Octopussy
40th Anniversary
(1983–2023)

Upon their return to the UK the first unit began filming at Pinewood Studios on October 14, 1982, with the scenes in Q’s lab filmed a week later. More juvenile humour found its way into these scenes, which further undermined the schizophrenic nature of the script. In early November the scenes inside Octopussy’s Circus tent were captured, with Roger Moore in full clown make-up as he attempts to diffuse the ticking atomic bomb. During the filming the unit was visited by Christopher Reeve, who was shooting Superman III (1983) at Pinewood Studios at the same time as Octopussy.

More scenes involving Octopussy’s train followed, with the production then moving to the ‘007 Stage’ (after Superman III had vacated the space) to film the climactic scenes of the raid on Kamal Khan’s palace by Octopussy and her gang of female acrobats (with Pinewood standing in rather unconvincingly as Udaipur). Towards the end of principal photography the scenes in Octopussy’s bedroom were filmed, showcasing the talents of production designer Peter Lamont and the giant Octopus-shaped bed created for the film.

Principal photography on Octopussy came to an end on January 25, 1983 and the focus then moved to the shaping of the final film in readiness for its June 6th premiere. Main title designer Maurice Binder began work on February 21st, on Pinewood’s Stage ‘C’ with the obligatory nude models, this time enhanced with the use of laser beam technology first used by Binder in the love scenes of John Badham’s Dracula (1979). Maurice Binder’s teaser trailer also highlighted the fact that James Bond was celebrating 21 years in the cinema with the release of Octopussy, a fact also promoted on Daniel Gouzee’s advance teaser posters for the film. It should be noted that with a rival Bond film also in production, much of the advertising materials ahead of the release of Octopussy reminded audiences that Roger Moore ‘is’ James Bond 007, very like the campaign for You Only Live Twice in 1967 when another Bond film was in cinemas ready to confuse casual cinemagoers. It should be noted that the Octopussy teaser trailers also include a specially filmed introductory sequence with Maud Adams in character as ‘Octopussy’, and an amusing out-take of Roger Moore and Kristina Wayborn in bed, further highlighting the ‘jokey’ nature of the finished film. The teaser trailer and posters also bore the tag-line “Nobody Does HIM Better!”, reminding audiences this was a new film from the ‘official’ James Bond series.

With two James Bond films made in the same year, Octopussy was ultimately released ahead of Never Say Never Again, and the so-called ‘Battle of the Bonds’ never really materialised other than in the minds of the Media on the lookout for a good story. By the time Never Say Never Again opened in the USA on October 14, 1983, Octopussy had more or less finished its theatrical engagements, and in the final analysis outperformed Sean Connery’s comeback by a significant margin, although his film was a huge box-office winner in its own right. Out of loyalty to ‘Cubby’ Broccoli, many of his previous collaborators turned down offers to work on the rival project, including five-time Bond film editor and On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969) director Peter Hunt. Composer John Barry also agreed to return to the series to score Octopussy, which although far from being his most memorable Bond soundtrack was another link to 21 years of James Bond in the cinema.

Octopussy had its Royal World Charity Premiere at the ODEON Leicester Square on June 6, 1983 and went on to break box-office records there during its 10-week engagement. Among the invited celebrity guests were The Man With The Golden Gun title singer Lulu, For Your Eyes Only villain Julian Glover, along with Wimbledon tennis champion John McEnroe, popular entertainer Cilla Black, and broadcasters David Frost and Terry Wogan. ‘Goldfinger’ and ‘You Only Live Twice’ lyricist Leslie Bricusse was also invited to the Octopussy premiere, and with Hollywood stars Tom Selleck and Liza Minnelli, also attended the after-show party held at the Kensington Roof Gardens, where the filmmakers celebrated James Bond’s 21st Anniversary. This cinematic milestone was also commemorated with a TV special entitled James Bond: The first 21 years in which various celebrities and politicians (including US President Ronald Reagan) paid tribute to the character as if he was a real person! The frequently embarrassing one-hour London Weekend Television special was broadcast in the UK on the ITV network on May 27, 1983 – two weeks ahead of the premiere of Octopussy. The alternate US version featured more American stars and was originally broadcast on June 12, 1983 – two days after the film had opened in New York, following a premiere at the RKO National Twin on Broadway and 44th Street on June 9th. The premiere was attended by the filmmakers and several stars who flew over for the event, where they were reunited with Steven Berkoff, whose play Greek had just opened on Broadway. Octopussy was among thirteen first-run films released in North America in 1983 with 70mm prints for selected engagements. The first-run presentations at the RKO Twin in New York and Paramount in Hollywood, California were among those venues chosen to screen the film in 70mm. The prints were 35mm blow ups with a Dolby six-track stereo soundtrack. Octopussy later screened in 70mm at the ODEON Marble Arch in London at the end of its UK theatrical engagements, in direct competition to Never Say Never Again, which opened in the week before Christmas 1983. EON Productions also initiated an exclusive triple-bill of Octopussy/For Your Eyes Only/Thunderball at the Empire cinema in Leicester Square the week before Sean Connery’s rival production debuted on December 14, 1983 – 100 yards away at the Warner West End.

With both films celebrating their 40th anniversary in 1983 (and both very successful at the box-office), Octopussy can now be seen as something far from the ‘All Time High’ promised by the poster tag-line. Like so many of the films in Roger Moore’s 007 tenure, Octopussy is a curious mixture of some of the best, and worst of the franchise. On a technical level, many of the stunts and special effects hold up very well, but the juvenile ‘humour’ and obvious studio-based outdoor sets in many instances, reduce the overall production to something akin to a later period Carry On film – with familiar faces, trotting out well-worn routines. Octopussy’s script veers unevenly between Cold War tension and a desire to inject a little bit of Ian Fleming back into the series, to literally reducing our hero to a clown. Very much a product of its time, Octopussy has dated less well than many of its predecessors. Like so many entries in the series, the villains come out better than most, with Louis Jourdan as the silkily charming Kamal Khan, and Steven Berkoff as the unhinged General Orlov vying for top position.

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