Harry Saltzman
Encyclopedia
Harry Saltzman was a Canadian
theatre and film producer
best known for his mega-gamble which resulted in his co-producing the James Bond
film series with Albert R. Broccoli
.
He lived most of his life in Denham, Buckinghamshire
, in England
.
, but ran away from home at the age of 15, according to daughter Hilary Saltzman in the Ian Fleming Foundation documentary Harry Saltzman: Showman
. About the age of 17 he joined a circus and traveled with them for some years. By the beginning of World War II
in 1939 he was serving in the Canadian Army
in France
. His career in the war may have included some intelligence work.
After the war, Saltzman ended up in Paris
, where he met a refugee from Romania
whom he married, Jaquie. He worked as a talent scout for European productions on stage, television and in film. He accumulated a huge number of entertainment business contacts and became the person to turn to when someone had a talent or production problem. Despite his ambition, those were lean years for the Saltzman family, according to son Steven. Saltzman gradually got more successful at producing stage plays. He moved the family of four to Britain in the mid-fifties where he started Woodfall Productions, again produced theater, and then entered the film business, producing The Iron Petticoat
(1956), the cinematic adaptation of a play. "The landmark film introduces a new genre, the kitchen sink movie
", and thereafter other critically acclaimed social realism
dramas such as 1959's Look Back in Anger
and 1960's Saturday Night and Sunday Morning
. Saltzman began casting around for something which would be more profitable than these modestly successful but high quality films.
In early 1961, excited by reading the James Bond
novel Goldfinger, he made a bid to land film rights
to the character. Saltzman co-founded Danjaq, S.A. with Albert R. Broccoli
in 1962. It was a holding company
responsible for the copyright and trademarks of James Bond on screen, and the parent company
of EON Productions
, which they also set up as a film production company for the Bond films. The moniker Danjaq is a combination of Broccoli's and Saltzman's wives' first names, Dana and Jacqueline.
In 1975 after unrelated financial difficulties, Saltzman sold his 50% stake in Danjaq to United Artists
Corporation. Concurrently, his beloved wife Jaquie was diagnosed with terminal cancer; his health also declined and he became depressed, sold the English country mansion where he loved to hold production meetings in the rooftop pool, and moved to Florida
. As related by friend Roger Moore
, Jaquie died while The Spy Who Loved Me
was shooting, which places her passing in late 1976 or early 1977. Saltzman all but retired from the movie business thereafter. He was persuaded back from retirement to produce Nijinsky
in 1980 and the 1988 British-Italian-Yugoslavian co-production Time of the Gypsies
. He had long desired to produce a film on the life of Vaclav Nijinsky, based on biographies, the rights to which he had acquired in the 1960s but Harry was not the nominal producer when the picture was actually made.
in very creative ways. After best selling writer Ian Fleming
had been told his novels would never make good films in 1957 (ironically by the ex-partner of his soon to be future partner Oscar winner Irving Allen
) Saltzman bet large in a moment of enthusiasm in early 1961 and paid $50,000.00 (high for the times) for a mere six month option of the film rights to the Bond character. Always confident, Saltzman was certain he could put together a deal within the deadline. As spring became summer, he'd been unable to obtain financing, an agreement with production company, or a distributor for the proposed project as he was essentially an outsider mostly unknown in film circles despite his modest success as an independent producer.
also got interested in the film rights about the same time Salzman made the option deal with Fleming after he was (also) introduced to the novel Goldfinger by his cousin Nancy's husband, and soon began strategic studies on which novel might best be adapted first and other such preparatory work anticipating negotiations for the rights. At a luncheon soon after, he was told they weren't available by a credible source, but didn't know of Saltzman's pending deadline, and assumed the long term rights were the topic and so suspended United Artists work. That these studies and events occurred is documented in an internal memo dated 5/5/61 discussing Thunderball as a potential project and confirmed in interviews with Picker in the documentary The Making of Dr. No.
undertook to produce and self-distribute the self-funded, high risk biographical drama Oscar Wilde
which dealt with the topic of homosexuality, and hence was unable to advertise in the United States because of censorship which thereby doomed the partners to take a loss. This began a chain of events leading to dissolution of the company in bankruptcy in 1961 and the increased tensions between the two partners, already in disagreement over James Bond, led to a sundering of their partnership as well and freed Broccoli to revisit his decision that the Bond novels would make a good film series, only now to be told by the publishers the rights were unavailable.
In an ironic twist worthy of fiction, screenwriter Wolf Mankowitz
, while having a working dinner in New York on another script with Broccoli, had a discussion over his disappointment about Oscar Wilde, Warwick, et al. and his interest in the Bond rights. Mankowitz knew Saltzman casually from Broadway productions the two had been involved with and knew Saltzman held the rights to Bond, so he immediately offered to introduce the two men and arranged a meeting between the two the very next morning. In a double historic irony, Mankowitz put the two together and was hired to work on the script for what became film history— Doctor No
, but alarmed by early rushes demanded to have his name withdrawn from the script. In addition, his meeting with Broccoli had essentially been about scrapping the Arabian Nights project he'd been writing for Broccoli which is how what Broccoli wanted to do and Bond came into the discussion at all.
Saltzman, always an enthusiast, refused to sell any of the film rights but instead proposed the two form a partnership, joining the novice producer with the well connected and almost always successful industry insider. Broccoli wanting to do Bond very much, and now that Allen was out of the picture, accepted. In that manner, Saltzman joined forces with "Cubby" Broccoli in 1962 to create the holding company, Danjaq, LLC, and production company EON Productions
and almost immediately began recruiting talent known to Broccoli from Warwick Productions such as production designer Ken Adam
, teamed writers Richard Maibaum
and Mankowitz, etc. The project was soon launched and the nascent production team was considering the best novel to adapt and introduce the character. With the rights to Casino Royale
having gone to an early television adaptation they began tossing ideas around. Within a week the two were asking for a meeting with United Artists and with a handshake and a short meeting, had received a million dollars in senior financing, as recounted by Saltzman. Around this time it was decided that their first film in the James Bond series would be Dr. No
. Saltzman would remain Broccoli's partner up to the ninth film in the series, 1974
's The Man with the Golden Gun
.
Other notable productions include The IPCRESS File
(1965
), The Battle of Britain (1969), and Call Me Bwana
(1963
) starring Bob Hope
. Call Me Bwana is the only film to be produced by EON Productions outside of the James Bond franchise.
Saltzman came close to rejecting Paul McCartney
's submission for Live and Let Die
. McCartney asked producer George Martin
to approach the producers about the song. Saltzman surprised Martin by asking who they could get to sing it, suggesting only black female vocalists. Martin pointed out that if he did not take McCartney as the singer he did not get the song. Saltzman compromised by having McCartney do the title version and B. J. Arnau
do a soul version in the "Fillet of Soul" nightclub.
Harry Saltzman is survived by 2 children Hilary and Steven Saltzman and 4 grandchildren, Alexandre and Jacqueline de La Bouillerie and Hannah and Jacob Saltzman.
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
theatre and film producer
Film producer
A film producer oversees and delivers a film project to all relevant parties while preserving the integrity, voice and vision of the film. They will also often take on some financial risk by using their own money, especially during the pre-production period, before a film is fully financed.The...
best known for his mega-gamble which resulted in his co-producing the James Bond
James Bond
James Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...
film series with Albert R. Broccoli
Albert R. Broccoli
Albert Romolo Broccoli, CBE , nicknamed "Cubby", was an American film producer, who made more than 40 motion pictures throughout his career, most of them in the United Kingdom, and often filmed at Pinewood Studios. Co-founder of Danjaq, LLC and EON Productions, Broccoli is most notable as the...
.
He lived most of his life in Denham, Buckinghamshire
Denham, Buckinghamshire
Denham is a village and civil parish in the South Buckinghamshire district of Buckinghamshire, England. It is north west of Uxbridge and north of junction 1 of the M40 motorway. Denham contains the Buckinghamshire Golf Club.-Origin:...
, in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
.
Biography
Saltzman was born in Sherbrooke, QuebecQuebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
, but ran away from home at the age of 15, according to daughter Hilary Saltzman in the Ian Fleming Foundation documentary Harry Saltzman: Showman
Harry Saltzman: Showman
Harry Saltzman: Showman, is a historical documentary retrospective and semi-biography about legendary producer Harry Saltzman done as extensive interleaved interviews on a common topic with the surviving film professionals of the first ten James Bond production crews as well as Saltzman's family....
. About the age of 17 he joined a circus and traveled with them for some years. By the beginning of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
in 1939 he was serving in the Canadian Army
Canadian Forces
The Canadian Forces , officially the Canadian Armed Forces , are the unified armed forces of Canada, as constituted by the National Defence Act, which states: "The Canadian Forces are the armed forces of Her Majesty raised by Canada and consist of one Service called the Canadian Armed Forces."...
in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. His career in the war may have included some intelligence work.
After the war, Saltzman ended up in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, where he met a refugee from Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
whom he married, Jaquie. He worked as a talent scout for European productions on stage, television and in film. He accumulated a huge number of entertainment business contacts and became the person to turn to when someone had a talent or production problem. Despite his ambition, those were lean years for the Saltzman family, according to son Steven. Saltzman gradually got more successful at producing stage plays. He moved the family of four to Britain in the mid-fifties where he started Woodfall Productions, again produced theater, and then entered the film business, producing The Iron Petticoat
The Iron Petticoat
The Iron Petticoat is a 1956 British Cold War comedy film starring Bob Hope and Katharine Hepburn and directed by Ralph Thomas. Hepburn plays a Russian aviatrix who lands in West Germany and is quickly converted to capitalism after sampling life in the West in the company of Major Chuck Lockwood...
(1956), the cinematic adaptation of a play. "The landmark film introduces a new genre, the kitchen sink movie
Kitchen sink realism
Kitchen sink realism is a term coined to describe a British cultural movement which developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s in theatre, art, novels, film and television plays, whose 'heroes' usually could be described as angry young men...
", and thereafter other critically acclaimed social realism
Social realism
Social Realism, also known as Socio-Realism, is an artistic movement, expressed in the visual and other realist arts, which depicts social and racial injustice, economic hardship, through unvarnished pictures of life's struggles; often depicting working class activities as heroic...
dramas such as 1959's Look Back in Anger
Look Back in Anger (film)
Look Back in Anger is a 1959 British film starring Richard Burton, Claire Bloom and Mary Ure and directed by Tony Richardson.It is based on John Osborne's play of the same name about a love triangle involving an intelligent but disaffected young man , his upper-middle-class, impassive wife , and...
and 1960's Saturday Night and Sunday Morning
Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (film)
Saturday Night and Sunday Morning is a 1960 British film. It is an adaptation of the 1958 novel of the same name by Alan Sillitoe. Sillitoe wrote the screenplay adaptation and the film was directed by Karel Reisz.-Synopsis:...
. Saltzman began casting around for something which would be more profitable than these modestly successful but high quality films.
- "My father, I think, was an incredible visionary, and creative person."
- "He always felt some of the best scripts were to be found in theatre, and that they were seen by only a few people, and that a way to let more people experience the medium that he felt was under viewed and under appreciated was to go into films."
- "He always felt, the films he made during Woodfall were seminal, they gave him the direction [for the rest of his life] and they were films that brought him tremendous joy that he'd made them."
In early 1961, excited by reading the James Bond
James Bond
James Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...
novel Goldfinger, he made a bid to land film rights
Film rights
Film rights are the rights under copyright law to make a derivative work—in this case, a film—derived from an item of intellectual property. Under U.S...
to the character. Saltzman co-founded Danjaq, S.A. with Albert R. Broccoli
Albert R. Broccoli
Albert Romolo Broccoli, CBE , nicknamed "Cubby", was an American film producer, who made more than 40 motion pictures throughout his career, most of them in the United Kingdom, and often filmed at Pinewood Studios. Co-founder of Danjaq, LLC and EON Productions, Broccoli is most notable as the...
in 1962. It was a holding company
Holding company
A holding company is a company or firm that owns other companies' outstanding stock. It usually refers to a company which does not produce goods or services itself; rather, its purpose is to own shares of other companies. Holding companies allow the reduction of risk for the owners and can allow...
responsible for the copyright and trademarks of James Bond on screen, and the parent company
Parent company
A parent company is a company that owns enough voting stock in another firm to control management and operations by influencing or electing its board of directors; the second company being deemed as a subsidiary of the parent company...
of EON Productions
EON Productions
Eon Productions is a film production company known for producing the James Bond film series. The company is based in London's Piccadilly and also operates from Pinewood Studios in the United Kingdom...
, which they also set up as a film production company for the Bond films. The moniker Danjaq is a combination of Broccoli's and Saltzman's wives' first names, Dana and Jacqueline.
In 1975 after unrelated financial difficulties, Saltzman sold his 50% stake in Danjaq to United Artists
United Artists
United Artists Corporation is an American film studio. The original studio of that name was founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charles Chaplin, Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks....
Corporation. Concurrently, his beloved wife Jaquie was diagnosed with terminal cancer; his health also declined and he became depressed, sold the English country mansion where he loved to hold production meetings in the rooftop pool, and moved to Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
. As related by friend Roger Moore
Roger Moore
Sir Roger George Moore KBE , is an English actor, perhaps best known for portraying British secret agent James Bond in seven films from 1973 to 1985. He also portrayed Simon Templar in the long-running British television series The Saint.-Early life:Moore was born in Stockwell, London...
, Jaquie died while The Spy Who Loved Me
The Spy Who Loved Me (film)
The Spy Who Loved Me is a spy film, the tenth film in the James Bond series, and the third to star Roger Moore as the fictional secret agent James Bond. It was directed by Lewis Gilbert and the screenplay was written by Christopher Wood and Richard Maibaum...
was shooting, which places her passing in late 1976 or early 1977. Saltzman all but retired from the movie business thereafter. He was persuaded back from retirement to produce Nijinsky
Nijinsky (film)
Nijinsky is a 1980 American biographical film directed by Herbert Ross. Hugh Wheeler, whose screenplay centers on the later life and career of Vaslav Nijinsky, used the legendary dancer's personal diaries and his wife's 1933 book Life of Nijinsky as his primary source materials.-Synopsis:The film...
in 1980 and the 1988 British-Italian-Yugoslavian co-production Time of the Gypsies
Time of the Gypsies
Time of the Gypsies is a 1988 Yugoslav film by Serbian director Emir Kusturica. Filmed in Romani and Serbian, Time of the Gypsies tells the story of a young Romani man with magical powers who is tricked into engaging in petty crime...
. He had long desired to produce a film on the life of Vaclav Nijinsky, based on biographies, the rights to which he had acquired in the 1960s but Harry was not the nominal producer when the picture was actually made.
The Bond property
Something of a gambler, Saltzman was at best only modestly successful as a businessman and producer, but had a talent for thinking both big and outside the boxThinking outside the box
Thinking outside the box is to think differently, unconventionally, or from a new perspective. This phrase often refers to novel or creative thinking....
in very creative ways. After best selling writer Ian Fleming
Ian Fleming
Ian Lancaster Fleming was a British author, journalist and Naval Intelligence Officer.Fleming is best known for creating the fictional British spy James Bond and for a series of twelve novels and nine short stories about the character, one of the biggest-selling series of fictional books of...
had been told his novels would never make good films in 1957 (ironically by the ex-partner of his soon to be future partner Oscar winner Irving Allen
Irving Allen
Irving Allen was a theatrical and cinematic producer and director. He won an Academy Award in 1948 for producing the short movie Climbing the Matterhorn. In the early 1950s he formed Warwick Films with partner Albert "Cubby" Broccoli and relocated to England to leverage film making against a...
) Saltzman bet large in a moment of enthusiasm in early 1961 and paid $50,000.00 (high for the times) for a mere six month option of the film rights to the Bond character. Always confident, Saltzman was certain he could put together a deal within the deadline. As spring became summer, he'd been unable to obtain financing, an agreement with production company, or a distributor for the proposed project as he was essentially an outsider mostly unknown in film circles despite his modest success as an independent producer.
Competition from the money side
Meanwhile, David Picker, then a vice-president (and eventual president) of United ArtistsUnited Artists
United Artists Corporation is an American film studio. The original studio of that name was founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charles Chaplin, Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks....
also got interested in the film rights about the same time Salzman made the option deal with Fleming after he was (also) introduced to the novel Goldfinger by his cousin Nancy's husband, and soon began strategic studies on which novel might best be adapted first and other such preparatory work anticipating negotiations for the rights. At a luncheon soon after, he was told they weren't available by a credible source, but didn't know of Saltzman's pending deadline, and assumed the long term rights were the topic and so suspended United Artists work. That these studies and events occurred is documented in an internal memo dated 5/5/61 discussing Thunderball as a potential project and confirmed in interviews with Picker in the documentary The Making of Dr. No.
Competition from veteran film insider
Working from Great Britain in 1957, American producer Albert Broccoli, widely regarded as one of the most successful independent producers in the industry, had decided the novels would make an excellent film project series. From New York he soon arranged an early 1958 meeting between partner Allen and Ian Fleming in London while nursing his ailing second wife through a terminal illness. Only, Allen—who had the big Hollywood name and was controlling partner in Warwick films, in the event snubbed Fleming in their meeting at the prestigious Les Ambassadors Club in London when Allen proclaimed (according to interviews on various documentaries on Bond special edition DVDs) that Fleming's novels weren't "good enough for television," all unbeknownst to Broccoli who knew only the partnership hadn't gotten the rights.James Bond
In 1960, Broccoli's Warwick FilmsWarwick Films
Warwick Films was the name of a film company founded by film producers Irving Allen and Albert R. Broccoli in London in 1951. The name was taken from the Warwick Hotel in London...
undertook to produce and self-distribute the self-funded, high risk biographical drama Oscar Wilde
Oscar Wilde (film)
Oscar Wilde is a 1960 biographical film about Oscar Wilde, made by Vantage Films and released by 20th Century Fox.-Production:The film was directed by Gregory Ratoff and produced by William Kirby, from a screenplay by Jo Eisinger, based on the play Oscar Wilde by Leslie Stokes and Sewell Stokes...
which dealt with the topic of homosexuality, and hence was unable to advertise in the United States because of censorship which thereby doomed the partners to take a loss. This began a chain of events leading to dissolution of the company in bankruptcy in 1961 and the increased tensions between the two partners, already in disagreement over James Bond, led to a sundering of their partnership as well and freed Broccoli to revisit his decision that the Bond novels would make a good film series, only now to be told by the publishers the rights were unavailable.
In an ironic twist worthy of fiction, screenwriter Wolf Mankowitz
Wolf Mankowitz
Cyril Wolf Mankowitz was an English writer, playwright and screenwriter of Russian Jewish descent.-Early life:...
, while having a working dinner in New York on another script with Broccoli, had a discussion over his disappointment about Oscar Wilde, Warwick, et al. and his interest in the Bond rights. Mankowitz knew Saltzman casually from Broadway productions the two had been involved with and knew Saltzman held the rights to Bond, so he immediately offered to introduce the two men and arranged a meeting between the two the very next morning. In a double historic irony, Mankowitz put the two together and was hired to work on the script for what became film history— Doctor No
Dr. No (film)
Dr. No is a 1962 spy film, starring Sean Connery; it is the first James Bond film. Based on the 1958 Ian Fleming novel of the same name, it was adapted by Richard Maibaum, Johanna Harwood, and Berkely Mather and was directed by Terence Young. The film was produced by Harry Saltzman and Albert R...
, but alarmed by early rushes demanded to have his name withdrawn from the script. In addition, his meeting with Broccoli had essentially been about scrapping the Arabian Nights project he'd been writing for Broccoli which is how what Broccoli wanted to do and Bond came into the discussion at all.
Saltzman, always an enthusiast, refused to sell any of the film rights but instead proposed the two form a partnership, joining the novice producer with the well connected and almost always successful industry insider. Broccoli wanting to do Bond very much, and now that Allen was out of the picture, accepted. In that manner, Saltzman joined forces with "Cubby" Broccoli in 1962 to create the holding company, Danjaq, LLC, and production company EON Productions
EON Productions
Eon Productions is a film production company known for producing the James Bond film series. The company is based in London's Piccadilly and also operates from Pinewood Studios in the United Kingdom...
and almost immediately began recruiting talent known to Broccoli from Warwick Productions such as production designer Ken Adam
Ken Adam
Sir Kenneth Adam, OBE, born Klaus Hugo Adam , is a motion picture production designer most famous for his set designs for the James Bond films of the 1960s and 1970s.-Childhood in Germany:...
, teamed writers Richard Maibaum
Richard Maibaum
Richard Maibaum was an American film producer, playwright and screenwriter best known for his adaptations of Ian Fleming's James Bond novels....
and Mankowitz, etc. The project was soon launched and the nascent production team was considering the best novel to adapt and introduce the character. With the rights to Casino Royale
Casino Royale (novel)
Casino Royale is Ian Fleming's first James Bond novel. It paved the way for a further eleven novels by Fleming himself, in addition to two short story collections, followed by many "continuation" Bond novels by other authors....
having gone to an early television adaptation they began tossing ideas around. Within a week the two were asking for a meeting with United Artists and with a handshake and a short meeting, had received a million dollars in senior financing, as recounted by Saltzman. Around this time it was decided that their first film in the James Bond series would be Dr. No
Dr. No (film)
Dr. No is a 1962 spy film, starring Sean Connery; it is the first James Bond film. Based on the 1958 Ian Fleming novel of the same name, it was adapted by Richard Maibaum, Johanna Harwood, and Berkely Mather and was directed by Terence Young. The film was produced by Harry Saltzman and Albert R...
. Saltzman would remain Broccoli's partner up to the ninth film in the series, 1974
1974 in film
The year 1974 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*February 7 - Blazing Saddles is released in the USA.*August 7 - Peter Wolf, lead singer of The J...
's The Man with the Golden Gun
The Man with the Golden Gun (film)
The Man with the Golden Gun is the ninth spy film in the James Bond series and the second to star Roger Moore as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond...
.
Other notable productions include The IPCRESS File
The Ipcress File (film)
The Ipcress File is a 1965 British espionage film directed by Sidney J. Furie and starring Michael Caine, Guy Doleman, and Nigel Green. The screenplay by Bill Canaway and James Doran was based on Len Deighton's 1962 novel, The IPCRESS File. It has won critical acclaim and a BAFTA award for best...
(1965
1965 in film
The year 1965 in film involved some significant events, with The Sound of Music topping the U.S. box office.-Top grossing films : After theatrical re-issue- Awards :Academy Awards:...
), The Battle of Britain (1969), and Call Me Bwana
Call Me Bwana
Call Me Bwana is a 1963 farce film starring Bob Hope and Anita Ekberg, and directed by Gordon Douglas. It is largely set in Africa. It is the only film made by EON Productions which is not about the Ian Fleming spy character, James Bond and was made by most of the same film crew as Dr...
(1963
1963 in film
The year 1963 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* June 12 - Cleopatra starring Elizabeth Taylor, Rex Harrison and Richard Burton premieres at the Rivoli Theatre in New York City....
) starring Bob Hope
Bob Hope
Bob Hope, KBE, KCSG, KSS was a British-born American comedian and actor who appeared in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in radio, television and movies. He was also noted for his work with the US Armed Forces and his numerous USO shows entertaining American military personnel...
. Call Me Bwana is the only film to be produced by EON Productions outside of the James Bond franchise.
Saltzman came close to rejecting Paul McCartney
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...
's submission for Live and Let Die
Live and Let Die (soundtrack)
Live and Let Die is the soundtrack of, and was written for, the 8th James Bond film of the same name.Taking a temporary hiatus from scoring Bond films, John Barry subsequently passed the baton over to George Martin. This was the first James Bond film of which Barry was, in at least some aspect, not...
. McCartney asked producer George Martin
George Martin
Sir George Henry Martin CBE is an English record producer, arranger, composer and musician. He is sometimes referred to as "the Fifth Beatle"— a title that he often describes as "nonsense," but the fact remains that he served as producer on all but one of The Beatles' original albums...
to approach the producers about the song. Saltzman surprised Martin by asking who they could get to sing it, suggesting only black female vocalists. Martin pointed out that if he did not take McCartney as the singer he did not get the song. Saltzman compromised by having McCartney do the title version and B. J. Arnau
B. J. Arnau
B. J. Arnau is an American-born female singer and actor active in the UK and the US from the late 1960s to the early 1980s. She is also known as Brenda Arnau.- Biography :...
do a soul version in the "Fillet of Soul" nightclub.
Harry Saltzman is survived by 2 children Hilary and Steven Saltzman and 4 grandchildren, Alexandre and Jacqueline de La Bouillerie and Hannah and Jacob Saltzman.
List of Saltzman's productions
Saltzman had eclectic tastes, and a love for the theatre and bringing stageplays to the big screen. Many of his non-Bond films received critical acclaim, but they were generally less financially successful than the Bond films.- The Iron PetticoatThe Iron PetticoatThe Iron Petticoat is a 1956 British Cold War comedy film starring Bob Hope and Katharine Hepburn and directed by Ralph Thomas. Hepburn plays a Russian aviatrix who lands in West Germany and is quickly converted to capitalism after sampling life in the West in the company of Major Chuck Lockwood...
, 1956 - Look Back in AngerLook Back in Anger (film)Look Back in Anger is a 1959 British film starring Richard Burton, Claire Bloom and Mary Ure and directed by Tony Richardson.It is based on John Osborne's play of the same name about a love triangle involving an intelligent but disaffected young man , his upper-middle-class, impassive wife , and...
, 1958 - Saturday Night and Sunday MorningSaturday Night and Sunday Morning (film)Saturday Night and Sunday Morning is a 1960 British film. It is an adaptation of the 1958 novel of the same name by Alan Sillitoe. Sillitoe wrote the screenplay adaptation and the film was directed by Karel Reisz.-Synopsis:...
, 1960 - The EntertainerThe Entertainer (film)The Entertainer is a 1960 film adaptation of the stage play of the same name by John Osborne, which told the story of a failing third-rate music hall stage performer who tried to keep his career going even as his personal life fell apart....
, 1960 - Dr. NoDr. No (film)Dr. No is a 1962 spy film, starring Sean Connery; it is the first James Bond film. Based on the 1958 Ian Fleming novel of the same name, it was adapted by Richard Maibaum, Johanna Harwood, and Berkely Mather and was directed by Terence Young. The film was produced by Harry Saltzman and Albert R...
, 1962 - From Russia with LoveFrom Russia with Love (film)From Russia with Love is the second in the James Bond spy film series, and the second to star Sean Connery as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. Released in 1963, the film was produced by Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman, and directed by Terence Young. It is based on the 1957 novel of the...
, 1963 - Call me BwanaCall Me BwanaCall Me Bwana is a 1963 farce film starring Bob Hope and Anita Ekberg, and directed by Gordon Douglas. It is largely set in Africa. It is the only film made by EON Productions which is not about the Ian Fleming spy character, James Bond and was made by most of the same film crew as Dr...
, 1963 - GoldfingerGoldfinger (film)Goldfinger is the third spy film in the James Bond series and the third to star Sean Connery as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. Released in 1964, it is based on the novel of the same name by Ian Fleming. The film also stars Honor Blackman as Bond girl Pussy Galore and Gert Fröbe as the title...
, 1964 - ThunderballThunderball (film)Thunderball is the fourth spy film in the James Bond series starring Sean Connery as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. It is an adaptation of the novel of the same name by Ian Fleming, which in turn was based on an original screenplay by Jack Whittingham...
, 1965 (uncredited) - And There Came a Man, 1965
- The Ipcress FileThe Ipcress File (film)The Ipcress File is a 1965 British espionage film directed by Sidney J. Furie and starring Michael Caine, Guy Doleman, and Nigel Green. The screenplay by Bill Canaway and James Doran was based on Len Deighton's 1962 novel, The IPCRESS File. It has won critical acclaim and a BAFTA award for best...
, 1965 - Chimes at MidnightChimes at MidnightChimes at Midnight, also known as Falstaff and Campanadas a medianoche , is a 1965 film directed by and starring Orson Welles. Focused on William Shakespeare's recurring character Sir John Falstaff, the film stars Welles himself as Falstaff, Keith Baxter plays Prince Hal , and John Gielgud plays...
, 1965 - Funeral in BerlinFuneral in Berlin (film)Funeral in Berlin is a 1966 British spy film based on the novel Funeral in Berlin by Len Deighton. It is the second of three 1960s films starring Michael Caine that followed the characters from the initial film, The Ipcress File ...
, 1966 - Billion Dollar BrainBillion Dollar BrainBillion Dollar Brain is a 1967 British espionage film directed by Ken Russell and based on the novel Billion-Dollar Brain by Len Deighton. The film features Michael Caine as secret agent Harry Palmer, the anti-hero protagonist of the film versions of The IPCRESS File and Funeral in Berlin...
, 1967 - You Only Live TwiceYou Only Live Twice (film)You Only Live Twice is the fifth spy film in the James Bond series, and the fifth to star Sean Connery as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. The film's screenplay was written by Roald Dahl, and loosely based on Ian Fleming's 1964 novel of the same name...
, 1967 - Play DirtyPlay DirtyPlay Dirty is a 1969 British film inspired by the North African exploits of units such as the Long Range Desert Group, Popski's Private Army and the SAS during World War II. It was directed by André De Toth and written by Melvyn Bragg and Lotte Colin...
, 1968 - Battle of BritainBattle of Britain (film)Battle of Britain is a 1969 Technicolor film directed by Guy Hamilton, and produced by Harry Saltzman and S. Benjamin Fisz. The film broadly relates the events of the Battle of Britain...
, 1969 - On Her Majesty's Secret ServiceOn Her Majesty's Secret Service (film)On Her Majesty's Secret Service is the sixth spy film in the James Bond series, based on the 1963 novel of the same name by Ian Fleming. Following the decision of Sean Connery to retire from the role after You Only Live Twice, Eon Productions selected an unknown actor and model, George Lazenby...
, 1969 - ToomorrowToomorrow (film)Toomorrow is a 1970 British musical film starring Olivia Newton-John, and directed by Val Guest.-Synopsis:A group of students pay their way through school by forming a pop band called Toomorrow; sonic vibrations from a special instrument called a "tonaliser" cause an extraterrestrial to abduct the...
, 1970 - Diamonds Are ForeverDiamonds Are Forever (film)Diamonds Are Forever is the seventh spy film in the Eon Productions James Bond series, and the sixth and final Eon Productions film to star Sean Connery as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. The film is based on Ian Fleming's 1956 novel of the same name, and is the second of four James Bond films...
, 1971 - Days of Fury, 1973
- Live and Let DieLive and Let Die (film)Live and Let Die is the eighth spy film in the James Bond series, and the first to star Roger Moore as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. The film was produced by Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman...
, 1973 - The Man with the Golden GunThe Man with the Golden Gun (film)The Man with the Golden Gun is the ninth spy film in the James Bond series and the second to star Roger Moore as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond...
, 1974 - NijinskyNijinsky (film)Nijinsky is a 1980 American biographical film directed by Herbert Ross. Hugh Wheeler, whose screenplay centers on the later life and career of Vaslav Nijinsky, used the legendary dancer's personal diaries and his wife's 1933 book Life of Nijinsky as his primary source materials.-Synopsis:The film...
, 1979 - Time of the GypsiesTime of the GypsiesTime of the Gypsies is a 1988 Yugoslav film by Serbian director Emir Kusturica. Filmed in Romani and Serbian, Time of the Gypsies tells the story of a young Romani man with magical powers who is tricked into engaging in petty crime...
, 1988