Carlos Esnaola: Thunderball (1965) 'Official Trailer': Starring Sean Connery and Claudine Auger

Source:Carlos Esnaola- French Goddess Claudine Auger, as Domino in Thunderball.

"Thunderball (1965) is the fourth spy film in the James Bond series starring Sean Connery as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. It is an adaptation of the novel of the same name by Ian Fleming, which in turn was based on an original screenplay by Jack Whittingham. It was directed by Terence Young with screenplay by Richard Maibaum and John Hopkins."

"The film follows Bond's mission to find two NATO atomic bombs stolen by SPECTRE, which holds the world ransom for £100 million in diamonds, in exchange for not destroying an unspecified major city in either England or the United States (later revealed to be Miami). The search leads Bond to the Bahamas, where he encounters Emilio Largo, the card-playing, eye-patch wearing SPECTRE Number Two. Backed by CIA agent Felix Leiter and Largo's mistress, Domino, Bond's search culminates in an underwater battle with Largo's henchmen. The film had a complex production, with four different units and about a quarter of the film consisting of underwater scenes.[1]Thunderball was the first Bond film shot in widescreen Panavision and the first to have over a two hour running time."

"Thunderball was associated with a legal dispute in 1961 when former Ian Fleming collaborators Kevin McClory and Jack Whittingham sued him shortly after the 1961 publication of the novel, claiming he based it upon the screenplay the trio had earlier written in a failed cinematic translation of James Bond. The lawsuit was settled out of court and Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman, fearing a rival McClory film, allowed him to retain certain screen rights to the novel's story, plot and characters.[2]"

"The film was a success, earning a total of $141.2 million worldwide, exceeding the earnings of the three previous Bond films. In 1966, John Stears won the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects[3] and production designer Ken Adam was also nominated for a BAFTA award.[4] Thunderball is, to date, the most financially successful movie of the series after adjusting for inflation. Some critics and viewers showered praise on the film and branded it a welcome addition to the series, while others complained of the repetitively monotonous aquatic action and prolonged length. In 1983, Warner Brothers released a second film adaptation of the novel under the title Never Say Never Again."

From Carlos Esnaola

Source:Keith Loves Movies- "Countdown to Spectre: Thunderball 1965"

In the off chance there's anyone who is interested in watching anything other than talking heads screaming at each other on cable news, or reality TV, and other celebrity news programming, Roger Goodell's NFL which is at this point doesn't look anything more than a Hollywood movie as well, Turner Classic Movies ( or TCM ) has made Thursday night James Bond night all September. Just a little programing note for you and there will probably be more posts on this blog about James Bond this month and perhaps into October as well.

Last Thursday night, I was watching the first part of the TCM James Bond marathon and they played Dr. No, ( with Sean Connery and Ursula Andress ) from Russia With Love, ( with Sean Connery and Daniela Bianchi ) Goldfinger, ( with Sean Connery and Honor Blackman ) and Thunderball with Sean Connery and French Goddess, as well as Babydoll and actress Claudine Auger. I saw this movie back in February and was so impressed with Claudine Auger that I've been wanting to see this movie again, but it hasn't been shown against, or at least when I've been able to see it. Saw last Thursday night and decided to record it.

When I think of James Bond movies, I sort of look at them like Alfred Hitchcock movies: they're great in the sense that they're very entertaining, exciting, cleverly written, gorgeous, sexy, adorable women like let's say Claudine Auger, ( to use as an example ) but not great in the sense that they're trying to deliver any special social or political message and meant to be taken seriously like a Sidney Poitier movie. But more like they just want people to have a great time watching the film. A great night out ( if you will ) and there's nothing wrong with that and I'm a big James Bond as well as Sean Connery fan. People need their escapes and breaks from reality and Thunderball is that great escape and great time that all of us need in life to make life easier for us because of all the stress and nonsense that we all have to deal with.   

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