Monster Island News: Doctor No

by Armand Vaquer

Above, Armand with a photo of George Reeves with his rifle collection. Photo by Jes.

This week, I managed to obtain a photo print (the details of which are confidential) from a photo shoot by former 1930s child actor Bill Seay (known then as Billy Seay) (1922-2012) of Adventures of Superman star George Reeves in his Benedict Canyon home.

Reeves is pictured in a tuxedo (sort of like James Bond, but this pre-dates the first Sean Connery Bond, Doctor No, by 3 years) with his rifle collection.

The photo was taken during a photo shoot by Seay purportedly on the weekend before Reeves's June 16, 1959 death. The photo session included the below well-known photo of Reeves sitting on his front porch.

Above, George Reeves on the front porch of his Benedict Canyon home.

It is a nice print and I will be matting and framing it shortly.

by Armand Vaquer

There's one thing that movie fans or, specifically, James Bond fans, can look forward to this year is the 50th anniversary of Eon Productions' James Bond franchise.

Above, Ursula Andress.

It was in 1962 that the franchise was launched by the first movie based on Ian Fleming's British Secret Service agent 007, Doctor No. The film was produced by Harry Saltzman and Albert R. Broccoli. That movie made Sean Connery an international star and it featured Ursula Andress as Honey Ryder, Jack Lord as CIA agent (and Bond pal) Felix Leiter, Joseph Wiseman as Doctor No, Bernard Lee as "M" and Lois Maxwell as Miss Moneypenny. Desmond Llewelyn did not join the regulars as "Q" until the next movie, From Russia With Love.

Doctor No introduced the iconic "James Bond Theme" and the Maurice Binder "gun barrel" Bond opening sequence. It had a budget of one million dollars (low-budget by today's standards) and was released on October 5, 1962.

It will be fun to see what may be in store this year to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the James Bond films.

Left, Sean Connery in his first James Bond outing.