Trivia - Thunderball

Intended to be the first 007 movie, but legal wrangles with its co-author lead to Dr. No (1962) being chosen instead.

Kevin McClory, Ian Fleming and Jack Whittingham collaborated on an original story and screenplay for what would have been the very first 007 film, entitled "James Bond, Secret Agent". McClory reportedly wanted Richard Burton to play James Bond. For whatever reasons, the movie was never made. Fleming had previously cannibalized plots prepared for two other abandoned Bond spin-off projects, a newspaper comic strip and a television series, for 007 novels, and similarly turned this one into his novel "Thunderball". However, in this case his right to do so was not so clear. When Albert R. Broccoli bought film rights to the Bond novels from Fleming, McClory initiated legal action. Although this production is a fairly faithful adaptation of the published novel, McClory's suit resulted in only the earlier screenplay being credited as source material. McClory's producer credit is probably just another term of the settlement.

The many underwater scenes stem from writer Kevin McClory's interest in diving.

Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman are credited as executive producers.

The budget for this Bond film was more than the combined budgets of the first three Bond films.

Raquel Welch was originally cast as Domino; however 20th Century Fox Production Chief Richard D. Zanuck asked producer Albert R. Broccoli to release her from contract as a favor so she could star in Fantastic Voyage (1966).

Julie Christie and Faye Dunaway were both contenders for the role of Domino.

Claudine Auger was a former Miss France, but being French her voice was dubbed.

Luciana Paluzzi was originally considered for the role of Domino, but was cast as evil Fiona Volpe instead.

There is debate over who provides Blofeld's voice in this film. Some sources say Joseph Wiseman. Other sources give credit to Eric Pohlmann. In any event, Anthony Dawson, who provided Blofeld's body in From Russia with Love (1963), makes a return appearance.

Martine Beswick had previously appeared as one of the gypsy girls in From Russia with Love (1963).

Martine Beswick is well-tanned in the film, but before shooting she was pale white due to years of stage work in England. So before filming in Nassau she was required to spend some two weeks sunning herself to get the proper tan of a native girl.

Maryse Guy Mitsouko's voice was dubbed by Catherine Clemence.

Singer/actor Burl Ives was originally chosen to play Largo when author Ian Fleming and producer Kevin McClory first started to get the Bond series up and running.

Adolfo Celi (Largo) had his lines dubbed over by Robert Rietty.

The character of Count Lippe is a reference to Ian Fleming's old friend from his days as an intelligence officer, Prince Bernhard of Holland. Bernhard was born as Bernhard von Lippe Biesterfeld. Prince Bernhard was very pleased by the reference.

The title song was originally to be "Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang" sung by Dionne Warwick, but was changed at the last minute to "Thunderball" sung by Tom Jones. Four different versions of the song were recorded, including a version sung by Shirley Bassey and two different instrumental versions; the two instrumental versions were eventually released on disc, while Dionne Warwick's version was used in the opening credit sequence of an unreleased version of the film.

Tom Jones fainted after recording the high note at the end of the theme song.

This is the first James Bond film to be shot in a widescreen process, Panavision.

First 007 film in which Bond doesn't smoke. Interestingly though, a large papier-mache Marlboro box can be spotted on the right side of the screen during a festival.

For the first time, Sean Connery performs the gunbarrel opening sequence. In the first three Bond films, the job was done with stuntman Bob Simmons.

The part of Boiter, the man whom Bond fights in the pre-title sequence after disguising himself as his own widow, was played by sunt coordinator Bob Simmons. Before the widow gets punched, the part is played by Rose Alba, explaining why "his" legs look so good in a dress.

According to "Bond-Gadget-Designer" Ken Adam, the jet pack that Bond uses to escape his enemies was no nice special effect but a real jet pack provided by the US Air Force. Initially Sean Connery was to fly the jet pack without a helmet (and some publicity photos of him with the jet pack were made with him without a helmet), but it was later decided he wear a helmet in the scene.

The Shrublands resort was actually a converted hotel near Pinewood Studios.

When Bond says goodbye to Patricia Fearing with the phrase "another time, another place," he is making an in-joke reference to another Sean Connery film, Another Time, Another Place (1958).

When she appears behind the shower screen, Molly Peters became the first Bond girl to appear nude. The girls in the title sequence were also naked, but they don't really count.

A timely reference to the recent British train robbery was inserted into the script at the last minute. This can be heard during the SPECTRE meeting after the opening credits.

The only Bond film where we get a glimpse of all 00 agents in one shot. They are summoned to M's briefing and 007 is the last to join in. He sits down in the only available chair - the seventh from the left.

In the scene where Bond and Domino meet underwater and disappear behind a rock, the scene was originally supposed to show Domino's bikini float out from behind the rock. Producer Albert R. Broccoli vetoed this because he felt it was too suggestive.

A Royal Navy engineer approached the producers after the film's release to ask them how they designed the mini-rebreather. Apparently he had been working on something similar but could not figure it out. He was devastated when the producers told them their secret - the actors were holding their breaths.

Stuntman Bill Cumming was paid a $450 bonus to jump into Largo's shark infested pool.

In the underwater scenes where Bond encounters sharks, Sean Connery was supposed to be protected by clear plastic panels shielding him from sharks in close-ups. However, the panels only extended about three feet in height and sharks could swim over them; as a result in some scenes (notably during the pool fight at Largo's mansion) Connery got much closer to real sharks than he wanted - director Terence Young said in a 1995 interview that scenes used in the film where Bond reacts in fright at the approach of a shark were miscues in which Connery was reacting with genuine terror as a shark approached unobstructed by plastic shielding.

The large ship that fires a cannon at the Disco Volante at the end can be identified as the Royal Navy frigate HMS Rothesay from its pennant number (F 107).

The special effects explosion of the Disco Volante was so powerful it blew out windows miles away.

The aircraft that plucks James Bond and Domino out of the life raft was a highly modified B-17G (and was a prototype for the USAF/NASA Satellite Airborne Recovery Project).

The film was originally supposed to have had its premiere at the Odeon, Leicester Square, London in September 1965. It was delayed until December because the film could not be completed in time.

Coinciding with the release of the film, Milton Bradley marketed a "Thunderball" board game, having marketed a "James Bond" board game the previous year. These were just two of numerous 007 tie-ins introduced on the market at the height of the early Bond boom.

Thunderball was another huge success - it was the top grossing film in both the UK and the US in 1966. Connery himself was the top grossing actor in both 1965 and 1966. In Paris, the film took $95,000 in just three days; in Rome it made $79,000; Milan $25,000; Stockholm $20,000; and in Tokyo, it shattered the existing record at the Hibaya Theatre and took $110,000 in just nine days. By the end of its first run, total US admissions had reached some 74.8 million and the world-wide gross would come it at a staggering $141.2 million.