From Russia With Love: Briefcase
- Thread starter DavidS
- Start date
ed-209
Sr Member
Hi David,
Yes, the FRWL attache' was originally offered by Steve Dymszo, Now with QMX, when he ran S.D. Studios.
They were, and are, the "Holy Grail" of Bond collectors. Very few have ever appeared on ebay and when they do...they sell in the thou$ands.
Here's a long Bond Story you might enjoy about my involvement of that replica....
Steve obtained the rights to produce James Bond replica props shortly after starting S.D. Studios. He produced replicas of the Golden Gun from “The Man with the Golden Gun”, the underwater re-breather from “Thunderball”, the wrist dartgun from “Moonraker” and the Attaché’ case from “From Russia with Love” as well as some others.
One day he and I were sitting at the mall, eating lunch, when we started joking around about doing a commercial for his props. I jokingly said "Yeah, the camera could pan around the room showing your Bond props and, amongst them, you’d have Desmond Llewelyn sitting there...the Ultimate Bond prop!!!
Well, then he started thinking about actually filming a real TV commercial to advertise the Bond props and Steve said "You know, I could probably hire Desmond to be in the commercial for the props." Well, one thing led to another and, before you knew it, he contacted Desmond’s agent through the licensing company and hired him to be in the commercial we would film.
The machine shop he used to make his props was re-dressed to resemble “Q-Branch”
We “peppered” the place with all kinds of items you would see in a typical day at Q-Branch….Targets, guys in lab coats, lasers, guns, guns, guns…etc.
The following day we drove out to the Trenton Airport and picked up Desmond and Amanda Scofield, from Eon Productions, and took him to a local hotel for the night. We went to pick him up the next day for filming but couldn’t find him! We were starting to get panicky.we had lost “Q” !!!
After awhile, he walked into the hotel. He told us that he likes to get up early and, after having breakfast, took a walk along the highway to view the countryside. Can you imagine fans like us being in a car that passed him walking along the road and seeing him!!! Of course, we would think "Boy, that guy sure looked like Q from the Bond movies"
We then drove him to the machine shop and spent about 12 hours with him filming a 60 second commercial. In between setups he would entertain us by telling us stories about the Bond films and actors. There were crowds of us sitting on the floor around him as he put on a one-man show
That evening we stopped at a local tavern and had an enjoyable dinner with him as several people stared and probably thought “Nah..couldn’t be him”
The following day we drove him to N.Y. for a Spy convention and to attend the premier of “Goldeneye”. Desmond spent the day at our table promoting the Bond props (who else could have a better spokesman for the Bond replica props than Q himself!!!) He later went to be interviewed onstage with Pierce Brosnan and the other stars of the film.
When we parted company, Desmond invited to stop by his home if we were in the area....which we later did.
We planned a trip to London to visit Eon Productions and examine the actual props for consideration of duplication under the license. Steve, Gary Giblin (the author of “JAMES BOND’S LONDON” and I met with Michael Wilson. He "loved" the commercial we had done with Desmond. He introduced us to Meg Simmons who was in charge of the archives which were stored in the basement. Of course we asked to PLEASE let us go down there!!!!
We took an elevator down a floor and were escorted into a tiny room with flat drawer blueprint style filing cabinets. She showed us some of the original blueprints of some of the props. Looking around, we asked, very disappointedly, "Is this all?"
Well, Meg walked up to a wall next to cabinets and punched some buttons on a keypad on the wall.
Guys, I kid you not.....the wall slid open!!! Inside was a massive amount of props all stored in boxes on metal library style shelving. Nearly all the props from the early films were gone with the exception of a few items. Paperwise…they had quite a bit, such as the original “Thunderball” file that Bond used in the film, the original photos, newspapers, stationary, paperwork, original blueprints for the Aston Martin DB5, the re-breather, etc, etc, etc.
We had died and gone to Bond heaven!!!! Of course, I photographed EVERYTHING I could get my hands on!!!! I think I shot about 7 or 8 rolls of 36 film. I only stopped because Meg had to get back to work otherwise I would still be there!!!!
We asked to have the opportunity to meet with Bert Luxford as he made a lot of the early Bond props. Meg arranged for us to meet him at the main lunchroom in Pinewood studios. Luckily, Syd Cain, who designed several of the Bond props, would also be there to answer any questions we had.
The following day we drove out to Pinewood studios for our meeting. We asked Bert and Syd everything we could think of, particularly about the FRWL Attaché case as Syd had designed it and Bert had built it and it would be the next replica Steve planned on making.
Graham Rye, the President of “The James Bond Fan Club” stopped by and, after the meeting, walked us around the Pinewood lot and pointed out all the various areas that were used in the filming of the early Bond films.
We stood in the training area of SPECTRE island, walked along the car chase scene in Goldfinger’s plant, across the area where once stood Goldfinger’s Stud farm as well as Fort Knox, the Gypsy camp and Blofeld’s Volcano hideaway.
During our tour Syd Cain stopped by the Art department where we met Cliff Cully who is responsible for several of the glass matte paintings for the Bond films. Many of them were still in the studio stored away with several other mattes from various films.
It was SO cool not only being there but being there with these people that were responsible for making the Bond films. Somebody please pinch me...I must be dreaming!!!!
We had made an appointment to meet with Desmond the following day at his home to examine the ORIGINAL screen-used attaché case used in the film. He would take it with him to the various exhibitions he would attend to promote whatever new Bond film was being released.
I took several photographs of the case as Steve took precise measurements to ensure that the replica would be as close to the original as possible. When Desmond was told of how the attaché would be duplicated as a replica prop he said "Well, why don't you just take it with you"
AAAAAAAARRGGGHHHHH!!!! What did he just say!!!! Take it WITH US!!!! You bet!
Well, we did and traveled with it back to the states until it was returned to Eon to go safely back into the archives.
The following day we met with the former Managing Director of Colibri, who assisted in the construction of the Golden Gun prop used in the film “The Man with the Golden Gun” and spoke with him about Colibri’s involvement in the construction of the prop.
Steve gave him one of his Golden Gun replicas to commemorate our meeting.
Pretty cool,huh? Hope I haven't bored you guys with this loooong story.
Ed-209
TheSpyBoys.com.
Yes, the FRWL attache' was originally offered by Steve Dymszo, Now with QMX, when he ran S.D. Studios.
They were, and are, the "Holy Grail" of Bond collectors. Very few have ever appeared on ebay and when they do...they sell in the thou$ands.
Here's a long Bond Story you might enjoy about my involvement of that replica....
Steve obtained the rights to produce James Bond replica props shortly after starting S.D. Studios. He produced replicas of the Golden Gun from “The Man with the Golden Gun”, the underwater re-breather from “Thunderball”, the wrist dartgun from “Moonraker” and the Attaché’ case from “From Russia with Love” as well as some others.
One day he and I were sitting at the mall, eating lunch, when we started joking around about doing a commercial for his props. I jokingly said "Yeah, the camera could pan around the room showing your Bond props and, amongst them, you’d have Desmond Llewelyn sitting there...the Ultimate Bond prop!!!
Well, then he started thinking about actually filming a real TV commercial to advertise the Bond props and Steve said "You know, I could probably hire Desmond to be in the commercial for the props." Well, one thing led to another and, before you knew it, he contacted Desmond’s agent through the licensing company and hired him to be in the commercial we would film.
The machine shop he used to make his props was re-dressed to resemble “Q-Branch”
We “peppered” the place with all kinds of items you would see in a typical day at Q-Branch….Targets, guys in lab coats, lasers, guns, guns, guns…etc.
The following day we drove out to the Trenton Airport and picked up Desmond and Amanda Scofield, from Eon Productions, and took him to a local hotel for the night. We went to pick him up the next day for filming but couldn’t find him! We were starting to get panicky.we had lost “Q” !!!
After awhile, he walked into the hotel. He told us that he likes to get up early and, after having breakfast, took a walk along the highway to view the countryside. Can you imagine fans like us being in a car that passed him walking along the road and seeing him!!! Of course, we would think "Boy, that guy sure looked like Q from the Bond movies"
We then drove him to the machine shop and spent about 12 hours with him filming a 60 second commercial. In between setups he would entertain us by telling us stories about the Bond films and actors. There were crowds of us sitting on the floor around him as he put on a one-man show
That evening we stopped at a local tavern and had an enjoyable dinner with him as several people stared and probably thought “Nah..couldn’t be him”
The following day we drove him to N.Y. for a Spy convention and to attend the premier of “Goldeneye”. Desmond spent the day at our table promoting the Bond props (who else could have a better spokesman for the Bond replica props than Q himself!!!) He later went to be interviewed onstage with Pierce Brosnan and the other stars of the film.
When we parted company, Desmond invited to stop by his home if we were in the area....which we later did.
We planned a trip to London to visit Eon Productions and examine the actual props for consideration of duplication under the license. Steve, Gary Giblin (the author of “JAMES BOND’S LONDON” and I met with Michael Wilson. He "loved" the commercial we had done with Desmond. He introduced us to Meg Simmons who was in charge of the archives which were stored in the basement. Of course we asked to PLEASE let us go down there!!!!
We took an elevator down a floor and were escorted into a tiny room with flat drawer blueprint style filing cabinets. She showed us some of the original blueprints of some of the props. Looking around, we asked, very disappointedly, "Is this all?"
Well, Meg walked up to a wall next to cabinets and punched some buttons on a keypad on the wall.
Guys, I kid you not.....the wall slid open!!! Inside was a massive amount of props all stored in boxes on metal library style shelving. Nearly all the props from the early films were gone with the exception of a few items. Paperwise…they had quite a bit, such as the original “Thunderball” file that Bond used in the film, the original photos, newspapers, stationary, paperwork, original blueprints for the Aston Martin DB5, the re-breather, etc, etc, etc.
We had died and gone to Bond heaven!!!! Of course, I photographed EVERYTHING I could get my hands on!!!! I think I shot about 7 or 8 rolls of 36 film. I only stopped because Meg had to get back to work otherwise I would still be there!!!!
We asked to have the opportunity to meet with Bert Luxford as he made a lot of the early Bond props. Meg arranged for us to meet him at the main lunchroom in Pinewood studios. Luckily, Syd Cain, who designed several of the Bond props, would also be there to answer any questions we had.
The following day we drove out to Pinewood studios for our meeting. We asked Bert and Syd everything we could think of, particularly about the FRWL Attaché case as Syd had designed it and Bert had built it and it would be the next replica Steve planned on making.
Graham Rye, the President of “The James Bond Fan Club” stopped by and, after the meeting, walked us around the Pinewood lot and pointed out all the various areas that were used in the filming of the early Bond films.
We stood in the training area of SPECTRE island, walked along the car chase scene in Goldfinger’s plant, across the area where once stood Goldfinger’s Stud farm as well as Fort Knox, the Gypsy camp and Blofeld’s Volcano hideaway.
During our tour Syd Cain stopped by the Art department where we met Cliff Cully who is responsible for several of the glass matte paintings for the Bond films. Many of them were still in the studio stored away with several other mattes from various films.
It was SO cool not only being there but being there with these people that were responsible for making the Bond films. Somebody please pinch me...I must be dreaming!!!!
We had made an appointment to meet with Desmond the following day at his home to examine the ORIGINAL screen-used attaché case used in the film. He would take it with him to the various exhibitions he would attend to promote whatever new Bond film was being released.
I took several photographs of the case as Steve took precise measurements to ensure that the replica would be as close to the original as possible. When Desmond was told of how the attaché would be duplicated as a replica prop he said "Well, why don't you just take it with you"
AAAAAAAARRGGGHHHHH!!!! What did he just say!!!! Take it WITH US!!!! You bet!
Well, we did and traveled with it back to the states until it was returned to Eon to go safely back into the archives.
The following day we met with the former Managing Director of Colibri, who assisted in the construction of the Golden Gun prop used in the film “The Man with the Golden Gun” and spoke with him about Colibri’s involvement in the construction of the prop.
Steve gave him one of his Golden Gun replicas to commemorate our meeting.
Pretty cool,huh? Hope I haven't bored you guys with this loooong story.
Ed-209
TheSpyBoys.com.
Last edited by a moderator:
Not hardly! :love
Thanks for sharing this anecdote in such detail. I enjoyed it immensely.
:thumbsupWhat became of the footage you shot with Desmond Llewelyn?
ed-209
Sr Member
I still have a copy on VHS. The footage was edited down to both a 60 second and a shorter 30 second TV spot.
It was only aired locally in the Schwenksville area.
I appeared in the film as a Q-Lab Tech testing a laser-equipped “Monster” of an AR-15
Q pushes the rifle out of his way as he passes by exclaiming “Do you mind!!!”
It was only aired locally in the Schwenksville area.
I appeared in the film as a Q-Lab Tech testing a laser-equipped “Monster” of an AR-15
Q pushes the rifle out of his way as he passes by exclaiming “Do you mind!!!”
Last edited by a moderator:
:lol Awesome!
Great photograph, too. The set, the suits, and especially the props (and Q) look terrific. And you fit right in at Q Branch.
What a great experience that must have been, and what a great story it makes. Sounds as if Mr. Llewelyn was quite a fellow. :thumbsup
Kadajiroth
Sr Member
Thanks for telling us all that fantastic story. It sounded so exciting for you guys.
And I gotta see that clip! It sounded like a lot of fun.
And I gotta see that clip! It sounded like a lot of fun.
ed-209
Sr Member
David,
The gentleman's name is John Surles. He originally contacted me through my website, TheSpyBoys.com, regarding Bond props. One thing led to another and we became friends.
He took it upon himself to attempt to replicate the attache' for two reasons...1 = He wanted one for his collection. 2 = He knew others would like one too!!
He had 10 of the shells for the case made. I have seen them and they truly are perfect to the screen-used version.
I supplied John with several reference photos I took while visiting Desmond to ensure that his replica meets the demands of the Bond collectors.
Unfortunetly, due to family illness, he had to put everything on the back burners for aswhile. I recently spoke with John and he told me that things look very good for re-starting the project. He believes he's found a machine shop that can make the necessary parts.
Having parts machined has always been the hurdle we all face. Everything I've ever needed always came to a standstill. Good, dependable, machinist are hard to find!!!
If anyone reading this knows of any...please let us know as it will expidite getting these cases finished.
John hasn't been able to determine a price as of yet because, to date, they are still unfinished. He will need to see what his total price cost is to make them to determine a selling price.
I told him that he needs to get the project going because I've got guys that are standing in line, dying to get one of these.
Rest assured, I will let everyone know when these are available.
Ed
TheSpyBoys.com
The gentleman's name is John Surles. He originally contacted me through my website, TheSpyBoys.com, regarding Bond props. One thing led to another and we became friends.
He took it upon himself to attempt to replicate the attache' for two reasons...1 = He wanted one for his collection. 2 = He knew others would like one too!!
He had 10 of the shells for the case made. I have seen them and they truly are perfect to the screen-used version.
I supplied John with several reference photos I took while visiting Desmond to ensure that his replica meets the demands of the Bond collectors.
Unfortunetly, due to family illness, he had to put everything on the back burners for aswhile. I recently spoke with John and he told me that things look very good for re-starting the project. He believes he's found a machine shop that can make the necessary parts.
Having parts machined has always been the hurdle we all face. Everything I've ever needed always came to a standstill. Good, dependable, machinist are hard to find!!!
If anyone reading this knows of any...please let us know as it will expidite getting these cases finished.
John hasn't been able to determine a price as of yet because, to date, they are still unfinished. He will need to see what his total price cost is to make them to determine a selling price.
I told him that he needs to get the project going because I've got guys that are standing in line, dying to get one of these.
Rest assured, I will let everyone know when these are available.
Ed
TheSpyBoys.com
Robot Monster
Sr Member
I would love to see that footage. Any chance of getting to see it?
ed-209
Sr Member
Rebel Hunter
Well-Known Member
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