JAMES BOND POSTCARD 007 Dr. No (1962) French Poster

On introducing James Bond in Dr. No, producers Broccoli & Saltzman could not have foreseen the phenomenon that the series of films would soon become. But the material already had a certain glamour. Here was an anti-hero who was terribly British, who killed in cold blood and yet was able to charm numerous beautiful women and solve the deadliest of crimes, all in a day's work. This adaptation from the novel by Ian Fleming was one of the films most faithful to the original story.

 James Bond is sent to Jamaica with a mission: to investigate the mysterious circumstances surrounding the death of fellow agent John Strangways. The trail leads him to the island of Crab Key, the base of the SPECTRE headquarters of corrupt scientist Dr. No, whom Bond believes to be the murderer. Dr. No informs Bond of his aim of world domination and the destruction of the US space programme. Battle commences between Bond & Dr. No, until the villain finally falls into his own trap and dies. Mitchell Hooks painted the iconic image of Sean Connery as Bond, with a smoking pistol in one hand and a cigarette in the other.

This image was used internationally at the time, as well as in later poster campaigns. The posters featured Bond surrounded by several glamorous women, a visual shorthand that was to make the secret agent immediately recognizable to cinema audiences worldwide. Joseph Caroff designed the 007 logo, which, with a few variations, has been used throughout the series.

A word about his female partner in Dr. No, namely Ursula AUrsula Andress (born 19 March 1936) is a Swiss-American actress and sex symbol of the 1960s. She is known for her role as Bond girl Honey Rider in the first James Bond film, Dr. No (1962), for which she won a Golden Globe.

This card was sent to me by Barbara from Corpus Christie.  

James Dean

James Byron Dean (February 8, 1931 – September 30, 1955) was an American actor. He is a cultural icon of teenage disillusionment, as expressed in the title of his most celebrated film, Rebel Without a Cause (1955), in which he starred as troubled Los Angeles teenager Jim Stark. The other two roles that defined his stardom were as loner Cal Trask in East of Eden (1955), and as the surly ranch hand, Jett Rink, in Giant (1956). Dean's enduring fame and popularity rests on his performances in only these three films, all leading roles. His premature death in a car crash cemented his legendary status.

Dean was the first actor to receive a posthumous Academy Award nomination for Best Actor and remains the only actor to have had two posthumous acting nominations. In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked Dean the 18th best male movie star on their AFI's 100 Years...100 Stars list.

Saila from Finland sent me this card.

Audrey Hepburn

Dasha from Kiev sent me this lovely card. Audrey Hepburn (born Audrey Kathleen Ruston; 4 May 1929 – 20 January 1993) was a British actress and humanitarian. Recognised as both a film and fashion icon, Hepburn was active during Hollywood's Golden Age. She has since been ranked as the third greatest female screen legend in the history of American cinema and been placed in the International Best Dressed List Hall of Fame.

Born in Ixelles, a district of Brussels, Hepburn spent her childhood between Belgium, England and the Netherlands, including German-occupied Arnhem during the Second World War. In Amsterdam, she studied ballet with Sonia Gaskell before moving to London in 1948 to continue ballet training with Marie Rambert and perform as a chorus girl in West End musical theatre productions.

After appearing in several British films and starring in the 1951 Broadway play Gigi, Hepburn played the Academy Award-winning lead role in Roman Holiday (1953). Later performing in successful films like Sabrina (1954), The Nun's Story (1959),Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961), Charade (1963), My Fair Lady (1964) and Wait Until Dark (1967), Hepburn received Academy Award, Golden Globe and BAFTA nominations and accrued a Tony Award for her theatrical performance in the 1954 Broadway playOndine. Hepburn remains one of few people who have won Academy, Emmy, Grammy, and Tony Awards.

She appeared in fewer films as her life went on, devoting much of her later life to UNICEF. Although contributing to the organisation since 1954, she worked in some of the most profoundly disadvantaged communities of Africa, South America and Asia between 1988 and 1992. She was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in recognition of her work as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador in late 1992. A month later, Hepburn died of appendiceal cancer at her home in Switzerland in early 1993 at the age of 63.

Audrey Hepburn

Audrey Hepburn (born Audrey Kathleen Ruston; 4 May 1929 – 20 January 1993) was a British actress and humanitarian. Hepburn was ranked as the third greatest female screen legend in the history of American cinema and a place in the International Best Dressed List Hall of Fame. Born in Ixelles, a district of Brussels, Hepburn spent her childhood between Belgium, England and the Netherlands, including German-occupied Arnhem during the Second World War, where she studied ballet with Sonia Gaskell in Amsterdam before moving to London in 1948 to continue ballet training with Marie Rambert and perform as a chorus girl in West End musical theatre productions.  Pia sent me this card.
After appearing in several British films and starring in the 1951 Broadway play Gigi, Hepburn played the Academy Award-winning lead role in Roman Holiday (1953). Later performing in successful films like Sabrina (1954), The Nun's Story (1959), Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961), Charade (1963), My Fair Lady (1964) and Wait Until Dark (1967), Hepburn received Academy Award, Golden Globe and BAFTA nominations and accrued a Tony Award for her theatrical performance in the 1954 Broadway play Ondine. Hepburn remains one of few people who have won Academy, Emmy, Grammy, and Tony Awards.  One film of note was Robin and Marian (1976), with Sean Connery in 1976. In 1988, Audrey became a special ambassador to the United Nations UNICEF fund helping children in Latin America and Africa, a position she retained until 1993. She was named to People's magazine as one of the 50 most beautiful people in the world. Her last film was Always (1989) in 1989. She had made a total of 31 high quality movies. Her elegance and style will always be remembered in film history as evidenced by her being named in Empire magazine's "The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time."
She appeared in fewer films as her life went on, devoting much of her later life to UNICEF. Although contributing to the organisation since 1954, she worked in some of the most profoundly disadvantaged communities of Africa, South America and Asia between 1988 and 1992. She was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in recognition of her work as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador in late 1992, but a month later, aged 63, Hepburn died of appendiceal cancer at her home in Switzerland in early 1993. 

Yves Montand & Marilyn Monroe

This card has a rare photograph of Marilyn Monroe and the French actor Yves Montand during the shooting of the movie “Let's Make Love”, which was the next to last film of Marilyn Monroe and was a harmless piece of fluff, rather lazily directed by George Cukor. Marilyn was her usual temperamental self during the filming and I think Cukor decided to just let it slide. Thank you Pia for sharing this photo-card with me.

Think mega-rich, a 1960s Donald Trump who speaks French and you have the character Yves Montand plays. Publicity agent Tony Randall calls it to Montand's attention that an off Broadway theater review is going to be satirizing him among other celebrities in the review. Montand decides to check things out for himself. And the star of the review is none other than Marilyn Monroe whom Montand starts raising his blood pressure over. Who wouldn't?

Montand is cool and unflappable. I can believe he wants Marilyn, but I can't believe that this is how he would meet her. Unless one is an egomaniac like Donald Trump, I don't think most people would care about what some off Broadway show that few will ever see, says in some satirical sketch. A lot of talented people were involved in the making of this and it seems a colossal waste of time. Marilyn and Montand and British pop star Frankie Vaughan had some nice numbers to sing.

And we can't forget the three unbilled cameos of Milton Berle, Bing Crosby, and Gene Kelly who Montand enlists in his quest to win Marilyn. Their scenes with Montand are the best things about the film. One other thing though. I can believe Berle and Kelly would come if summoned by Montand. But Crosby, you're talking about a guy who was as rich as the character Montand played.

The Intriguing Film "Take Shelter"

Take Shelter is a 2011 American drama-thriller film starring Michael Shannon and Jessica Chastain. The film is written and directed by Jeff Nichols. Plagued by a series of apocalyptic visions, a young husband and father (Shannon) questions whether to shelter his family from a coming storm, or from himself. The story is spun in a small town in Ohio, Curtis LaForche (Michael Shannon) has apocalyptic dreams of being harmed by people close to him, but he keeps them from his wife Samantha (Jessica Chastain) and their deaf daughter Hannah (Tova Stewart). He focuses on building a storm shelter in his backyard, but the strange behavior strains his relationship with his family. Curtis goes to see a counselor at a free clinic, with whom he talks about his family's psychological history. His mother suffered from paranoid schizophrenia, which set on at about the same age that Curtis is now.

He buys gas masks for his family and continues work on the shelter, extending his previous health insurance policy for a few weeks. His former counselor gets replaced by a new one with whom he has to start over; he storms out of the office. Curtis and his wife fight over him getting fired, but she decides to stay, to get him to see an actual psychiatrist, and for both of them to get jobs. He and Dewart run into each other at a community gathering, where they start to fight. Curtis winds up screaming to the room about a storm that is coming that none of them are prepared for. Some time later, a tornado warning sends him with his daughter and wife into the shelter. After they awaken, Curtis reluctantly removes his gas mask, prompted by Samantha. They go to open the shelter doors, but he says he still hears a storm outside and feels it through the door. His wife implores him that there's no storm and that he needs to open the door for the family. After a tense standoff he throws the doors open into the blinding sun; a minor storm has passed and his neighbors are cleaning up debris.
A therapist tells them to go through with their planned beach vacation, but that Curtis will need to undergo real therapy when he returns. At Myrtle Beach, while Curtis is playing with Hannah, she signs the word "storm." As Samantha exits the house, the thick, dark rain that Curtis experienced in his dreams begins to fall. In the reflection of the doors, a storm brewing over the ocean is shown. Simultaneously, the tide pulls back, creating a tsunami in the distance. This card was sent to me by Sabine from Germany.