Congrats on your new publication! Can you tell us a bit about the process of putting it together over the years?
The International Spy Film Guide 1945 –
1989 (“The ISFG”) began life in 2004 as a database of spy cinema. I wanted to keep a record of the foreign
release titles of spy films. This helped identify titles when trying to locate a
given film or poster. It was also the beginning of developing The Kiss Kiss
Kill Kill Archive project which was primarily a touring exhibition of Cold War
spy film posters here in the UK. The exhibitions took five years to come to
fruition by collaborating with various academic and cultural institutions. We
also staged the first ever symposium on spy films at The University of
Hertfordshire.
Whilst the database was on going
through this period I was also writing long form reviews for the Kiss Kiss Kill
Kill Archive website. Following the publication of my exhibition catalogue “Kiss
Kiss Kill Kill The Graphic Art and Forgotten Spy Films of Cold War Europe”, I
decided I would like to do another book. As the database was very well advanced
by this point it seemed logical to utilise that and make an encyclopedia. I
guessed I would be looking at around 500 films. Then the real trouble began.
Over the coming months and years, hundreds of films started appearing. This was
not helped by my broad-church approach which was to cover all 20th
Century spy films made during the Cold War from every country in the world. I
was determined not to compromise in terms of content, space and scope.
The design looks stunning. Did you try various iterations before arriving at the look of the layout?
My first layout for The International
Spy Film Guide 1945 – 1989 was completed about two years ago and followed the
standard encyclopedia “entry after entry in as many columns as possible”
approach. As soon as I finished the first layout, I stood back and thought it
looked crammed and not what I wanted. I always wanted the illustrations to be
an integral part of the book to really give the reader a flavour of what the
various films did (or didn’t) have to offer. So I jettisoned months of work and
started from scratch. I arrived at the layout and balance of image and text
through this process. I also did a year of proofing with test proof copies in
different formats. I had hoped to offer a budget black and white version but it
was not satisfactory – “The ISFG” needed to be in colour.
Looking at the end paper image of the
Minox camera, I see we have some similar ideas regarding design to capture the
spy world. What images did you create for the book vs working with artefacts
like posters? Did you work with other artists?
Because writing the book took so many
years I had a lot of time to work on the branding and artwork. I came up with
all the artwork myself including the still life shoot which involved buying
various props to create a spy style with each prop denoting something of the
life of the Cold War agent. The whole project from start to finish has been
executed by me – text, photos, layout, design, marketing, branding and so on.
My wife Clare and many friends and family have been invaluable in the decision
making process and proofing.
Excellent work! It’s exciting that your book covers so
many countries. How did you choose when it came to films on the cusp of
espionage content?
In the spirit of being uncompromising,
I decided to take a very broad-church approach. The reasoning was that if you
enjoy the spy genre, then all the cross-over genre blends that exist would be
of interest. Or indeed films that one might need warning away from – there are
a lot of bad spy films. (That’s bad/bad rather than good /bad.) If there are secret agents in the film as a
key part of the narrative then they are included. I explain this approach in
depth in the introduction to the book just so the canon-obsessed aficionados will
be placated.
Regarding the wide range of countries,
this was integral to project in so many ways. The overarching theme of the
project is ‘international’. I loved the fact that this gave me a licence to travel
all over the world and look at the fascist propaganda of Argentina, the pre/post
fundamental films of Iran, the (possibly) lost comedies of Syria, the unknown
genre work of South Korea; not to mention all the Chinese, Russian and Eastern
Bloc films that were hidden from the West by the Cold War. Many of these
unknown regions would conjure their own version of James Bond with their take
on glamour, gadgets and spy style. James Bond and far far beyond.
The International concept also extends to
the stylistic themes of the artwork I created (the jet-setting superspy
mission, the PAN AM inspired iconography, spies in love and on the run etc.).
And of course the bulk of the book’s content is posters and stills from all
countries.
This international investigation led to
the fascinating realisation that 65 countries of every political and religious
creed are pretty much all saying the same thing and are exploring the same
myths of heroism, escapism, romance and fear of “people from away”.
Does the book include movies crafted
from TV series such as The Man from UNCLE, The Avengers, The Saint, etc.? What
will fans of the television shows find?
The compilation films that companies
like ITC edited together from television episodes in order to sell to foreign
territories for theatrical release were a godsend. They allowed me to feature
so many of the iconic and wonderful spies of the TV world. ITC compilation
films made from The Baron, Danger Man, and The Persuaders etc. are all
included. The same goes for the UNCLE films, the Peter Murphy films like
“Danger Has Two Faces” and Spy Catcher J-3 from Japan, I also decided to
include TV features, many of which deservedly got theatrical distribution
abroad like David McCallum’s excellent “Hauser’s Memory”. Also included are
straight to video releases and standalone TV features.
Cool! The many fans of UNCLE and other TV spies will be happy to hear that. What are some of the elements you feel
make for more successful posters or lobby cards? What do these elements tell us
about spy stories?
What is
wonderful about Cold War era poster artwork is the distinct national styles
that emerged in the poster artwork. Unlike the generic campaigns of today,
artists were hired by distributors to give the film a style that would appeal
to their specific country. I go into this in detail in the introduction to the
“The Graphic Art and Forgotten Spy Films of Cold War Europe” book. Great
Italian poster artist Renato Casaro told me; “If you have to do a campaign for
more than one country you have to find a way in between to satisfy the
different mentalities, tastes etc. Italy and Spain wanted action, France
sophistication and Germany something in between.”
Each country produced exciting and
dynamic design work – often within the framework of a nationally defined style
such as the exacting photo montage of Japan, the high art paintings of Poland
or the garish, sensationalist style of Italy.
Often the artists would distil the key
motifs of the genre into the artwork such that the same images of guns, explosions,
beautiful women, heroic men, codenames and a jet set world would reoccur across
different cultural boundaries despite the national ‘house styles’ mentioned
above. It is these internationally reoccurring motifs of the spy genre that
mark the genre out as uniquely pan-world and I would argue mythical.
That's very interesting! How did you first get into spy films?
What are your earliest memories?
Like all children of the 60s, Bond,
UNCLE, Avengers, Danger Man, and Flint were all around us. And we loved them all –
exciting, glamourous, colourful and cool. I remember for my sixth birthday
party we had a spy party and all my school mates came with attaché cases.
Later, when I started working in the film industry I ignored these childhood genre
passions in favour of championing “good” cinema – Welles, Kurosawa, Truffaut
etc. It was only when I hit 40 that I realised I had always got a kick out of
watching spy films. Certainly a nostalgic thing but as we now know, nostalgia
produces endorphins and a sense of wellbeing; so I just followed my instinct
and got into spy films again. Then I read Matt Blake and David Deal’s “The
Eurospy Guide” which was an epiphany in that I discovered there was a world of
cinema hidden from view and unknown during my spy-filled childhood. From that
point the nostalgia led to something new - cinematic archaeology.
When did you start collecting? What did
you look for?
As I hit 40, I had decided to sell off
a pile of British film posters and stills that I had acquired from the local
cinemas at the age of 10. As I started to use eBay to sell them, I began to
look at what was out there and ironically started buying instead of selling.
Around the same time, I was letting rip with my passion for spy cinema and the
posters became signposts for forgotten films. I would find a cool spy poster
for an unknown film and wonder what the film was like. This set the ball
rolling. Sometimes it took years to track down a copy of the film discovered as
a poster – at least 12 years for the Kokusai himitsu keisatsu films (a Japanese
Bond infused franchise). In this case it was worth the wait. However, the films
don’t always match up to the promise of the posters; Eurospy actor Roger Browne
told me he thought “some of the posters turned out better than the films”.
From some of the Eurospy films I've seen, I can attest to that theory. Were there specific items or images
that really inspired you to embark on creating what became your archive?
Beyond Matt Blake and David Deal’s
“The Eurospy Guide” which was a big influence, I was initially driven by
European imagery and the fact that Eurospy films at that time were still way
off the radar. Certainly a hunter/gatherer instinct was at work in tracking
down posters and images that appealed to my love of Europe and its cultural
diversity. From rainy, Cold War mittel-Europa
cinema to the idyllic sunshine holiday-style of the Mediterranean – these
images truly inspired me when blended with the supercool spy iconography of my
childhood.
As the Kiss Kiss Kill Kill Archive
project developed with encouragement from Matthew Shaul of the University of
Hertfordshire, I began to discover the hidden films from the Eastern Bloc and
the amazing artwork that came with them. Following the touring show and the
development of “The ISFG” every country became of interest.
Where did you track down pieces for your
collection?
EBay was naturally the starting point for
finding pieces for the collection but I have since purchased artwork from many,
many different people and places. Bruce Hershenson’s auction site
emovieposter.com is essential. But it is
the caches one discovers with an individual that can make for the most exciting
discoveries. Usually when an artist studio or attic is being cleared or a
production office archive sold off.
Does your collection ever go on
display/exhibit?
We held five exhibitions across the UK
between 2010 and 2014. There was one planned for Paris to be hosted in
Catherine Deneuve’s cinema but that has yet to come to fruition. Photos of all
the shows are on the Kiss Kiss Kill Kill Archive website including a walk round
on video. We are open to invitations to make
further exhibitions although putting artwork on walls often costs more than one
would imagine.
Did you also collect books, toys, or
records?
I have many reference books, but not so
much merchandise. I have a few Cold War board games which are on the website, but I feel that area is well covered by other collectors, especially The Man
From UNCLE and Bond merchandise. Indeed for this reason I have purposefully not
collected Bond posters and to some extent Hitchcock posters as there are huge
collections already around. The curious thing about the Bond posters is that
they were often the posters with the highest print runs (100K+) but their
desirability ensures they are most sought after and fetch the highest prices at
auction. Bond is #1 even when he isn’t rare. I recall showing Sim Branaghan (the
UK expert on British film posters) a quad poster I have for “Danger is a Woman”.
He couldn’t believe he had never seen one and volunteered that it was hugely
scarce. I am sure I picked it up for a low price.
What are you looking for now?
Mainly posters and stills for titles
that I rate. You will have to buy The International Spy Film Guide 1945 – 1989
to find out which they are.
Has your interest in classic posters
and lobby cards ever wandered into other film genres?
I have remained strictly tied to the
spy and espionage genre only because one has to draw the line somewhere. I do
have a small number of non-spy film posters – some from my childhood that meant
a lot to me then like “Magnum Force”.
What 3 spy films would you bring to a
desert island and why?
Like a top ten, this is an impossible
question. I only managed a top 365 in “The ISFG” (hence my current ‘film a day’
posting on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and the website of each one.) Actually
I would probably go for some non-spy romantic stories for a desert isle to keep
my spirits up. Trouble is there are so few that are any good. I would want Paolo
Sorrentino’s “Le conseguenze dell'amore” aka “The Consequences of Love” or Eric
Rohmer’s “L’ami de mon amie” on a desert island.
If it had to be spy films it would be “Danger
Route”, “North by Northwest” and “Missione speciale Lady Chaplin”. All of these
I could watch a few times over. “Danger Route” for Richard Johnson’s pitch
perfect ‘spy in trouble’ and Seth Holt’s smart direction – the film is a great
blend of the atmosphere of both Fleming and Le Carré. “North by Northwest”
because it is the best spy film ever made and “Lady Chaplin” because it is so
silly, epic and fun plus Daniela Bianchi (From Russia With Love) is the queen of Eurospy.
If you were an international villain or
spy, what would your secret lair be like?
I have been busy building a secret lair
in West Wales over the last year. What it looks like is a secret but you get an
idea from Shag’s Dr. Scorpio’s Lair.
Where can folks order your book?
The sensible place to buy it is direct
from the website using PayPal. We ship to every country in the world –
tracked and insured. If you don’t have PayPal and want to
use a credit card you can buy it here. It is also available on Amazon and eBay, but the price includes their considerable agent’s free (nearly 20%).
Thank you! I encourage Spy Vibers to pick up The International Spy Film Guide 1945 – 1989 (also available in deluxe edition). Enjoy!
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