United Artists, Volume 2, 1951–1978: The Company That Changed the Film Industry

Eight. "007": A License to Print Money

C HAP T E R E I G H T "007" A License to Print Money As the most successful series in motion picture history, the James Bond films are quintessential examples of products tailored for the international market. Financed by an American major partly with British film subsidy funds, produced by two expatriates who had incorporated in Switzerland, and based on a popular series of British espionage novels that played off Cold War tensions, the James Bond films were shot in exotic locales featuring a cast of mixed nationalities that was headed by a star of universal appeal. Equally important, the pictures contained a lot of sex and action. The purpose of this chapter is to analyze the relationship between UA and the Broccoli-Saltzman production team to demonstrate how UA sustained a successful series. Of all the ways to rationalize the acquisition of product, a series has the greatest potential of generating profits without much attendant risk. Once launched, a series creates loyal and eager fans who form the core of its audience. By keeping production costs in line with this 253 254 "007" ready-made demand, series pictures are almost guaranteed a profit. The problem, of course, is to hit upon a theme or subject that will sustain attention beyond the sequel. After the success of the first james Bond feature, Dr. No, VA did not merely pull down successive titles from the Ian Fleming bookshelf and order up new pictures. Producers Cubby Broccoli and Harry Saltzman devised a formula of their own inspired by the novels that really accounted for the enduring popularity of the series. To keep the series going, VA developed a special relationship with the producers, heaped added inducements on them to keep them happy, and fought off the competition. In the process, VA perfected its marketing skills to capture the lion's share of the box office. SECURING THE OPTION Broccoli and Saltzman had been at loose ends when they contemplated the james Bond series. After eight years of successful producing , Broccoli's partnership with Irving Allen had disintegrated. Broccoli , a New York City native and former Hollywood agent, had moved to London where he cofounded Warwick Films with Allen in 1952. Warwick received financing from Columbia Pictures and was responsible for producing the company's British quota requirements. Specializing mostly in action pictures, Warwick turned out a string of moneymakers that included The Red Beret, Hell Below Zero, Cockleshell Heroes, Zarak, and Adongo, to name only a few. Key personnel in the james Bond series worked with Broccoli at Warwick, among them director Terence Young, writer Richard Maibaum, cinematographer Ted Moore, and art director Ken Adam. Quebec-born, Saltzman had worked in the circus, vaudeville, theater, and television in many capacities before joining up with john Osborne and Tony Richardson in 1956. When Saltzman resigned from Woodfall Films in 1960, Woodfall had produced Look Back in Anger, The Entertainer , and Saturday Night and Sunday Morning. Of Saltzman, Alexander Walker said, "He could make money work and things happen: not always to his advantage, though generally so. He could open and close deals, two talents by no means always found lurking together in the same person." 1 Saltzman's motivation for contacting Ian Fleming may have been a story in Life magazine on March 17, 1961 , which named From Russia with Love as one of President Kennedy's ten favorite books. Regardless, Saltzman caught Fleming at 255 "007" "a propitious moment," said Walker; recovering from his first heart attack , Fleming was in the process of setting up a trust fund for his family . Saltzman took an option on the Bond books, but the deal was not clinched until after he met Cubby Broccoli. Broccoli had likewise become interested in the novels and was introduced to Saltzman by writer Wolf Mankowitz, a mutual friend of the two men. According to Walker, Broccoli "wrote out an agreement guaranteeing an advance of at least £1,000, and the two producers started hunting for financial backing."2 Fleming granted Saltzman exclusive motion picture rights to all the published James Bond novels, save his first, Casino Royale, in return for $100,000 per book and 2 1 /2 percent of the net profits from each film. From the start, the deal clearly contemplated a series. Saltzman was required to option a new book for a motion picture every eighteen months; otherwise the rights to the...