I have the Thunderball DVD but don't remember this entertaining and informative curio being included in the bonus features - but then, I've found the Bond DVDs to be very user-unfriendly to navigate. Anyway, it should definitely be included on a future bluray or similar. Comedian and TV personality Denis Norden accompanies a young boy to a racetrack (haven't identified which, I missed the very start), where the chase sequence involving the '57 Ford Fairlane pursuing OO7 and subsequently being destroyed by Fiona Volpe's rocket-firing motorbike is being filmed. The footage is silent and Norden provides a humorous narration and there is much jokey mischief, but in addition there is plenty of priceless behind the scenes footage. Terence Young, riding in a camera car, and Cubby Broccoli are present for numerous takes. A fire engine and crew is on standby as the boot of the car is loaded with a plastic bag filled with petrol soaked rags, to be detonated by the stunt driver via a dashboard-mounted switch. Numerous car boots are in evidence, since one is destroyed with each take. Sean Connery is not in attendance, but a deck chair is shown sporting his name, and a lifesize stand-in dummy of the star - very lifelike, but to me resembled Kenneth Moore - was a bit of recycling going on? Having observed these events, the finished sequence is played back - then in a coda, Norden is seemingly blown up by a car bomb. The schoolboy duly doffs his OO7 merchandise hat in solemn tribute - but it's OK, Denis is shown recovering in a hospital bed with nothing worse than an arm in a sling, his nose pressed into an Ian Fleming, a signed photo of the delectable Claudine Auger at his bedside.
All in all, a joy - not simply an essential piece of Bond behnd the scenes trivia, but an artifact that exemplifies the thrill of filmmaking. I am extremely grateful to the Talking Pictures TV channel, and to the hosts of the superb Footage Detectives show, Mike Reid and Noel Cronin, for broadcasting this gem.
