WOKING.- When Sean Connery embarked on his third outing as 007 in 1964, the film was Goldfinger. One of its most famous scenes was the discovery of Bond girl Jill Masterson, her dead body sprayed entirely gold.
Such was the outrage among censors in Ireland, however, that the original design for the film’s promotional poster, prominently showing the bikini-clad Masterson, as played by Shirley Eaton, had to be scrapped there in favour of a gold sprayed hand.
The result is that while the Style A bikini design can command up to £5,000 at auction, rarer survivors from the Irish distribution of the Style B hand poster can reach double that sum at £10,000.
Examples of both designs are among the highlights in Ewbank’s Auctions’ James Bond 007 sale on May 27.
It is the latest in a series of dedicated Bond auctions that have netted hundreds of thousands of pounds at Ewbank’s over the past five years.
“007 remains one the most iconic and sought-after of all film franchises,” says Ewbank’s specialist Alastair McCrea. “Props, costumes, collectables and posters will all attract interest online from all over the world. Auctions can bring in bids from more than fifty countries at any one time.”
It is the early Connery classics that usually command the best prices, and the top-estimated lot in this sale is an original British Quad film poster for the first film in the franchise, Dr No, released almost sixty years ago in 1962. That carries an estimate of £8,000-12,000.
A limited edition 24 karat gold plated replica Golden Gun from The Man With The Golden Gun is expected to fetch £6,000-9,000, while another from a different rare edition signed by the film’s stars, Roger Moore and Christopher Lee, should sell for £3,000-5,000.
Posters for Thunderball (£3,000-5,000), From Russia With Love (£3,000-5,000) and You Only Live Twice (£1,500-2,500) also feature among the highlights, as do a series of replica weapons.
“One of my favourite lots is a selection of casino chips associated with Dr No,” says McCrea. “These were real chips loaned by the Le Cercle Casino at Les Ambassadeurs.” They carry hopes of £4,000-6,000.
Live online bidding is available via Ewbank’s website:
www.ewbankauctions.co.uk
