You Only Live Twice
...and "twice" is the only way to live!
Country
Production
Budget
$9 500 000
Revenue
$43 084 787
Director
Actors
Scenario
Harold Jack Bloom
Producer
Operator
Composer
Artist
Audition
Editing
Short description
A mysterious spacecraft captures Russian and American space capsules and brings the two superpowers to the brink of war. James Bond investigates the case in Japan and comes face to face with his archenemy Blofeld.
What's left behind the scenes
- The next Bond film was intended to be 'On Her Majesty's Secret Service,' but filming at the planned locations in Switzerland proved impossible due to an unusually cold summer, so it was decided to film 'You Only Live Twice' instead.
- Nancy Sinatra became the first non-British performer of the title song in the James Bond films.
- The launch of the Soviet rocket shown in the film was certainly not from Soviet newsreels. In fact, it is the launch of the American Titan II GLV launch vehicle, which was used to launch Gemini spacecraft into orbit. Judging by the surroundings and the palm trees in the foreground, the launch was carried out from launch complexes SLC-40 or SLC-41, located at Cape Canaveral, Florida.
- Production designer Ken Adam constructed a prop volcano crater on the grounds of Pinewood Studios. The set included a mobile helicopter landing pad, a working monitoring system, a launch pad, and a full-scale model of a rocket capable of taking off. The construction utilized 700 tons of metal structures, over 320 km of steel piping, 200 tons of plaster, 500,000 steel couplings, 8,000 sleepers for a monorail, and over 200 square meters of tarpaulin to protect the steel structures from the elements. The total cost exceeded $1 million. The set was visible from a distance of nearly 5 kilometers.
- The film differs so significantly from the novel—the literary source material—because screenwriter Roald Dahl strongly disliked Ian Fleming's book itself. He considered the 1964 novel to be the worst thing Fleming had ever written, calling it a “lecture on a trip to Japan.” Dahl had only six weeks to develop the initial screenplay, and he openly admitted he had no idea what Bond would do, so he decided to make the main plotlines similar to those in Terence Young’s 1962 film *Dr. No*, scripted by Richard Maibaum, Johanna Harwood, Berkeley Mather, Young, Wolf Mankowitz, and, of course, Ian Fleming himself.
- It turned out that Mie Hama, the actress playing Kissy, did not know how to swim; in the relevant scenes, she was replaced by Sean Connery's then-wife, actress Diane Cilento, who wore a black wig for the shoot.
- It turned out that Mie Hama, the actress playing Kissy, couldn’t swim, and in the relevant scenes she was replaced by Sean Connery’s then-wife, actress Diane Cilento, who wore a black wig for the shoot.
- The American spacecraft shown in the film are very similar to Gemini, which actively made orbital flights in 1965-66. In particular, spacewalks were carried out as part of this program.
- A film adaptation of the novel of the same name by Ian Fleming, written in 1964.
- Charles Gray, who played Henderson, played Blofeld in the film 'Diamonds Are Forever'.
- In this film, we see Blofeld's face for the first time.
- Before settling on a prosthetic facial scar, Donald Pleasence suggested that his character (he played Blofeld) have a hunchback, a noticeable limp, a beard, or that only one of his arms be functional. Ultimately, the disfiguring facial scar was chosen. The prosthetic scar touched one of his eyes, which the actor found extremely uncomfortable.
- The composite helicopter 'Little Nellie' was based on the real-life Wallis Autogyro. During filming, the helicopter was piloted by its inventor, retired aviation Lieutenant Colonel K. Wallis. Production designer Ken Adam happened to overhear a radio interview with Wallis discussing his invention and suggested incorporating this plotline into the film's script. Filming the scenes with 'Little Nellie' required 85 flights. The rocket launch scenes were filmed outside of Japan because Japanese law prohibited launching rockets from within the country.
- In Fleming's novel, Blofeld's hideout is a castle on the coast. Production designer Ken Adam discovered that this was completely impossible: due to a fear of hurricanes, the Japanese have never built castles directly on the coast throughout history. Therefore, in the film, Blofeld's hideout is located in the crater of a supposedly extinct volcano.
- In the scene where Bond and his wife walk to the volcano's crater, she suddenly appears wearing shoes. Before that, they swam out of the cave, and she had no shoes on.
- The next Bond film was supposed to be *On Her Majesty’s Secret Service*, but filming at the planned locations in Switzerland proved impossible due to an unusually cold summer, and it was decided to film *You Only Live Twice* instead.
- The relationship between Sean Connery (who played Agent 007 James Bond) and the producers (Albert R. Broccoli, Harry Saltzman, Stanley Sobel, and Terence Young) deteriorated to the point where he flatly refused to act if they were present on set.
- While scouting filming locations in Japan, the filmmakers narrowly escaped death in a plane crash by sheer luck. On March 5, 1966, producers Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman, director Lewis Gilbert, cinematographer Freddie Young, and production designer Ken Adam were scheduled to board a Boeing 707 flying from Tokyo to Hong Kong and then to London, but they happened to miss the flight. The plane took off exactly on schedule, but 25 minutes later, while over Mount Fuji, it hit turbulence and broke apart in mid-air. All passengers and crew members perished.
- The film was edited by Thelma Connell, who served as the editor for all of director Lewis Gilbert's films. Her cut ran nearly three hours, but it was completely disliked by preview audiences, and Peter R. Hunt was asked to redo everything. His version proved successful, and by the next Bond film—the 1969 picture 'On Her Majesty's Secret Service' starring George Lazenby as Agent 007—Hunt was already serving as director.
- Before offering the role of Blofeld to Donald Pleasence, it was offered to several other actors, but all of them were busy and unable to participate in the filming. Initially, producer Harry Saltzman offered the role to Jan Werich, a Czech theater and film actor, but after just a week of filming, it was decided that his Blofeld looked too much like Santa Claus, and another actor had to be found.
- It is said that Blofeld's white cat (played by actor Donald Pleasence as Bond's perennial enemy) was frightened by the noise on set during the filming of the finale and ran away. The animal was found only several days later. Footage of the frightened cat made it into the film – in the scene where protective shutters are closed in the bunker.
- While scouting locations in Japan, the filmmakers narrowly avoided death in a plane crash. On March 5, 1966, producers Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman, director Lewis Gilbert, cinematographer Freddie Young, and production designer Ken Adam were about to board a 'Boeing 707' flight from Tokyo to Hong Kong and then on to London, but they happened to miss the flight. The plane took off on schedule, but 25 minutes later encountered turbulence over Mount Fuji and broke apart in the air. All passengers and crew members perished.
- This is the penultimate official James Bond film in Sean Connery's career.
- Before offering the role of Blofeld to Donald Pleasence, it was offered to several other actors, but all of them were busy and unable to participate in the filming. Initially, producer Harry Saltzman offered the role to Jan Verich, a Czech stage and film actor; however, a week after filming began, it was decided that his portrayal of Blofeld looked too much like Santa Claus, and they had to find another actor.
- Before the credits roll, viewers see a Soviet radar station, inside which an emergency conference of representatives from the superpowers is taking place. This scene was filmed in Norway. The Norwegian army’s radar installation is still operational today.
- Relations between Sean Connery (who played agent 007 James Bond) and the producers (Albert R. Broccoli, Harry Saltzman, Stanley Sopel, Terence Young) deteriorated to the point that he refused to act if they were present on set.
- Authentic footage of a Gemini spacecraft launch (the second American program of manned spaceflights) was used for the scenes depicting the launch of the Jupiter spacecraft. This program involved testing spacewalks, docking systems, orbital maneuvering, altitude changes, and much else necessary for the Apollo program, whose first manned flight was planned for 1968. Ironically, the name 'Gemini' ('twins' in English) in the film is given to a Soviet spacecraft, and its outlines are based on mistaken British perceptions of what the Vostok and Voskhod series of spacecraft looked like. Nothing was known about their actual appearance until 1967, when work on the film was already completed.
- Before settling on a prosthetic scar across his face, Donald Pleasence suggested that his character (playing Blofeld) have a hump, a noticeable limp, a beard, or only one functioning arm. Ultimately, a disfiguring facial scar was chosen. The scar glued to his face covered one eye, and the actor found this extremely uncomfortable.
- In Fleming's novel, Blofeld's hideout is a castle on the coast. Production designer Ken Adam discovered that this was completely impossible: due to the fear of hurricanes, the Japanese had never historically built castles directly on the coast. Therefore, in the film, Blofeld's hideout is located in the crater of a volcano that was believed to be extinct.
- The film differs so significantly from the novel—the literary source material—because the screenwriter, Roald Dahl, categorically disliked Ian Fleming's book. He considered the 1964 novel to be the worst of everything Fleming had written, calling it a 'lecture on a trip to Japan.' Dahl had only six weeks to develop the initial draft of the screenplay, and he openly admitted that he had no idea what Bond would actually do. Consequently, he decided that the main plotlines would be similar to the script for Terence Young's 'Dr. No' (1962), written by Richard Maibaum, Joanna Harwood, Berkeley Mumsery, Young, Wolf Mankowitz, and, of course, Ian Fleming himself.
- It is claimed that Blofeld's white cat (Blofeld, Bond's eternal enemy, was played by actor Donald Pleasence) got frightened by the noise on set during the filming of the finale and ran away. The animal was only found several days later. The footage of the frightened cat made it into the film—in the scene where the protective shutters are closed in the bunker.
- The film's editing was handled by Thelma Connell, who had been the editor for all of director Lewis Gilbert’s films. Her cut ran almost three hours, but it was thoroughly disliked by audiences at preview screenings, and Peter R. Hunt was asked to redo it. His version was successful, and in the next Bond film—the 1969 *On Her Majesty’s Secret Service* starring George Lazenby as Agent 007—Hunt was already working as the director.
Similar movies
8.2/10
7.7/10
7.6/10
7.6/10
7.4/10
7.3/10
7.3/10
7.2/10
7.2/10
7.2/10
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
