An afternoon with Richard Kiel at Pinewood Studios

By: Anders Frejdh

Published:
2004-11-22

November 21, 2004 will forever go to history as the most unforgettable "Bond Day" of my life as it was the first time for me personally to visit the classic Bond grounds at Pinewood Studios west of London.\\

For hardcore Bond fans there is no need for an explanation about that but for those, none or lesser Bond fans compared to the rest, Pinewood has been the centre of both interior and exterior shooting for 18 out of the 20 official Bond films that has been produced until today!\\

There were no difficulties in finding the right mood that Sunday morning as you could say that I and Jonas had 'target locked' for very long. I had been outside the Studio but weren't aloud to go in as it is strictly prohibited unless you don't have any business go on there or any other appointment for that matter. Well, the day proceeded very quickly like it usually does when one have good fun.\\

At first we were guided by Gareth Owen, author of a very worth reading book about Pinewood called 'The Pinewood Story' and also the current Personal Assistant for no other than Sir Roger Moore. We got a most sought after tour of the studio which included; entering the biggest studio in the world i.e. 007 Stage, walked and tried to relive the car chase from Goldfinger (1964) between Sir Sean Connery's 'James Bond' and Harold Sakata's Oddjob', the garden behind the main building used in From Russia with Love (1963), the cave which 'Renard' i.e. Robert Carlyle exits in The World Is Not Enough (1999), the gigantic outside water tank were among other things the sinking of the ship St. Georges in For Your Eyes Only (1981) took place in early 1981.\\

A most welcomed bonus of the tour was when we got the chance to see exterior set of the current filming of ‘Charlie and the chocolate factory’ where Johnny Depp plays Willy Wonka after Roald Dahl's novel. We also saw his personal trailer with a sailor flag on top, which we assumed came from his film ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ where he plays the pirate Jack Sparrow.\\

Also, we were shown the outside spots were many Bond sets has been built throughout the years such as Fort Knox from Goldfinger (1964), the ice palace and General Moons compound from Die Another Day (2002) and the volcano from You Only Live Twice (1967), which was incredibly big at the time as it could be spotted from a long distance from outside the studio borders.\\

Later in the afternoon we mingled with other fans and celebrities such as:\\

• Alan Hume\
• Blanche Ravalec\
• Colin Miller\
• John Grover\
• Martin Grace\
• Michael Billington\
• Richard Kiel\\

It was an incredible day with a strong feel of James Bond, absolutely fantastic! \\

For more information about this event, read the official report from Bondstars\\

Anders Frejdh © 2004 From Sweden With Love

Other reports from visiting Pinewood on FSWL:
>Pinewood Studios 2005
>Pinewood Studios 2006
>Pinewood Studios 2007
>Pinewood Studios 2008
>Pinewood Studios 2009
>Pinewood Studios 2011

All Bondstars event featured on FSWL:
>An afternoon with Richard Kiel 2004
>James Bond: A celebration + An evening with George Lazenby 2005
>Bond girls are forever 2006
>Behind the scenes of Bond 2007
>Goldfinger Reunion 2008
>The Spy Who Loved Me Reunion + An evening with Sir Roger Moore 2008
>Summer BBQ 2009
>Christmas Party 2010
>Christmas Party 2011

Tags:

#articles

#pinewood_studios

Tag Cloud

An afternoon with Richard Kiel at Pinewood Studios

Tag Cloud