FOR YOUR SHELF ONLY: RARE FLEMING SHORT

For Your Shelf Only continues! Spy Vibe recently talked with Jon Gilbert, rare book dealer and author of Ian Fleming: The Bibliography. Our chat began a new series on Spy Vibe, offering fellow collectors and fans of spy novels a chance to share their experiences and some of their prized books. I'd like to share a brief discovery that I recently made collecting an Ian Fleming short story that is special to me.

Every fan of Ian Fleming has their favorite stories, those well-worn books that we go back to again and again. I like to re-explore the series every few years, a habit I can trace back to age twelve. And although I cherish a few of the novels specifically, the story I always come back to is From a View to a Kill. In this short, James Bond investigates the murder of a dispatch rider in France and discovers an enemy base hidden under ground. According to Chancellor's James Bond: The Man and His World, Fleming originally wrote the premise as a back-story for the Drax character in Moonraker and entitled it "The Rough With the Smooth." There is speculation that his brother Peter's auxiliary soldiers, who dug hidden tunnels to mount attacks in case of enemy invasion during WWII, was an inspiration. Fleming updated the tale to the Cold War era and it was published in For Your Eyes Only in 1962. Like other short stories he wrote, From a View To a Kill appeared in a number of magazines, including Argosy in 1961 (as "Paris Courier"), and Fury Magazine in 1962 (as "A Nice View For Killing"). I recently tracked down a lesser-known appearance in the American men's magazine, Swank, from 1964. I was excited to add this edition to my collection, and to help it onto the radar for Ian Fleming: The Bibliography.

From a View To a Kill is a beautifully contained Bond story. The story opens with an assassination on motorcycles, the scene of which has often provided the illustration concept for the various publications (Swank title illustration below). Fleming's gift with words: "The eyes behind the wide black rubber goggles were cold as flint. In the howling speed-turmoil of a BSA M20 doing seventy, they were the only quiet things in the hurtling flesh and metal. Protected by the glass of the goggles, they stared fixedly ahead from just above the centre of the handlebars, and their dark unwavering focus was that of gun muzzles." Simon Vance does a brilliant reading of this in the Blackstone Audio edition.

Another highlight scene, which provided the title art in Argosy, inspired a spot illustration in the Swank edition. Bond's intuition tells him that the answers lie in a clearing near the Carrefour Royal. He recalls M's dictum to pay attention to "The invisible factor. The invisible man." Gypsies had built an encampment in the clearing, but had left unnoticed some time before the murder. No one saw them leave. In this scene, 007 is dressed head to toe in camouflage (see illustration below). Peering out through tiny slits in his hood, he lays along the branch of a tree over the clearing for hours. The birds give the first warning. James Bond studies the area for some sign of movement. Then, over by the wild roses, he notices a single stem rising up into the air:  "Now, silently, the petals of the rose seemed to swivel and expand, the yellow pistils drew aside and sun glinted on a glass lens the size of a shilling." I find the telling of this suspenseful moment endlessly gripping.

From a View To a Kill was published recently in Quantum Of Solace, a compilation of the complete James Bond short stories (2008/limited-edition hard-cover and paperback editions by Penguin). It was also printed in 1999 as part of the Travelman Short Stories series, which I recently added to my collection. This edition is quite unique, as it literally folds out like a large travel map! (cover image below). I look forward to the new Fleming Bibliography and to learning about other editions of Fleming's stories and articles.

See the Cinema Retro page for this post. Scroll down for past editions of our series, For Your Shelf Only, where guests share stories about collecting and show us some of their treasures. Series links: Jon Gilbert, Raymond Benson, Jeremy Duns, Peter Lorenz, David Foster, Rob Mallows, Roger Langley, Craig Arthur, Fleming Short, Matt Sherman. You can find James Bond books and other spy treasures in Spy Vibe's secure Amazon Store. 

BOND ON BLU-RAY DETAILED

The extras and bonus features for the upcoming BOND 50 box set have been posted on the Blu-ray website. Spy Vibers will be interested to learn that BOND 50, the complete James Bond series in hi-definition Blu-ray, offers two all-new pieces that spotlight the history of 007. "The World of Bond" takes a look at the style and attitude that is signature to Bond; pulling together the cars, the women, the villains and the music that have been a staple of these films for the past 50 years. "Being Bond" profiles the six distinguished actors that have had the honor of portraying 007. The Bond Blu-ray set and other spy treasures are available in the secure Spy Vibe Amazon Store.

007 AT BAFTA

BAFTA celebrates the 50th anniversary of James Bond on film with a web-series of video documentaries. The features include Guy Hamilton (Goldfinger, Diamonds Are Forever, Live and Let Die, Man With The Golden Gun), Lewis Gilbert (You Only Live Twice, Spy Who Loved Me, Moonraker), production designer Ken Adam, and composers John Barry and David Arnold. It's all on the BAFTA 007 page. Thanks to From Sweden With Love for the heads up! Photo below of Sir Ken Adam from The Telegraph.

ULTIMATE PAD BY WES ANDERSON

In honor of the brilliant new film by auteur Wes Anderson, Moonrise Kingdom, here is a special treat for Spy Vibers. It's been a while since we looked at this short that Wes made for Stella Artois. The ultimate pad- if you know which buttons to push!

DESIGNING 007 EXHIBIT OPENS

007 Magazine has posted images of the opening weekend of Designing 007: Fifty Years of Bond Style at Barbican. The exhibit includes production design art and storyboards, costumes, props, models, books, vehicles, weapons, gadgets and much more from the fifty years of the Bond film franchise. Sounds like a spy fan's dream come true! The exhibit areas are divided into themes, such as Q branch, a casino room, and the golden room. Above and around the exhibits, multiple monitors project scenes from various films that spotlight the items on view.

Two Goldfinger displays that photographed beautifully are life-size waxworks of Sean Connery standing in front of the original Aston Martin DB5 and golden-girl, Shirley Eaton as Jill Masterson. Barbican will host the show until September 5th, and then it will travel to other cities. It will make its North American debut in October at the TIFF Bell Lightbox in Toronto. For info, check out 007 Magazine, Notcot, Huffington Post, and Barbican.

Stay tuned for our next installments of For Your Shelf Only, where fellow spy collectors talk about their favorite books and memorabilia and share some of their treasures. Series links to our recent guests: Jon Gilbert, Raymond Benson, Jeremy Duns, Peter Lorenz, David Foster, Rob Mallows, Roger Langley. 

IAN FLEMING IN NEW NOVEL

The Independent has posted a review of The House of Rumour, a new novel by Jake Arnott that interconnects a number of short stories- including one starring James Bond creator, author Ian Fleming! From the review: "In one segment, a youthful Ian Fleming investigates Rudolph Hess's flight to Scotland, dreams of James Bond and encounters Aleister Crowley. These characters, storylines and motifs are among the many that are re-cycled across the whole. Hess, imprisoned in Spandau, muses on history, astrology and Neil Armstrong's Moon landing. In 1940s California, a group of science fiction writers speculate about art, flying saucers and, in the case of L Ron Hubbard, new religions.

While the resulting plot moves crazily across time, space and genre, there is method to Arnott's narrative madness. "A story should sound improbable," Fleming is informed by his very own "M". "If it is too logical it's liable to appear contrived." The House of Rumour mixes high and low art to confront matters elevated and earthly: God and the Devil, space travel and imprisonment, transcendence and death." More at The Independent.

Stay tuned for our next installments of For Your Shelf Only, where fellow spy collectors talk about their favorite books and memorabilia and share some of their treasures. Series links to our recent guests: Jon Gilbert, Raymond Benson, Jeremy Duns, Peter Lorenz, David Foster, Rob Mallows, Roger Langley. 

IVAN VAUGHAN & THE BEATLES

On this day in 1957 an event occurred at a small church in northern England that would change the course of history. At the invitation of his childhood friend, Ivan Vaughan, Paul McCartney went to the Woolton Fete to see a new skiffle band. The young McCartney was a great fan of music. His father, an amateur jazz musician, introduced him to the standards. He gave his son a trumpet, which the boy later traded for a guitar in the wake of Skiffle-mania, Lonnie Donegan concerts, and the coming of Elvis and Rock n Roll. What is Skiffle, you ask? Check out this nice introduction.

The band performing at St. Peter's Church on July 6th was a local group called The Quarrymen, and McCartney was impressed with the leader, John Lennon, who belted out bluesy improv lyrics with great swagger. Ivan took Paul to meet the group during a break. In this famous encounter, McCartney wowed Lennon with a rendition of Twenty Flight Rock by Eddie Cochran. Eager to see his band grow professionally, Lennon invited the talented younger boy to join the band. Their repertoire grew as they found themselves as a group and as songwriters. The Beatles launched an international wave that rippled throughout the arts. Popular music and culture would be forever changed around the world. Ivan Vaughan was the catalyst.

Another factor that was key to their genesis was the end of national service for young men in England. For the first time, kids like Paul and John could pursue their hobbies and explore their identities in ways that were unheard of for their parents. Beatles drummer, Ringo Starr, said in a May 2008 interview that the end of mandatory national service in Britain made it possible for the Beatles to exist. “We were the first generation that didn’t go into the army. I missed the call up by, like, 10 months, and so we were allowed, as these teenagers, not to be regimented and [we] turn[ed] into these musicians." Ivan had been an early bass player for The Quarrymen, but his life turned toward the classics and teaching. Later in life he was diagnosed with Parkinson's. He wrote a book in 1986 called Ivan: Living With Parkinson's Disease, with an introduction by Johnathan Miller (Beyond the Fringe). 

Paul and his friend Ivan Vaughan shared a birthday. Vaughan's death in 1993 prompted McCartney to write a poem. Other writing followed, and he eventually published a collection of poems and lyrics called Blackbird Singing in 2002. In honor of Ivan Vaughan and the anniversary of the meeting between Lennon and McCartney, here is Paul's poem:

"Ivan"

Two doors open

On the eighteenth of June

Two babies born 

On the same day

In Liverpool

One was Ivan

The other---me

We met in adolescence

And did the deeds

They dared us do

Jive with Ive

The ace on the bass

He introduced to me

At Woolton fete

A pal or two

And so we did

A classic scholar he

A rocking roller me

As firm as friends could be

Cranlock naval

Cranlock pie

A tear is rolling

Down my eye

On the sixteenth of August

Nineteen ninety-three

One door closed 

Bye bye Ivy  

The Beatles recorded their studio masterpiece Sgt Pepper in 1967. One of the most innovative tracks was A Day in the Life, which combined fragment songs, abstract segues, and orchestration- a revolution in the days of Rock singles. Spy Vibers can spot a number of influential artists in this film. Who do you recognize? Incidentally, one of the classical musicians on this album was the father of David McCallum (The Man From U.N.C.L.E.). David McCallum Sr was a concertmaster violinist with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the London Philharmonic Orchestra. 

As the imagination of The Beatles continues to influence contemporary culture, the two surviving members still write, record, and perform. Paul McCartney, who turned 70 last month, has just been on a world tour. Ringo Starr, who is on tour now, turns 72 tomorrow on July 7th. Happy Birthday, Ringo! Celebrate these Beatles landmarks with music, friends, and imagination. Think of Ivan Vaughan today and remember that it takes friendships and curiosity to start great things.


You can find Beatles music, films, and books in the secure Spy Vibe Amazon Store. Stay tuned for our next installments of For Your Shelf Only, where fellow collectors of James Bond and other spy books talk about their favorites and share some of their treasures. Guests have included James Bond author, Raymond Benson, and Ian Fleming scholar and rare book dealer, Jon Gilbert. Series links to our recent guests: Jon Gilbert, Raymond Benson, Jeremy Duns, Peter Lorenz, David Foster, Rob Mallows, Roger Langley.

UFO INTERNATIONAL

Where else can you find silver miniskirts, Nehru jackets, space-age cars, sci-spy organ soundtracks, and a secret organization posing as a movie studio that battles alien spies? Gerry Anderson's first live-action TV show, UFO (1970-71), is currently only $29.99 in Spy Vibe's secure Amazon Store. Most Spy Vibers have seen this groovy show, but have you watched it in German or Japanese?  Check out the clips below for a new perspective. A feature film based on UFO is currently in production. Gerry Anderson has made a public announcement about his health, which you can read in our post here.

Stay tuned for our next installments of For Your Shelf Only, where fellow spy collectors talk about their favorite books and memorabilia and share some of their treasures. Series links to our recent guests: Jon Gilbert, Raymond Benson, Jeremy Duns, Peter Lorenz, David Foster, Rob Mallows, Roger Langley.

NEW JAMES BOND AUDIO

Ian Fleming had a great love for the sound of words. His stories are filled with wonderful descriptions and rhythm. I've been a devoted fan of the Blackstone Audio series of Bond novels read by Simon Vance (Robert Whitfeield) made around 2001. His delivery is relaxed and he seems to savor the lines as he reads. I listen to these often, and even have his voice in my head when I'm writing spy fiction. AudioGo will release a new series of audiobooks available for pre-order in August. They have lined-up fine actors for each story and previews are now on Youtube. The Martin Jarvis reading sounds best to me so far. See what you think. Here are samples of Man With the Golden Gun read by Kenneth Branagh, You Only Live Twice read by Martin Jarvis, and On Her Majesty's Secret Service read by David Tennant. More samples at the AudioGo YouTube page.

FOR YOUR SHELF ONLY: ROGER LANGLEY

For Your Shelf Only continues! Spy Vibe recently talked with Jon Gilbert, rare book dealer and author of Ian Fleming: The Bibliography. Our chat began a new series on Spy Vibe, offering fellow collectors and fans of spy novels a chance to share their experiences and some of their prized books. 

Our next guest is Roger Langley. Roger is the author of the biography, Patrick McGoohan: Danger Man or Prisoner?, and he is one of the key people at the Six of One Prisoner Appreciation Society, which organizes annual trips to Portmeirion, where The Prisoner was filmed. You can hear some of his interviews on-line at the Patrick McGoohan website.

Many of us grew up reading and collecting Ian Fleming and other authors. When did you start reading spy thrillers and collecting books?

I began buying spy thrillers in the early 1960s, and then Bond books by Ian Fleming after the first movie was released. I found the novels to be more interesting than the stories presented on the big screen, with wonderful descriptions of places, people and events; you could feel the Bentley engine running, smell 007’s special cigarettes and taste the coffee – and cocktails! Being a student at the time I was limited to paperbacks, but in later years I started to seek out the British hardbacks, the Cape first editions. Of course I never owned a Casino Royale 1953 copy, but I did acquire a reprint, with the later Pat Marriott cover playing card design.

When did you become interested in Patrick McGoohan’s projects- Danger Man and The Prisoner?

In 1959 I used to visit an aunt who could receive London ITV broadcasts and on Sunday evenings Danger Man was shown. I found the show fast-moving for its time and the hero John Drake (Patrick McGoohan) seemed smart and he could also throw a punch. When the various seasons ended I picked up on The Prisoner and found it to be fascinating. I stayed in each week to catch the episodes in 1967/8 and my girlfriend at the time couldn’t figure why I no longer wanted to go out on Friday nights! People used to be intrigued by the mystery ‘Number One’ figure and in the end McGoohan’s unmasking of the character made viewers complain, as they didn’t understand what had just happened and what the ending meant. I had to wait ten years before the show was repeated again and so it was like seeing it all over again as new, but this time in colour!

Did you read and collect the books that were published for these shows? Are there rare editions among these books?

The 1965 and 1966 annuals fetch good prices if they are in excellent condition. There is a very nice large French hardback glossy coffee table book, Destination Danger, published in 1996, which also fetches good prices. 

Did you collect the novels? How do those books hold up as literature?

I have all the Danger Man/Secret Agent paperbacks. There are no real rarities. The paperback stories are ok, but you really need McGoohan on screen to lift the action. The Prisoner trio of Ace paperbacks from 1969/70 are really just collector’s items, as the stories don’t follow the TV episodes and there are errors, or inconsistencies.

Do you have some pieces that were harder to find as a collector?

I have the three glossy ITC story book, brochure and press book editions from 1967. I used to visit the headquarters of ITC, the company which distributed on TV Danger Man and The Prisoner. I was given the books and this was fortunate as they are very hard to find.

I also have many original photos, some taken by members of the public at Portmeirion in 1966 during filming. And I have movie footage of the location shoots in 1966 which are one-offs.

I acquired my Danger Man / Secret Agent books around 30 years ago. At the time, in the UK, secondhand paperbacks were cheap and of course there were no online auctions or seller websites. I joined the Prisoner appreciation society, Six of One, in 1978 and was able to swap items with members, or somebody would get me a book I needed if they saw a copy in their home town for example. So I was lucky to have quite a few people who could source books for me and I would return the favour. Then I was given the three US Ace Prisoner paperbacks, which were the only novels from the series at the time. However, in 1979, two hardbacks were published in the UK by Dobson, followed in 1981 by paperback versions of the three US novels, published by New English Library (NEL). These had attractive picture covers. So within just a few years I managed to collect all the early books. I have collected many foreign editions of the various novels, as well.

In 1967 there was no Prisoner merchandise, except for a model Village taxi, a vinyl 45 rpm disc of the theme and its sheet music. Danger Man spawned a fair amount of merchandise but I only collected the books, not the games.

I also was given the Canadian Prisoner Puzzle publication, which is rare, along with its accompanying Program Guide. I haven’t seen these being sold since eBay started up and I don’t think there are many copies out there.

Are there one or two items in your collection that you prize above all others? Where did you find them?

I have some nice messages from Patrick McGoohan. I used to send him greeting cards for birthdays and Christmas and he would send either cards, or telegrams, a telex, or make a call. He never used email.

Somehow, I imagine that McGoohan wasn’t a big fan of signing autographs. Are his signatures hard to find?

Quite the contrary. He always sent photos to fans signed to their name and I have several which he sent with a nice covering note. His ‘bad boy’ image was, I think, to keep his screen characterizations intact. A few years before his death he signed many Prisoner shots and movie stills which were then sold online. I have some of those but my favourite ones are a collection he signed for me when he was in London twenty years ago.

The letter below, which McGoohan sent to fans and enquirers, was one of two which were hand-signed after Danger Man ended. The star was starting to plan The Prisoner and shooting commenced in early September, 1966. He didn’t give much away and for some months the press stories were vague, speaking of a new show shrouded in mystery. I was able to purchase examples of the letters from fans who contacted me and I also had an original copy of McGoohan’s outline synopsis for the show. The actor also signed for me a map which I produced, based on the one seen in the opening Prisoner episode Arrival.

I am pleased to have acquired Prisoner model vehicles from Japan, videos and DVDs from Spain, Italy, Germany, France and Japan. I have a separate glass fronted cabinet of every Prisoner book and publication produced during the past four decades. My one wish is that Prisoner appreciation had started ten years before it did, so that more props and costumes, badges and scripts could have been found. At the first convention in 1978 I met a man who told me he had just thrown out a box of badges and call sheets, cue sheets etc. which he had kept since the Portmeirion 1966 filming. If only I had got there a week earlier!

What are the rare ‘holy grail’ collectibles for Danger Man and Prisoner fans?

There was a Prisoner press conference in 1967 and it was filmed, but nobody knows what happened to the footage. I have photos showing a guy with a camera, shooting the event, but the film has never turned up. McGoohan was shouting questions to the press from a cage and was in costume, so to see that today would be memorable, as all the show’s props were on display too.

How did you start organizing tours to Portmeirion for Prisoner fans? Does that run each year?

The annual weekend conventions are organised by the appreciation society, Six of One, and started in 1978. I went to that one and met my future wife. We now have three grown up children and so have imprisoned each other! The Portmeirion events are so well organised that visitors sometimes think that a Prisoner remake is being filmed!

Thanks again to Roger for joining us and sharing his love of collecting and celebrating the work of Patrick McGoohan. I was a big Prisoner fan myself and joined the Six of One society as a kid. I remember being so excited to finally see that there were others (my tribe!), and that there were some publications out there (that I couldn't afford, unfortunately). Before that, I had typed my own episode guide based on observations watching the show. It was quite a task trying to jot down the names as they flew by in the credits! I gave the original to David Webb Peoples as a gift when he was writing a Prisoner script for Christopher Nolan. I never found any McGoohan memorabilia or books in my own hunting, so it's really fun for me to see some of Roger's collection reproduced here.

Scroll down for past editions of our series, For Your Shelf Only, where guests share stories about collecting and show us some of their treasures. Series links: Jon Gilbert, Raymond Benson, Jeremy Duns, Peter Lorenz, David Foster, Rob Mallows, Roger Langley, Craig Arthur, Fleming Short, Matt Sherman. You can find cold war design books and other spy treasures in Spy Vibe's secure Amazon Store. 

Stay tuned for another edition of For Your Shelf Only. Check out Spy Vibe's classic 2009 article, Set For Adventure, where we joined forces with Lee Pfeiffer, Jeremy Duns, Stephen Bissette, and others to look at the best set designs from spy entertainment. More about Spy Vibe creator Agent J at Jason Whiton.