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James Bond UK Front of House Stills
WRITTEN & COMPILED BY KEVIN HARPER

Printed on a card stock paper in a set of eight for display purposes in cinema foyers, or outside in lightboxes below the quad-crown release poster, these cards were usually produced in colour, although the colour was achieved using garish photo dyes that a studio retoucher would apply by brush to a black & white photograph to create the artwork from which the Front of House cards would eventually be printed, and which have now become very desirable and expensive collectibles. The majority of magazines in the 1960s were printed in monochrome, hence why the majority of the still photographers on the Bond films shot in black & white up until 1983. It wasn’t unusual for studio retouchers not to have seen the film or to be supplied with colour transparencies to use as colour matches, therefore the retoucher was left to choose his own colour palette when colouring up the original black & white images.

These 10" X 8" Front of House sets were produced by the National Screen Service (UK) – the company that controlled the distribution of theatrical advertising materials throughout the UK and Ireland. Early titles in the series often had an alternate set of black & white images produced, although it was this style that was more generally adopted to accompany reissues of the James Bond films in the UK. After Sean Connery had given up the role of James Bond, his films were still available for distribution, and Front of House sets were still available from the NSS, but amended to remove any connection between the actor and the character. This often took the form of a pasted paper snipe on the cards to cover up the necessary wording, or cards reprinted with new credits. UK Front of House cards generally utilised different images than their US Lobby Card counterparts, and used the Eastern Hemisphere producer credits for the first nine films of the series, and always included the British Board of Film Censors’ certificate after the film title. The Goldfinger set is unique in that the producer credits appear in both configurations as they did on the film posters, and in Robert Brownjohn's iconic main title sequence. Although not part of the EON Productions series, Casino Royale (1967) also had a set of Front of House cards, with eight images selected from the US 12-card mini-lobby set. Similarly, Never Say Never Again (1983) also used the identical eight card US mini-lobby set (10" X 8") when the film was promoted in the United Kingdom.

Nowadays sets are often broken up and individual cards sold separately in order to maximise their monetary value. The promotional photographs chosen (mostly shot during scene rehearsals) usually gave a varied overview of the film story; later titles in the Bond series utilised carefully chosen key images seen throughout the whole integrated advertising campaign. Some cards also utilised behind-the-scenes photographs. As the series progressed, the stills used were more specific and included the major action sequences and characters from each film, rather than what had often appeared to be an arbitrary choice of images. With the increasing number of multiplex cinemas in the late 1980s, the space available to promote and advertise each film being screened was much reduced, and Front of House sets stopped being produced. Instead, film studios created their own sets of images that were provided for reproduction in newspapers and magazines in the form of a ‘Press Kit’, which contained the officially approved key publicity images used for the promotion of a particular film. The choice of photographs available was therefore more consistent than those seen throughout the 1960s and 1970s.

The Diamonds Are Forever (1971) Front of House colour set was the first UK set to be reproduced in true four-colour process.

Dr. No (1962) Front of House Still From Russia With Love (1963) Front of House Still

Dr. No (1962)

From Russia With Love (1963)

Goldfinger (1964) Front of House Still Thunderball (1965) Front of House Still

Goldfinger (1964)

Thunderball (1965)

You Only Live Twice (1967) Front of House Still On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969) Front of House Still

You Only Live Twice (1967)

On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969)

Diamonds Are Forever (1971) Front of House Still Live And Let Die (1973) Front of House Still

Diamonds Are Forever (1971)

Live And Let Die (1973)

The Man With The Golden Gun (1974) Front of House Still The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) Front of House Still

The Man With The Golden Gun (1974)

The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)

Moonraker (1979) Front of House Still For Your Eyes Only (1981) Front of House Still

Moonraker (1979)

For Your Eyes Only (1981)

Octopussy (1983) Front of House Still A View To A Kill (1985) Front of House Still

Octopussy (1983)

A View To A Kill (1985)

The Living Daylights (1987) Front of House Still Licence To Kill (1989) Front of House Still

The Living Daylights (1987)

Licence To Kill (1989)

Licence To Kill (1989) was the last James Bond film to have a standalone set of eight Front of House stills issued by the National Screen Service in the United Kingdom. Subsequent films were promoted via an International Lobby Card set (11" X 14") issued by the studio then distributing the film. In the case of GoldenEye (1995) a set of nine cards were issued by United International Pictures with one card dedicated to the poster artwork which could be used in advance publicity for the film.

James Bond UK Lobby Cards

Selected films also had larger Lobby Cards issued by the National Screen Service to promote them on their original release. From Russia With Love had a single Lobby Card (22" X 28") featuring the iconic Renato Fratini UK poster artwork, but reproduced in duotone. Goldfinger (1964) and Thunderball (1965) both had a set of four Lobby Cards with identical images to the Front of House set, but printed to fill the whole card. These larger cards were designed to be displayed in light-boxes alongside the quad-crown poster outside the cinema or in the foyer. The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) had a set of twelve (16" X 20") Jumbo Deluxe Lobby Cards issued. Eight of the cards were in the landscape format, with six of them having identical images to the Front of House set; with the remaining four cards in the portrait format and featuring unique publicity stills from the film. This twelve-card Lobby set was not advertised in the Exhibitors’ Campaign Book and generally only used in larger cinemas. The Living Daylights (1987) also had a set of 14 Jumbo Deluxe Lobby Cards (14" X 17") issued to promote the film in larger cinemas. This set, also not advertised in the Exhibitors’ Campaign Book, had 12 cards (including a text only title card) featuring stills from the film in the landscape format; and two portrait oriented publicity stills featuring Timothy Dalton and Maryam d'Abo, and the obligatory shot of the James Bond star surrounded by the ‘Bond Girls’. This was the last time this kind of publicity still was used to promote the films.

From Russia With Love (1963) Lobby Card Goldfinger (1964) Lobby Card

From Russia With Love (1963)
Lobby Card (22" X 28")

Goldfinger (1964)
Lobby Card (11" X 14")
[Set of four]

Thunderball (1965) Lobby Card The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) Deluxe Jumbo Lobby Card

Thunderball (1965)
Lobby Card (11" X 14")
[Set of four]

The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)
Jumbo Deluxe Lobby Card (16" X 20")
[Set of twelve]

The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) Deluxe Jumbo Lobby Card The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) Deluxe Jumbo Lobby Card

The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)
Jumbo Deluxe Lobby Card (16" X 20")

The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)
Jumbo Deluxe Lobby Card (16" X 20")

The Living Daylights (1987) Jumbo Deluxe Lobby Card The Living Daylights (1987) Jumbo Deluxe Lobby Card

The Living Daylights (1987)
Jumbo Deluxe Lobby Card (14" X 17")
[title card]

The Living Daylights (1987)
Jumbo Deluxe Lobby Card (14" X 17")
[set of fourteen]

The Living Daylights (1987) Jumbo Deluxe Lobby Card The Living Daylights (1987) Jumbo Deluxe Lobby Card

The Living Daylights (1987)
Jumbo Deluxe Lobby Card (14" X 17")
[portrait style]

The Living Daylights (1987)
Jumbo Deluxe Lobby Card (14" X 17")
[portrait style]

The Living Daylights ODEON Leicester Square

ABOVE: (left) The Living Daylights had its World Premiere on Monday June 29, 1987. (right) The set of 14 jumbo deluxe lobby cards were used as part of the street level display at the ODEON Leicester Square where The Living Daylights went on to become the most successful film ever to play at the flagship West End cinema, taking a staggering £1,022,768 over its 11-week run.

James Bond UK Front of House Stills (Reissue)

Although the various double-bill reissues of the James Bond films in the UK generally had a new quad-crown poster issued to accompany the release, the films did not have new Front of House stills issued as they did in the USA. Instead, the National Screen Service issued new sets of eight black & white stills for the first three films in the series. Unusually the black & white sets for From Russia With Love and Goldfinger were glossy double-weight photoprints – not the dot screen printed cards for other titles in the series. Thunderball did not have a new set of stills issued. The original 1967 Front of House set for You Only Live Twice was the first to use actual colour images rather than retouched black & white stills, but the set issued to accompany reissues of the film reverted back to the inappropriately tinted images, which resulted in some unusual colour choices for the actors’ costumes. The reissue set amended the text so the tag-line now read “Sean Connery AS James Bond”. Earlier original release sets were also reissued with pasted paper snipes to remove the connection between the actor and the character once Sean Connery had left the series. Diamonds Are Forever (1971) also had a black & white reissue set with different stills to the first release set, which was criticized for having too many violent images.

The final UK reissue Front of House set accompanied the 1975 Season, which had one card for each of the first seven films of the series, plus a title card featuring the gun barrel design seen on the corresponding quad-crown poster. There was no standard format for this season, with individual cinema managers programming their own choice of films or double-bills depending on the availability of prints.

Dr. No [Reissue] Front of House Still From Russia With Love [Reissue] Front of House Still

Dr. No [Reissue]

From Russia With Love [Reissue]

Goldfinger [Reissue] Front of House Still You Only Live Twice [Reissue] Front of House Still

Goldfinger [Reissue]

You Only Live Twice [Reissue]

Diamonds Are Forever [Reissue] Front of House Still A Season of James Bond (1975) Title Card

Diamonds Are Forever [Reissue]

A Season of James Bond (1975) Title Card

A Season of James Bond (1975) Thunderball Front of House still A Season of James Bond (1975) On Her Majesty's Secret Service Front of House still

A Season of James Bond 007 (1975)
Thunderball

A Season of James Bond 007 (1975)
On Her Majesty's Secret Service

 

STILL AVAILABLE:
007 MAGAZINE ARCHIVE FILES James Bond Promotional Posters & Artwork File #1

007 MAGAZINE ARCHIVE FILES James Bond Promotional Posters & Artwork File #1


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