THE INSIDE STORY OF HOW "SPECTRE" ALMOST NEVER MADE IT TO THEATERS

It’s not a TOTALLY unknown story, but it might be news to you since it happened over half a century ago. See if you can follow how Kevin McClory helped create James Bond‘s nemesis, Blofeld, the evil organization SPECTRE, and almost derailed the whole Bond franchise…

Author Ian Fleming and Kevin McClory first met in 1958 at a screening of The Boy and The Bridge, which McClory had co-written, directed and produced. At the time, Fleming had unsuccessfully tried to get all seven of his Bond novels turned into movies but the closest he had come to success was in 1954; when he sold the rights to Casino Royale to CBS for $1,000. (That’s a whole ‘nother story…) McClory’s existence and disappearance have been marred in controversy since ’61 when Ian Fleming’s novel Thunderball novel neglected to credit (and compensate) SPECTRE’s cocreator: Kevin McClory. It was McClory who suggested to Fleming that they take James Bond into an underwater world, as well as create a super-villain character, Ernst Stavro Blofeld. This nemesis would be a diabolical, intelligent, seemingly invincible mastermind. Fleming said in 1959,

“…the trouble with writing something, especially for the screen, is I haven’t a single idea in my head.”

Fleming and McClory began work on a script in ’59 and were later joined by British screenwriter Jack Whittingham. The script included the introduction of SPECTRE and Ernst Stavro Blofeld. As Kevin McClory and Jack Whittingham were completing the Thunderball script, Fleming sent a draft copy to his agent, Lawrence Evans.

The novel Thunderball was published in ’61, based entirely on McClory and Whittingham’s script, without the knowledge or consent of the coauthors. In March of ’61, McClory and Whittingham filed a lawsuit against Fleming, citing a breach of copyrights, breach of confidence, conversion, of contract, false representation of authorship and slander of title. The trial was held at the High Court in London in November 1963 and lasted for 9 days. During it, Fleming admitted to the court that he had indeed based the Thunderball novel on Whittingham and McClory’s scripts, and agreed to publicly acknowledge this fact.

The court ordered Fleming to assign and sell the film copyright of the novel Thunderball and all copyrights in the screenplay to McClory and under the order of the court, Fleming gave appropriate authorship acknowledgement in all future editions of Thunderball.

Left to right, Ian Fleming, Harry Saltzman and Albert R. “Cubby” Broccoli.

Kevin McClory has a brief cameo in Thunderball when he appears as a guest smoking a cigar as 007 enters the Nassau casino.

But in ’61, despite the ongoing legal dispute, producers Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman, together with United Artists, commissioned Richard Maibaum to write a screenplay based on the Thunderball novel. They had no assignment of film rights from Fleming, McClory or Whittingham. They intended to film Thunderball as the first in a series of James Bond movies and they even used the script to lure Sean Connery to the series, who is quoted as saying,

“The first James Bond film which I was hired for was Thunderball for United Artists and the first [Bond] script I was given to read by Broccoli and Saltzman’s company was Thunderball.”

Because of the lawsuit, they were not able to use the script as the first Bond film, but elements of Thunderball were incorporated into the first film Dr. No, most importantly, the introduction of SPECTRE. 

More lawsuits followed and, eventually, Kevin McClory was given the full rights to SPECTRE and the Thunderball story. This settlement resulted in Never Say Never Again, a 1983 spin off Bond film, produced by McClory, famous for bringing Sean Connery back to the series.

In the decades that followed, various rumors were heard about McClory creating another unofficial film. After decades of lawsuits, Kevin McClory died on November 20, 2006, and the rights to Thunderball, Blofeld and SPECTRE passed on to his estate. In 2013, McClory’s family finally agreed to return those rights to MGM and the creators of all official Bond films. The agreement finally put an end to the 50 year-old rivalry and paved the way for the film being released today, which contrary to some reports just might feature Christophe Walz as Blofeld. (if they own the name, why wouldn’t they use it?) The tile of the film? SPECTRE.

A photoshopped Walz as Bond nemesis, Ernst Stavro Blofeld, as played by Donald Pleasance

(via Universal Exports)

CASA BRUTALE IS A 21ST CENTURY BOND VILLIAN PAD

Intended as a sideways wink to the infamous Casa Malaparte on the eastern side of the Italian island of Capri, Casa Brutale is an unbuilt and innovative wood, glass, and concrete design that converges with the surrounding earth offering amazing views of the Aegean from its cliffside perch. A glass-bottom swimming pool on the roof is a poetic continuation of the blue sky and sea. This liquid design element also functions as a skylight that illuminates the minimalist interiors below which feature a massive glass facade that will someday frame the beauty of the ocean views, if it ever gets built. Fifty steps lead down to the entrance — an rotating door of vintage wood — while the bare concrete and wooden planks of the interior are a nod to the the brutalist movement. It’s 21st century Bond. Just add helicopter and a Tesla, a Rothko, Dom and a sexy companion. I know, you can already see the demise of our villain as Bond flies away in the helicopter with the girl, and fires a parting shot into the pool…

HERE'S GRACE: MISS JONES, THE ORIGINAL FIERCE DIVA, IS WRITING HER MEMOIRS

The Grace Jones story is coming this fall. OK. I am always amazed but some children do NOT know who Grace is. The model/actress/singer’s much-anticipated memoir, I’ll Never Write My Memoirs, will certainly set some of the record straight. Jones explains the title; 

“I wrote a song called Art Groupie. First line said ‘I’ll never write my memoirs’ — that was a long time ago. Since then, I thought, if I don’t do it, somebody else will.” 

The Jamaican-born Jones came to the U.S. as a teenager and worked as a model at just 17. She modeled in Paris for Yves Saint-Laurent, was roommates with model Jerry Hall (formerly Mick Jagger‘s lover and baby mama, you know) and had sleepovers with another former model, Jessica Lange. She came back NYC, released three albums, collaborated with Andy Warhol and was a fixture a Studio 54. She was also famously the muse of French visual genius Jean-Paul Goude (who helped Kim K and Paper break the internet recently) and had a third career as an actress, appearing in Conan the Destroyer (with Schwarzenegger) and as Bond villain in A View to a Kill. 

The stories of her wild days are LEGENDARY. I had my own run-in with her not that long ago when my old pal Maripol had a book party. You can read it all here if you care, but the gist of it is she was mad I took a picture of them, smacked my iPhone out of my hand (twice) bit my cheek, and tried to grab my crotch. Should I ever write my own, that’ll go in MY memoirs. The book will published by Gallery on September 29. Watch the video below by Jean-Paul Goude and don’t be shocked. He plays with race, gender all in his own style and uses a willing Grace and her song, Slave To the Rhythm.

#PADDLE 8: VINTAGE POSTER ART FROM CHINATOWN TO CIAO, MANHATTAN

Normally, I would encourage people to buy original art, not posters but these all have great “wall appeal”. (I still miss my Warhol Trash poster, not the one here, a better one. I gave it to my ex. I think I want it back, the poster, that is.) Well, here’s a curated selection of iconic posters on Paddle 8, priced from a just a couple hundred – $200 starting bid on the I Shot Andy Warhol to $11,500 for Dr. No. Here’s a tip; framing MAKES the piece. Don’t cheap out. Have it floated in a 1″ deep painted black or white wooden frame. It’s looks SO much better than using a mat or smashing it under plexiglass. Don’t use glass. The Paddle 8 auction ends Tuesday, January 20. You can go here to here to bid and/or see more great examples.