Thunderball (1965) Facts
| Director(s) | Terence Young |
| Producer(s) | Kevin McClory, Harry Saltzman (uncredited), Albert R. Broccoli (uncredited) |
| Featured Cast | Sean Connery, Adolfo Celi, Bernard Lee, Desmond Llewelyn, Michael Brennan |
| Total Facts | 91 |
The character of Count Lippe is a reference to Ian Fleming's old friend from his days as an intelligence officer, Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands. Bernhard was born as Bernhard von Lippe Biesterfeld. Prince Bernhard was very pleased by the reference.
The conga drummer at the Kiss Kiss Club is King Errisson (uncredited) and not only has a recording career of his own but also has played in the Neil Diamond band since 1972.
The dictionary definition of the word "thunderball" is that it was a military term used by US soldiers to describe the mushroom cloud seen during the testing of atomic bombs. Hence its use as a title because this would be result of SPECTRE detonating the stolen atomic bombs. In a case of life imitating art, the codename for the 1976 Israeli operation to rescue hostages held in Uganda was called "Thunderball" and named after this movie.
The film was originally supposed to have had its premiere at the Odeon, Leicester Square, London in September 1965. It was delayed until December because the film could not be completed in time.
The film's title song is sung by Tom Jones. A song called "Thunderball" sung by Johnny Cash was submitted to the filmmakers but was rejected. A cover version of the title song sung by Martin Fry can be heard on the David Arnold Bond song compilation album, "Shaken and Stirred: the David Arnold James Bond Project". Another cover of the theme song was apparently recorded by Mr. Bungle but it has never been released.
The film's World Premiere was held on 9th December 1965 at the Hibiya Cinema, Tokyo, Japan. The film's US Premiere was on 21 December 1965 in New York and this is sometimes mistaken as being the movie's World Premiere. United Artists arranged one of the Bell Jet-Pack pilots to fly off the marquee of the Paramount Theater at 1501 Broadway, Manhattan as a promotion at the launch. A number of United Artists publicity personnel and the pilot were arrested as no one had sought permission from the authorities. The UK launch held dual premieres in London on 29th December 1965 at the Rialto Theatre and Pavillion Theatre, Piccadilly Circus. The after-party was held at the Royal Garden Hotel and proceeds from the night went to benefit the Newspaper Press Fund.
The Fiona Volpe character was originally Irish and called Fiona Kelly in earlier drafts of the script. But the surname was changed to suit the Italian nationality of Luciana Paluzzi who was cast in the role of Fiona after being rejected for the role of Domino. The character does not appear at all in the novel.
The first line of the "Thunderball" James Bond novel read: "It was one of those days when it seemed to James Bond that all life, as someone put it, was nothing but a heap of six to four against." The last line of the "Thunderball" James Bond novel read: "Then she gave a small sigh, pulled the pillow to the edge of the bed so that it was just above him, laid her head down so that she could see him whenever she wanted to, and closed her eyes."
The first outline for this movie was written by Ernest Cuneo on 27th May 1959. Cuneo was also used as the name of a character in Ian Fleming's novel 'Diamonds Are Forever,' but not in its subsequent film adaptation Diamonds Are Forever.
The large ship that fires a cannon at the Disco Volante at the end can be identified as the Royal Navy frigate HMS Rothesay from its pennant number (F 107).
The line where Fiona derides Bond's ability to turn women to the side of right and virtue was taken from an actual critique of Goldfinger, where the critic derided Bond's ability to turn Pussy Galore away from Goldfinger.
The literal translations of some of the movie's foreign language titles include Fireball (Germany & Finland); Operation Thundersky (Norway); Calm Down, Mr Bond (Netherlands); The Thunderball (Sweden); Atomic Ball (Portugal); Agent 007 Into The fire (Denmark); The Ball of Thunder (Israel) ; 007 Averts SPECTRE / 007 Averted The Spectre (China) ; Thunderball Fighting (Japan); Operation Thunder (Belgium & France); and Operation Thunderball (Italy, Japan, Spain & Poland)
The many underwater scenes stem from writer Kevin McClory's interest in diving.
The movie had two major re-releases with two other James Bond films: The first was with From Russia with Love in 1968 and the other was with You Only Live Twice from 1970 until 1972. The latter pairing was billed as "the two biggest Bonds of all."
The only Bond film in which Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman are not credited for their work done as producers. They are instead only credited as executive producers. This is the only EON Productions James Bond film to have Kevin McClory credited as a producer.
The only Bond film where we get a glimpse of all 00 agents in one shot. They are summoned to M's briefing and 007 is the last to join in. He sits down in the only available chair - the seventh from the left. Only one of the other 00's faces are revealed, however, as they are filmed from behind or their faces are hidden, and Bond is seen in close-up.
The only individual James Bond movie to win a Visual or Special Effects Oscar (Academy Award). It was for Best Effects, Special Visual Effects and awarded to John Stears in 1966. Moonraker was nominated for Best Effects, Visual Effects in 1979 but did not win. Albert R. Broccoli received the Irving Thalberg Memorial Award from the Academy for producing the group of James Bond movies in 1982. Goldfinger won the first Bond Oscar for Sound Effects.
The opening sequence in earlier versions of the script was set in Hong Kong at a fan-tan parlor strip joint. The man in drag story element though was still the same though he was dressed in a peacock outfit and sat in a gold cage.
The production staff screened The Silent Enemy several times to glean tips on underwater warfare for the film. "Silent Enemy" dealt with British VS Italian Frogmen in the Mediterranean during the second world war.
The reason why many of the villains are played by Italian actors was because the original script did not involve SPECTRE but Italian gangsters in the Sicilian Mafia, with Largo as a Crime Boss.
The rocket-propulsion Jet Pack seen in the film was originally designed and invented for military use. It is also known as the Small Rocket Lift Device (SRLD). The original intention as conceived during the 1950s was for soldiers to be able to improve their agility, depth of field and ability to commandeer terrain by being able to jump over impeding landmarks and waterways. The Bell Aerosystems Rocketbelt model was used for this movie. Its flight goes for twenty one seconds, and provides 1000 brake horsepower.
The Shrublands resort was actually a converted hotel near Pinewood Studios.
The title song was originally to be "Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang" sung by Dionne Warwick, but was changed at the last minute to "Thunderball" sung by Tom Jones. The producers were concerned about a main title song that did not include the film's title as the song title. Four different versions of the "Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang" song were recorded, including a version sung by Shirley Bassey and two different instrumental versions; the two instrumental versions were eventually released on disc, while Warwick's version was used in the opening credit sequence of an unreleased version of the film. This version can be heard on Audio Commentary Track Two on the DVD during the opening titles and on the James Bond 30th Anniversary double CD.
There is debate over who provides Blofeld's voice in this film. Some sources say Joseph Wiseman. Other sources give credit to Eric Pohlmann. In any event, Anthony Dawson, who provided Blofeld's body in From Russia with Love, makes a return appearance.
This film and From Russia with Love are the only Bond movies to use the wipe editing technique in scene transitions.
This film was Sean Connery's own favorite performance as 007.
This is the first James Bond film to be shot in a widescreen process, Panavision.
This was the first James Bond movie to provide two key elements for the series' success. It was the first of Maurice Binder's opening titles sequences created in the form that they would become most famous for. It was also the first to have movie posters which had panoramic adventure-scene artwork. These would become a tradition for the series until Licence to Kill. From GoldenEye onwards, photo montages have become the staple for James Bond movie posters.
This was the most popular Bond movie with paying audiences, racking up 140 million ticket sales. Goldfinger, with 130 million ticket sales, ranks number two in popularity.
Thunderbeatle was the nickname for James Bond creator Ian Fleming given to him by his wife Ann Fleming. The type of car that Largo is seen driving in Paris at the start of the movie was a 1965 Thunderbird which was a make of car that was adored by Ian Fleming.
To prevent anyone using the Vulcan bomber mock-up for future filming, the production team blew up the plane with dynamite. The frame work left behind has since become a reef.
Two early Avro Vulcan B1As from the Waddington Wing were used in the filming. In the ground sequences XA913 was used and for in flight use, XH506. Both aircraft were withdrawn from service by 1968 and scrapped the same year.
Vehicles featured included the return of the silver birch Aston Martin DB5 from Goldfinger; Fiona Volpe's gold BSA 650cc A65L Lightning motorcycle and 1965 white top Ford Mustang light sky blue convertible; the Disco Volante hydrofoil yacht; Triumph Herald Cabriolet; a white 1965 Ford Thunderbird driven by Emilio Largo in Paris; Count Lippe's black 1957 Ford Fairlane 500 Skyliner with retractable hardtop roof; Bell Aerosystems Rocketbelt jet-pack; 007 drives a 1965 Lincoln Continental convertible in the Bahamas; a Sikorsky S-62; a Boeing B-17 plane; a hijacked Avro Vulcan B.1 bomber aircraft; a Bell 47J helicopter; a 1965 Ford station wagon; speedboats and underwater sledges such as frogmen driven underwater motorized tow sleds and an underwater motorized bomb sled for carrying two atomic weapons.
When Bond and Domino are rescued by winch at the end of the movie, it was actually by a then-real sea rescue method known as sky-hooking. It is an out of date practice today, as more advanced helicopter rescue methods are used, such as those seen in the movie The Guardian.
While there really is an area known as the "Golden Grotto" in the Bahamas (now rechristened to "Thunderball Reef"), the Golden Grotto sharks that Largo keeps in his swimming pool and describes as "the most dangerous, the most savage" shark species of them all, are entirely fictional. The Bull/Zambezi shark is regarded as the most dangerous to man in all tropical waters.
George Leech:
The stuntman as a Disco Volante crewman (uncredited).
Bob Simmons:
The series regular stuntman in an uncredited part as Colonel Bouvard, the man in drag whom James Bond fights in the pre-title sequence. Before "she" gets punched, the part is played by Rose Alba, explaining why "his" legs look so good in a dress. Up until this film Simmons had appeared as James Bond in the gun-barrel sequence in the first three movies in the series. In this movie, however, Sean Connery performs that moment for the first time.
Kevin McClory:
a man seated smoking a cigar at the Nassau Casino when James Bond arrives.
Charles Russhon:
The military adviser and technical consultant for most of the early movies in the series appears as an Air Force Officer. He appears camera right of M during the conference with all the double-O agents. For this film, he also liaised with the US Coast Guard and US Air Force Aqua-para team to organize their participation in the film. For the production, he also organized the Skyhook rescue equipment and a sizable amount underwater diving gear valued at $US 92,000.
Diane Hartford:
The wife of millionaire Huntington Hartford in an uncredited walk on role as a Girl at the Kiss Kiss Club. She had three lines with Sean Connery whom she was dancing with when the evil redhead Fiona Volpe (Luciana Paluzzi) cuts into their dance and then gets shot in the back. Husband Huntington gets credited at end of the movie for the use of his privately owned Paradise Island.
Henry Ford II:
The grandson of Henry Ford appeared as an extra. Ford were associated with the picture providing a number of vehicles such as a light sky blue Ford Mustang convertible, Ford Bell 47J and 1965 Ford station wagon.