A scene from Three Dead Cows at Makapuu, a Hawaii Five-O story written by Anthony Lawrence. Anthony Lawrence, a television writer who devised stories across multiple genres, died in February at 95, according to the Writers Guild of America in memoriam page. His credits include nine episodes of the original Hawaii Five-O series, starting with the second season and running through the sixth. On Five-O, Lawrence often penned stories that had unhappy endings. Among them was a two-part story, Three Dead Cows at Makapuu. In that story, an idealistic scientist — who has gone missing after working o ..read more

U.K. cover to High Time to Kill, the James Bond continuation novel by Raymond Benson This week marks the 25th anniversary of the publication of High Time to Kill, the third Raymond Benson James Bond continuation novel. Benson (b. 1955), an American, was hired to be the new Bond continuation author in 1995 after John Gardner had finished his long run. Benson earlier had written the reference book The James Bond Bedside Companion. Besides doing novels, Benson penned a number of Bond short stories, some of which were commissioned by Playboy and TV Guide. Glidrose (later Ian Fleming Publications ..read more

Efrem Zimbalist Jr. as The FBI’s Lewis Erskine This week marked the 10th anniversary of the death of actor Efrem Zimbalist Jr., whose many credits included starring in The FBI, which ran from 1965 until 1974. The show was an idealized version of the bureau. And for much of its run, the real-life FBI had a say in the series, including vetoing Bette Davis as a guest star. At Quinn Martin Productions (which made the series as part of a joint venture with Warner Bros.), no explanation was given. The answer was simply no. The anniversary of Zimbalist’s passing also reminded me of something else abo ..read more

Illya Kuryakin (David McCallum) riding a stink bomb in The Super Colossal Affair In January 1966, the campy Batman television series was an unexpected hit (even to executives of ABC, the network that broadcast the show). That would have a big impact on the third season (1966-67) of The Man From U.N.C.L.E. NBC, which aired U.N.C.L.E., wanted a lighter approach. After all, the audience has spoken (according to network executives). The fourth episode broadcast that season, The Super Colossal Affair (original title: The Sodom and Gomorrah Affair) really reflected the Batman influence. The episode ..read more

U.K. cover for A Spy Like Me Ian Fleming Publications, in an email, published a statement from author Kim Sherwood about her new 00-agent book, A Spy Like Me. A few highlights: –Plot synopsis: The book concerns “a Breguet montre à tract, otherwise known as a ‘blind man’s watch’ and the agents in my story follow it into the heart of a terrorist plot that could not only cripple the Western world but potentially spell the ruin of the Double O section.” –Agent lineup: Joseph Dryden, 004, is following the money, tracking the sale of rare artifacts that funnels money to the terrorist organization ..read more

Cover to A Spy Like Me Kim Sherwood’s second Double O universe novel, A Spy Like Me, officially went on sale in the U.S. today. It’s scheduled to go on sale in the U.K. on April 25. “Johanna Harwood, Agent 003, is on the hunt – for revenge and for James Bond…,” Ian Fleming Publications said in a Jan. 29 list of its publication plans for this year. The author has been promoting the new book on social media. Here is an example: Jumping for joy! #aspylikeme is out in America today. Only in my wildest dreams could I have imagined writing #jamesbond & publishing in – that today brings both ..read more

The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare is No. 4 at the U.S. box office this weekend. It was a quiet movie-going weekend overall. The Guy Ritchie-directed World War II spy movie generated an estimated $9 million this weekend, according to a social media post on X by Exhibitor Relations Co., which tracks box office trends. The top movie for the weekend was Civil War, now in its second week at $11 million. Here’s the post with the other top five: TOP 5 DOMESTIC BOX OFFICE 1. CIVIL WAR ($11M) 2. ABIGAIL ($10M) 3. GxK ($9.4M) 4. MINISTRY OF UNGENTLEMANLY WARFARE ($9M) 5. SPY x FAMILY CODE: WHITE ..read more

Director Guy Ritchie and actor Henry Cavill have had their share of ups and downs. Each has fans and detractors. With The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, the director and star basically share an upswing. The story, a spy tale set in World War II, isn’t especially innovative. A team of misfits is sent on an impossible assignment? The Dirty Dozen in 1967 covered similar territory. Still, how you carry out such basic ideas matters a lot. We all know how World War II ended and Germany didn’t win it. The trick is to show the audience that an Allied victory wasn’t a sure thing. This movie should ..read more

Cover to the original soundtrack release of The World Is Not Enough Updated from previous posts. The World Is Not Enough, the 19th film in the 007 film series made by Eon Productions, marked a transition. Producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli hired a director, Michael Apted, with little experience in action movies. Apted was brought on because of his drama experience. Apted also was charged with increasing the female audience for a Bond film. “I didn’t understand why they picked me to do (The World Is Not Enough),” Apted told The Hollywood Reporter in an October 2018 intervie ..read more

Where’s that signed contract? Remember when The Sun said last month that actor Aaron Taylor-Johnson had been offered the part of James Bond? Supposedly, the actor would sign the contract in a few days. Many, many other outlets did stories, citing The Sun. We’re almost halfway through April. No sign yet a deal has been struck. As the blog has pointed out before (including a March 7 post), British tabloids count on readers having amnesia about what the publications have posted before. When real life catches up to tabloid stories, the tabloids have a tendency to forget what they’ve “reported ..read more