EXCLUSIVE ARTICLE

“Double the excitement with Double DOUBLE-O-SEVEN!...”
Dr. No and Goldfinger’s run at the Gala cinemas ended on Wednesday January 27, 1965 after which there was a brief five-week period where no James Bond films were showing in London's West End. From Russia With Love then screened at the Berkeley from Sunday March 7, where it played for six weeks; while at the Gala Royal, Marble Arch (also owned by Kenneth Rive) Dr. No was shown again from Thursday March 25 to Monday May 3, 1965. From Russia With Love was supported at the Berkeley by the controversial 1961 ‘X’ certificate WWII drama During One Night (also known as Night of Passion); directed by Sidney J. Furie, and produced by Kenneth Rive's Gala Films. Although it had been Kenneth Rive who had kept Bond alive in London with revivals of the first three James Bond films, distributor United Artists then re-released Dr. No and From Russia With Love on an official double-bill which opened on Sunday November 7, 1965 at the 600-seat Studio One cinema at Oxford Circus, where it played until Thursday February 10, 1966.

The double-bill had already been successfully released in the United States in May 1965 and explains why the film logos used on the posters are the US versions, and not those seen on advertising materials created for their original UK release. Although the Exhibitors’ Campaign Book advertised the availability of a new quad-crown poster for the double-bill, the National Screen Service (the company who supplied publicity materials to UK cinemas) produced several variant posters and newspaper advertisements used during the initial campaign which utilised the layouts created for the US release. The various taglines would be re-used on all subsequent re-releases throughout the 1960s and 1970s. The double-bill was hugely successful and screened across the country for over six months, and was revived again in late 1966 where it played in many second-run cinemas.

“Look Up! Look Down! Look Out!… James Bond Does it Everywhere!”
Thunderball premiered in London at two West End venues on Thursday December 29, 1965 with director Terence Young, stars Claudine Auger, Adolfo Celi, Luciana Paluzzi, Desmond Llewelyn, Lois Maxwell and Goldfinger's Honor Blackman and Tania Mallet attending at the London Pavilion; meanwhile Mollie Peters, Martine Beswicke [with her actor partner John Richardson] and Guy Doleman were among the celebrities appearing at the Rialto cinema 100-yards away on Coventry Street. Other guests attending the premieres and after show supper-dance at the Royal Garden Hotel in Kensington included producer Kevin McClory, composer John Barry, production designer Ken Adam and Goldfinger director Guy Hamilton. Sean Connery chose not to attend the Thunderball premiere. Also absent was Albert R. Broccoli who was in New York following the death of his mother two days earlier (although he was present at the Dublin premiere held on February 10, 1966). A second midnight gala performance of Thunderball then took place at the London Pavilion on December 29, 1965 to benefit the British Rheumatism and Arthritis Association. Tickets ranged in price from £1 in the stalls to £10 in the Dress Circle. The proceeds from the London Pavilion and Rialto premieres raised a staggering £12,000 for the Newspaper Press Fund.

Although Thunderball is technically captioned with a 1965 release date it would not actually have been seen by the majority of its audience until early 1966. After its double premiere at the London Pavilion and Rialto cinemas on Thursday December 29, 1965 Thunderball then opened at the nine ‘Premiere Showcase Theatres’ across London with sell-out midnight matinees on Saturday January 1, 1966 - with the ODEON Bromley and Streatham playing the film to standing customers. The nine ‘Premiere Showcase Theatres’ alone took a staggering £9,100 on Sunday January 2, 1966. Thunderball grossed a mammoth £8,120 at the London Pavilion in the first four days, and £3,724 at the Rialto in the same period. Thunderball marked the last time the ‘Premiere Showcase’ distribution model was used in London after a few high-profile films had adopted the release pattern in 1965.

A week after its release the new James Bond film had broken the house records set by Goldfinger at the 11 London cinemas where it was playing. Thunderball remained at the London Pavilion for a staggering 19 weeks, and also played simultaneously at the Rialto for 12 weeks! Thunderball then opened at key cities across the UK from Sunday February 6, 1966 with a wider general release throughout the month.

Goldfinger was also re-released exclusively at the 600-seat ODEON Haymarket on Thursday February 3, 1966 where it played for six weeks. With Dr. No/From Russia With Love still playing at the Studio One cinema at Oxford Circus, all four James Bond films could then be seen in the West End. Oxford Street department store Selfridges then displayed the BSA 650 Rocket Firing Motor Bike and Underwater Towcraft at their annual ‘Easter Show for Boys & Girls’ 4th-16th April 1966, where they were joined by James Bond's Aston Martin and Emma Peel's Lotus Elan from The Avengers television series. In January 1966 the CORGI Aston Martin DB5 had been announced as UK ‘Toy of the Year’ and ‘Best Boys Toy’ of 1965. ‘Bondmania’ had truly reached its zenith with children and adults alike cashing in on the cult of James Bond!

Thunderball then played at La Continentale on Tottenham Court Road for two weeks from Thursday June 23, 1966. Kenneth Rive once again used the James Bond films as guaranteed money makers in brief engagements at his London cinemas between his usual programmes of foreign art-house films. He replayed the Dr. No/From Russia With Love double-bill three more times - firstly at his 360-seat International Film Theatre in Bayswater for one week from Sunday July 31, and again for another seven days from Sunday September 25, 1966. The pair then played at the Berkeley for two weeks from Thursday December 1, 1966.

“James Bond is Back to Back!”
There was then a six-month break before James Bond returned to the West End. As the rights to Ian Fleming’s first James Bond novel CASINO ROYALE had not been available to EON Productions in 1961, there was always the possibility that a film version would be made by another company. Charles K. Feldman had acquired the rights in 1960 but was unable to come to an agreement with Albert R. Broccoli & Harry Saltzman to make it as an official entry in the EON series. Ultimately Casino Royale was produced as a spoof version along the lines of the producer’s previous success What’s New Pussycat? (1965).

Casino Royale had its London premiere on Thursday April 13, 1967 at the ODEON Leicester Square where it played until Wednesday May 17th. The premiere was attended by co-producers Charles K. Feldman & Jerry Bresler, along with the five directors John Huston (and his daughter Angelica), Val Guest, Joe McGrath, Ken Hughes and Robert Parrish. Conspicuous by their absence were any of the films major stars, however other leading actors of the day such as Laurence Harvey and Mia Farrow added some Hollywood glamour to the occasion. Critically panned, but very successful at the box-office in London, taking £8,000 in its first three days at the ODEON Leicester Square, Casino Royale became the most successful Columbia film to play at the cinema up to that point. Casino Royale then went on general release across the country and was pre-booked into many cinemas for two weeks. However, the film proved less popular in the provinces and some cinemas cancelled the second week. The success in the West End was also short-lived, as Casino Royale then opened at the 1,894-seat ODEON Kensington and 2,860-seat New Victoria on Thursday April 22, 1967 where it only played for one week, despite newspaper advertising heralding the film as ‘London's Biggest Hit!’.

“TWICE Is The Only Way To Live!”
You Only Live Twice had its press show at the ODEON Leicester Square at 10.30am on Monday June 12, 1967 - with the Royal World Charity Premiere then taking place at 8.15pm in the presence of Her Majesty The Queen. Sean Connery attended along with his actress wife Diane Cilento; screenwriter Roald Dahl was accompanied by his actress wife Patricia Neal, and the late Ian Fleming’s close friend Ivar Bryce. Also attending was Goldfinger (1964) director Guy Hamilton; and Dick Van Dyke, Sally Ann Howes and Lionel Jeffries who were then filming Chitty Chitty Bang Bang at Pinewood Studios. Also present was Desmond Llewelyn, who also played the small role of Coggins in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968), in addition to his recurring appearances as Q in the James Bond films. Actor Laurence Harvey, singer Tony Bennett and journalist & broadcaster Alan Whicker (whose TV series Whicker's World had featured a one-hour programme on the making of the You Only Live Twice broadcast on BBC2 on Saturday March 25, 1967) also attended the premiere. American actor-comedians Jerry Lewis [in the UK to film Don't Raise the Bridge, Lower the River (1968) at Shepperton Studios] and Phil Silvers [then filming (Carry On) Follow That Camel (1967) at Pinewood Studios] clowned for the TV cameras recording the event.

Although Casino Royale was still playing in London, You Only Live Twice proved hugely successful and broke house records in its first week at the ODEON Leicester Square. You Only Live Twice also broke the house record at the ODEON Leicester Square in its second week taking £19,473, and again in its seventh week at the end of July, taking £16,256 - the best figure since its third week, and even more remarkable given that London was sweltering in a heat wave during the hottest summer for many years. The fifth James Bond film even took in a respectable £9,160 in its 11th and final week at the ODEON, before transferring to the London Pavilion from Thursday August 31, 1967, where it then played until Tuesday October 17th.

You Only Live Twice was the penultimate film screened at the ODEON Leicester Square before the cinema closed for ‘modernisation’ on Thursday September 21, 1967. Most of the beautiful art-deco features which had survived the London bombings in World War II were disposed of in the controversial revamp. The three-month £200,000 facelift included a new front of house canopy, re-styled foyer & circle lounge and the auditorium was fitted with new seats. The ODEON Leicester Square re-opened on Wednesday December 27, 1967 - the same week that Casino Royale played at the International Film Theatre, Bayswater.

You Only Live Twice also played concurrently at Studio One, Oxford Circus from Thursday September 14 until Thursday November 16, 1967 before transferring to the 320-seat Windmill Cinema (formerly The Windmill Theatre) in Soho until Saturday December 16, 1967. You Only Live Twice did not go on general release across the UK until mid-August 1967, two months after it premiered in London - although some south coast seaside resorts had played the film for 7-days at the end of June; and also an exclusive season at the Dreamland Amusement complex in Margate over the Summer months. You Only Live Twice was still screening provincially almost a year after its London premiere.

James Bond UK posters

 FACT FILES