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BOND: 10 Things You Might Not Know About OCTOPUSSY

Geek Dave on an island populated exclusively by women? We won't see him till dawn!


1. Roger Moore had originally signed a three movie contract when he first undertook the role of James Bond 007 for 1973's Live And Let Die, after that he negotiated contracts on a film-by-film basis. During the negotiations for both Moonraker and For Your Eyes Only there had been uncertainty over Moore actually returning to the role and it looked even more unlikely he'd sign on for a fifth outing, so as production began on what would be Bond 13 a potential replacement 007 was sought out.

Ian Ogilvy, who like Moore had played Simon Templar (aka The Saint) on the small screen, was seriously considered for the part of Bond, although he wasn't actually offered the role, neither was Timothy Dalton, who again was considered. Someone who was offered the part though was James Brolin (yes, Thanos' dad!).


As contracts were being prepared Brolin even went as far as securing a house in London for the duration of the Octopussy shoot, but when news broke that Kevin McClory was working on a rival Bond production to coincide with the film series' 20th anniversary, and that he was bringing Sean Connery back to the role of Bond, the producers recontacted Moore and persuaded him to sign on with a lucrative two picture deal. Brolin was unceremoniously dropped.

2. The film's title is taken from a short story in Ian Fleming's 1966 short story collection "Octopussy and The Living Daylights", although the plot is original. It does, however, include a scene inspired by the Fleming short story "The Property of a Lady" (included in 1967 and later editions of Octopussy and The Living Daylights), while the events of the short story "Octopussy" form a part of the title character's background and are recounted by her.


3. Maud Adams plays the part of Octopussy, however the producers were initially reluctant to feature her because she had already played Andrea Anders, Scaramanga's mistress, in The Man with the Golden Gun. Several other actresses were considered first, among them was Faye Dunaway, who was deemed too expensive, and Barbara Carrera who later said she turned down the role to take a part in the competing Bond film Never Say Never Again.

Casting director Jane Jenkins revealed that the Bond producers told her that they wanted a South Asian actress to play Octopussy, so she looked at the only two Indians in a then predominantly white Hollywood, Persis Khambatta and Susie Coelho. Afterwards, she auditioned white actresses, like Barbara Parkins, who she felt could pass for Indian.

It was Cubby Broccoli who eventually insisted upon Swedish-born Maud Adams. He decided they would darken her hair and change a few lines about how she was raised by an Indian family. Although, ultimately a different plotline, with Adams' British father exposed as a traitor, was used instead.


4. The Fabergé Egg as seen in the movie is real. It was actually the Imperial Coronation Egg designed by Peter Carl Fabergé in 1897 to commemorate the 1896 Coronation of Tsar Nicholas II.

The jeweled egg contains a model of a Coronation Coach; a guilloché field of starbursts with a translucent lime yellow enameling on the exterior surface; trellised greenish gold laurel leave bands have mounted at each intersection point an opaque black enamelled Imperial gold double-headed eagle with a rose diamond on their chest; on the top is a large portrait diamond with a cluster of ten smaller diamonds; and a smaller portrait diamond is set within a cluster of rose diamonds at the reverse end.

Almost twenty years later the same egg would re-appear in the movie Ocean's Twelve.

5. In the film, Kristina Wayborn as Magda says a romantic au revoir to James Bond by way of an elegant elegiac window exit. She actually performed this stunt herself, swirling down to the ground, her dress acting as her support and being unwound as she alighted safely.


Weyborn's departure was filmed in two different locations: her fall from the balcony was filmed at Pinewood Studios in England and her landing was filmed on location in India.

6. She may have fallen gracefully to the ground but Kristina Wayborn didn't depart the Octopussy shoot without injury. The actress broke several toes in her foot while shooting the attack on the Monsoon Palace by Octopussy's Circus. A bazooka she was to kick out of a thug's arms was supposed to be replaced with a plastic model, but the stuntman was holding a metal one by accident.

7. Talking of stunts, stuntman Martin Grace had a serious accident while filming on the train. During the second day of filming, Grace – who was Roger Moore's stunt double for the scene – was hanging on the side of the train when it went into a non-assessed area of the track and he rammed into a pylon, seriously damaging his leg and hip and hospitalising him for several months.


In a similar vein, the actor who uses the buzz saw yo-yo broke his arm when he fell over the balcony onto Octopussy's bed. Despite his injury and having to wear a cast, he insisted on completing the rest of his scenes.

8. Production was halted briefly when, then, 55 year old Roger Moore was misdiagnosed with heart problems. Moore claimed he felt fine and asked Maud Adams boyfriend, who was a doctor, to give him a second opinion. He pronounced Moore medically fit.


9. Octopussy remains the only Bond film to feature a Bond girl as the title of the picture. However it's a title that didn't always travel well as the literal translations of some of the foreign language releases include 007 Against Octopussy (Brazil and Portugal); Octopus (Finland); Operation Octopus (Italy), 007 Vs The Deadly Girls (Argentina) and 007 Averts The Plot (China). Catchy title!

10. Octopussy is the last Bond film to reveal the name of the next movie during the end credits, namely "From A View to a Kill", which later dropped the "from" out of the title.

James Bond will return in 10 things you might not know about A View To A Kill Never Say Never Again.

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