35th Anniversary of A View To A Kill starring Roger Moore

By: Anders Frejdh

Published:
2020-05-24

On this day in Bond history, 35 years ago, the film A View to a Kill (loosely based on Ian Fleming's short story with the same title) premiered at cinemas. (AVTAK was first released in USA on 24th May 1985, in the UK on 13th June, and in Sweden on 12th July.)

Max Zorin, a prodigy of Nazi experimentation, plans to destroy Silicon Valley in California, thereby cornering the market in microchips.

Mary Stavin, Miss World 1977 and one of the circus girls in Octopussy apart from the role as Kimberley Jones in A View to a Kill, remembers working with Roger Moore and Albert. R Broccoli:

"Cubby ... what a man! The whole family was so lovely to me. I remember that he [Cubby] called me into his office after the filming of A View to a Kill when he found that, besides the acting, had made a lot of publicity for Octopussy. "Do you wanna go? And I will help to set you up in America." Absolutely unbelievable, I thought, and he continued: "I've never helped anyone before, only Ursula Andress." I wish to point out how lovely the entire family has been to me.

Sir Roger is a wonderful and very funny man! He used to bring coffee in the mornings because he knew that everyone of the girls got red noses from the cold."

Swedish action hero Dolph Lundgren on his part as Venz in the film, his first appearance on the silver screen:

"Since my then girlfriend, Grace Jones, had a part in the picture I spent quite some time on location. The director [John Glen] saw me on the side lines in France and offered me the role. I remember Sir Roger Moore being very friendly with a great sense of humour. Although my scene [shot at the horse track next to Chantilly castle outside Paris] with Grace and Christopher Walken only took one day it is a great memory as it was my first time on a movie set and everybody being really friendly."

Production notes on A View to a Kill:

(Source: MGM / Eon Productions)
• 23 Jun 1984: Shooting began (2nd unit work on Iceland)
• 28 Aug 1984: John Glen (JG) filmed May Day and Max Zorin sparring in the gym
• 30 Aug 1984: JG shot Pegasus the horse recovering from surgery and being discovered by Bond
• 3 Sep 1984: Shooting took place at Ascot race course
• 5 Sep 1984: JG filmed Bond’s underwater escape from the Rolls Royce
• 10 Sep 1984: JG filmed Bond and Stacey Sutton discovering Zorin’s master plan
• 14 Sep 1984: JG shot Bond grabbing the mooring rope of Zorin’s airship to rescue Stacey
• 19 Sep 1984: JG shot Bond and May Day’s bedroom scene
• 20 Sep 1984: Shooting took place on Max Zorin’s garden party
• 26 Sep 1984: JG shot Bond and Pola Ivanova reminiscing in the hot tub
• 2 Oct 1984: JG shot Bond and Stacey stealing an explosives truck to sneak into Zorin’s mine
• 8 Oct 1984: Shooting took place on the fire engine chase sequence
• 16 Oct 1984: JG shot the scene in which Zorin murders Howe and tries to frame Bond for the crime
• 24 Oct 1984: JG shot the final scene in which Q’s robot finds Bond & Stacey in the shower
• 7 Nov 1984: JG shot Bond and May Day’s altercation on the Eiffel Tower
• 12 Nov 1984: JG shot Bond and Stacey escaping from the burning elevator
• 22 Nov 1984: JG shot Bond and Zorin’s fight on the Golden Gate Bridge (on C Stage at Pinewood)
• 13 Dec 1984: JG shot Bob Conley falling to his death
• 14 Dec 1984: JG filmed Bond and Stacey discovering Zorin’s plan in the mine
• 7 Jan 1985: Albert R. Broccoli Stage was reopened for filming after a huge fire the previous year
• 14 Jan 1985: Principal photography completed. Last scene shot 007 & Mayday in the destroyed mine
• 22 May 1985: The film premiered in San Francisco. (The first Bond to premiere outside the UK)
• 13 Jul 1985: Duran Duran's title song became the 1st Bond theme song to hit number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart
• 3 Dec 1985: Roger Moore announced his retirement from playing Bond after seven films, making him the longest serving 007

A selection of filming locations for A View to a Kill:

(Source: On the Tracks of 007)
• PRE-TITLE SEQUENCE - partially at Jökulsárlón (Glacier Lake), Iceland / partially at Vadrietta di Scersen, in the Swiss Alps
• MI6 HEADOFFICE EXTERIOR - The War Office, Whitehall, London, England
• A DAY AT THE RACES - Ascot Racetrack, Ascot, England
• MAYDAY KILLS AUBERGINE / STAIRS CHASE / PARACHUTE-JUMP - Platform 1, Eiffel Tower, Paris, France
• TAXI DOWN THE STAIRS - Pont d’Iena, Paris, France
• TAXI THROUGH BARRIER / LOOSES ROOF - Pont d’Alma, southern embankment, Paris, France
• TAXI RETURNS TO THE STREET / LOOSES REAR END - Pont des Invalides, southern embankment, Paris, France
• 007 PARKS HIS HALF TAXI / JUMP OF BRIDGE - Pont Alexandre III, Paris, France
• ZORIN’s ESTATE / GARDEN PARTY - Château Chantilly, Chantilly, France
• ZORIN’s HORSE-AUCTION - Musée Vivant du Cheval, Château Chantilly, Chantilly, France
• BOND AND TIBBET INVESTIGATE AT NIGHT - Former Renault distribution centre, Rivermead Drive, Swindon, England
• DEATH OF TIBBETT / LETHAL CAR WASH - BP gas station du Parc Aumontin, Chantilly, France
• MAY DAY PUSHES THE ROLLS INTO THE WATER - Wraysbury Quarries, Wraysbury, England
• HORSE RACE - Chantilly Racecourse, Piste d'Avilly, Chantilly, France
• KGB VISITS ZORIN - Grandstand, Musée Vivant du Cheval, Château Chantilly, Chantilly, France
• STACEY’s HOUSE - Dunsmuir House, 2960 Peralta Oaks Court, Oakland, California, USA
• BOND MEETS HOWE / FIRE ESCAPE - City Hall in San Francisco, Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco, USA
• BOND TALKS WITH CHUCK LEE - Fishermans Wharf, San Francisco, USA
• FIRETRUCK CHASE DOWNTOWN - California Street / Kearny Street, 1st Street / Market Street, Potrero Hill, San Francisco, USA
• OPEN BRIDGE SCENE - Lefty O’Doul Drawbridge, 3rd Street, San Francisco, USA
• ZORIN’s MINE EXTERIOR / STACEY AND THE BLIMP - Amberley Working Museum, Amberley, England
• BOND AND STACEY UPON BRIDGE - Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, USA

STUDIO USED FOR INTERIORS, CLOSE-UP SHOTS ETC - Pinewood Studios, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, England

Vehicles used during the filming of A View to a Kill:

(Source: BMT 216A: The James Bond Vehicle Library)
• American LaFrance Fire Truck
• Chevrolet 2-Ton - 1968
• Chevrolet Corvette
• Iceberg submarine
• Jeep Cherokee
• MBB Bo-105
• Peugeot 604 Limousine
• Polaris Indy 600
• Renault 11 taxi
• Rolls Royce Silver Cloud
• SkyShip 500
• US sedan (Ford LTD)

United Artists - an MGM company - and Albert R. Broccoli present Roger Moore as James Bond 007 in Ian Fleming's A View to a Kill:

Photo above:
The original Swedish film poster for A View to a Kill (1985) from the FSWL collection.

Read more about the film A View to a Kill on MGM's official website.

Tags:

#on_the_tracks_of_007

#roger_moore_james_bond_films

#tanya_roberts