Octopussy At 30

By Ben Williams

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"Octopussy," the thirteenth James Bond adventure, celebrated its thirtieth anniversary last month and last weekend, to celebrate the occasion, Bondstars hosted a very special birthday party at Pinewood Studios. The day began at 9am, where guests enjoyed themselves perusing the numerous memorabilia stalls in the main hall, or basking in the sunshine of the terrace on the hottest day of the year so far.

Above: Alan Tomkins, John Glen and Peter Lamont gather in the sunny Pinewood gardens.

In attendance were a whole host of stars and Bond alumni, including Octopussy herself, the always charming Maud Adams. Also amongst the cast were the vivacious Kristina Wayborn, who played Magda in the film; David and Tony Meyer, who played Mischka and Grischka, the knife-throwing twins; and Jeremy Bulloch, who played Q's assistant Smithers. Octopussy girls Carol Ashby, Cheryl Anne, Safira Afzal, Alison Worth, and Joni Flynn were also amongst the guests.

From the crew, the guests included Director John Glen; Production Designer Peter Lamont; Assistant Director Tony Waye; Supervising Editor John Grover; Sound Editor Colin Miller; Camera Operator Alec Mills; continuity supervisor Elaine Schreyech; and Paul Weston, the stunt team supervisor who doubled Roger Moore on many stunts, including the fight atop of Octopussy's train. Former British Olympic gymnast Suzanne Dando, who was the gymnastics supervisor for the film, also made an appearance.
After lunch, guests were treated to a special screening of EON's own digital master of the film, introduced by John Glen, Maud Adams, Kristina Weyborn and Tony Waye.

Above: "Octopussy" girls Maud Adams and Kristina Wayborn share memories from the film.

After the screening, the consensus was that, thirty years later, "Octopussy" still holds up remarkably well, and seeing the digital print on the big screen really enhanced the experience. Many agreed that the pre-title sequence remains one of the best in the Bond franchise.

After lunch, guests were invited on a tour of Pinewood's beautiful gardens, where the extremely knowledgeable Dave Worrall showed guests around the grounds. The gardens have, of course, been used as locations in a number of Bond films, including "From Russia With Love", "Goldfinger", and "The World is not Enough". The tour also included the Paddock Lot, a large exterior tank that has been used for numerous 007 adventures, including "Skyfall", "The World is not Enough", and "The Living Daylights".

A quiz revealed the remarkable knowledge of the guests and, as the day drew to a close, a Q&A with cast and crew revealed their personal recollections and insights into making the film, with Peter Lamont describing his various ordeals in India, including being hijacked on a plane.

Above: Cinema Retro's Dave Worrall takes Bond aficionados on a tour of the Pinewood gardens.

Finally, it was time to say goodbye to Pinewood, however, the sense of celebration remained. It was clear that cast and crew alike shared fond memories of their experiences on the film and the sense of familial camaraderie that they shared buoyed the spirits and lingered long after the big white house disappeared in the rear view mirror.

All images copyright Mark Mawston 2013. Many thanks to Ben Williams, and Gareth Owen and Andrew Boyle at Bond Stars.

About The Author

Ben is a freelance writer living in Los Angeles, with a passion for architecture, design, fashion, food & drink, and travel. Ben has contributed to a number of event reports as well as historical content relating to James Bond lifestyle. He maintains the weblog: doubleonothing.com.