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Is Florence Pugh set to star in James Bond spinoff? (Photo Credit – Instagram)

James Bond franchise is back, taking the overall franchise to another level. Ever since Amazon Prime struck a deal and took over the 007 rights, there has been a lot going on in the production department.

While reports claim that scripting, casting and work on the next film of the franchise is in the mud right now, there are other mediums being focused on. Florence Pugh is rumored to be cast as the leading star in the James Bond spin off television series and here’s what we know about the same.

Florence Pugh To Star In James Bond Spinoff Series?

According to The US Sun, Florence is slated to play Miss Moneypenny in the spinoff show which is tentatively titled The Moneypenny Diaries. It is expected to be the first of many dramas planned by Amazon Prime...

Now in its 63rd year of existence, the James Bond franchise has experienced its share of turbulence, but though it all has managed to adapt its formula to the ever-changing times without losing its old-school sense of fun. Even when an individual film fails to deliver the goods, fans are still guaranteed the globetrotting exhilaration — be it gripping or goofy — of several major action set pieces jam-packed with practical stunt work. The viewer also knows there will be an array of new gadgets, and they can be fairly certain Bond will team up with a stunning beautiful foil who, now that we live in more enlightened times, will prove every bit his equal in the combat department.

There's also a pleasing sense of continuity with the actors. Starting with Sean Connery, Bond aficionados came to love actors like Bernard Lee as M, Lois Maxwell as Miss Moneypenny, and Desmond Llewelyn...

As the nights grow longer and the air turns crisp, it’s the perfect time to settle in with some of the best spooky films ever made. From eerie silent classics to modern horror hits, spooky cinema has evolved across decades, yet each era has its own spine-tingling gems. Whether you love atmospheric terror or heart-pounding scares, here’s a journey through the best films from the 1920s to today that will give you chills. Things to do: Subscribe to The Hollywood Insider’s YouTube Channel, by clicking here. Limited Time Offer – Free Subscription to The Hollywood Insider Click here to read more on The Hollywood Insider’s vision, values and mission statement here – Media has the responsibility to better our world – The Hollywood Insider fully focuses on substance and meaningful entertainment, against gossip and scandal, by combining entertainment, education, and philanthropy. 1920s - 1980s ‘The Haunting’ (1963) Cast: Julie Harris,...

Between Sean Connery’s suave and humorous take on the Brish spy to Daniel Craig’s more rugged version in the modern era, Pierce Brosnan’s take on the character often gets overlooked by fans. After Die Another Day dropped the ball among critics, Brosnan’s stint as 007 came to an abrupt stop, and Daniel Craig was brought in to reinvent the character for the modern audience with Casino Royale.

While he never got his farewell moment as Craig did with No Time to Die, one James Bond theory could bring him back for one final run as the charismatic spy.

The Codename Theory Could Explain Pierce Brosnan’s Return Pierce Brosnan as James Bond | 20th Century Fox

According to the codename theory, every James Bond feature, from Dr. No to Die Another Day takes place in the same universe. The theory suggests that James Bond is just a codename...

Expanding supporting characters like Q and Moneypenny gives depth to the Bond franchise. Films like "Casino Royale" and "Diamonds Are Forever" make changes to the source material for better storytelling. Bond films have evolved tone-wise, balancing humor and seriousness over different eras to maintain broad appeal.

The James Bond movies have never been afraid to make changes to the original 007 novels, some better than others. Every James Bond movie prior to 1989's License to Kill shares a title with one of Ian Fleming's works. While some serve as faithful adaptations that make only minor tweaks to the source material, others are unrecognizable from the original novels in almost every way but name. As time has gone on and as Fleming's material has run out, the films have increasingly chosen to tell original James Bond stories. Many of these, however, still take small fragments of inspiration from the books.

“Bond, James Bond.”

62 years, 25 films and 6 lead actors — but it all began with this iconic line from Sean Connery in Dr. No.

This iconic British character, conceived by author Ian Fleming in 1953, has captivated audiences worldwide as the world’s most famous secret agent in the history of cinema.

To tell the full story of how 007 began, Eon Productions opened its archives of photos, designs, and production materials to Taschen. The result is this remarkable account of the making of Dr. No.

Related: James Bond Movies In Order: Filmography, Bond Women & Iconic Villains

Director Terence Young debuted Dr. No in 1962, featuring Ursula Andress as Honey Ryder, Bernard Lee as M., Joseph Wiseman as Dr. No, and Lois Maxwell as Miss Moneypenny.

The companion book provides a glimpse into the day-by-day account of what took place, which scenes were shot and who made the decisions that shaped the story and characters as it was filmed.

Pamela Salem, who portrayed Miss Moneypenny in the non-Eon James Bond movie Never Say Never Again, has passed away at the age of 80.

While Pamela Salem’s turn as Moneypenny was a one-off – and in a film that is widely not considered part of the 007 canon – her go at the beloved character can’t be ignored. Interestingly, despite how frequently the character appears in the Bond universe, she has only been played by a small selection of actresses: Lois Maxwell, Caroline Bliss, Samantha Bond, and Naomie Harris. But only Salem has the distinction of playing Miss Moneypenny just one time.

But not once was there any strange bad blood between Pamela Salem or her predecessors, particularly Maxwell. As per a 1984 interview (via The Hollywood Reporter), Salem said, “I had seen Moneypenny before, of course, in the earlier films played by Lois Maxwell…At first [the media] tried to stir things up between...

Pamela Salem, who portrayed Miss Moneypenny in Never Say Never Again opposite Sean Connery in his final turn as James Bond, has died. She was 80.

Salem died Wednesday in Surfside, Florida, according to Big Finish Productions, for whom she participated in several audio productions.

“Whenever there was a Big Finish recording for her, she’d fly in from Miami on her own steam, without fuss or fanfare, and appear at the studio armed with the warmest smiles, the biggest hugs and often presents,” producer David Richardson said in a statement.

For the BBC’s Doctor Who, Salem played the sandminer pilot Lish Toos on 1977’s “The Robots of Death” and Professor Rachel Jensen on 1988’s “Remembrance of the Daleks.” She reprised both roles for Big Finish in the audio drama series The Robots and radio spinoff series Counter Measures.

Salem also portrayed the evil sorceress Belor on the 1981-82 ITV...

James Bond 26 should break canon to bring back Ana de Armas' Paloma, as her character stole the show in No Time To Die. Paloma's return may cause continuity issues but would be worth it, considering her unique and memorable role. Ana de Armas deserves to play Paloma in Bond 26 and could be a significant part of James Bond's future.

James Bond 26 must break canon to bring back one Daniel Craig era star, and a 2024 action movie will prove why. The next installment of the James Bond franchise will be without Daniel Craig, who played Bond in five movies over a 15-year period. Daniel Craig's James Bond death in No Time To Die confirms the actor will be stepping away from the role and allowing a new actor to take the mantle. Alongside casting a new Bond, the other classic supporting roles will likely all be recast, as has been the case over the years.

Moneypenny and 007 have a platonic relationship in the James Bond movies, despite their intimate connection and flirtatious edge. The relationship between Moneypenny and Bond is complex and never fully consummated, with evidence of deeper emotions but limited physical intimacy on screen. Both the James Bond films and Ian Fleming's books depict a professional and platonic relationship between Moneypenny and Bond, with her role evolving in different ways across different mediums.

James Bond's relationship with women is one of the most complex and essential aspects of his character, but his connection to one woman in particular has always remained somewhat enigmatic. Appearing in 23 movies since her debut in 1962's Dr. No, Miss Moneypenny is an MI6 stalwart, pivotal in both Ian Fleming's novels and the movies they subsequently inspired. However, for all her ubiquity, Moneypenny's relationship with Bond is relatively mysterious.

For the first 14 films in the James Bond franchise,...

Bond 26 will need to cast a new Moneypenny, a mainstay character of the franchise who has great chemistry with the next James Bond actor. Several young actors like Ivanna Sakhno, Claudia Doumit, and Mandip Gill could be the next actress to play Miss Moneypenny. Emilia Jones, Havana Rose Liu, and Jessica Henwick bring their unique talents and star power to the role of Moneypenny for Bond 26.

Bond 26 is poised to reboot the iconic spy franchise once again, and therefore, it will need to cast a new Moneypenny. The history of Moneypenny in the James Bond franchise began with Lois Maxwell, the first actor to take on the role. She stayed on for 14 movies, but different versions of Moneypenny have come and gone since then. Caroline Bliss and Samantha Bond followed in her footsteps, with Naomie Harris the most recent actress to play the part opposite Daniel Craig. Casting Moneypenny is...

Movie franchises often recast characters due to reasons like actor availability, aging out of roles, or financial restrictions. Examples of recasted characters include War Machine in Marvel Cinematic Universe, James Bond in the James Bond franchise, and multiple actors playing Batman. Other franchises like X-Men, Back to the Future, Vacation, Atlas Shrugged, Scooby-Doo, The Wizarding World, and Frankenstein have also recast characters.

There are certain movie franchises that have become notorious for their tendency to recast characters. Recasting is a necessary phenomenon in some movies, required because of actors' availability or because they have aged out of the role. Other instances are driven by financial restrictions and the franchise's longevity.

There are countless examples movie franchises rebooting and hiring a fresh cast of actors to play familiar roles. On the other hand, some franchises recast characters midway through. These are typically attempts to maintain an overarching narrative or established film...

British comedy veteran John Cleese appeared in two James Bond movies, prompting some viewers to wonder why the actor never showed up in Daniel Craig’s 007 debut Casino Royale. The Bond series has been through various eras over the decades, but there are a few elements of the franchise that remain relatively consistent. Bond has a beautiful love interest in every movie, the suave super-spy is always seen driving fast cars (and frequently trashing them in high-speed chases), and he can always rely on his MI6 boss, M. However, his other colleagues have been less consistent throughout the years.

Miss Moneypenny and Q don’t appear in every James Bond movie, much like 007’s American friend Felix Leiter. Not only that but when they do appear, they are often recast. For decades, both Q and Miss Moneypenny were played by the same actors consistently, but Lois Maxwell’s...

To mark the release of Women of Twilight on 27th March, we’ve been given Blu-ray copies to give away to 2 winners.

Unmarried nightclub singer Vivianne Bruce (Rene Ray) finds herself alone and pregnant when her lover, Jerry Nolan (Laurence Harvey), is arrested for murder. Desperate for a place to live, she finds a room in a boarding-house run by “Nellie” Alistair (Freda Jackson). An outwardly upstanding woman who provides room-and-board for unmarried mothers Nellie is, in fact, ruthless with an ulterior motive…selling children for adoption.

Initially resentful of having to share a room with Chris Ralston (Lois Maxwell) and her young son, the women soon become friends when Chris intervenes on Vivanne's behalf in an argument with another boarder. Whilst caring for Chris' child when he falls ill, Vivienne turns to Nellie for help but is turned away. Events take a tragic turn and Vivanne confronts Nellie, determined...

In James Bond movies, the cinematic Miss Moneypenny was Flirtatious, efficient, and loyal. She has been a bespectacled girl-next-door (Caroline Bliss), an effervescent, pixie-cut attaché (Samantha Bond), and a feisty agent-in-training (Naomie Harris). But, above all, she’s been Lois Maxwell, the charming Canadian actress who established and then wholly embodied M’s secretary across fourteen films and three James Bond actors.

As 007 changed through the years, so has Miss Moneypenny, with subtle and obvious attempts to modernize or toughen her up. The most recent Moneypenny moved out of the office shadows and into a supporting role. This allowed Naomi Harris to portray the character in a much more active way, allowing her to get involved in the action and even almost kill Bond on one occasion. By No Time to Die, Miss Moneypenny proved she was a loyal and fierce friend and ally to 007, and she proved that she...

Stingray: The Complete Series Deluxe Edition

Blu ray

Network

1964, 1965 / 1.33:1 / 975 Min.

Starring Ray Barrett, Robert Easton, David Graham, Don Mason, Lois Maxwell

Written by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson

Directed by Alan Pattillo, David Elliott, John Kelly, Desmond Saunders

If nothing else, Gerry and Sylvia Anderson’s Stingray should be celebrated for inspiring Team America: World Police, the gonzo marionettes-on-the-make political satire from South Park agitators Trey Parker and Matt Stone. If their 2004 farce was designed to provoke just about everybody, Stingray was also pretty out there, albeit in a trippy, Summer of Love kind of way. An aquatic puppet show swimming in psychedelic color, languid pacing, and underwater scenes apparently filmed inside a lava lamp, Stingray reflected the inveterate stoner’s mindset better than anything in Yellow Submarine. The entire series has just been released in an extravagant five disc box set from Network, Stingray: The Complete Series Deluxe Edition,...

Let loose some airy English film aesthetes with a big budget, a French film studio and a theme somewhere between Marcel Proust and Jean Cocteau, and back comes this strange, slightly off-balance but extremely impressive objet d’art. Eric Portman is really good, Edana Romney not so much. English actresses Barbara Mullen and Joan Maude compensate greatly — they’re haunting, actually. For his first job of direction Terence Young gives us a flash of Christopher Lee in his first film, along with pretty Lois Maxwell. Content-wise the film has the screwiest construction … its style and obsessions are split between the two films presently rated the best ever made! Expect something different: the baroque style may prompt some viewers to reach for the ‘eject’ button.

Corridor of Mirrors

Blu-ray

1948 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 96 min. / Street Date October 19, 2021 / Available from /

Starring: Eric Portman, Edana Romney, Barbara Mullen, Hugh Sinclair, Bruce Belfrage, Alan Wheatley,...

We have a relatively quiet week of home media releases ahead of us this week, but the titles that are coming out are a rad bunch of films nonetheless. Scream Factory is doing the Dark Lord’s work with both the Collector’s Edition of April Fool’s Day and the HD release of Frankenstein: The True Story. If you missed it in theaters back in January, Nicolas Pesce’s The Grudge (2020) is headed to various platforms this Tuesday, and Arrow Video has put together a stellar Special Edition release of Philip Ridley’s The Passion of Darkly Noon as well.

Other Blu-ray and DVD releases for March 24th include Endless Night, Cabal, Hunter’s Moon, The Zombinator, and The Wizard: Collector’s Edition.

April Fool’s Day: Collector’s Edition

Good friends...with some time to kill. When Muffy St. John invited her college friends up to her parents' secluded...

Why does CineSavant write so many positive reviews, even for films not commonly thought of as even being ‘good?’ Well, I’m about to offend committed fans of this Hayley Mills thriller… it bothered me in such basic ways that I had to watch it twice to make sure I hadn’t missed something important. Hayley Mills loves Hywel Bennett, a poor boy who gets a chance at the good life. But are they going to be victimized by envious relations, murderous gypsies, a deranged architect? The big superduper plus here is the film’s original music score by Bernard Herrman, one of his last.

Endless Night

Region B Blu-ray

Powerhouse Indicator

1972 / Color B&w / 1:85 widescreen / 100 min. / / Street Date , 2020 / available from Powerhouse Films UK / £15.99

Starring: Hayley Mills, Hywel Bennett, Britt Ekland, Per Oscarsson, George Sanders, Lois Maxwell, Patience Collier, Ann Way, Leo Genn, Shirley Jones (voice).

Cinematography: Harry Waxman...

Joseph Losey’s fortunes as an expatriate director took an upswing with this efficient, nervous and somewhat overcooked thriller with a daunting ticking-bomb deadline story gimmick — alcoholic wreck Michael Redgrave has only twenty hours to save his son from execution for murder. Losey racks up the tension, but he doesn’t give a hoot for Ben Barzman’s whodunnit scripting. Just the same, it’s good to see the director finally gaining traction — from this point forward most every Losey picture received serious international attention.

Time Without Pity

Blu-ray

Powerhouse Indicator

1957 / B&w / 1:66 widescreen / 89 min. / Street Date October 28, 2019 / available from Powerhouse Films UK (Region Free) / £15.99

Starring: Michael Redgrave, Leo McKern, Ann Todd, Peter Cushing, Alec McCowen, Lois Maxwell, Richard Wordsworth, Joan Plowright.

Cinematography: Freddie Francis

Film Editor: Alan Osbiston

Original Music: Tristram Cary

Written by Ben Barzman from a play by Emlyn Williams

Produced by John Arnold, Leon Clore,...

By Todd Garbarini

Laemmle’s NoHo 7 Theatre in Los Angeles will be presenting a Digital Cinema Package (Dcp) screening of Peter Hunt’s 1969 James Bond outing On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. The 142-minute film, which stars George Lazenby as James Bond in his only performance as the beloved spy, features Diana Rigg, Telly Savalas, Lois Maxwell, Bernard Lee, and Desmond Llewelyn.

It will be screened on Thursday, August 9, 2018 at 7:30 pm.

Please Note: At press time, George Lazenby is scheduled to appear in person for a discussion about the film following the screening.

The NoHo 7 Theatre is located at 5240 Lankershim Blvd., North Hollywood, CA. The phone number is (310) 478 – 3836.

Click here for tickets.

Eunice Gayson, the first ever Bond girl, died Friday. She was 90.

Gayson’s Twitter account posted the news, writing that she was “an amazing lady who left a lasting impression on everyone she met. She will be very much missed.”

Gayson played Sylvia Trench in the 1962 “James Bond” franchise starter “Dr. No,” starring Sean Connery as Bond. She first asked Bond for his name at a card table, resulting in the iconic, “Bond. James Bond.” She reprised her role as Trench in “From Russia With Love.”

James Bond movie producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli also remembered Grayson on Saturday in a tweet posted to the James Bond official Twitter account.

“We are so sad to learn that Eunice Gayson, our very first ‘Bond girl’ who played Sylvia Trench in ‘Dr. No’ and ‘From Russia With Love’ has passed away. Our sincere thoughts are with her family.”

Originally, Gayson...

or, Savant picks The Most Impressive Discs of 2015

This is the actual view from Savant Central, looking due North.

What a year! I was able to take one very nice trip back East too see Washington D.C. for the first time, or at least as much as two days' walking in the hot sun and then cool rain would allow. Back home in Los Angeles, we've had a year of extreme drought -- my lawn is looking patriotically ratty -- and we're expecting something called El Niño, that's supposed to be just shy of Old-Testament build-me-an-ark intensity. We withstood heat waves like those in Day the Earth Caught Fire, and now we'll get the storms part. This has been a wild year for DVD Savant, which is still a little unsettled. DVDtalk has been very patient and generous, and so have Stuart Galbraith & Joe Dante; so far everything...

Dolores Hart, Pamela Tiffin and Lois Nettleton are flight attendants aiming to snag three attractive, wealthy husbands right out of the air -- Karl Boehm, Hugh O'Brien and Karl Malden. There's more social comment in this 'coffee, tea or me' romantic comedy than can be found in a graduate thesis about the sexual habits of liberated stewardesses. And Hey, Frankie Avalon warbles the classy title tune! Come Fly with Me DVD-r The Warner Archive Collection 1963 / Color / 2:35 enhanced widescreen / 109 min. / Street Date June 30, 2015 / available through the WBshop / 18.49 Starring Dolores Hart, Hugh O'Brian, Karlheinz Bohm, Pamela Tiffin, Lois Nettleton, Karl Malden, Dawn Addams, Richard Wattis, Andrew Cruickshank, James Dobson, Lois Maxwell, John Crawford, Robert Easton, Maurice Marsac, George Coulouris, Ferdy Mayne. Cinematography Oswald Morris Film Editor Frank Clarke Original Music Lyn Murray Written by William Roberts from a book by Bernard Glemser Produced by Anatole De Grunwald Directed by Henry Levin

Reviewed by Glenn Erickson

What?...

Goldeneye

Directed by Martin Campbell

Written by Jeffrey Caine and Bruce Feirsein

UK / USA

The Essence of Bond has been shaped and re-shaped constantly over its 50-year run and that has been due to its mostly successful ability to plug into popular zeitgeist and meld that aesthetic with what makes Bond, well, Bond: Q gadgets, adventure tourist locales, voluptuous ladies (assuming the role of both friend and foe) and a version of suave and sexist male masculinity first cultivated by Sean Connery in Bond’s first outing, Dr. No in 1962. In the the early nineties it was time again to re-invent Bond, or rather his universe as not only was Timothy Dalton moving on from the Bond Franchise but the politics on the international stage had changed drastically. It was time for Bond to integrate into a post-Cold War world and director Martin Campbell was brought on board, along with...

The Living Daylights

Directed by John Glen

Written by Richard Maibaum and Michael G. Wilson

1987, USA

It wasn’t guaranteed that the Daniel Craig films would successfully reboot James Bond, in part because such a restart had already been tried before. After 1985’s A View To a Kill, in which age had begun to

show on both Roger Moore as Bond and Lois Maxwell as Miss Moneypenny, the first real reboot was attempted. Timothy Dalton – who had turned down On Her Majesty’s Secret Service because he felt that at 24 he was too young to replace Sean Connery – was brought on and a script was commissioned to return Bond to his Cold War roots. The result was The Living Daylights, which doesn’t quite work as a reboot but makes for deeply enjoyable viewing.

Too many of the old Bond conventions remained for The Living Daylights to be a true...

On Her Majesty’s Secret Service

Written by Richard Maibaum

Directed by Peter Hunt

UK, 1969

To call On Her Majesty’s Secret Service underappreciated is to call the sky blue. Only in the years since the release of Daniel Craig’s introduction to the series, Casino Royale, has Ohmss begun to be reappraised as a realistic, character-driven approach to the Bond series. Its failure at the box office compared to the Connery entries that preceded it led to the producers, Albert “Cubby” Broccoli and Harry Salzman, returning to the Goldfinger formula of larger than life villains, iconic henchmen, ludicrously elaborate take-over-the-world schemes, and a generally heightened sense to the proceedings, all of which are noticeably absent from Ohmss.

Sean Connery had a rough experience during filming of 1967’s You Only Live Twice. The media scrutiny, long filming periods, and promotional duties caused him to leave the role that had made his career.

"The Haunting" (1963): our choice for best haunted house flick of all time.

On Friday, October 2, Turner Classic Movies (North America) will present back-to-back showings of some delectable and diabolical tales of the macabre. Things kick off at 8:00 Pm (Est) with Cesar Romero as a mad magician in the highly entertaining "Two on a Guillotine". Then Vincent Price stars in William Castle's tongue-in-cheek thriller "House on Haunted Hill". This is followed by one of our favorite films of all time from director Robert Wise: "The Haunting" starring Julie Harris, Richard Johnson, Claire Bloom, Russ Tamblyn, Lois Maxwell and that creepy mansion that deserves co-star billing. Next up is a shlock flick "House of the Seven Corpses" with John Ireland with "House of Dark Shadows" starring Jonathan Frid bringing the chills to a conclusion in the wee small hours. It's a good night to be grateful if you suffer from insomnia.

Roger Moore bows out as James Bond 007, in A View To A Kill. It's a film with a few problems...

This one's an unworthy last hurrah for Sir Rog. Yet such is life. Received wisdom pegs A View To A Kill as a lacklustre final outing in which an inspired song, villain and Grace Jones are smothered by slack plotting, a not-at-his-best Moore, weak characters and a general sense of weariness. Received wisdom is a terrible thing. But occasionally it has a point.

The Villain: To waste one great villain on a rubbish film may be classed as unfortunate. To waste a second is damned careless. Max Zorin is Exhibit B to counter the hoary old adage that a Bond film is measured by its antagonist. Zorin is fresh, vibrant, energetic – the inverse of the film he terrorises. He’s played by a Hollywood legend in his prime: good for the character,...

Max Williams Oct 5, 2019

Dr. No was the first James Bond movie, and it's so good that it kicked off an international phenomenon.

This article comes from Den of Geek UK.

The Film: Where else could we start? This is the one that started it all. The film that paved the way for a global phenomenon. How?

By being very good. Dr. No includes most classic James Bond elements while remaining grounded in reality (relatively speaking). It's not the best Bond, but certainly a contender for top five. Perhaps a little slow for those raised on a diet of Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig. Everyone else is in for a treat.

A good drinking game: take a shot every time the film visually turns into a Stella Artois advert. It'll hurt.

The Villain: Silly name, weird disability, exotic lair – Dr. No scores high in baddie-bingo. It pioneers the rich villainous tradition of cooking Bond dinner,...

The restored movie palace, the Loew's Jersey City, will present their annual Halloween-themed film festival on October 24-25, kicking off with Murnau silent version of Nosferatu with live soundtrack accompaniment on the historic Wonder Organ, which will be played by Ben Model.

On Saturday afternoon, October 25, the original Universal Pictures classic, Frankenstein starring Boris Karloff, will be shown on the big screen. That evening, at 8:15, Cinema Retro Editor-in-Chief Lee Pfeiffer will introduce Robert Wise's 1963 classic The Haunting starring Julie Harris, Richard Johnson, Claire Bloom, Russ Tamblyn and Lois Maxwell. (Cinema Retro co-publisher Dave Worrall will be over from the UK side of "the pond" so drop by and chat with us in the lobby before and/or after the show.) We expect some of the local readers who accompanied us on our 2010 Movie Magic Tour to attend. It was on that tour that we stayed the night in...

I recently came across this image (on the lovely black and white photography Tumblr Green Eyes 55) and was of course struck by the element at its center. The 1961 photograph is of a street corner bar in Algeria, taken by the great French documentarian Raymond Depardon, but its focal point is a French movie poster for a 1956 British espionage thriller, Passport to Treason.

The poster is striking even from a distance so, once I tracked it down, it wasn’t a surprise to find out that it is by the great French poster artist Constantin Belinsky (1904-1999). The prolific and talented Belinsky was always capable of turning the dreariest of B-movies (which, from the little I’ve been able to read about it, Passport to Treason seems to have been, despite the participation of future Miss Moneypenny, Lois Maxwell) into something luridly spectacular and eye-grabbing, and the thought of these colors...

With Hugh Jackman currently negotiating to play Wolverine for a seventh and eighth time, Cinelinx takes a look at actors who’ve played the same role eight times or more. Who has played the same character most often? Come in and find out.

Hugh Jackman has already played Wolverine five times--x-Men (2000), X2: X-Men United (2003) X-Men: The Last Stand (2006), X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009), and The Wolverine (2013)—as well as a cameo in X-Men:First Class (2011). Soon we’ll be seeing him fully clawed again on the big screen in X-Men: Days of Future Past. Recently, he told Collider that he might shoot Wolverine 3 and X-Men: Apocalypse “back-to-back”, which would make a total of eight times (9 times with the cameo) that he’ll portray the Canadian mutant.

You might be thinking “Wow! That’s amazing! I’ve never heard of anyone playing the same role so many times.” Well, for those who may not know it,...

Music can make a scene come alive. In film (or television) a great soundtrack is capable of amplifying the emotions of the scene, thrilling us with tense action scenes, beautiful romantic moments, terrifying horror sequences or momentous deaths. Not convinced? Listen to Howard Shore’s sweeping epic that was the soundtrack to the Lord of the Rings trilogy. The upbeat, heroic fellowship theme as they escape Moria in The Fellowship Of The Ring. The beauty that is the Evenstar from The Two Towers. The frenzied strings that conjure up the dread of Shelob and the majestic choir and thundering orchestral accompaniment to The Battle Of The Pelennor Fields in The Return Of The King. It sweeps you up into the heart of these films.

Its often said that sometimes a trailer is much better than the film itself. It builds up to something thrilling and when we watch the full article,...

By Lee Pfeiffer

The Warner Archive has released That Hagen Girl as a burn-to-order DVD title. The 1947 soap opera stars Shirley Temple as Mary Hagen, a high school girl who is socially ostracized when it is suspected she was born illegitimately. The presumed father is Tom Bates (Ronald Reagan), who twenty years earlier had been romancing the high school prom queen. She suddenly vanished without explanation only to return with her parents and kept in isolation. The rumor mill indicated that she had given birth to a daughter, who was then given to a local childless couple to raise. Tom makes attempts to see his girlfriend but is rebuffed by her strict parents. Eventually Tom moves to another town but returns many years later when he inherits a house in his hometown. Now a successful lawyer, the handsome Tom turns heads even as the rumors resume over his presumed status as  Mary's real father.

Naomie Harris has spoken to Digital Spy about becoming the new Miss Moneypenny in Skyfall.

The British actress, whose big screen credits include 28 Days Later and Pirates of the Caribbean, leapt into the James Bond franchise as MI6 field agent Eve, a role shrouded in secrecy by the film's production team.

After multiple auditions, Harris was told by director Sam Mendes and producer Barbara Broccoli that Skyfall would reintroduce several key characters from the series' past, and she would step into a role previously played by Lois Maxwell, Caroline Bliss and Samantha Bond.

"I had to keep everything a secret for ages," Harris told Digital Spy during the inaugural East Coast Trains journey from London to Edinburgh.

"Even when I'd just got given the role I was told that I couldn't tell anyone, so it's nice now to be free of all [the secrecy] and just say, 'Yes, I am Miss Moneypenny!

Gerry Anderson, creator of Thunderbirds, Space: 1999, Supercar, Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons, Joe 90, UFO, Fireball XL5, Stingray, and many other science fiction and fantasy shows, has died at the age of 83.

Gerry was best know for his “Supermarionation” series, featuring detailed marionettes and a science-fiction based storyline. His ex-wife Sylvia collaborated frequently with him, most famously voicing Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward in Thunderbirds. The shows were a first step for many well-known actors and creators, including Lois Maxwell (Moneypenny in the early James Bond films), character actors Shane Rimmer and Jaremy Wilkin (Blake’s 7) and special effects master Derek Meddings (Star Wars and the James Bond franchise). He made successful forays into live action as well, with the series Space: 1999 and UFO, and the feature film Journey to the Far Side of the Sun.

Gerry suffered from Alzheimer’s Disease for several years, and spent much of his...

Goldeneye

Directed by Martin Campbell

Written by Jeffrey Caine and Bruce Feirsein

UK / USA

The Essence of Bond has been shaped and re-shaped constantly over its 50-year run and that has been due to its mostly successful ability to plug into popular zeitgeist and meld that aesthetic with what makes Bond, well, Bond: Q gadgets, adventure tourist locales, voluptuous ladies (assuming the role of both friend and foe) and a version of suave and sexist male masculinity first cultivated by Sean Connery in Bond’s first outing, Dr. No in 1962. In the the early nineties it was time again to re-invent Bond, or rather his universe as not only was Timothy Dalton moving on from the Bond Franchise but the politics on the international stage had changed drastically. It was time for Bond to integrate into a post-Cold War world and director Martin Campbell was brought on board, along with...

Goldeneye

Directed by Martin Campbell

Written by Jeffrey Caine and Bruce Feirsein

UK / USA

The Essence of Bond has been shaped and re-shaped constantly over its 50-year run and that has been due to its mostly successful ability to plug into popular zeitgeist and meld that aesthetic with what makes Bond, well, Bond: Q gadgets, adventure tourist locales, voluptuous ladies (assuming the role of both friend and foe) and a version of suave and sexist male masculinity first cultivated by Sean Connery in Bond’s first outing, Dr. No in 1962. In the the early nineties it was time again to re-invent Bond, or rather his universe as not only was Timothy Dalton moving on from the Bond Franchise but the politics on the international stage had changed drastically. It was time for Bond to integrate into a post-Cold War world and director Martin Campbell was brought on board, along with...

The Living Daylights

Directed by John Glen

Written by Richard Maibaum and Michael G. Wilson

1987, USA

It wasn’t guaranteed that the Daniel Craig films would successfully reboot James Bond, in part because such a restart had already been tried before. After 1985′s A View To a Kill, in which age had begun to

show on both Roger Moore as Bond and Lois Maxwell as Miss Moneypenny, the first real reboot was attempted. Timothy Dalton – who had turned down On Her Majesty’s Secret Service because he felt that at 24 he was too young to replace Sean Connery – was brought on and a script was commissioned to return Bond to his Cold War roots. The result was The Living Daylights, which doesn’t quite work as a reboot but makes for deeply enjoyable viewing.

Too many of the old Bond conventions remained for The Living Daylights to be a true...

Spoiler Alert: If you go beyond this point, you'll be reading about a major reveal in "Skyfall." Proceed with caution.

The last time we saw Miss Moneypenny in a James Bond film was 2002's "Die Another Day," during Pierce Brosnan's reign as 007. As one of the most legendary secretaries in movie history, she seemed to be the only female on the planet who could withstand Mr. Bond's advances. But what if we told you that, before the interoffice sexual tension, Moneypenny shot James Bond?

That's how we are introduced to the latest incarnation of Miss Moneypenny, played by Naomie Harris ("28 Days Later"), at the action-packed opening of "Skyfall." Well, as we're sure you could tell from the movie's trailers, she missed. Thankfully, Bond doesn't hold a grudge. In fact, she makes it up to him by giving him a very seductive shave at their next assignment. And, with that,...

On Her Majesty’s Secret Service

Written by Richard Maibaum

Directed by Peter Hunt

UK, 1969

To call On Her Majesty’s Secret Service underappreciated is to call the sky blue. Only in the years since the release of Daniel Craig’s introduction to the series, Casino Royale, has Ohmss begun to be reappraised as a realistic, character-driven approach to the Bond series. Its failure at the box office compared to the Connery entries that preceded it led to the producers, Albert “Cubby” Broccoli and Harry Salzman, returning to the Goldfinger formula of larger than life villains, iconic henchmen, ludicrously elaborate take-over-the-world schemes, and a generally heightened sense to the proceedings, all of which are noticeably absent from Ohmss.

Sean Connery had a rough experience during filming of 1967′s You Only Live Twice. The media scrutiny, long filming periods, and promotional duties caused him to leave the role that had made his career.

This week in cinema history, 59 years ago, Italian screen legend Sophia Loren got her first big acting break as an Ethiopian slave in the titular role of director Clemente Fracassi's film adaptation of Giuseppe Verdi's opera, Aida. The film tells the story of Ethiopian princess Aida, who is kidnapped into slavery in Egypt.  Aida becomes romantically involved with Egyptian army officer Radames (Luciano della Marra), further complicating her plight, as she is enslaved to the Pharaoh's daughter Amneris (Lois Maxwell), who also loves Radames. Fracassi's Aida is especially notable for its use of dark make-up on the face and body of Loren, and the thick braided wig she...

MTV Movies Blog is currently running what we call the Bond-a-Thond. Every week we're taking a look back at a single (official) Bond film, giving you the vitals and seeing how it holds up, right up until the release of "Skyfall" on November 9. Feel free to watch along with us and share your thoughts or just kick back and enjoy the Bond.

A View to a Kill (1985)

Plot: When a top secret microchip ends up in the hands of the Soviets, Bond is called on to investigate the chip's manufacturer.

Title Meaning: Max Zorin uses the line the describe the view from his personal blimp, and it doesn't make any sense.

Song: "A View to a Kill" by Duran Duran

Bond: Roger Moore, his final appearance as 007

Villains: Max Zorin, a wealthy microchip manufacturer, played by Christopher Walken, and May Day, his enforcer and lover, played by Grace Jones

Bond Girl: Stacey Sutton,...

To mark the 50th Anniversary of one of the most successful movie franchises of all time and with filming now complete on James Bond’s 23rd official outing in Skyfall due for release later this year, I have been tasked with taking a retrospective look at the films that turned author Ian Fleming’s creation into one of the most recognised and iconic characters in film history.

Following Roger Moore’s departure from the lead role after starring in the previous seven films, the fifteenth James Bond film, The Living Daylights, was seized upon as an opportunity to reboot the series with not only a new Bond but a new approach to the franchise that had become rather formulaic over the past 25 years. Taking the title from one of Fleming’s short stories, writers Richard Maibaum and Michael G. Wilson took the character back to his roots making a conscious...

To mark the 50th Anniversary of one of the most successful movie franchises of all time and with filming complete on James Bond’s 23rd official outing in Skyfall due for release later this year, I have been tasked with taking a retrospective look at the films that turned author Ian Fleming’s creation into one of the most recognised and iconic characters in film history.

Having created James Bond in 1953, Ian Fleming went on to write a total of 14 books featuring the character before his death in 1964. The Eon produced series of films had been using the novels for inspiration since Dr. No in 1962 but as the series approached its fourteenth film, it was running out of original Fleming novels to adapt. Much like previous Bond film Octopussy, the latest film from Albert R. Broccoli’s Eon Productions, A View To A Kill, took its title from one of...

As James Bond prepares for his 23rd official outing in Skyfall and to mark next year’s 50th Anniversary of one of the most successful movie franchises of all time I have been tasked to take a retrospective look at the films that turned author Ian Fleming’s creation into one of the most recognised and iconic characters in film history.

Following the huge success of the first James Bond film Dr. No, producers Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman were keen to start production on a follow-up. With United Artists offering the pair $2 million, double the budget of Dr. No, to quickly get a sequel in the works Broccoli and Saltzman were left to decide which of Fleming’s novels to adapt next.

In an interview with Life magazine the then Us President John F. Kennedy had mentioned the Bond novel From Russia With Love in a list of his top ten favourite books.

As James Bond prepares for his 23rd official outing in Skyfall and to mark next year’s 50th Anniversary of one of the most successful movie franchises of all time I have been tasked to take a retrospective look at the films that turned author Ian Fleming’s creation into one of the most recognised and iconic fictional characters in film history.

Back in 1961 nobody could have foreseen the success and longevity that James Bond would go on to enjoy in the years that followed. At the time, film producer Albert R. Broccoli, who was reeling from being declared bankrupt after the box-office failure of his most recent picture The Trails of Oscar Wilde, was on the lookout for an idea for his next project. When asked by his wife Dana what he really wanted to do, he replied “I have always wanted to film the Ian Fleming James Bond...

James Bond fans will be thrilled to learn that director Sam Mendes is re-introducing Miss Moneypenny to the franchise after a ten-year absence, with Naomie Harris vying for the part.

The Daily Mail reports that Harris, who rose to fame in 28 Days Later and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest, is in the final stages of signing for the role.

She will be the fourth actress to play the quick-witted secretary, made famous by Lois Maxwell in fourteen films from 1962 to 1985. Caroline Bliss stepped in to star alongside Timothy Dalton in the late 1980s, before Samantha Bond took over for the Pierce Brosnan era from 1995 to 2002.

Craig has already signed up to make his third appearance as the popular agent, while Judi Dench will make her seventh appearance as boss M.

Producers have also finally confirmed the signings of Javier Bardem and Ralph Fiennes as the film's villains after months of speculation.

Star of 28 Days Later is reportedly in final talks with Sam Mendes to play M's flirtatious secretary in next Bond film

Bond producers have met with Naomie Harris with a view to engaging her services as the new Miss Moneypenny in Sam Mendes's forthcoming James Bond film, reports the Daily Mail.

Harris, best known for her turns in 28 Days Later and the Pirates of the Caribbean films, has not yet been confirmed in the role. Moneypenny is the flirtatious secretary to Bond's secret services boss M in Ian Fleming's stories. She has not yet appeared in the latest Daniel Craig-led iteration of the long-running spy saga, and her entry might signal the start of a return to the series' roots.

Craig himself has said that the leaner, darker Bond introduced by Martin Campbell with 2006's Casino Royale might slowly morph into a more familiar figure over the next few films.