O.H.M.S.S.....Do You Know How Christmas Trees are Grown?
ppw3o6r
Great BritainPosts: 2,280MI6 Agent
Despite some reports to the contrary that there were ten, there were actually twelve of Blofeld’s Angels of Death in On Her Majesty’s secret service. Two Christian named & ten individually named after their proposed country of origin. They were:
Angela Scoular who portrayed Ruby Bartlett
Catherine Von Schell who portrayed Nancy
Julie Ege who portrayed The Scandinavian Girl
Mona Chong who portrayed The Chinese Girl
Sylvana Henriques who portrayed The Jamaican Girl
Sally Sheridan who portrayed The American Girl
Joanna Lumley who portrayed The English Girl
Zaheera who portrayed The Indian Girl
Anouska Hemple who portrayed The Australian Girl
Ingrid Back who portrayed The German Girl
Helena Ronee who portrayed The Israeli Girl
Jenny Hanley who portrayed The Irish Girl
and each received “ Such a beautifully wrapped Gift, which they were dying to see what was inside”. They would later discover that they “may use anything apart from the atomiser which they must never touch!”
Until now, very little was known about the prop apart from the fact that 46 years ago the piece existed. Internet searches reveal common screen grabs but searches under Asprey reveal nothing apart from an image taken from the June 2015 Bonhams auction of Lot #112. Contact was made with Asprey of London & EON Productions Ltd in the hope of them having records of the original piece but this has regrettably been proven fruitless although it has recently come to light that Asprey did indeed produce a near identical retail case in a dark brown faux crocodile skin with a different style of brass hardware & possibly a different interior layout as vanity cases of the period tended to be compartmentalised (see below).
A similar case was sold through Tennants Auctioneers in March 2012 as Lot 1328, An Asprey's Crocodile Skin Vanity Case, of square form with strap handle, the hinged cover with gilt mark ASPREY LONDON, 22cm wide, with fitted trays, estimate £600. This was the first solid evidence that the prop seen in On Her Majesty's Secret Service was a bespoke commissioned piece.
It is believed that of the original twelve Angels of Death vanity cases perhaps only one has survived? The remaining actresses who portrayed "the Angels" have been officially approached to see if they kept a souvenir? but there has been a unanimous "the producers would not allow us to keep them". The black faux crocodile skin vanity cases with green velvet lining were originally created by Asprey of London in 1969 & furnished with Germaine Monteil cosmetics although one case had a brass custom crafted compact which had concealed inside a radio communicator with a micro telescopic aerial which was created by either Syd Cain or Gadget Man Albert Luxford? On location at Piz Gloria in Murren it is believed that the hero prop was not quite ready (back in the UK) so an exact representation was created in cardboard which would not be clearly seen on screen. The close up of the prop with the reflection of Ruby Bartlett in the mirror was completed with an insert shot taken later at Pinewood Studios to seamlessly join the two different location takes together. Amazingly this fragile cardboard mock up still exists today.
The history of this particular piece is cloudy & is based on an assumption/rumour that upon completion of filming the piece was purchased from United Artists/EON Productions by a well-known iconic British actor as a memento for his then wife who had appeared in the movie. If this is the case (pardon the pun) I can well believe it as the piece has been well loved. The case itself right down to the original key is immaculate, the cosmetics have handling age wear as one would expect.
It has been suggested that as part of a proposed National Newspaper campaign in 1969, two of the twelve cases were released by United Artists from EON’s London offices in Tilney Street, Hyde Park as competition prizes however exhaustive research has as yet been able to unearth any evidence of such a campaign. Additionally EON have since moved from that location to Piccadilly Circus.
Not wanting such an important artifact to be hidden behind closed “Modest Collection” doors never to be seen again the piece will shortly be long term loaned to EON Productions Ltd for exhibition purposes -{
A mere 5 years behind schedule, the Asprey set is finally exhibited at Bond In Motion alongside Tracey's Mercury Cougar -{
Angela Scoular who portrayed Ruby Bartlett
Catherine Von Schell who portrayed Nancy
Julie Ege who portrayed The Scandinavian Girl
Mona Chong who portrayed The Chinese Girl
Sylvana Henriques who portrayed The Jamaican Girl
Sally Sheridan who portrayed The American Girl
Joanna Lumley who portrayed The English Girl
Zaheera who portrayed The Indian Girl
Anouska Hemple who portrayed The Australian Girl
Ingrid Back who portrayed The German Girl
Helena Ronee who portrayed The Israeli Girl
Jenny Hanley who portrayed The Irish Girl
and each received “ Such a beautifully wrapped Gift, which they were dying to see what was inside”. They would later discover that they “may use anything apart from the atomiser which they must never touch!”
Until now, very little was known about the prop apart from the fact that 46 years ago the piece existed. Internet searches reveal common screen grabs but searches under Asprey reveal nothing apart from an image taken from the June 2015 Bonhams auction of Lot #112. Contact was made with Asprey of London & EON Productions Ltd in the hope of them having records of the original piece but this has regrettably been proven fruitless although it has recently come to light that Asprey did indeed produce a near identical retail case in a dark brown faux crocodile skin with a different style of brass hardware & possibly a different interior layout as vanity cases of the period tended to be compartmentalised (see below).
A similar case was sold through Tennants Auctioneers in March 2012 as Lot 1328, An Asprey's Crocodile Skin Vanity Case, of square form with strap handle, the hinged cover with gilt mark ASPREY LONDON, 22cm wide, with fitted trays, estimate £600. This was the first solid evidence that the prop seen in On Her Majesty's Secret Service was a bespoke commissioned piece.
It is believed that of the original twelve Angels of Death vanity cases perhaps only one has survived? The remaining actresses who portrayed "the Angels" have been officially approached to see if they kept a souvenir? but there has been a unanimous "the producers would not allow us to keep them". The black faux crocodile skin vanity cases with green velvet lining were originally created by Asprey of London in 1969 & furnished with Germaine Monteil cosmetics although one case had a brass custom crafted compact which had concealed inside a radio communicator with a micro telescopic aerial which was created by either Syd Cain or Gadget Man Albert Luxford? On location at Piz Gloria in Murren it is believed that the hero prop was not quite ready (back in the UK) so an exact representation was created in cardboard which would not be clearly seen on screen. The close up of the prop with the reflection of Ruby Bartlett in the mirror was completed with an insert shot taken later at Pinewood Studios to seamlessly join the two different location takes together. Amazingly this fragile cardboard mock up still exists today.
The history of this particular piece is cloudy & is based on an assumption/rumour that upon completion of filming the piece was purchased from United Artists/EON Productions by a well-known iconic British actor as a memento for his then wife who had appeared in the movie. If this is the case (pardon the pun) I can well believe it as the piece has been well loved. The case itself right down to the original key is immaculate, the cosmetics have handling age wear as one would expect.
It has been suggested that as part of a proposed National Newspaper campaign in 1969, two of the twelve cases were released by United Artists from EON’s London offices in Tilney Street, Hyde Park as competition prizes however exhaustive research has as yet been able to unearth any evidence of such a campaign. Additionally EON have since moved from that location to Piccadilly Circus.
Not wanting such an important artifact to be hidden behind closed “Modest Collection” doors never to be seen again the piece will shortly be long term loaned to EON Productions Ltd for exhibition purposes -{
A mere 5 years behind schedule, the Asprey set is finally exhibited at Bond In Motion alongside Tracey's Mercury Cougar -{
Comments
www.justgiving.com/inMemoryOfLewisCollins
www.helpforheroes.org.uk
Very noble of you to loan it to EON for others to enjoy {[]
Merry Christmas Mr Donk -{
I do know how Christmas Cards are made
Your love and care shines through in your writing {[]
Merry Christmas and thank you, Donk!
Merry Xmas!!
-{
I am constantly amazed at your ability to procure these items. Excellent article.
Merry Xmas !!!
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A mere 5 years behind schedule, the Asprey set is finally exhibited at Bond In Motion alongside Tracey's Mercury Cougar -{
Very nice Donk {[]
- François
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