Eight arms to hold you

Courtesy of some British friends of the times ( Ross Hendry... ) ,some exclusive pics of the 1983 Octopussy Royale Premiere at the Odeon Leicester Square , of course .

Inc. a pic of a young & dashing would-be journalist , proudly posing in front of an Octopussy Leicester Square panel some days later ( yeah ,well, wasn't invited to the Premiere...Sigh... )

( All pictures & comments copyrighted Media Bis 2009 )

Yes we Cannes ! The Spy Who Loved Me 1976 promotion

In May 1976 , newly appointed solo producer Cubby Broccoli took his team to the Cannes Film Festival for a bit of chit chat with the international Press .

As usual, the Carlton hotel entrance was decorated with a teaser poster of the upcoming 10th James Bond film ( with that infamous ' heart ' logo - fortunately dropped for the final poster ! ) .

Posted here is a pic originally published in the french newspaper ' Nice Matin ' , and apparently taken at the ' Résidence du Cap d'Antibes ' - the ultra private high standard hotel situated a few miles from Cannes and home of the most famous Stars during the Festival . Life seems tough enough for the Producer and his main Star...

A View To Deauville

September 85 . The Deauville American Film Festival welcomes the Bond circus .

To promote the nearby french release of AVTAK ( retitled in French...' Dangerously Yours ' ! ) ,an Eon task force is sent to Normandy . Composed of Cubby Broccoli, Roger Moore, John Glen and Fiona Fullerton .

The Artistes Assoçiés France ( french branch of United Artists ) rented an helicopter decorated with the film logos ( gun-barrel + french title ) to take the guests directly to the Palais des Festival .

Cannot honestly remember anything interesting from that Press conference ( except the usual joking attitude of Roger Moore ) .

Must say I had been slightly disappointed with the Press screening of the movie , cringing at the pre-credits sequence and ( heavily ) sighing during the whole film...

Had the good fortune of being granted an interview with the lovely Fiona Fullerton ...

Once a Fan...always a Fan !

Still on that NSNA time capsule .

Don't know about other countries , but in France the film was given the full red carpet treatment ( as opposed to Octopussy which was released with a normal campaign ) , with official Gala screening on les Champs Elysées , etc.

Having established myself as some kind of ' Bond expert ' , I was fortunate enough to be invited to the official Press conference which happened a few days earlier . In attendance were announced Sir Sean ( and Micheline ) , Irvin Keshner , the delicious Saskia Cohen Tanugi ( French contact Nicole on the Côte D'Azur ) ,etc.,etc...

To say that I was more than thrilled to attend was the understatement of the year ...

Anyway , after the conference , there was some private V.I.Ps only cocktail organized on the roof terrace ...For which I had also received an invitation .

Believe it or not , I was so impressed to be in the very same room than Sir Sean...That I simply couldn't decide to go & present myself . His wife Micheline noticed me somehow and very kindly signaled me to approach her mega star husband . I must have appeared like a complete fool since I only manage to mutter between grinded teeth something like ' I love your work . great film . Congrats '...And didn't even thought of asking for an autograph on my Invitation !!!!!

And wait , the very same thing repeated itself years later at the Cannes Film Festival , where I attended the ' Entrapment ' movie Press Conference , AND again was fortunate enough to be near the Scot Star at the very end of his speech . So close I would have had just to strech my arm and present him something to sign ...Ah...Couldn't forced myself to do it again ...

Sir Sean is really the ONLY actor so far I'm so impressed with I seem to loose all normal behaviour when confronted with him , and became a 10 years old boy again ...

The NSNA not-so-faifhfull review Affair

Way back in Summer 1983 , I was starting to write ' professionnal ' film reviews in various French movie magazines ( amongst them the newly born ' Mad Movies ' ) . Already a James Bond Fan for many years, I couldn't miss the opportunity of seeing the two new films of that peculiar year in Bondage history .

I went to London by June and paid a visit to the Leceister square Odeon - and then managed to get my hands on an enormous UK Never Say Never Again press-kit, courtesy of those nice people at Warner .

Back in Paris I was asked by some editors to write a comparative review of the two Bonds , despite not having seen the Connery one .

So, bodly using the Press notes , I managed to deliver a rather fair critic ...So fair indeed that the Warner Bros French P.R dpt. decided to use my own synopsis for the French NSNA Press Kit ...Halas , it turns out my imagination had run a bit wild and, quite honestly , that synopsis bears significant differences with the real script of the movie...

For instance ,I naively wrote about the theft of two...H Bombs ( no doubt influenced by the original Fleming treatment ! ) ...

Haven't received so far any complaint from anyone , so it must have slipped under the radar !!!!

This is It ! ( What ? Title already taken ? Awww...)

This is it !

Thousands hours in the making , tons of films reviewed ...

This Blog will consist of various critics , memories, anecdotes and little known behind the scene stories I experienced while reviewing the Bond saga since 1983...

Hope you'll enjoy it , and looking forward to some interesting comments of your own !