Marketing Guides: Thunderball and You Only Live Twice

Last December I compiled a marketing guide for "Thunderball" as a Christmas gift for my close collector friends. Things got a bit out of hand and I ended up with 118 pages to cover every country and item that I knew off. And now the Corona lockdown gave me the time to create the same for “You Only Live Twice”. Both are non-commercial projects for fun.  

Original Thunderball Frank McCarthy Artwork

Original painting by Frank McCarthy for "Thunderball", 60 x 90 cm, casein on illustration board

From The Nixdorf Collection

Unused OHMSS Artwork

Unused artwork for "On Her Majesty's Secret Service", unknown artist. 

Thanks to Marc and Thomas for sharing this!

Interview with Tony Seiniger

Tony Seiniger had a long and distinguished career in advertising starting film advertising in New York while working for a television commercial production company and eventually his own film advertising agency called Seiniger Advertising in Los Angeles.



Q: How were you involved in the James Bond marketing campaigns / who approached you?
TS: I was approached by the advertising executives at United Artists based in New York. Even though I was based in California, they said that they were looking for "new blood" to work on the upcoming Bond movie "Moonraker."  I found out later why they were looking for new blood.


Q: After the success of "Star Wars" (1977) the Bond producers decided to continue with a space themed 007 movie. What was the challenge?
TS: The challenge was very simple. United Artists flew me to Paris to meet with Cubby Broccoli, the film's producer. We had a very brief meeting at the Boulogne Studios. Mr. Broccoli told me that he had been very dissatisfied with the poster art done for the previous Bond film, "The Spy Who Loved Me." He said, "Roger didn't look like Roger." He went on to tell me that he didn't care what idea I came up with, that he didn't care about the concept, only that "Roger should look like Roger."

With Mr. Broccoli's concerns in mind, I knew that a good photography session had to occur. I went back to Paris, and I worked with the unit stills photographer, David James. We spent most of a day photographing Roger Moore, in a variety of poses, one of which was the down angle that would be needed to successfully illustrate the "Bond as a rocket" concept that became the US teaser poster. Mr. Moore was extremely cordial and cooperative, as long as we kept him amply supplied with No.1 Special Montecristo cigars.


Q: Why was Dan Goozeé chosen as illustrator?
TS:  Dan was selected as the illustrator because of his commitment to detail, and his sense of responsibility. Many illustrators back then were very flaky, especially when it came to deadlines. Dan was always someone I could count upon. In today's digital world, I would not have used an illustrator. With the quality of photography I had from the photo session in Paris, I could have executed the "rocket" concept in Photoshop, utilizing a stock NASA photograph of Earth. But this was 1979, long before Photoshop. I did not assign any other illustrators, but since every distribution territory had the right to execute their own versions of the main campaign art, there were many other illustrators involved in "Moonraker" on a world-wide basis.

Q: Dan Goozeé painted the two advance poster artworks and the final finished 1-Sheet art. Who was the illustrator of the design showing space paddles with action scenes ?
TS:  I believe this art was executed by one of the "foreign' territories, not United Artists in the US.



Q: When you heard the title "Octopussy" for the first time what were your thoughts?
TS:  I had not read any of the Ian Fleming books, so I knew nothing about "Octopussy." It wasn't until I read the script that I realized Octopussy was the name of the lead female character.

Q: Who came up with the brilliant idea of showing Octopussy inspired by indian goddess Durga-Shakti with 8 arms ?

TS:  The idea was obvious to me. "Octo" meaning eight. "Pussy" referring to Maude Adams. So Maude Adams with eight arms. I was not inspired by the Indian goddess at all.






Q: Any recollections why this illustration was not widely used ?

TS: I had nothing to do with this piece. But if you look at the figure of Bond, it's clearly taken from the key art for "Live and Let Die." the first Roger Moore Bond film. It may have been an early teaser poster concept executed by an agency in New York.




Q: The teaser design also is very clever showing Octopussy from behind and 13 times James Bond. Along with a great tagline. Who came up with this idea to hide the identity of Octopussy? 
TS:  My idea was to convey that "Octopussy" was the 13th Bond film. Since Maude Adams was NOT a movie star, the emphasis had to be on Bond, not her.











Q: A View To A Kill has a very innovative poster campaign. Who came up with this great idea?
TS:  Again, the concepts for all these Bond posters came out of my head, for better or for worse. Grace Jones had collaborated with a brilliant photographer/graphic designer named Jean-Paul Goude. Together they created striking images of Grace; distorted and exaggerated, but beautiful at the same time. These images were my inspiration for how Grace should be portrayed on the back-to-back poster. Her legs are extended way beyond normal human proportions. And so were Roger's. He had to be a bit taller than Grace.



Q: The movie was Roger Moore's last Bond. Did you know that when preparing the campaign and if yes did it have an impact ?
TS:  We all knew this was going to be Roger's last Bond film. He was nearing 60 years old, a bit old to play Bond, but the Broccolis did not have a ready replacement. They always wanted Pierce Brosnan, but he was tied up with a very lengthy commitment to the TV series "Remington Steele." That's how Timothy Dalton got his two Bond films. The Broccolis had to wait almost ten years for Pierce to be free to play Bond.

Q: Dan Goozeé was again responsible for the posters. Focus was on perspective & location with the Eiffel Tower and the Gold Gate Bridge. Any anecdotes as for the developments of these?
TS:  We had developed a "forced perspective" look with the "Moonraker" teaser poster. There was a very conscious decision on my part to revisit that look for "A View to a Kill." We decided to push this concept as far as we could. The Paris and San Francisco locations are in the film, but never as we portrayed them. We just took it to the limit. After all, James Bond was a cartoon character. At least until the Timothy Dalton films. And Daniel Craig has done even more to dispel the cartoon image.


Q: Any involvements in the “white tuxedo” style which is also pictured in my book or was it done for UK & Japanese markets only ? Note: painted by Brian Bysouth based on a design by Vic Fair.
TS: I had nothing to do with this poster. But remember, the individual territories (countries) releasing these films had the right to create posters that they felt would best appeal to their market.


Thanks to Thomas from the Nixdorf Collection for sharing this interview! He interviewed Tony in 2012.

Diamonds Are Forever Concept Artwork

Concept artwork, signed by Robert McGinnis for "Diamonds Are Forever", gouache and mixed media on board, 96 x 62 cm. Currently up for auction at Bonhams.

The Other Thunderball “Look Down

American artist Frank McCarthy created the iconic “Look Down” artwork in 1965 for the film “Thunderball” But there is a lesser known alternative for this artwork which was used in the US 24 sheet and the French 8 panneaux.

Sketches for this artwork were recently unearthed by enthusiast Adrian Olivera.He recently came into the hobby through a stroke of luck, having acquired a collection of 1960's era MGM artwork. The collection consisted of pieces from films such as Where Eagles Dare, Ice Station Zebra, and Doctor Zhivago. Many artists were represented, including Howard Terpning, Frank Frazetta, Bob Peak, and Frank McCarthy. This find ignited his interest in movie artwork, and especially those of Frank McCarthy. His pursuit of more artwork led to the preliminary discovery.

These preliminaries provide a fascinating insight into the creative process:
McCarthy seems to have started with a much darker, bluer version of the artwork measuring 14" x 23", painted on artist vellum.This first version included much more details such as parachutes
and an airplane seen through the water.

A note on the back – presumably feedback from the art director (Donald Smolen?) – gives change instructions including “lighter water“.

Consequently McCarthy created a second version of the painting. The sketches were done on semi-transparent artist vellum, which gives an interesting insight into his work style: The back reveals that he first blotted out the broad composition with bold colours and then painted the details.

The resulting artwork is very detailed and highly dynamic with a lot of depth.

This pure version was rarely used. The only example I’m aware of is the Milton Bradley Thunderball game.

The published artwork is actually combination of the two artworks – Connery fighting the diver from the regular “Look Down” and this artwork. More details about this in this previous post:
http://illustrated007.blogspot.co.uk/2011/05/split-artwork.html

Thanks and credits to Thomas from the Nixdorf Collection and Adrian for sharing this!
To view more McCarthy drafts, please visit the following links:
Frank McCarthy Movie Poster Drafts
Frank McCarthy Round 2!

From Russia With Love Tribute

Concept tribute artwork for "From Russia With Love". I always thought that the helicopter scene would make an interesting action piece. This is the first stage concept. Needs some tweaking.

The Man With The Golden Eye

"The Man With The Golden Eye", Peter Lamont, Signum Books 2016

Casino Royale Artwork by McGinnis

Illustration by Robert McGinnis depicting Daniel Craig in "Casino Royale" 

Thank to Thomas from the Nixdorf Collection for sharing this!

Interview with artist Paul Mann

Artist Paul Mann kindly gave me an interview about his work and recent commission.

Q: What inspired you to become an artist?
Answer Paul Mann:I feel I was born with the desire to be an artist. As a small child I was always drawing and very much encouraged by my family. As I grew that desire in me grew.  My family and friends gave me such positive support and praise that I knew this was my calling in life.


Q: You mention on FB that you collect art yourself. What fascinates you about pop culture art?
Answer PM: As a young child I remember seeing Frank McCarthy's Thunderball movie poster.  The poster showing the underwater attack scene with Bond in his orange wet suit struggling with another diver. 

That image inspired me and I knew that someday that would be the type of art I wanted to do.  Throughout my life I have collected some of the original artwork of my favorite artists, of the fifties and sixties. I love the images of rugged men and beautiful women. Two of my favorite artists are Robert McGinnis and Frank McCarthy who also painted the early Bond posters. That era fascinates me because of the quality of artists and the work they were able to produce. Unfortunately it is becoming a lost art. There are very few artists around that can produce such work.

Q: What is your preferred painting medium?
Answer PM: I work in oils, gouache, and acrylic, I'm comfortable with all three mediums but my favorite would be gouache and acrylic. There is no wait time for the paint to set up as with oil because of that I can paint very fast with them and control the paint which gives me the results I want.






You recently completed a commission for a McCarthy-style “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service” artwork, please tell us about that.
Answer PM: Yes, I've been working with a client who is a big Bond collector in Germany. It's really neat to get to paint anything dealing with the early Bond movies.I'm a huge fan of the artist Frank McCarthy and Robert McGinnis. They were the guys who painted the best of the early Bond art movie posters. To get to illustrate "On Her Majesty Secret Service" in a Frank McCarthy Style gives me a new appreciation of how darn good he was. These are hard illustrations to do there is a lot happening in them, lots of figures and lots of action. To be able to catch the flavor of McCarthy's poster work is a real challenge but very rewarding when I see the end product.


Q: How do you interpret the briefing and communicate your ideas to the client?
Answer PM: The client had a pretty good idea of what he wanted the art to consist of, I did my best to put together on paper what the client is seeing in his head.  I sent the client images of my sketches. The client then communicated back to me if there were things to change or move.  Such as angles, colors, and so forth.  I  then incorporated those ideas back into my sketch until we had figured it all out.  Again these illustrations are not easy to put together and it can take some time to come up with a good sketch that works.

Q: What is your process?
Answer PM: I always start with some simple doodles to get a basic design working and the placement of people and objects.

Next I will call in models and do a photo session, with those photos and any other scrap I have I will put together a simple but accurate line drawing.  Sometimes I may have to draw this out several times before I can get everything to fit nicely and work as a design.  Once the client okay's the sketch I go to a full color comp. This is where I want to make sure everything is working, that everything is sized right and that the color comes together.  I do take time to do a nice and finished color rough.  

Once okayed by the client I go to the finished art which will be much larger than my colored sketch.  I grid off the board I will be painting on and also my color sketch so I can make sure all objects will line up exactly the same on my final painting board as they did on my color sketch.  My finished art is usually done on illustration board or Masonite panel. Using my color rough as a reference I will start blocking the larger color masses in.  Knocking in the background color first and working from background to foreground. I will begin painting in all objects one by one, people, cars, helicopters, buildings until it all comes together.

Q: The artwork features a lot of different elements. What do you use as a reference?
Answer PM: That's always a challenge; first I look at all photos that I can find on the internet from the movie.  I do this to see if there is anything I can use as a good reference.  Usually there is very little I feel that will work for me.  I have to have the best reference material I can find or photograph my own figure scrap.  

I will bring into the studio models in costumes to pose and photograph.  It might be someone in a dark suit I will photograph him in the position that I need and then add the real Bond's head onto the body or my model will be wearing a military style outfit that is close to what was worn in the movie. This may mean a trip to the army surplus to find costuming.  I will hand my model a toy machine gun that I spray painted black to make it look authentic.  

I then have him stand on a large sheet of plywood with one end elevated about two feet off the ground so he is standing on a slanted surface.  It’s a lot of work which the client is not aware of but it does give me the material I need to do the art.

Q: Did the artwork change while you were painting it?
Answer PM: Yes, I was not happy with the Bond head I had, so I changed to a different head which worked much better.  You can let some things slide a little bit but never on a head.  It has to be right on and look like the character. The client also had one change he wanted a little surprise in it.  If you look close in the upper windows of the Piz Gloria you will see it.

Q: What are the finishing touches for the artwork?
Answer PM:The client asked me to add more fighting figures in the painting and to have snow blowing up from under the helicopter.  Adding the blowing snow worried me a little because if I over did it my people at the bottom of the art would disappear.  I tried to add enough to make the client happy but not too much that I lost the figures.  The snow was a good call on my client’s part it helped Bond pop out more.

Big thanks to Paul for his interview and Thomas from the Nixdorf Collection for sharing the commissioned artwork!

You Only Live Twice Tribute Art

Tribute artwork for "You Only Live Twice" by Paul Mann. 60 x 90 cm, oil on illustration board. 
This artwork was comissioned by Thomas from the  "The Nixdorf Collection"

Artist Paul Mann in his studio.

Interview with Bond Poster Model Cindy Wirth

Model Cindy R Wirth modeled for the poster artwork for “Never Say Never Again”, painted by Rudy Obrero. In this interview she shares her memories of her time as a Bond girl.

How did you get involved in posing for the Never Say Never Again, James Bond poster? Were you recommended by a casting or modeling agency ?
At the time I was with the Wilhelmina agency in Los Angeles working as a top fashion model. I was losing my designer clients due to my passion for my daily gym workouts. It was the time of the anorexic size “00” models. I no longer needed shoulder pads, I had muscles. 

Alternatively, I started working as a fitness model. The photographer, Bernard Boudreau who shot the stills for the  Never Say Never Again poster was a credited Weider Muscle and Fitness Magazine photographer. Bernard asked me to come in for the castings for Never Say Never Again.  The Advertising Agency was New York West in Hollywood.  Their offices were near the famous Capital Records Building. Bernard cast me as the body double for Domino played by Kim Basinger and Fitima Blush  played by Barbara Carrera.

Did the photographer or advertising agency provide wardrobe for the shoot?
No, I arrived at the shoot in a hot pink  leotard, a scissored cut t-shirt  ( no bra ) leg warmers and high heels.  But everyone in LA ran around in leotards and high heels, it  was the 80’s.  At the time, I was designing a bodywear line called Bodyrapp which I later sold to REEBOK in 1987.  The hot pink leotard was a new tanga style with suspenders similar to a man’s wrestling suit. I designed Bodyrapp in 1983.    

Therefore, there is no doubt that my photos were used by Rudy Obero in the final poster.  The movie, Never Say Never Again was still filming at the time of my photo shoot and often the ad agency for the film company does not have access to the  actual film as the advertising campaigns are done sometimes even before filming.   

New York West advertising artist Rudy Obero could have only worked from the photo stills from the poster shoot.  Never Say Never Again  was the return of Sean Connery as 007 after a 12 year absence.   A few years later I met Sean Connery at the home of a journalist from Paris Match and challenged him to a game of billards and won!!!  With his wife Micheline in the wings and friends in common, I felt it was best to stop at one victory!! However bragging about beating James Bond in billiards isn’t nearly as exciting as bedding James Bond.

Are there any other photos from the  photo shoots with Bernard Boudreau?
The only reason I have the photo used for the Never Say Never Again poster is that I asked Bernard to take a few shots of me in my tanga leotard for my fitness line.  Otherwise the agency is given the rolls of film and they process them and select apart from the photographer. The agency selects what photos to give the artist.  The artist creates his designs from the different poses in the photo stills and creates a composition layout for approval.  It’s rare that any of the original photo stills would be available.

Did posing as a James Bond girl change your life?

Well it certainly improved my billard game!!  The irony is that Bernard Boudreau was hired that same year to shoot the photo stills for the poster for  another James Bond film, Octopussy starring Roger Moore. Both films were being released in 1983.   Bernard cast me again for the body double this time as Octopussy played by  Maude Adams.  In this shoot Bernard provided Frederick’s of Hollywood gold stillettos and a long red satin negligee with thigh high slits on both sides.  I had to stand behind a mannequin wielding various toy weapons, a ball and a martini glass keeping the now famous “Angelina Jolie extended leg pose” in view.  There are no existing stills from this shoot.  Usually we shot Poloroids as a light test but we never thought to keep them.  Dan Goozee’ did the final art on Octopussy.  I don’t remember what advertising agency handled the Octopussy campaign.

Did you ever dream of being a Bond  girl?
Well since the last James Bond movie, SPECTRE cast 50 year old Monica Bellucci and Kim Basinger just signed a modeling contract at age 60 we can always still hope.

Model Cindy R Wirth lives in Italy.  In 2014, a  photo series of Cindy; Dames des Dunes taken by Italian photographer Azzurra Piccardi won the PX Prix de La Photographie Paris People’s Choice Award.   Her past work includes photo sessions with Helmut Newton, Herb Ritts and Harry Langdon. Cindy continues to work as a body model in 2016.


Thank you to Cindy and Thomas from the Nixdorf Collection for sharing this interview!

Italian Moonraker artwork

Artwork for "Moonraker" by the Italian artists Enzo Sciotti. Thanks to Thomas from The Nixdorf Collection for sharing this.

Spectre Artwork

Artwork for "Spectre" by Chris Malbon. Check out his work here.

Concept Artwork by Bob Peak

Concept artwork by Bob Peak for "The Spy Who Loved Me"

Thanks to Thomas from the Nixdorf Collection for sharing these!

Bond By Design

"Bond By Design - The Art of the James Bond Films" Large format hardcover in slip case, Meg Simmonds, Dorling Kindersley 2015.