In the tradition of his XXL works, Taschen publishes for the 60 years of James Bond on the screen the definitive album on the subject, “The James Bond Archives”. A spectacular album of more than 600 pages, in widescreen with everything you always wanted to know about James Bond but never dared to ask yourself.
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The most famous spy in the secret services of His Majesty was born under the pen of Ian Fleming – a former spy himself – in 1953. But passed by the British comic strip and an American TV movie without much success, it was not until 1962 and its adaptation at the cinema with James Bond vs. Dr. No for the public to buy in. While the last installment in the series, To die can wait has just ended the series with Daniel Craig, Taschen has enriched with a chapter on the film, his book of 2012.
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Longest and profitable film franchise, the secret of this plebiscite is exposed, analyzed and illustrated in The James Bond Archives. An album in the dimensions of the character: five kilos of unpublished documents. Film by film, the 24 opus of the official series, plus the two “dissidents” – the pastiche Casino Royale from 1967 and Never never again 1983 – are reviewed by chapter. Editorial find: each of them opens with a double page featuring images of the magnificent credits of the brilliant Maurice Binder.
There follow production notes, shooting anecdotes, evoked by more than 150 actors who have passed through the franchise – the six actors who played spy 007 in the lead -, by the directors, collaborators … All very richly illustrated, with the help of often unpublished archives from EON productions (Broccoli and Saltzman, initiators of the series), to which the director of publication Paul Duncan had exclusive access. Spectacular photos, preparatory drawings, in particular of the immense Ken Adams, artistic director on more than one film, illuminate a text full of information. Each chapter finally ends with a panel of posters and remarkable promotional tools.
A dive into the world of Bond and those who made it, a must for fans. Note that the book is in English, accompanied by a booklet translating all the texts into French.
“The James Bond Archives” https://www.francetvinfo.fr/ “The James Bond Archives”
Paul Duncan
Taschen editions
646 pages, 150 euros
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