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Guns, Girls, and Gadgets: Sixties Spy Films Uncovered

Posted: Fri Oct 29, 2021 4:41 pm
by Drake
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http://quoitmedia.co.uk/gunsgirlsgadgets.htm

After working on this project for several years, my sixties spy film book, now called Guns, Girls and Gadgets: Sixties Spy Films Uncovered will eventually see light of day, hopefully being printed in December by Quoit Media.

The book covers 50 films in detail, (all the movies of the main sixties spy film franchises Bond, U.N.C.L.E., Matt Helm, Harry Palmer, Derek Flint, Bulldog Drummond) including behind the scenes, alternate casting choices, filming locations, production dates, censorship and merchandising.

Each chapter begins with a teaser of the film’s storyline designed to interest the reader and make them continue reading, but not giving away the ending so readers can still watch and enjoy the movie, even using the book as a guide while watching. The chapter then continues, giving information on the original novel that the picture is based on, or if the production featured an original character and screenplay then how the concept came into being. All the chapters give an overview of chronological events, which continue with an explanation on how the senior production crew came together and how financial backing for the movie was obtained.

The story of how the picture was assembled continues with writing and rewriting the script and how the project was developed, before progressing into pre-production and casting. From here things continue with location filming (both in the UK and worldwide), behind the scenes and studio-bound interior filming. Going further, tailored effects are highlighted including the hero’s vehicles and firearms that are all name-checked. Attention is also given to censorship issues and in all instances the original UK cinema release dates are given.

There is also a listing of the credited cast and production crew, plus uncredited cast and crew. This section is then followed by the listing of merchandise associated with the film including spin-off paperback books, 7 inch vinyl singles, soundtracks on both LP record and CD, plus DVD and Blu-ray releases all complete with dates of issue.

CONTENTS

01 DR NO (1st James Bond film)

02 FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE (2nd James Bond film)

03 HOT ENOUGH FOR JUNE

04 TO TRAP A SPY (1st The Man from U.N.C.L.E. film)

05 GOLDFINGER (3rd James Bond film)

06 CARRY ON SPYING

07 MASQUERADE

08 THE SPY WITH MY FACE (2nd The Man from U.N.C.L.E. film)

09 THE IPCRESS FILE (1st Harry Palmer film)

10 THE INTELLIGENCE MEN

11 WHERE THE SPIES ARE

12 THE SPY WHO CAME IN FROM THE COLD

13 THUNDERBALL (4th James Bond film)

14 OUR MAN FLINT (1st Derek Flint film)

15 THE LIQUIDATOR

16 ARABESQUE

17 A MAN COULD GET KILLED

18 THE SILENCERS: (1st Matt Helm film)

19 MODESTY BLAISE

20 ONE SPY TOO MANY (3rd The Man from U.N.C.L.E. film)

21 ONE OF OUR SPIES IS MISSING (4th The Man from U.N.C.L.E. film)

22 THE DEADLY AFFAIR

23 FUNERAL IN BERLIN (2nd Harry Palmer film)

24 THE DOUBLE MAN

25 THE VENETIAN AFFAIR

26 THE QUILLER MEMORANDUM

27 DEADLIER THAN THE MALE (1st Bulldog Drummond film)

28 THE SPY WITH A COLD NOSE

29 IN LIKE FLINT (2nd Derek Flint film)

30 THE MILLION EYES OF SUMARU

31 YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE (5th James Bond film)

32 MURDERERS’ ROW (2nd Matt Helm film)

33 THE NAKED RUNNER

34 THE SPY IN THE GREEN HAT (5th The Man from U.N.C.L.E. film)

35 OPERATION KID BROTHER

36 ASSIGNMENT K

37 BILLION DOLLAR BRAIN (3rd Harry Palmer film)

38 THE KARATE KILLERS (6th The Man from U.N.C.L.E. film)

39 A DANDY IN ASPIC

40 DANGER ROUTE

41 THE AMBUSHERS (3rd Matt Helm film)

42 ICE STATION ZEBRA

43 THE HELICOPTER SPIES (7th The Man from U.N.C.L.E. film)

44 HAMMERHEAD

45 HOW TO STEAL THE WORLD (8th The Man from U.N.C.L.E. film)

46 OTLEY

47 SOME GIRLS DO: (2nd Bulldog Drummond film)

48 THE WRECKING CREW (4th Matt Helm film)

49 THE CHAIRMAN

50 ON HER MAJESTY’S SECRET SERVICE (6th James Bond film)

Re: Guns, Girls, and Gadgets: Sixties Spy Films Uncovered

Posted: Fri Oct 29, 2021 5:07 pm
by Kristatos
Oh wow, that's definitely going on my Christmas list. Thanks for posting.

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Re: Guns, Girls, and Gadgets: Sixties Spy Films Uncovered

Posted: Sat Oct 30, 2021 1:14 pm
by Drake
Kristatos

Happy to hear that. Five years in the researching and writing and I watched all 50 films.

Re: Guns, Girls, and Gadgets: Sixties Spy Films Uncovered

Posted: Tue Nov 02, 2021 4:11 am
by bjmdds
The Matt Helm, Flint, and Bond films (without Cr-egg) are always on my watch list Drake.

Re: Guns, Girls, and Gadgets: Sixties Spy Films Uncovered

Posted: Tue Nov 02, 2021 6:20 pm
by Drake
bjmdds

The book looks at the sixties cycle of spy and secret agent movies that was kick-started by Dr No and From Russia with Love. Researching and writing it took me five years, so its been a real labour of love.

Re: Guns, Girls, and Gadgets: Sixties Spy Films Uncovered

Posted: Sat Nov 06, 2021 9:09 pm
by Capt. Sir Dominic Flandry
It looks like a great book. I have not heard of some of the movies - such as A Dandy in Aspic which looks interesting.

Re: Guns, Girls, and Gadgets: Sixties Spy Films Uncovered

Posted: Sun Nov 07, 2021 9:45 am
by Drake
Capt

I can recommend A Dandy in Aspic. The plot involves British Intelligence knowing that there is Russian double agent operating somewhere in the department and they assign Alexander Eberlin to discover who it is, little knowing that he is actually the double agent. Eberlin then goes about trying to escape into East Berlin and when this fails he attempts to sabotage all attempts to discover the truth.

Re: Guns, Girls, and Gadgets: Sixties Spy Films Uncovered

Posted: Mon Nov 08, 2021 5:22 am
by dirtybenny
Saw you included Operation Kid Brother and immediately pre-ordered a copy!

Re: Guns, Girls, and Gadgets: Sixties Spy Films Uncovered

Posted: Wed Nov 10, 2021 8:51 pm
by Drake
dirtybenny

Thanks for the order. Yes, I watched Operation Kid Brother (aka OK Connery) while writing the book and knew I had to write a chapter on it. Its interesting as its basically a Bond film without Bond, but with Sean Connery's brother Nail playing the lead. There are quite a few performers who had already appeared in Bond movies who play leading roles and extensive location filming in Italy, Monte Carlo, Spain and Morocco. I'm sure true Bond enthusiasts will find my research on this Italian funded Bondish film of interest.

Re: Guns, Girls, and Gadgets: Sixties Spy Films Uncovered

Posted: Thu Nov 11, 2021 11:28 pm
by dirtybenny
Drake wrote: Wed Nov 10, 2021 8:51 pm dirtybenny

Thanks for the order. Yes, I watched Operation Kid Brother (aka OK Connery) while writing the book and knew I had to write a chapter on it. Its interesting as its basically a Bond film without Bond, but with Sean Connery's brother Nail playing the lead. There are quite a few performers who had already appeared in Bond movies who play leading roles and extensive location filming in Italy, Monte Carlo, Spain and Morocco. I'm sure true Bond enthusiasts will find my research on this Italian funded Bondish film of interest.
Yes, it's amazing how many Bond alums appear in this film, including the "real" M and Moneypenny; Bernard Lee and Lois Maxwell!

Re: Guns, Girls, and Gadgets: Sixties Spy Films Uncovered

Posted: Tue Nov 23, 2021 12:56 pm
by Drake
dirtybenny

Yes, Lois Maxwell gets a lot more to do in Operation Kid Brother than she ever got in any of the official Bond films. Maxwell looked to be enjoying herself in the sequence where she gets to use the machine gun at the vineyard.

Re: Guns, Girls, and Gadgets: Sixties Spy Films Uncovered

Posted: Wed Dec 08, 2021 8:27 pm
by Drake
I’m pleased to announce that Guns, Girls and Gadgets: Sixties Spy Films Uncovered has now been printed and that ordered copies will be dispatched in the next few days.

Anyone wishing to obtain a copy just follow the link.

http://www.quoitmedia.co.uk/gunsgirlsgadgets.htm

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Re: Guns, Girls, and Gadgets: Sixties Spy Films Uncovered

Posted: Thu Dec 16, 2021 2:58 am
by dirtybenny
Drake wrote: Wed Dec 08, 2021 8:27 pm I’m pleased to announce that Guns, Girls and Gadgets: Sixties Spy Films Uncovered has now been printed and that ordered copies will be dispatched in the next few days.

Anyone wishing to obtain a copy just follow the link.

http://www.quoitmedia.co.uk/gunsgirlsgadgets.htm

Image
Just received my copy today, gotta say, wow, just wow, lots of detail and a fun read, kudos!

Re: Guns, Girls, and Gadgets: Sixties Spy Films Uncovered

Posted: Thu Dec 16, 2021 12:12 pm
by Drake
dirtybenny

Thanks for the positive reaction, do please let me know what you think when you've had a chance to read some of it.

Re: Guns, Girls, and Gadgets: Sixties Spy Films Uncovered

Posted: Tue Dec 28, 2021 7:18 pm
by carl stromberg
700 pages is good value!

Re: Guns, Girls, and Gadgets: Sixties Spy Films Uncovered

Posted: Thu Dec 30, 2021 8:14 am
by Kristatos
Just looked at a list of forthcoming UK home media releases and noticed that A Dandy In Aspic gets a Blu-ray release on March 21st.

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Re: Guns, Girls, and Gadgets: Sixties Spy Films Uncovered

Posted: Mon Jan 03, 2022 1:59 pm
by Drake
carl stromberg wrote: Tue Dec 28, 2021 7:18 pm 700 pages is good value!
Carl

Thanks for the observation, yes, I would agree that at 700 pages Guns, Girls and Gadgets: Sixties Spy Films Uncovered is good value for money at £19.99. There are books out there at 150 pages costing £13.99.

Re: Guns, Girls, and Gadgets: Sixties Spy Films Uncovered

Posted: Mon Jan 03, 2022 2:09 pm
by Drake
Kristatos wrote: Thu Dec 30, 2021 8:14 am Just looked at a list of forthcoming UK home media releases and noticed that A Dandy In Aspic gets a Blu-ray release on March 21st.

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I would thoroughly recommend A Dandy in Aspic, a great espionage tale of British Intelligence knowing that there is a Russian double agent called Krasnevin at work in the department and assigning the mission of locating the traitor to one of their top agents, Alexander Eberlin. However, unknown to British Intelligence, Eberlin is the double agent, who must now divert suspicion away from himself and attemptito get across the Iron Curtain to the Soviet Bloc.

Re: Guns, Girls, and Gadgets: Sixties Spy Films Uncovered

Posted: Thu Jan 20, 2022 4:38 am
by dirtybenny
Drake wrote: Thu Dec 16, 2021 12:12 pm dirtybenny

Thanks for the positive reaction, do please let me know what you think when you've had a chance to read some of it.
Finally got a chance to delve into a few chapters, fantastic job old boy! This book makes for a great primer for films I haven't seen yet and gives plenty of info I didn't know on the ones I have seen, even the facts I did know came of as fresh and informative rather than boring as can happen with these sort of books. Thoroughly enjoyable, to anyone considering it, dirtybenny approves!

Re: Guns, Girls, and Gadgets: Sixties Spy Films Uncovered

Posted: Thu Jan 27, 2022 8:27 pm
by Drake
dirtybenny

Many thanks for the kind words regarding the book. I'm pleased that you are enjoying it and I hope you find plenty more of interest as you read further.