Have you ever heard about The Ian Fleming Foundation?

Have you ever heard about The Ian Fleming Foundation?

Maybe you have visited the London Film Museum and the Bond in motion exhibition but without knowing who actually own most of the cars offered on display.

This will be a very short blog post because I am planing to pass you forward to an interview with Mark VanBlaricum who is one of the founders of The Ian Fleming Foundation.

In the below video from YouTube you can hear him tell the tail about how The Ian Fleming Foundation came to be and why. I find the story very interesting.

During the 90's the foundation produced a magazine called Goldeneye focusing on all things James Bond and Ian Fleming. I only have one or two of these in my collection but some of them are available on Ebay.

Now sit back and enjoy the below interview about how The Ian Fleming Foundation came to be.

Below is the Goldeneye magazine that they produced during the 90's.

Did you know this about the GoldeEye score

I sometimes take a detour from writing about the James Bond books and write about something else. Tonight is one of these nights and this blog post is dedicated to the song GoldenEye preformed by Tina Turner in the 1995 James Bond film with the same title.

After a six year absence James Bond would be back in 1995 with the first Bond film staring the new actor to portray James Bond. His name was Pierce Brosnan.

Most of us know the story about Brosnan being offered the role back in 1986. But due to a contract with Remington Steele could not accept the offer back then.

So when the film and its soundtrack was released I listened to it over and over again. At the same time I ran The Swedish James Bond Fan Club and read everything I could about Pierce Brosnan. And one night it suddenly appeared to me, something that I have never heard anywhere else.

When Bono and The Edge (of U2) wrote GoldenEye for Tina Turner to preform, they must have had Brosnan's life in reference.

Below is the lyrics in black and my comments in red.

See reflections on the water
More than darkness in the depths
See him surface in every shadow
On the wind I feel his breath

Goldeneye I found his weakness
Goldeneye he'll do what I please
Goldeneye no time for sweetness
But a bitter kiss will bring him to his knees

You'll never know how I watched you
From the shadows as a child
Brosnan says that the first film he ever saw at the cinema was Goldfinger back in 1964 when he moved to London.
You'll never know how it feels to be the one
Who's left behind
Brosnan was offered the part in 1986 but had to turn it down due to Remington Steele.
You'll never know the days, the nights,
The tears, the tears I've cried
Brosnan's wife, actress Casandra Harris who acted in For your Eyes Only died of Cancer. 
But now my time has come
Brosnan gets his second chance at Bond with GoldenEye. 
And time, time is not on your side

See him move through smoke and mirrors
Feel his presence in the crowd
Other girls they gather around him
If I had him I wouldn't let him out
Clearly about James Bond. 

Goldeneye not lace or leather
Golden chains take him to the spot
Goldeneye I'll show him forever
It'll take forever to see
What I've got

You'll never know how I watched you
From the shadows as a child
Brosnan says that the first film he ever saw at the cinema was Goldfinger back in 1964 when he moved to London.
You'll never know how it feels to get so close
And be denied
Brosnan was offered the part in 1986 but had to turn it down due to Remington Steele.
It's a gold and honey trap
I've got for you tonight
Revenge it's a kiss, this time I won't miss
Brosnan gets his second chance at Bond with GoldenEye.
Now I've got you in my sights
With a goldeneye, golden, goldeneye
With a goldeneye, goldeneye

Every time I listen to this song I get the feeling its all about Brosnan getting his second chance at playing Bond and this time he will make the role his!

Far fetched? I myself do not think so. How about you? Listen to the track below and hear the emphases and let me then know what you think in the comments below. If you do not think I am right please mention what you believe the lyrics are referring to.

The above drawing was made by artist Jeffrey Marshall. 

Will we meet in Kent fellow James Bond fans?

Today I have booked plane tickets from Station S (Sweden) to the HQ in London and I am so looking forward to my quick in and out trip in a couple of weeks.

The reason for my trip is the Ian Fleming event at the Whitstable Literary Festival at Lecture Theatre, Whitstable Community College, Bellevue Road, on Friday, May 13th.
The evening will most certainly be a most memorable one with not less then four speakers with connection to the James Bond / Ian Fleming world.

Below is the program that I will attend:

Friday 13 May, 4pm-5pm
THE NAME’S COLE, STEVE COLE

Steve Cole introduces his first explosive Young Bond adventure, ‘Shoot to Kill’ giving a unique insight into 1930s gadgets, gangsters and Hollywood. Join Steve is this interactive event as he explains how he became such a fan of Ian Fleming’s super-spy, shares the research behind his creation, introduces new characters, including a sinister villain, and tests the audience’s spy skills to ask ‘How Bond Are You?’ Steve Cole has written the bestselling ‘Astrosaurs’ adventures. In 2013 he took over from Charlie Higson as author of the Young Bond series exploring the life of the teenage James Bond.

Friday 13 May, 6.30pm-7.30pm
IAN FLEMING: THE MAN BEHIND BOND

Andrew Lycett Sportsman, womanizer, naval commander, world-traveler, and spy, the creator of the Cold War’s archetypal secret agent was infinitely more complex and interesting than his iconic fictional character, Agent 007. Ian Fleming’s wide-ranging and exciting life inevitably provided the plausible backdrop for his Bond novels. The day after his wedding to Ann O’Neill, Fleming sat down to write his first book, ‘Casino Royale’, in order to soothe his nerves. Thus began the long line of Bond novels for which he would earn lasting fame. 

Andrew Lycett is one of the foremost experts on Fleming’s life and work. He is a biographer and journalist whose other subjects include Wilkie Collins and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

Friday 13 May 7.45pm – 8.45pm
GOLDENEYE WHERE BOND WAS BORN: IAN FLEMING’S JAMAICA
Matthew Parker

Historian Matthew Parker reveals the untold story of Ian Fleming in Jamaica, his house Goldeneye, and the creation of James Bond. Amid Jamaica’s beauty, Fleming immersed himself in the jet-set society that clung to its imperial past. Rubbing shoulders with Noel Coward and Errol Flynn, he was part of a world of dangerous glamour that would infuse all his Bond novels. The top 10 Sunday Times Best seller ‘Goldeneye’ is a revealing exploration of Ian Fleming’s life and work.

Matthew Parker spent part of his childhood in the West Indies. He has written five books and contributes to The Literary Review, and BBC History Magazine.

Friday 13 May 9.00pm – 10.00pm
IAN FLEMING, MY STEP-FATHER – FIONN MORGAN in conversation with ANDREW LYCETT

WhitLit is honoured to welcome Fionn Morgan, the daughter of Ann Fleming and her first husband Shane, 3rd Lord O’Neill. Fionn was 16 when her mother married Ian Fleming and has a wise stance on her step- father’s life, work, loves and outlooks. Ann Fleming was the last great political hostess, a letter writer of rare wit with close friends including Noel Coward, Evelyn Waugh, Lucian Freud and Cecil Beaton. Her long love affair with Ian Fleming started before her second marriage to newspaper baron Lord Rothermere and after their divorce Fleming married Ann in 1952.  Fionn will reveal to Andrew Lycett growing up in a fascinating family and spending time with Ian Fleming and her mother in Kent.

Authors will sell and sign their books after their lecture.

Please let me know if any of you blog readers will be in the audience that night. I would be delighted to shake your hand.

You can read more and book your tickets here.

James Bond related car found after 30 years

Back in 1953 Ian Fleming commissioned a left-hand-drive Bentley R-Type Continental Fastback in Deep Grey with black leather as a gift for his American friend Ivar Bryce.

Ian Fleming and Ivar Bryce had been friends since 1917 and shared the same interests. It was also Ivar Bryce that helped Ian Fleming buy land in Jamaica so he could build his home Goldeneye and start writing James Bond novels. We are meant to believe that Ian Fleming bought this car for Ivar Fleming as a thank you after he had written Casino Royale.

Ian Fleming's choice car  for his friend later showed up in the book Thunderball  were James Bond drove one that looked the same.

Gullwing Motor Cars recently discovered the real-life car wasting away in a garage in Hancock Park, Los Angeles for nearly 30 years.

Ivar Bryce was Ian Fleming's inspiration for CIA agent Felix Leiter in the James Bond books. The US agent showed up in six installments in the series starting with Casino Royale (1953), ending with The Man with the Golden Gun (1965)
Back in 1953 the Bentley R-Type Continelnal Fastback was one of the fastest production cars in the world. 

The Continental designation signified a power upgrade over the standard R-Type, and Fleming built it up with extras like rear spats, lightweight seats, fitted luggage, and a racehorse mascot. The Bryces flew their gift around the world to their various homes in England, Nassau, New York, and Vermont. After they sold it the car had several owners, ending up in the hands of a Beverly Hills surgeon in 1978, and according to Gullwing it's been sitting in a garage almost since that time. It has matching numbers and the original interior, and Gullwing says, putting it mildly, it is "an ideal restoration candidate."

This Ian Fleming related car went on auction this year with an estimate of $1.4M - $1.8M but didn't sell, so don't be afraid to ask a few hard MI6-like questions about it if you're interested.

Some of the text from this blog post came from this and this article where the photos has also been taken. Thanks to Alan over at Collecting Fleming for the heads up.

A close look at Casino Royale - The book that is!

When I commute by train or take a walk during my lunch break I like to enjoy what my smartphone can offer me.  The other day I found this fantastic documentary on YouTube.

It was a one hour long close look at Ian Flemings first novel Casino Royale and you can see the program below.  it shows many (for me) new facts about Ian Fleming and also the BBC interview in really great picture quality. You truly get the feeling that you get closer to Ian Fleming and to his first book of 14.

I was planing to write a whole blog post about the following but I insert it here instead.
Have you ever thought about how much page 60 of Casino Royale actually means to us Bond fans. On this page you get Bond to present himself as Bond... James Bond and a few lines lower he order his Vodka Martini, shaken, not stirred. That page has followed his books and films since 1953 to present day. Quite amazing.

check out the documentary below! You will not be disappointed! It might even make you want to read the book...again.

German DVD release of GOLDENEYE

The TV-movie GOLDENEYE has been released in Germany on DVD for the first time. The film was available on VHS back in the day but since then has only been out on DVD in England as a bundle with The Daily Mail.

GOLDENEYE is obviously a film about Ian Fleming staring Charles Dance in the lead role. He is actually the only actor to look like Ian Fleming.

GOLDENEYE can be bought here and cost 18,16 Euro.

I actually liked GOLDEN EYE as a film. The sad thing is that since the film is so old and made fore TV it has the 4:3 ratio and only stereo sound and the picture quality is truly poor. Below you can see the poor picture quality the film has nowadays.

When GOLDENEYE was released in Sweden (where I live) the title was A SPY WITH HONOR.