To open, "anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law."

Yes, I'm very tuned into that. Especially after having gone through the whole legal process recently.

It sounds like it was probably a three, four, or even five-year ordeal.

My involvement lasted over 30 months. I had already worked on a couple cases for MGM as a Bond expert on some TV commercials they felt were infringing on the Bond property.

Which cases were those?

There was one in which Roger Moore essentially played James Bond. They didn't use the name James Bond, of course, but it was clearly Bondian. You can get away with doing satire and spoofs like Austin Powers, but if you do something where an audience who casually tunes in actually believes it's a scene from a Bond movie, then it isn't clearly parody. You're in trouble.

They (MGM) had heard that I had written the James Bond booklets for EMI, so they contacted me and said, "Would you serve as an expert for us? We're going to send you all our materials. Write up an opinion - a legal opinion on a couple commercials."

Did a lawyer help you with the "legal" opinion?

No. I worked with lawyers but I wrote it on my own. First of all, they asked, 'Do you feel this is similar?" So they questioned me first, and when they found out that I completely agreed with them, that the Bondian traits were in there, they said "Could you write something"?

Then I was hired by another legal team to do another one a year later. After that, Sony decided they were going to make a series of James Bond movies.

This is the Never Say Never Again people?

Well, it's Kevin McClory, who produced Never Say Never Again. So it was the same producer. The rights he claims go back to the 1950s when he associated with Ian Fleming. So he came out and made a deal with Sony and said "I have the rights to make James Bond films". Sony looked at it and agreed with him and announced, "We're now making James Bond movies". And MGM said "No, you're not," and that was the beginning of it.

I was brought in as an expert consultant, and I didn't know it was going to go on for two-and-a-half years, which is incredible.

But after the O.J. Simpson trial, you didn't think --

I should have thought, yes. It was an experience that finally ended a few weeks ago when a judge threw out McClory's lawsuit against MGM. There were two phases; that was the second. The first phase dealt with Sony. We were able to stop Sony from proceeding with making their own James Bond films.

What was McClory's claim, exactly? He had a verbal contract with Fleming or similar?

Before any Bond movies were made in the '50s, when the Bond novels became more and more popular, Fleming had interest from different studios. Nothing ever came of it. Kevin McClory was one of the producers who got in touch with him who was kind of interested in making a Bond movie. They apparently had some communication together--there were some meetings with Fleming and his friends and his attorneys. They decided, "Let's try to develop a James Bond movie based upon everything (Fleming) had done with the character." They drew from his novels, from the world of Bond and so forth, but they didn't use a (particular) novel. They created another story line, another adventure that was supposedly not in one of his novels.

Back then.

Back then, in the late fifties. It eventually evolved into the novel, Thunderball. That was before Dr. No was made by United Artists.

So a series of story lines, treatments, script drafts were done. Ian Fleming himself wrote some of it. The storyline was developed--back and forth, back and forth. Rewrite, rewrite, etc. Finally there was a script but the project never got off the ground. It was another attempt that didn't come together. A year or two later, Harry Saltzman and Cubby Broccoli made a deal together and got the rights to the Bond novels, except for Casino Royale, which was tied up.

Michael Garrison had a hold of the rights to Casino Royale at one point, in the late '50s, early '60s. That ties this case history right into The Wild, Wild West.

It's interesting that you say that the The Wild, Wild West ties in because so did The Man From U.N.C.L.E. due to Fleming's involvement with the "Solo" pilot. It's very interesting when you go way back and see all the connections.

Basically, United Artists got the rights to do the Bond novels, and the first novel they were going to film was Thunderball. That was around 1961. Fleming had just written it, and U.A. was going to make that their first Bond movie. Richard Maibaum was hired to write the screenplay. But McClory said to Fleming, "Wait a minute, you can't put out this novel -- where's my credit?" Fleming had used material from his collaboration with Jack Whittingham, a screenwriter McClory had brought on board. So it went to court. Fleming was not well. He was going into court every day, he was miserable, he wasn't writing, and the stress of it all was affecting his life. He finally decided, "Just give the guy what he wants, let me get out of here." McClory said "I want the movie rights. I want my name on all future editions of the book, saying I co-authored the story with Jack Whittingham."

The Bond producers said, "Well, we can't film Thunderball, it's involved in litigation. Let's make Dr. No." They did Dr. No. They did From Russia With Love. They did Goldfinger. By that time the series was a huge hit. McClory was out there with his Thunderball rights, so U.A. brought him in as a producer, filmed Thunderball, and that was that. There was supposedly something in writing that said he couldn't re-exploit his Thunderball rights for ten years, so a decade later he resurfaced to make Never Say Never Again. He has since continued attempts to re-exploit these rights. So now he makes a deal with Sony, but to not just remake Thunderball. It was to produce a whole series of Bond movies. We managed to stop them. We got an injunction to stop them in their tracks. From writing any script, any word, proceeding at all with this until the matter was decided in court.

When was the injunction?

Let's see - it started in '97, it may have been the middle of '98. And then the case continued. It was going to go to trial to decide if Sony had the rights to do this. Well, about a week before we were to go to trial -- for which I was prepared to testify -- an out-of-court settlement was made between Sony and MGM. McClory pursued litigation separately against MGM, claiming that he had created the "cinematic Bond" and that all the Bond movies for the past 38 years were based upon his vision of what James Bond in the movies should be. This was a completely new claim by McClory. He felt that the cinematic Bond was his creation. I feel that it is absolutely untrue. There's no question in my mind. I wouldn't have been working for MGM and doing what I did if I felt otherwise.

I wrote a lot of opinions, a lot of analyses, and it was about to go to trial. But we never got to try that matter. The jury trial was going to begin the following week, but the judge threw the case out on the fact that McClory waited too long to bring this case to court. He waited four decades. He claims that his rights were infringed back in 1961, '62. So why didn't he speak up then, when Dr. No was released? Or at any time during the '60s or even the '70s?

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Let's go back to the beginning. How did you come by this interest in Bond, and then come to build up all this knowledge on the subject?

It started when I was a little, little kid. [laughs]

The disease usually hits young.

The Man From U.N.C.L.E. had just come on the air in 1964. My mother, who'd always liked detective shows, said, "Danny, you have got to watch this show!" I did, and discovered it was absolutely the coolest thing. That was the start of it for me.

Goldfinger came out around that time. My parents went out one night to see it, and they said "Oh we saw this great James Bond movie, Goldfinger." And I said, "What's James Bond?" "You don't know what James Bond is?? You've got to go see it!"

Your parents were seriously into it.

Yeah, really into it. And so I got into it-- from Man From U.N.C.L.E. to James Bond. Then when the whole spy craze started, when I saw those promos during that summer for the new show, The Wild, Wild West -- it was just so cool! I just couldn't believe it! I remember seeing the magazine articles on West, and it just looked great. I remember from 1964 onward, in the mid-sixties, I was just there in front of the television set every night of the week.

You were the right age to be bit by it. Hard.

Exactly. Before that, when I was a little kid, I was into monsters -- Frankenstein, Dracula. Then I was into Superman. I think my experience is kind of typical of people that age in this country in terms of pop-culture. That's what we all grew up with. It captured a lot of people's imagination, as also Star trek did. I was never into Star Trek, although I watched it for the first year and liked it. But for whatever reason, my imagination was captured by spies. That did it, for me, and it's lasted all my life.

So you were bit from then on. What were you going to be when you grew up -- besides James Bond?

You know, it's funny because originally I though "I gotta be a spy! I gotta be a spy!" And then I thought to myself, "…Wait a minute, I could get killed. Maybe I should just make movies like this."

I remember it was 1968 when I took my dad's movie camera, went in the backyard, got my brother and my friends together and made my first little spy film. That is where my career began. My second film was called Mission: Unthinkable. It was a half-hour 8mm satire of Mission: Impossible. Then I made The Traitor. I produced a series of all spy films, entered them in film festivals and won awards. That was the beginning.

You never went to film school?

I did. I earned my B.A. in Cinema from U.C.L.A.

So you did after the fact.

Yes, after the fact. With all due respect to UCLA, I was disappointed in their program. By the time I began to study there I had already made dozens of films. I was already so involved in movie making that when I got there, I found nothing new. I'd been self-taught, and the classes covered old ground for me.

The greatest benefit to me in attending UCLA was the access to their equipment for my own productions. I remember going in there at 1 in the morning to finish one of my films called The Snapshot. I spent the whole night editing. I finished it and put it on the projector, went in the screening room and sat there all by myself at 3 a.m., and I watched it and it worked. I was so thrilled. It was just great being able to use the facilities.

So there wasn't say one professor or anyone world-famous there who inspired you.

I guess I can't say so. I was already inspired--by the spy films and TV shows I grew up on, by certain directors like Claude Lelouch and Peter Hunt, and by the world around me.

How many films did you make before you went to film school?

About 50.

Five-zero?

Yes, in addition to some video productions and other projects I wrote and directed.

So you're a S. CA native.

Born and bred.

It wasn't the case of the small town kid going to the big city to make his fortune.

It was a case of being here and trying to make my fortune. I started working on full-length screenplays, and writing for film magazines like American Cinematographer, Movies USA, Premiere, Fade-In, and Video Review. Lots and lots of film magazines.

Was your film degree the "magic key" to success?

Not at all. After college, I went around and had meetings at all the major studios. Everyone was very encouraging, but I wanted a job, and nobody gave me a job.

So you got the 'come work for us for free' bit?

They didn't even do that. I suppose if I had offered they'd have said "sure", you know. I mostly was given lots of advice. I remember meeting with Thom Mount, who was a top exec with Universal at the time. He screened my films and was very complimentary. I remember his commending my "shoot from the hip" style of filmmaking.

Who starred in your films?

Friends. My brother was my most regular star. I found him to be a really good actor. His facial expressions were wonderful. So he was in a lot of my early films. His name is Jerry. He's an author now.

I also cast people I went to school with. There was a friend of mine in college who I'd dated a bit. She was really very pretty. Her name is Marie. I had this idea for a movie about a guy who is driving in the rain in the middle of the night and, as he looks in the rear-view mirror, the camera moves into it and flashes back to his memories of moments with this woman from his past. Marie starred in that film for me. It won a number of awards and is still one of my favorites.

In addition to writing for movie magazines, I worked with my uncle, Irving Wallace. He was one of the five most widely read authors in the world. His novels include The Word, The Seven Minutes, The Plot, The Prize, which was turned into a movie with Paul Newman.

How are you related?

My mother's brother. He passed away in 1990. I was always inspired by him, since a I was little kid. He was creative, prolific, encouraging, and very compassionate. He helped me and supported my dreams and goals in many ways. I ended up working with him for years, along with my cousin, David Wallechinski. Irving and David wrote a number of books which I worked on as an editor and as a writer--The People's Almanac and The Book of Lists.

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I also held editing positions with other companies, such as working as West Coast Editor for Fairchild Publications. It was while working for those companies that I started developing a feature movie based on The Man From U.N.C.L.E.

A feature film, not the TV film. Not The Fifteen Years Later Affair.

It was right before that. Star Trek: The Motion Picture had just come out. My friend, Robert Short, and I decided to try to bring U.N.C.L.E. back. Bob is an Oscar-winning special effects man who worked on Beetlejuice and E.T.. We wrote a treatment and met with Norman Felton, who was the producer and the co-creator of U.N.C.L.E. with Sam Rolfe. We hired some attorneys. We contacted Robert Vaughn and David McCallum, who said they'd be interested in reprising their original characters. We ended up meeting with MGM studios, who suggested that we put together some sort of talent package..."

So we not only had our script for The Man From U.N.C.L.E. -- The Feature Film, but we pulled together a package. In addition to Vaughn and McCallum, we got interest from a lot of other performers. Klaus Kinski was to play our main villain. Laura Antonelli, who was an international "sex starlet," was to play the character of "Serena"--an original character from the series who we brought back. Jane Seymour was going to play the heroine in the film. We also had Ken Adam on board. He was the production designer on the early Bond films. And we met with Frank Marshall, who was Steven Spielberg's producer.

Sounds like you had everything, a very good, complete package.

It was a great package and a great script. We had presentation graphics and posters, and we had props from the original show. We had all these things yet we couldn't get MGM to finance it. And the bottom line? They finally said, "Well, you can't compete with James Bond." We thought, "What are you talking about? Star Wars doesn't have the market cornered on science fiction. One can create different spy films."

At one point, MGM said, "You know what - we're thinking of maybe using your script instead as a TV movie." We came in and met with the TV executives, but it never really got off the ground. At that time we heard that Michael Sloane had come in and there were U.N.C.L.E. episodes being screened on the MGM lot. We found ourselves in competition with him, as he was trying to put together his own script for a TV movie.

It got kind of hairy after that. Bottom line is he pulled it off, we didn't.

He heard what you were up to and decided he was going to do it, or do you think his project was pre-existing?

I honestly don't know. Our efforts had been publicized quite a bit in The Hollywood Reporter, Starlog, and elsewhere. It wasn't a secret we were putting this together.

That's really too bad… it happens in Hollywood all the time.

Yes, it was quite an experience. After that, Bob Short and I ended up writing for an MGM TV series. The producer, Leonard Goldberg, had read our U.N.C.L.E. script, loved it, and wanted us on Gavilan, which was also a spy format.

Who starred in that one?

Robert Urich. It is about a former CIA agent who now works for an oceanographic institute. Fernando Llamas was supposed to be his sidekick, but he became very ill and was replaced with Patrick Macnee, who played a character named Milo Bentley.

He (Macnee) was in the U.N.C.L.E. movie, playing a "Mr. Waverly" character.

That's very true. Patrick is a good friend. If you know the character of John Steed, then you know him . That's Patrick. He's the most warm, charming, wonderful gentleman. There are some good people in the world and he's one of them. I hope you print that over and over and over.

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People will be glad to hear that Macnee is real, because you never know who is the genuine article and who is all 'public persona'.

He is genuine. He is a good guy, he fights for what's right. He has helped people - different cast members he has worked with to right wrongs. He's does things like that.

He's gone out there in terms of getting residuals, monies that are due to people, to different performers he's worked with. He's put himself on the line. The Avengers TV series DVD/video release has really taken off and he had to go through a lot of legal battles to stop the bootleggers. He was able to get the whole series re-mastered. He was behind that whole effort to get The Avengers out there so people could see it as it is meant to be seen.

So back when A&E picked it up and remastered the Honor Blackman episodes, was Macnee one of the ones behind it?

He's very involved with all that.

Good. Good for him.

I did an interview with Patrick for Emmy magazine, which is published by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. They gave it the cover story-a gorgeous cover of Macnee as Steed with this bright pink background. We were both pleased with how it turned out. That led to a documentary that I wrote, The Avengers: The Journey Back.

Did that air on A&E?

No. It was scheduled to be broadcast, and it was listed in their guide, but was never shown.

I had heard about it. Where is it now?

It's probably in the producer's back office somewhere, I don't know. I'm not even going to get into the details of that. I don't know if it's ever going to come out. It was produced. It was filmed. I was on the set. I was there. Patrick hosted the show, and it was very exciting. In my script, I designed a recreation of the giant Avengers chess board set, as well as the set from the Rigg color-season titles-the table with the gun and the champagne glass. We even constructed one of the famous Cybernauts. It was the coolest thing.

That must have been a *huge* thrill.

It was incredibly thrilling. It was a high. And Patrick was very pleased with my script, which made me happy. It's one of the biggest disappointments for me that the thing has not come out.

They won't even send it straight to video?

Well, part of the whole deal was that it was going to video. In fact, I have artwork for the European video box. The Avengers: The Journey Back was supposed to be aired on a station in England and on A&E here, as well as the video release.

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You created, own, and maintain The Spy-Fi Archives. When did you start the archives, and what exactly do they encompass?

It's funny when you say, 'when did you start it'.

Let me guess. Age 9.

Yup. Age 9! When I said, "Mom, can I go out and buy that Zero-M Nightfighter Rifle", or "that Agent Zero-W Belt-Buckle Gun" or whatever the heck it was. It goes back to that. And those are in the Archives. Miraculously, all that stuff survived. My Superman comics didn't survive because my mother said 'I need some closet space here, and you have like 500 Superman comics dating from the '50s", and I said NO! The morning I woke up knowing my Superman comics would be gone was the saddest day. I remember going down Reseda Blvd. to the used bookstore and got, what, 2 cents per comic? But although they'd be worth a fortune today, for me, it's never the dollar signs. It's the passion you have for them--what they mean to you from an emotional standpoint.

Then I started buying the spy stuff. To this day I don't know how I managed to protect all that from the trash can or being resold, but I kept everything.

It was over your dead body, eh?

Apparently.

So it was all Man From U.N.C.L.E.? Or Bond? I didn't think Bond had that much stuff available.

There was quite a bit. There was the James Bond Attaché Case, the Message From M game, the James Bond Thunderball Doll, the after shave and cologne.

You're kidding. What did this stuff smell like? Close to anything on the market?

Gosh, I'd have to open one and see because the liquid is still in there. I'm sure I probably used one when I was a kid but most of it I kept sealed.

I mean, what does James Bond smell like?

Good question. Come to my house and we can open a bottle and see.

There's probably been some nasty chemical reaction in the bottle over time and the stuff is currently radioactive.

So then you're not going to come over?

[chuckles]

It's been a couple of years since I made the Spy-Fi Archives more official. I found more of a purpose to the collectibles. I began consulting for various production companies, on spy shows. I'd get paid to supply film footage, which is also part of my Archives. I have an extensive footage collection as well as memorabilia. The Nuart Theatre in Santa Monica has had several events where I have consulted and provided displays. It's turned into a business, so I created a new term: Spy-Fi.

People are very curious about your memorabilia archives. They'd like to know if it will be put on display.

I can hint that something is coming. Something is coming up that I can't talk about right now, but it's going to be soon.

Have you catalogued the entire thing?

I'm doing that now.

How many items, roughly, do you think you have? Just in terms of numerical count?

I'd have to make an estimate based upon what I've already catalogued, but in a few weeks I'll probably have an exact number.

Make a wild guess and we'll see how it compares with the real number.

Including the films, it could be as much as 3,000 items. Some of them being major pieces and some of them being minor pieces. I could be high, I could be low.

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So what do you have in the Archives from The Wild, Wild West?

I have the gold sofa from The Train.

The infamous gold sofa!

Also, the giant globe of the world from The Night of the Brain. Do you know that one?

Yes, they set it on fire.

Right. In fact I have an original script of that episode and I found the page where Braine says "A world on fire!" And the script says 'it lights on fire', and I thought that's cool; you can still see all the burn marks. It actually survived.

What else?

Some blades. They were in The Night of the Janus, the one with the Secret Service school West returns to. Jim pulls out the knife from the back of his coat, he throws it at the chair back and when it hits it these two blades come straight down and hit the seat of the chair. If somebody had sat there, they'd be impaled by the blades. Well, I have the entire rigging with the blades. It's *huge*. It's very dangerous, as the blades are real. I have a trunk that was used in West, and a piece of luggage that was used by Artemus.

Was it The Night of the Murderous Spring? Where he gets off the stagecoach?

It might be.

In The Night of the Hangman he's got some luggage that has all sorts of little drawers for some jewelry and a compartment for a pigeon.

I have that case, as well. That's a different one. It says his character name on the outside in gold writing, and it has a secret compartment for the pigeon. Then there's the sleeve gun device. I don't have the original gun with it but I have the whole contraption.

You've probably heard that Special Effects man Tim Smyth has been recreating those for people, for a not-insignificant price.

Yes, I did. Oh, I also have a prop flyer for an appearance and reading by Artemus Gordon.

There's one of those in the Ross Martin Collection at the University of Southern California. It's from one of the movies. It's got the "Strolling Minstrel Players" or something.

That's it -- it shows Artemus as a performer in the midst of all these other "activities". To preserve these artifacts is extremely important-for history, and for the people who care deeply about a show or movie.

Isn't that an odd phenomenon? Caring so deeply about a show? Look who's talking, eh?!

I guess so... I know there are a lot of people like that and then there are a lot of people who couldn't care less about something like that and think you're out of your mind! I think it's fine as long as you have a balanced and healthy life and not become obsessed. I would not feel comfortable if I just sat locked in a room holding something and looking at it. It's ridiculous. I know there are people like that. That turns me off so much that if I ever felt I was going that direction I would rather get rid of everything right away, you know what I'm saying? Because that's so unhealthy. My primary career is as a writer. I have a passion for writing. And these were the things that inspired me to want to create. So they mean a lot to me. They're escapist, they're well done, and you can look at it and just have a good time with it. I started acquiring pieces as a kid because I thought it was SO cool. I thought, 'Man - wouldn't that be cool to have!' And then suddenly you can have it, you're able to get it. It's a little thing that makes you happy.

It's just fun! I have showings at my house a lot. I don't like watching video, I like watching prints on a projector. I guess I'm very spoiled. Every month or so I'll invite a few friends over and we'll run three or four hours of a Wild, Wild West, an I Spy, a Man From U.N.C.L.E., Get Smart, Mission: Impossible. It's fun, because my friends are people who also appreciate it. It's just fun to share.

Guess that's why I'm here, because it's just cool stuff!

That's the bottom line. It's cool.

I haven't even thought about that. One thing I've been wanting to do is to have a book published of these materials. I don't know what the interest would be. Obviously the fans would be interested, but in terms of the general market? It could be rather narrow. I thought it would be pretty cool to have a coffee table-type book with some glossy colour photos with at least the high-profile items. I have some great stories related to how I found them or stories related to their use in the film or television show. I thought there could be pictures of the items as used in the production, the item as it is today, and the stories behind them. I'd love to do a book like that. I'd have to see if there's any interest.

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In addition to the L.A. Times piece, I wrote a treatment for a third Wild, Wild West CBS TV movie. It was called Back to the Wild, Wild West. I wrote it after Ross Martin died, and intentionally designed the story to serve as a tribute to Ross and his performances on the series. I was very excited about this treatment. Bob Conrad's agent submitted it to Conrad, told me that Bob liked it and was interested in doing it. The project was taken over to CBS and went through the usual considerations, with the understanding that Conrad would reprise the Jim West role. It went through the process, meetings and what-have-you. The movie was ultimately shot down by CBS, saying that they simply didn't want to make any more West movies. I really think it would have been an exciting movie. And as a backdoor pilot of course -- I set it up to start a new series with some new characters. Most importantly, it was a real *tribute* to Ross.

Did you know about a fanzine with the same name? Any connection?

No, I never heard of the fanzine of the same title as my TV movie treatment. Coincidence.

Where do you envision your career heading now? What do you want to do verses what you're doing now?

I want to write and direct features. Every since I was 14. Of course I've been making films since I was a kid. They weren't features obviously, but I was making movies, going through the creative process, teaching myself how to do it. I was self-taught. I did everything. I did the camera work, the script writing, the editing, the whole thing. There was even a spy film I starred in, which was fun. So now there's really a sense of loss for me. I miss that so much -- being out there with a camera in my hand. I've sold scripts to MGM, to Paramount, to different companies, but I haven't yet reached the point where I have a screenplay financed and can say that I want to direct it. I'm still heading in that direction. I feel very fortunate that for most of these years I've been writing. It may not have been the writing I always wanted to do. It may not have been a spy script or whatever, but I have been writing for film magazines and I have written scripts for shows and such.

What keeps you going? How do you sit down to write that article on a subject which may be just awful to you?

I respect deadlines. I respect the people who hire me. I always get my work done.

An excellent work ethic.

I couldn't do something, and say 'Oh well, they're paying me $600 for an article' and just do a so-so job of it. I can't do that. I can never do that. I will end up making much less per hour simply because the quality has to be there. I've always been that way. I'm proud of that.

I understand entirely. If your name is on it, it has to be the best possible.

Yes! I don't want something out there that is substandard. That keeps me going. Fortunately, people have recognized good work, and good work leads to more work. So I've done a lot of work I may not really have wanted to do, but you do it because of the paycheck. You have to make a living and you feel you own people good work for what they're paying you to do.

Fortunately, the work I've been doing recently is more and more the kind of writing that I am passionate about. The James Bond case I worked on for thirty months -- an unbelievable job! ... For somebody who as a kid was sitting in a movie theatre, watching Goldfinger and going 'Wow! This is cool!' 'I've got to go out and buy this toy,' 'I'm going to go make a movie.' Then suddenly to be called by the studio to help them in trying to protect the character, recognizing the knowledge I have about the character and wanting to hire me, saying 'We need your advice in saving this character'! It was an honor! Putting my writing to that kind of use was incredible. For me, the next best thing would be writing a James Bond movie, which is one of the ultimate things I'd like to do.

Do the MGM people know that you want to do a James Bond movie?

Some of them do and some of them don't. I keep running into Michael Wilson, who is the producer with Barbara Broccoli, and I haven't said it to his face. I keep thinking that he's hit up all the time by writers.

You're too much of a nice guy for Hollywood.

I worked with people on the case to whom I've said 'I'd love to write a Bond film', and I've talked to people around him (Wilson).

You didn't want to bug him.

I didn't. I am planning on approaching them when I have something really developed. To me it's not where I'd want to say, 'Gee, I'd like to do a script,' and then just whip something up and go in and pitch it. I really want to be ready with something that is really good. I have been working on something, but I don't have it ready yet. Whether it's something I can bring in before they develop the next Bond movie or the one after that, I don't know. I know they have writers that they are working with. They occasionally bring writers in and out. It's frequently a collaborative effort.

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I have my favourites. My favourite Bond film is From Russia With Love. It's also my favourite Bond novel by Fleming, and I think Richard Maibaum did a masterful job of adapting that novel into the screenplay. I think Dr. No was an excellent adaptation. If you look at Goldfinger, in my opinion, it's a weaker novel. When you read that and look at the movie, there's such an improvement that was made from the novel to the movie. Usually when you see an adaptation, you think, 'They departed so much from the novel and the novel was so great.' Even though Goldfinger the novel had a great idea and plot, the book doesn't hold up too well. I think the movie was an incredible improvement on it. The ones that shouldn't have been made? It's hard to say anything never should have been made. If you're looking at the series, Man With The Golden Gun is probably one of the weakest of the Bond movies in my opinion.

That was my favourite when I was a little, little kid.

You ever notice that the Bond films that people grew up on become their favourites because it was the first one that makes an impression on them. I met someone who said they grew up on Moonraker and found it to be 'incredible!'

Ugh.

It's not one of my favourite films. People who grew up on Roger Moore say "Roger Moore is James Bond. I just saw Sean Connery. It's so weird to see Connery as Bond." Now there are kids growing up with Pierce Brosnan. I think Pierce Brosnan does a very good job as James Bond.

Any that should have been made? Shouldn't have been made? Have they done all of them?

All of the novels.

Have they done all the short stories?

They've used all the titles, except Risico, Property of a Lady... There were certain titles they didn't use but they used all the Fleming stories, basically. They departed from some of the stories more than others. On Her Majesty's Secret Service, which is one of my favourite Bond films, follows the novel more than others. It's a heavily underrated film.

It has Diana Rigg of The Avengers in it.

I think she's one of the best Bond girls, she's gorgeous, her acting is excellent; it has depth. Of course On Her Majesty's Secret Service has a different ending than the other Bond films. It follows the novel very closely. When I first saw it and being a big Sean Connery fan, I thought 'Man, this is such a good movie. If only Sean Connery had been in it!' I guess one can still say that, but after all these years I accept George Lazenby as James Bond. I think that as someone who wasn't an actor, he did a decent job. I just think that movie is a masterful piece of filmmaking. I think it's one of the great adventure films. I really do. Peter Hunt did a wonderful job of directing and editing. Having him as an editor and directing it just did something special.

Then you go to the next movie, Diamonds Are Forever. Although it was great to have Sean Connery back, I really thought it was an incredibly weak movie. It has a lot of script problems, continuity problems. If you watch it and try to make sense of the story, you discover it really makes no sense. And the humor changed. I guess that they went with the times and things had to change. For my taste, it wasn't the kind of humor for me. It was corny and silly and slapstick, missing the wit and cleverness that were in the earlier films.