You Only Live Twice (1967)

Another installment in the James Bond series

Summary

-James Bond must work with the Japanese Secret Service to find the person responsible for a series of space hijackings and stop a war between Russia and the US

Cast

-Sean Connery: James Bond

-Akiko Wakabayashi: Aki

-Mie Hama: Kissy

-Tetsuro Tanba: Tiger Tanaka

-Teru Shimada: Mr. Osato

-Karin Dor: Helga Brandt

-Donald Pleasance: Blofeld

-Bernard Lee: M

-Lois Maxwell: Miss Moneypenny

-Desmond Llewelyn: Q

Did You Know?

-The henchman in Mr. Osato's office that Bond fights is played by Peter Fanene Maivia, a Samoan professional wrestler under the name "The High Chief". He is the grandfather of professional wrestler Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson

-The relationship between the producers and Sean Connery had gotten so bad at one point he refused to act if they were on set

-This is the first Bond film showing him wearing a Royal Navy uniform that clearly indicates his rank as Commander

-This film marks the final appearance of Sean Connery as James Bond and Lois Maxwell as Miss Moneypenny

-The Toyota 2000GTs are not convertible cars. They had roofs attached. But because Sean Connery is 6'2'' and the cars were too small for anyone over 5'8'', the roofs had to be removed

-This is the only Bond film where he refers to Miss Moneypenny by her nickname of "Penny"

-The character Donald Pleasance plays, Blofeld, is the inspiration for Dr. Evil in the Austin Powers series. The inspiration came from the bald head, scar, Nehru jacket and pet cat. But Pleasance has less than 10 minutes screen time. However, Mike Myers playing Dr. Evil has more screen time than Pleasance did playing Blofeld

-Tanaka's ninja training grounds were located near the famed Himeji Castle in western Japan

-During the helicopter magnet car scene, the famed red and white Tokyo Tower is seen in the background. Built in 1958, it was the tallest structure in Japan until the 2010 construction of the Tokyo Skytree surpassed it

-The book Miss Moneypenny tosses to James Bond was Instant Japanese: A Pocketful of Useful Phrases published by Masahiro Watanabe and Kei Nagashima

-Iam Fleming, author of the Bond novels, took inspiration for the name Dikko Henderson from his friend, Sir John Nicholas Henderson, who was also known as Nicko Henderson

-Various experts in martial arts were hired to play ninjas

-During WWII, author Roald Dahl worked in the British Intelligence service along with Bond author Ian Fleming