barbara Broccoli is currently on the search for the next 007 after Daniel Craig’s retirement.

“With Daniel [Craig] leaving, it seemed the time to start...

Daisy May Cooper is under consideration to take over from Dame Judi Dench as M in the next iteration of the James Bond franchise, per multiple reports.

The Gloucestershire-born actor and writer is best known for her West Country comedy series This Country, which she wrote and starred in.

According to The Sun, Cooper’s potential casting came about after Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s work on No Time to Die paved the way for more comedy in the franchise.

“Daisy is a close pal of Phoebe, whose involvement in Bond was such a success that it sparked an unlikely conversation,” a source told the tabloid.

“Suddenly the production team were getting excited about the prospect of really taking ‘M’ in a different direction.”

Eon Productions chief Barbara Broccoli is currently on the search for the next 007 after Daniel Craig’s retirement.

“With Daniel [Craig] leaving, it seemed the time to start...

Leave it to Edgar Allan Poe. While many probably associate the mercurial author and poet with horror milestones like “The Pit and the Pendulum” and “The Fall of the House of Usher,” he’s also widely credited with inventing the detective story with his 1841 publication, “The Murders in the Rue Morgue.” Since then the genre of detective fiction has spanned untold numbers of short stories, novels, plays, radio shows, TV series, and of course, movies.

One of the subsets of detective fiction, the whodunit, remains almost interchangeable with the genre itself and one of its most popular variations. From the urbane, eccentric likes of Sherlock Holmes and Hercule Poirot to the more grizzled Sam Spade and Mike Hammer, to the shapeshifting meta-detective Ellery Queen, stories that allow the reader or viewer to solve the mystery right alongside the protagonist are an entertainment staple to this day, as borne out by...

M is a staple of James Bond films; no adventure is complete without the old spymaster debriefing 007 and then dispatching him on his latest challenge. "Skyfall," which turned 10 this year, was the first Bond film to dig into M's character and examine their relationship with Bond in more than a superficial way. M's past sins catch up to her and, like Bond, her way of doing things may just be too old-fashioned. This carried extra weight because the M of "Skyfall," Judi Dench, has the second longest tenure as the character (runner-up only to the original M actor Bernard Lee).

One of the most brief, but important parts of M's humanization happens early in the film we get to see where she lives. M's home is no generic London Townhouse. According to the "Skyfall" commentary by director Sam Mendes, it's one that belonged to another pillar of the "Bond" series: composer John Barry.

While everyone has their favorite James Bond movie, you’ll be hard-pushed to find someone who doesn’t love Sam Mendes’ Skyfall. A decade after the credits rolled on Daniel Craig’s third outing as the martini-swilling spy, it’s time to look back on the movie that could’ve been. Because the rumors are true: Skyfall once planned to pull Sean Connery out of retirement. Yet 10 years later, that twist now looks like it might’ve ruined the franchise forever in retrospect.

In Skyfall, things culminated in a bloody showdown between 007 (Craig) and the villainous Raoul Silva (Javier Bardem) at the titular Skyfall estate, Bond’s surprise childhood home. Also along for the ride were M (Judi Dench) and the estate’s jolly gamekeeper, Kincade, with the latter being a tie to James Bond’s childhood. Although Kincade was played by the legendary Albert Finney, the original plan was...

It’s the granddaddy of British cop dramas of the modern era. The most popular English picture of 1950 introduced PC George Dixon, a warm-hearted constable who would become a staple on BBC TV for 21 years. T.E.B. Clarke’s screenplay of a murder manhunt is stocked with actors American fans know well — Dirk Bogarde, Bernard Lee — and some we should know better — Jack Warner, Robert Flemyng, Dora Bryan. The show was made by the top craftsmen of Ealing Studios, and its fast pace and Brit sensibility will definitely impress. And remember — the Bobbies on the beat don’t even carry guns.

The Blue Lamp

Blu-ray

Kl Studio Classics

1950 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 85 min. / Street Date June 1, 2021 / available through Kino Lorber / 24.95

Starring: Jack Warner, Jimmy Hanley, Dirk Bogarde, Robert Flemyng, Bernard Lee, Peggy Evans, Patric Doonan, Bruce Seton, Meredith Edwards, Dora Bryan, Gladys Henson, Tessie O’Shea, Betty Ann Davies, Jennifer Jayne, Sam Kydd,...

Can a war movie be reassuring in a time of crisis? Each of the films in this excellent collection stress people working together: to repel invaders, escape from or attack the enemy, and just to survive in sticky situations. All are inspirational in that they see cooperation, organization and leadership doing good work. See: the ‘other’ great escape picture, the original account of Dunkirk, and the aerial bombing movie that inspired the final battle in Star Wars. Plus a tense ‘what if?’ invasion tale, and a desert trek suspense ordeal that’s one of the best war films ever. The most relevant dialogue in the set? Seeing the total screw-up at Dunkirk, Bernard Lee determines that England will have to re-organize with new people in key leadership positions, people who know what they’re doing. I’m all for that Here and Now, fella.

Their Finest Hour 5 British WWII Classics

Went The Day Well,...

"You never should've gone to the police, you know." Studiocanal UK has debuted a brand new trailer for the 70th anniversary re-release of the film noir classic The Third Man. Directed by Carol Reed from an original script by Graham Greene, and first released in 1949, this film has gone on to become known as one of the most iconic mystery thrillers ever made. In the film, Pulp novelist Holly Martins travels to shadowy, postwar Vienna, only to find himself investigating the mysterious death of an old friend, Harry Lime. Orson Welles stars as Harry Lime, with Joseph Cotten, Alida Valli, Trevor Howard, Bernard Lee, Paul Hörbiger, and Ernst Deutsch. The B&w film is getting re-released in UK cinemas this September, but we haven't heard about anything in the Us yet (check Fathom Events). We also featured a new trailer for the 4K re-release of The Third Man a few years ago.

Stars: Anna Neagle, Trevor Howard, Marius Goring, Peter Ustinov, Bernard Lee, Alfred Schieske, Gilles Quéant, Marianne Walla, Fritz Wendhausen | Written by Warren Chetham Strode | Directed by Herbert Wilcox

World Wars are won on many fronts, and not only the ones that include battle. The war that was raged by the intelligence agencies is one that was secret during the war, but after we got to see the bravery normal people put to push the allied forces to success. This included women who worked in enemy territory as spies. One of the famous ones was the story of Odette.

When the call is made for holiday photographs from France to be sent to the intelligence agencies, Odette (Anna Neagle), a French woman living in France provides some. When the Special Operations Executive contact her, she decides to help them by being flown into Occupied France where she fought for the French resistance.

The star lineup sparkles in this witty, lighthearted tale of a gang of international schemers and cutthroats trying to — well, what they’re trying to do is all but irrelevant. John Huston throws his picture together like a party, for a droll ‘thriller’ that yields off-kilter comic riches. It’s Bogart, Robert Morley, Peter Lorre and Gina Lollobrigida, plus Jennifer Jones as we’ve not seen her before or since. Truman Capote’s sly, unbeatably hip dialogue — reportedly written on the fly — celebrates the underhanded ambitions of greedy fools everywhere.

Beat the Devil

Blu-ray

Twilight Time

1953 / B&W / 1:37 Academy / 94 min. / Street Date January 22, 2019 / Available from the Twilight Time Movies Store / 29.95

Starring: Humphrey Bogart, Jennifer Jones, Gina Lollobrigida, Robert Morley, Peter Lorre, Edward Underdown, Ivor Barnard, Marco Tulli, Bernard Lee, Mario Perrone, Giulio Donnini, Saro Urzì, Manuel Serrano.

Cinematography: Oswald Morris

Film Editor: Ralph Kemplen

Continuity: Angela Allen

Dialogue Coach:...

By Todd Garbarini

Laemmle’s NoHo 7 Theatre in Los Angeles will be presenting a Digital Cinema Package (Dcp) screening of Peter Hunt’s 1969 James Bond outing On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. The 142-minute film, which stars George Lazenby as James Bond in his only performance as the beloved spy, features Diana Rigg, Telly Savalas, Lois Maxwell, Bernard Lee, and Desmond Llewelyn.

It will be screened on Thursday, August 9, 2018 at 7:30 pm.

Please Note: At press time, George Lazenby is scheduled to appear in person for a discussion about the film following the screening.

The NoHo 7 Theatre is located at 5240 Lankershim Blvd., North Hollywood, CA. The phone number is (310) 478 – 3836.

Click here for tickets.

The L-Shaped Room

Blu ray

Twilight Time

1962 / 1:85 / 126 Min. / Street Date December 19, 2017

Starring Leslie Caron, Tom Bell, Brock Peters

Cinematography by Douglas Slocombe

Written by Bryan Forbes

Music by Brahms, John Barry

Edited by Anthony Harvey

Produced by Richard Attenborough

Directed by Bryan Forbes

The winter of 1962 found British films at their most grandiose and self-effacing. Opening at the Odeon was Lawrence of Arabia, using every inch of that cavernous theater’s wide screen. Five minutes up the road Dr. No had just premiered in the smaller but no less lofty London Pavilion.

On the other side of the tracks art houses were bringing starry-eyed Brits back to earth with austere fare like John Schlesinger’s A Kind of Loving and Tony Richardson’s The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner.

Those sober-minded dramas, shot in low key black and white with ramshackle flats and grey skies as their backdrops,...

Stars: John Mills, Richard Attenborough, Bernard Lee, Robert Urquhart, Ray Jackson, Ronald Hines, Sean Barrett, Roland Curram, Meredith Edwards, Michael Bates, Maxine Audley, Lionel Jeffries | Written by David Divine, W.P. Lipscomb | Directed by Leslie Norman

While this year’s Dunkirk brought an intensity to the screen conveying the horrors of what was experienced by the soldiers at Dunkirk, there was a version of that same story that was released back in 1958. Now digitally restored and available on DVD and Blu-ray, this Dunkirk is an interesting look at how the true events affected many people.

When Nazi Germany invaded France, the British army found themselves in retreat. Making their way to Dunkirk which was the only means of escape, Operation Dynamo was put into action to get the soldiers out of France and home.

What is interesting about this version of Dunkirk is the fact it is a darker look at...

Powell & Pressburger’s big-scale historical epic is perhaps the best show ever about an old-school naval encounter between battleships. The first half depicts the showdown between England and Germany in the South Atlantic, and the second half a tense diplomatic game in the neutral country of Uruguay. Peter Finch, Bernard Lee and Anthony Quayle shine as sea captains.

Panzerschiff Graf Spee (The Battle of the River Plate)

Region B Blu-ray

ITV Studios Home Entertainment (Germany)

1956 / Color / 1:78 widescreen / 119, 106 117 min./ Pursuit of the Graf Spee / Street Date 2010 / Available from Amazon UK £16.90

Starring: Peter Finch, Bernard Lee, Anthony Quayle, John Gregson, Ian Hunter, Jack Gwillim, Lionel Murton, Anthony Bushell, Peter Illing, Michael Goodliffe, Patrick Macnee, Christopher Lee.

Cinematography: Christopher Challis

Production Design: Arthur Lawson

Film Editor: Reginald Mills

Original Music: Brian Easdale

Written, Produced & Directed by Michael Powell & Emeric Pressberger

The best way so far to see the impressive The Battle of the River Plate...

Back on Track: Interview with star of T2: Trainspotting, Jonny Lee MillerBack on Track: Interview with star of T2: Trainspotting, Jonny Lee MillerJulide Tanriverdi - Cineplex Magazine3/14/2017 10:01:00 Am

When, in June 2016, rumour got out that director Danny Boyle had started filming the sequel to his cult hit Trainspotting people got very excited.

Paparazzi and fans alike flocked to the Edinburgh set and disrupted filming, making it tough for the filmmakers to keep anything secret. “They were trying to shelter our costumes. They had umbrellas and were like, ‘Put your hood on when you get your hair done,’” recalls Jonny Lee Miller, who once again plays platinum-blond drug addict Sick Boy. “Danny said, ‘It’s like f--king Star Wars up here.’ There was a level of excitement which was quite alarming.”

The 1996 film was an unexpected sensation and made instant stars out of Miller and his co-stars Ewan McGregor,...

Apart from the usual Powell & Pressburger and David Lean masterpieces, I have steered rather away from the great British war movie during my cinematic peregrinations. Growing up in the UK, one did get rather tired of hearing about these films, spoken of in terms of nostalgia and sentiment. This kind of admiration for movies based on their respectable subject matter rather than their artistry felt like exactly the kind of patriotic attitude to film culture that kept Michael Powell languishing in obscurity for so many years.But in my mellow senescence I can appreciate these movies a bit more. Dunkirk is an interesting flick. On the one hand it's an epic, with armies of extras, special effects, and a narrative sweep that takes almost the whole first act of WWII, from the British perspective. On the other hand, it's a product of Ealing Studios, best known for comedy but ideologically attuned to celebrating group efforts,...

Fans of this show know it as the It's a Wonderful Life of war movies, an intensely moving tale that restores feeling and tenderness to people crippled by loss and despair. The stellar pairing of top star Gregory Peck and Burmese unknown Win Min Than is unique in movies and not to be missed. The Purple Plain Blu-ray Kl Studio Classics 1955 / Color /1:66 widescreen / 100 min. / Street Date April 5, 2016 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95 Starring Gregory Peck, Win Min Than, Brenda De Banzie, Bernard Lee, Maurice Denham, Lyndon Brook, Anthony Bushell, Josephine Griffin Cinematography Geoffrey Unsworth Art Direction Donald M. Ashton, Jack Maxsted Film Editor Clive Donner Original Music John Veale Written by Eric Ambler from a novel by H.E. Bates Produced by John Bryan, Earl St. John Directed by Robert Parrish

Reviewed by Glenn Erickson

How can one convey the way a picture grows on one? I liked The Purple Plain...

Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing costar in a worthwhile horror attraction -- and for once even share some scenes. Amicus gives us five tales of the uncanny, each with a clever twist or sting in its tail. Creepy mountebank Cushing deals the Tarot cards that spell out the grim fates in store; Chris Lee is a pompous art critic wih a handy problem. Also with Michael Gough and introducing a young Donald Sutherland. Dr. Terror's House of Horrors Blu-ray Olive Films 1965 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 98 min. / Street Date October 27, 2015 / available through the Olive Films website / 29.98 <Starring Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, Michael Gough, Donald Sutherland, Alan Freeman, Max Adrian, Roy Castle, Ursula Howells, Neil McCallum, Bernard Lee, Jennifer Jayne, Jeremy Kemp, Harold Lang, Katy Wild, Isla Blair, Al Mulock. Cinematography Alan Hume Film Editor Thelma Cornell Original Music Elizabeth Lutyens Written by Milton Subotsky Produced by Max Rosenberg, Milton Subotsky Directed by...

'Saint Joan': Constance Cummings as the George Bernard Shaw heroine. Constance Cummings on stage: From sex-change farce and Emma Bovary to Juliet and 'Saint Joan' (See previous post: “Constance Cummings: Frank Capra, Mae West and Columbia Lawsuit.”) In the mid-1930s, Constance Cummings landed the title roles in two of husband Benn W. Levy's stage adaptations: Levy and Hubert Griffith's Young Madame Conti (1936), starring Cummings as a demimondaine who falls in love with a villainous character. She ends up killing him – or does she? Adapted from Bruno Frank's German-language original, Young Madame Conti was presented on both sides of the Atlantic; on Broadway, it had a brief run in spring 1937 at the Music Box Theatre. Based on the Gustave Flaubert novel, the Theatre Guild-produced Madame Bovary (1937) was staged in late fall at Broadway's Broadhurst Theatre. Referring to the London production of Young Madame Conti, The...

On Her Majesty’s Secret Service

Written by Richard Maibaum

Directed by Peter Hunt

UK, 1969

To call On Her Majesty’s Secret Service underappreciated is to call the sky blue. Only in the years since the release of Daniel Craig’s introduction to the series, Casino Royale, has Ohmss begun to be reappraised as a realistic, character-driven approach to the Bond series. Its failure at the box office compared to the Connery entries that preceded it led to the producers, Albert “Cubby” Broccoli and Harry Salzman, returning to the Goldfinger formula of larger than life villains, iconic henchmen, ludicrously elaborate take-over-the-world schemes, and a generally heightened sense to the proceedings, all of which are noticeably absent from Ohmss.

Sean Connery had a rough experience during filming of 1967’s You Only Live Twice. The media scrutiny, long filming periods, and promotional duties caused him to leave the role that had made his career.

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A peroxide Terminator, a magnificent M, and stunning set-pieces. We revisit Sam Mendes' first Bond film, Skyfall...

The film: Brilliant first half, problematic second. But even the second half is still pretty good. Manages to celebrate the traditions/clichés of the franchise without ever descending into parody. Stunning set-pieces in Istanbul, Shanghai and Macau showcase the globetrotting and glamour that has served the franchise so well (naturally, we end in Scotland). The plot disappears halfway through and finale is again underwhelming, although less so than the previous Craigs. Ultimately Skyfall is a great Bond film on first watch, a very good one thereafter.

The Villain: A fine antagonist, although certainly not the best ever. The first camp baddie since Wint and Kidd in Diamonds Are Forever (and they were only henchmen). Silva is a heap of fun. His deep, sexy voice charms you, but those cold...

Pierce Brosnan's second outing as James Bond may not be Goldeneye strength, but Tomorrow Never Dies still has its moments...

For many, Tomorrow Never Dies is the forgotten middle child of the Brosnan era. Neither as loved as Goldeneye, nor reviled as Die Another Day, and it doesn’t have Christmas Jones. A muscular, accomplished outing that certainly deserves the prefix 'action' before any mention of 'thriller', Tomorrow Never Dies is the moment Brosnan hit his stride and simultaneously fell over. Great chases, hissable villains and one of the brightest of Bond’s flames in Paris Carver keep this viewer happy. The over-explosive climax and reluctance to experiment hint at trouble ahead.

The villain: I think Rupert’s gonna sue somebody… The antipodean qualities of megalomaniac media mogul Elliot Carver have only grown more pronounced over time. He’s a fine villain in his own right, with that fine...

News of a possible Trainspotting sequel - based on Irvine Welsh's follow-up novel Porno, released in 2002 - has left us climbing on the ceiling with anticipation. Could director Danny Boyle really wrangle together the cast once more? And could Trainspotting 2 - as they definitely won't call it - live up to the hype?

With the 20th anniversary coming up just next year, here's what Spud and company have been up to since they all chose life...

Digital Spy's Porno poster:

The original Trainspotting poster:

1. Robert Carlyle

Character: Francis "Franco" Begbie

Age then: 33

Age now: 54

Biggest acting gigs since: The Full Monty, The World Is Not Enough, Angela's Ashes and TV's Once Upon A Time, Stargate Universe and 24: Redemption

Carlyle joined forces with Boyle again on The Beach, and worked alongside Samuel L Jackson in 51st State, but his "career highlight" has been directing his first film, The Legend of Barney Thomson,...

News of a possible Trainspotting sequel - based on Irvine Welsh's follow-up novel Porno, released in 2002 - has left us climbing on the ceiling with anticipation. Could director Danny Boyle really wrangle together the cast once more? And could Trainspotting 2 - as they definitely won't call it - live up to the hype?

With the 20th anniversary coming up just next year, here's what Spud and company have been up to since they all chose life...

Digital Spy's Porno poster:

The original Trainspotting poster:

1. Robert Carlyle

Character: Francis "Franco" Begbie

Age then: 33

Age now: 54

Biggest acting gigs since: The Full Monty, The World Is Not Enough, Angela's Ashes and TV's Once Upon A Time, Stargate Universe and 24: Redemption

Carlyle joined forces with Boyle again on The Beach, and worked alongside Samuel L Jackson in 51st State, but his "career highlight" has been directing his first film, The Legend of Barney Thomson,...

Martin Campbell's Goldeneye rebooted James Bond, introduced Pierce Brosnan in the role, and proved to be a major hit. We take a look back...

This article contains spoilers for Goldeneye.

Goldeneye: a mostly triumphant return after an extended absence. Far from perfect but its flaws are overwhelmed by the sheer brio of the whole thing, especially once former Bond bestie Alec Trevelyan finally shows face. The reliance on gadgets is just about right (the exploding pen got a Skyfall namecheck) and the action is reliably entertaining. At least provided you can enjoy a tank chase through Moscow - which this writer certainly can. Probably the most loved of the Brosnan Bonds, although arguably Tomorrow Never Dies is a more coherent film (we'll be coming to that one next, of course). But this one had a lot riding on it. After six years it was do or die -...

"Heard of Harry Lime?" Rialto Pictures has debuted a new trailer for the 4K restoration of Carol Reed's classic film noir The Third Man, which will be premiering as a Cannes Classic selection later this month at the festival in France. This just looks so unbelievably stunning in 4K, all the cinematography is fabulous, it looks gorgeous seeing so much depth in the shadows. The cast includes Orson Welles, Joseph Cotten, Alida Valli, Trevor Howard and Bernard Lee. This is one of those classics that if you haven't ever seen, it's always the right time to watch. Or in this case, catch it on the big screen looking better than ever before. Trailer for the Cannes Classics 4K restoration of Carol Reed's The Third Man, found via The Playlist: Pulp novelist Holly Martins travels to shadowy, postwar Vienna, only to find himself investigating the mysterious death of an old friend,...

Max Williams Oct 5, 2019

Dr. No was the first James Bond movie, and it's so good that it kicked off an international phenomenon.

This article comes from Den of Geek UK.

The Film: Where else could we start? This is the one that started it all. The film that paved the way for a global phenomenon. How?

By being very good. Dr. No includes most classic James Bond elements while remaining grounded in reality (relatively speaking). It's not the best Bond, but certainly a contender for top five. Perhaps a little slow for those raised on a diet of Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig. Everyone else is in for a treat.

A good drinking game: take a shot every time the film visually turns into a Stella Artois advert. It'll hurt.

The Villain: Silly name, weird disability, exotic lair – Dr. No scores high in baddie-bingo. It pioneers the rich villainous tradition of cooking Bond dinner,...

By Howard Hughes

(The following review is of the UK release of the film on Region 2 format.)

In Roy Ward Baker’s 1960s comedy-drama Two Left Feet, Michael Crawford plays Alan Crabbe, a clumsy and unlucky-in-love 19-year-old who begins dating ‘Eileen, the Teacup Queen’, a waitress at his local cafe. She lives in Camden Town and there are rumours that she’s married, but that doesn’t seem to alter her behavior. Alan and Eileen travel into London’s ‘Floride Club’, where the Storyville Jazzmen play trad for the groovers and shakers. Eileen turns out to be a ‘right little madam’, who is really just stringing Alan along. She’s the kind of girl who only dates to get into places and then starts chatting to randoms once inside. She takes up with ruffian Ronnie, while Alan meets a nice girl, Beth Crowley. But Eileen holds a strange hold over...

With Hugh Jackman currently negotiating to play Wolverine for a seventh and eighth time, Cinelinx takes a look at actors who’ve played the same role eight times or more. Who has played the same character most often? Come in and find out.

Hugh Jackman has already played Wolverine five times--x-Men (2000), X2: X-Men United (2003) X-Men: The Last Stand (2006), X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009), and The Wolverine (2013)—as well as a cameo in X-Men:First Class (2011). Soon we’ll be seeing him fully clawed again on the big screen in X-Men: Days of Future Past. Recently, he told Collider that he might shoot Wolverine 3 and X-Men: Apocalypse “back-to-back”, which would make a total of eight times (9 times with the cameo) that he’ll portray the Canadian mutant.

You might be thinking “Wow! That’s amazing! I’ve never heard of anyone playing the same role so many times.” Well, for those who may not know it,...

Stars: Peter Cushing, Shane Briant, Madeline Smith, David Prowse, John Stratton, Michael Ward, Elsie Wagstaff, Patrick Troughton, Philip Voss, Bernard Lee | Written by Anthony Hinds | Directed by Terence Fisher

I often pride myself on the fact that I grew up on Hammer films and many of my favourite moments have come from actors such as Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing. As I watched most of the movies for the first time as a child there were some that never really connected me that much, one of them being Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell. As I’ve grown older though and more mature I’ve discovered that the movies I felt were the weakest of Hammer’s collection of horrors are often their strongest. Now that Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell is making its way to Blu-ray, this is my chance to revisit it and give it a second chance.

Bond 24 confirmed for 2015 release with Sam Mendes returning

James Bond: A history from Ian Fleming to Daniel Craig

On Her Majesty's Secret Service might be the sixth instalment in Eon's James Bond series, but for a long time it had the feel of one of the franchise's rogue entries Casino Royale and Never Say Never Again. Two years after Sean Connery signed off his initial 007 run with You Only Live Twice, producers Cubby Broccoli and Harry Saltzman undertook an exhaustive casting search with director Peter Hunt to find a replacement. They believed, rightly, that the role of James Bond was bigger than anyone who played him, and in 1968 George Lazenby - an Australian model with no prior acting experience - was unveiled as the new James Bond at the Dorchester Hotel.

Lazenby, of course, would only play Bond once and Ohmss's failure to set the box office alight meant...

By Lee Pfeiffer 

The three Harry Palmer feature films (The Ipcress File, Funeral in Berlin and Billion Dollar Brain) have had a rather cluttered history in terms of their video releases. Surprisingly, producer Harry Saltzman didn't stick with one studio in terms of their theatrical releases, as he did with the James Bond films which he co-produced with Cubby Broccoli. Instead, each of the Palmer films was financed by and released by a different studio. Thus, in the ensuing decades, the video rights to these films have been convoluted. The titles have remained consistently available to consumers in some countries, while in others (including the USA), they have appeared and disappeared from the marketplace for years at a time. Now the Warner Archive has reissued Paramount's original DVD version of Funeral in Berlin as a burn-to-order title. The original film, The Iprcress File, was internationally acclaimed as the "thinking man's 007" movie.

Humphrey Bogart movies: ‘The Maltese Falcon,’ ‘High Sierra’ (Image: Most famous Humphrey Bogart quote: ‘The stuff that dreams are made of’ from ‘The Maltese Falcon’) (See previous post: “Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall Movies.”) Besides 1948, 1941 was another great year for Humphrey Bogart — one also featuring a movie with the word “Sierra” in the title. Indeed, that was when Bogart became a major star thanks to Raoul Walsh’s High Sierra and John Huston’s The Maltese Falcon. In the former, Bogart plays an ex-con who falls in love with top-billed Ida Lupino — though both are outacted by ingénue-with-a-heart-of-tin Joan Leslie. In the latter, Bogart plays Dashiel Hammett’s private detective Sam Spade, trying to discover the fate of the titular object; along the way, he is outacted by just about every other cast member, from Mary Astor’s is-she-for-real dame-in-distress to Best Supporting Actor Academy Award nominee Sydney Greenstreet. John Huston...

The idea of a Michael Bay film being open to interpretive scrutiny is, quite frankly, so fanciful that it practically defies the laws of our known universe. As his champions are so fond of adamantly stating, his flicks are popcorn movies designed purely for entertainment and occasional pre-pubescent escapist wish fulfillment. But it is a fact that any story, no matter how limited or lacking in gravitas, can be twisted and turned to resemble something else entirely. For some viewers, it is a type of defense mechanism to psychologically overcome the trauma of watching an absolute turd on wheels. Seeking a combination of this factor and a long standing theory among film fanatics, this writer has turned to Bay’s finest film, by which he means the film that he doesn’t completely ruin but could have improved by turning down – The Rock. But this week we won’t be...

For the fans of this wonderful man, which I proudly count myself as one; 26 May 2013 marks the centenary of horror legend Peter Cushing. One of the most versatile actors to grace the big screen, Cushing never gave a single bad performance throughout his 50-year career. A dedicated perfectionist, who believed in giving nothing less than his best effort, Cushing’s 100% commitment always lifted a bad film. The movie may fail him but he would never fail his public.

Cushing began his acting career in repertory theatre and with his legendary one-way ticket to Hollywood, made his film debut in 1939. After a couple of productive years in the States, he worked his way back to England following the outbreak of World War 2. Marrying actress Helen Beck, he worked on stage but struggled to find good roles until he became a member of the RSC under Laurence Oliver. As British TV’s first big star,...

From the very outset of the James Bond film franchise, it was abundantly clear that one of the films’ selling points was the promise that the protagonist, British secret agent James Bond 007, would travel the many foreign, exotic, romantic and dangerous locales around the globe. From the more familiar yet legendary European cities, such as Paris (A View to a Kill) and Venice (Moonraker, Casino Royale), the famous metropolises other continents are known for (New York in Live and Let Die, Tokyo in You Only Live Twice) to the roads less taken which lead to lesser known territories (Jamaica in Dr. Do, Haiti in Quantum of Solace, Iceland in Die Another Day), 007 has fought the forces of evil in just about every corner and every climate. However far and wide the iconic protagonist has ventured in his many adventures, there is one place he is almost certain to visit in every film.

Nowhere to Go (1958) starts well, with an almost nine-minute prison break sequence that's highly unusual because it shows someone breaking into a prison. In this case it's Bernard Lee (M in James Bond) who's the one scaling the wall. Bold? Perhaps...but it certainly sets the tone for what is surely an eventful film...

George Nader plays suave conman Paul Gregory, who latches onto wealthy widow Harriet Johnson because she has a rare coin collection. Posing as a playwright stuck on 'the second act' he arranges the sale of her coins, insisting that he be paid on her behalf in cash for the £50,000. At this point, I could delve further into the plot but...well...I think you can guess the rest.

Jazz fans will enjoy the jazz score by British star Dizzy Reece. Non-jazz fans like me might find it grating at times. Do not watch this movie if you've got a headache.

★★★★☆ Seth Holt's Nowhere to Go (1958), starring George Nader, Maggie Smith and Bernard Lee, is a film which still packs a punch more than fifty years after its initial release. Paul Gregory (Nader) is a crook. Stealing a valuable coin collection from vulnerable widow Harriet Jefferson (Bessie Love), he sells it, puts the money in a safe deposit box and allows himself to be captured. Expecting to get five years maximum, he is shocked when he is jailed for ten. With the help of his friend Victor Sloane (Lee), Paul escapes and goes on the run, in the process meeting socialite Bridget Howard (Smith). Bridget is determined to help Paul, but for how long can they evade the law?

Read more »...

New York — Nothing is so much of a boys' club as a James Bond movie. That is, except when Judi Dench is on screen.

As MI6 head M, Dench has been the Bond matriarch: the strong-willed, no-nonsense mainstay of feminine authority in a movie franchise that has, more often than not, featured slightly more superficial womanly traits.

"Skyfall" is Dench's seventh Bond film, an unimpeachable reign that has encompassed both the Daniel Craig and Pierce Brosnan eras of the British spy. For a number of reasons, "Skyfall" is her most notable Bond film. For the first time, Dench isn't just dictating orders from headquarters, but is thrown directly into the action when a former MI6 agent (Javier Bardem) is bent on revenge against her.

"It's very nice to be out from behind the desk," Dench said in a recent interview by phone from London. "It's extremely nice to get a go in the field,...

On Her Majesty’s Secret Service

Written by Richard Maibaum

Directed by Peter Hunt

UK, 1969

To call On Her Majesty’s Secret Service underappreciated is to call the sky blue. Only in the years since the release of Daniel Craig’s introduction to the series, Casino Royale, has Ohmss begun to be reappraised as a realistic, character-driven approach to the Bond series. Its failure at the box office compared to the Connery entries that preceded it led to the producers, Albert “Cubby” Broccoli and Harry Salzman, returning to the Goldfinger formula of larger than life villains, iconic henchmen, ludicrously elaborate take-over-the-world schemes, and a generally heightened sense to the proceedings, all of which are noticeably absent from Ohmss.

Sean Connery had a rough experience during filming of 1967′s You Only Live Twice. The media scrutiny, long filming periods, and promotional duties caused him to leave the role that had made his career.

No single character that spans more than twenty films can do it on his or her own, and James Bond is no exception. While James Bond is unquestionably the focus of the Bond films, he is supported by various key characters over the years. Some of these characters have been essential in setting him up on his missions, while others have been there to offer comic relief or general background. While James Bond is the only character who has appeared in every single James Bond movie ever made, certain characters have helped in out in almost every one. In fact, if you’re talking the legacy of James Bond, some of the actors behind the supporting characters have been featured in the most movies over the years. When the Bond franchise was rebooted in 2006 with Casino Royale, some of these characters were lost completely while others were left to be introduced in later films, but...

MTV Movies Blog is currently running what we call the Bond-a-Thond. Every Wednesday we're taking a look back at a single (official) Bond film, giving you the vitals and seeing how it holds up, right up until the release of "Skyfall" on November 9. Feel free to watch along with us and share your thoughts or just kick back and enjoy the Bond.

For Your Eyes Only (1981)

Plot: When a piece of top secret tech sinks with the spy ship carrying it, Bond must retrieve the device before it is sold to the highest bidder.

Title Meaning: Melina speaks the title to Bond after disrobing.

Song: "For Your Eyes Only" by Sheena Easton

Bond: Roger Moore

Villain: *Spoilers* Aris Kristatos, a well-respected Greek informant, played by Julian Glover

Bond Girl: Melina, the daughter of two slain archaeologists, played by Carole Bouquet

"Bond, James Bond" Occurrences: 1

Martinis: 0

Card Games: 1

Cigarettes Smoked: 0

Explosions:...

This article contains potential spoilers regarding new James Bond film Skyfall

With Skyfall marking the longest gap between films without changing the lead actor in the James Bond franchise’s long 50 year history, it may just prove to have been the break the series needed to return with the best instalment so far. Here’s why:

1. The A-List Talent

For the first time in the series’ history, the film is directed by an Academy Award winning director. Sam Mendes, whose debut feature American Beauty earned him the Best Director award in 2000, is at the helm of the 23rd Bond film and he has assembled an impressive cast and crew of technical experts and fellow award winners with 35 Academy Award nominations and 5 wins between them. Working from a script by the writers of the previous four films, Neal Purvis and Robert Wade who have also been collaborating with John Logan, one of the writers of Gladiator,...

To mark the 50th Anniversary of one of the most successful movie franchises of all time and with filming complete on James Bond’s 23rd official outing in Skyfall due for release later this year, I have been tasked with taking a retrospective look at the films that turned author Ian Fleming’s creation into one of the most recognised and iconic characters in film history.

Having created James Bond in 1953, Ian Fleming went on to write a total of 14 books featuring the character before his death in 1964. The Eon produced series of films had been using the novels for inspiration since Dr. No in 1962 but as the series approached its fourteenth film, it was running out of original Fleming novels to adapt. Much like previous Bond film Octopussy, the latest film from Albert R. Broccoli’s Eon Productions, A View To A Kill, took its title from one of...

James Bond 007 Declassified File #5:  "You Only Live Twice" This series will trace the cinema history of James Bond, while also examining Ian Fleming's original novels as source material and examining how faithful (or not) the films have been to his work. Directed by Lewis Gilbert Screenplay by Roald Dahl Produced by Harry Saltzman and Cubby Broccoli Characters / Cast James Bond / Sean Connery Ernst Stavro Blofeld / Donald Pleasance Aki / Akiko Wakabayashi Kissy Suzuki / Mie Hama Tiger Tanaka / Tetsuro Tanba Mr. Osato / Teru Shimada Helga Brandt / Karin Dor "M" / Bernard Lee "Q" /...

The Third Man

Directed by Carol Reed

Written by Graham Green

U.K, U.S.A., 1949

*This review will avoid some of the story’s major details

In the years immediately following the second World War, many of Europe’s countries were left in a pile of rubble, their economies destroyed, and their people still reeling from the all too real nightmare they had endured for 6 long years. Even some of Europe’s most historic, near-mythic cities had been the victim of intensive bombing or urban warfare, or both in the worst cases. Among said cities which were forced to endure a period of strenuous recovery was Austria’s capital, Vienna. Vienna was in an even greater political quagmire than Berlin. While the latter was occupied by two of WWII’s victorious nations, Vienna had four adoptive fathers, the British, the French, the United States and the Soviet Union. What greater setting,...