JAMES BOND
FACT FILES

Part Three: Film Tie-in editions 1962-1974

Beginning with the release of the first James Bond film Dr. No in 1962, PAN Books published a film tie-in edition that boosted sales of the novel and promoted interest in other Ian Fleming titles. In some cases the film tie-in was the only version of that novel then available in paperback. PAN Books sales records indicate that during the release of every film from 1962-1974, sales of that particular title were not surprisingly higher than at any other time. Although the 10 titles released by PAN with a film tie-in cover appeared alongside (and sometimes in place of) other covers in the series, they stand alone as collectible memorabilia from a time when the films for the most part, were actual adaptations of the novel they were cross-promoting.

In 1962 PAN Books also ran a competition in conjunction with EON Productions, that was open to national booksellers and promoted in the Exhibitors’ Campaign Book for the film supplied by the National Screen Service. The competition highlighted the tremendous sales value of the tie-in with the PAN Books' edition of DR. NO (which had then sold 350,000 copies with unlimited stocks still available) sales of which would be boosted further during the general release of the film. Conditions stated that eligible shop window displays should prominently feature the PAN edition of DR. NO and the film, and also incorporate the seven other JAMES BOND titles available as PAN paperbacks. At the time of the release of Dr. No these were the painted covers featuring the artwork of Pat Owen and Benjamin Ostrick [J. Oval]. The displays ran for at least one week during the time that the film ran locally within the national release period of 5 October - 3 November 1962. According to the Campaign Book the competition would be judged by Ian Fleming and Sean Connery from photographs submitted to PAN Books before the deadline of November 19, 1962. The first prize was £75, with seven prizes of £20, and an additional seven consolation prizes of £5. The average weekly wage in 1962 was £15, so naturally there was a lot of competition amongst national booksellers. Thankfully photographs of many of the displays were printed in trade magazines at the time and show a more innocent way of cross-promotion in the pre-internet world. With co-operation from local cinema managers, the displays helped boost the sales of PAN paperbacks and reminded cinemagoers that the film was playing in their town or city.

To meet the demand generated by the release of the film, the DR. NO film tie-in cover was reprinted eight times from 1962-1964. Originally starting out as X335 (which turned out to be a printing error, as the correct PAN number should have been G335), DR. NO was renumbered as X237 in 1963 when the Raymond Hawkey series was first published, and then later issued with a new Hawkey designed cover in May 1964.

FROM RUSSIA, WITH LOVE was still in circulation featuring two different painted covers by Sam Peffer in 1959, and Pat Owen from 1961, and was reissued from the 12th printing in 1963 with a film tie-in cover. The FROM RUSSIA, WITH LOVE film tie-in edition also featured a die-cut front cover with holes punched out to represent the sprockets of 35mm film stock. The laminated glossy colour wrap-around cover featured four publicity photos was superseded by the Raymond Hawkey designed cover in July 1964, which appeared from the 17th - 21st editions.

In April 1964 PAN Books published the third film tie-in ahead of the premiere of Goldfinger on 17th September at London's ODEON Leicester Square. The wrap-around cover featured Robert Brownjohn's alternate golden girl image (model and actress Margaret Nolan) with a section torn-out on the rear revealing the From Russia With Love poster underneath. This design had initially appeared on EON Productions press releases in early 1964, so was not initiated or designed by PAN Books.

Although reissued in 1969 as part of the ‘white-model’ series, GOLDFINGER went out-of-print in paperback in 1971, and was one of the four titles in the first wave of ‘still-life’ covers in 1972. GOLDFINGER was the second-highest selling title of all the PAN James Bond paperbacks, with a staggering two-and-a-half million copies sold by the end of 1977 when PAN relinquished the paperback publishing rights.

‘Bondmania’ reached its zenith at the end of 1965 with the release of Thunderball, the fourth film starring Sean Connery as 007. At this time sales of the PAN James Bond paperbacks had reached 20-million in the UK, with nearly seven-million copies sold in 1965 alone.

As part of his settlement following the lawsuit he brought against Ian Fleming for plagiarism and false attribution of authorship, Kevin McClory was awarded the screen rights to THUNDERBALL, and publishers were to add the line “This story is based on a Screen Treatment by Kevin McClory, Jack Whittingham, and the author” to all subsequent editions of the novel. The PAN paperback of THUNDERBALL was first published in May 1963 (with Raymond Hawkey's ground-breaking cover design), six-months before the trial eventually reached the high court, and therefore the first twelve printings do not feature the added text. PAN Books added the acknowledgement starting with the 13th printing of the paperback which was issued with the glossy wrap-around film tie-in cover.

The souvenir brochures printed for the London and regional premieres of Thunderball also contained a full-page Player's advertisement showing the third page of another letter from Domino which specifically has reference to the film, and ties the whole cross-promotion together. Very few people would have seen the advertisement, which sheds a little more light on the mystery letter tucked into the paperback, and explains its purpose in the rather politically incorrect 1960s, when cigarette advertising was far more overt than it is today. Although 250,000 copies of the 14th printing of the THUNDERBALL paperback were issued, there is no record of how many Domino letters were inserted. Copies with a genuine original letter are therefore now very hard to find.

PAN Books, EON Productions and United Artists once again ran two competitions to tie-in with the release of Thunderball; the first took place from 1 January - 28 February 1966, and the second from 1 March to 31 May. The competition this time had over £500 worth of prizes in the form of eight gold sovereigns or a ‘James Bond hamper’ worth £31 for the best non-professionally dressed window, and another for the window dressed by full-time display staff. Cinema managers who cooperated with the winning stores received a ‘THUNDERBALL hamper’ worth £15, or four gold sovereigns.

Following its December 1965 release, Thunderball then played continuously in London for six months and a double-bill of Dr. No/From Russia With Love was also showing across the country in early 1966. Goldfinger had also been re-released exclusively at the ODEON Haymarket in London, and interest in everything James Bond reached its high-point. Although sales of PAN James Bond paperbacks began to decline, 2.5-million copies were sold in 1966, and by the end of the year overall sales had reached 23-million!

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