The Living Daylights - Trivia, Questions and Fun Facts

[sophie]

Kara Milovy (Maryam d'Abo) is suggested by the golden-haired cellist sniper, known as "Trigger" in the original Ian Fleming short story "The Living Daylights". Ian Fleming is said to have based this character in the original short story on Amaryllis Fleming, his cellist half-sister. The sniper sequence in this movie, is a fairly faithful adaptation of the short story. The original story read: "There was something almost indecent in the idea of that bulbous, ungainly instrument between her splayed thighs. Of course Suggia had managed to look elegant, and so did that girl Amaryllis somebody." Bond's assistant sniper Captain Paul Sender becomes Saunders in the film.

[wesley]

Nadim Sawalha (Tangier Chief of Police) played Aziz Fekkesh in The Spy Who Loved Me (1977). Peter Porteous (Gasworks Supervisor) was the jewel forger Lenkin in Octopussy (1983). Joe Don Baker (Brad Whitaker) later played helpful CIA agent Jack Wade in GoldenEye (1995) and Tomorrow Never Dies (1997).

[willard]

Features the only deliberate nude scenes in the James Bond film franchise, outside of opening titles. They are when two men escape from a bombed building, and when Pushkin's girlfriend's top is torn off in a hotel room.

[wesley]

The film's Royal World Premiere was held on June 29, 1987, at London's Odeon Leicester Square Theatre in the presence of Prince Charles and Princess Diana.

[aaron]

The Cello Case Chase sequence down the snow took three days to shoot. The cello was specially made of fibreglass, and fitted with control handles on the sides and skis underneath. Firecrackers were set in the snow to simulate gunfire, and during filming, the case would tend to topple over as Timothy Dalton was heavier than Maryam d'Abo. The exciting sequence was the brainchild of John Glen who had to convince doubting colleagues Richard Maibaum, Michael G. Wilson, and Albert R. Broccoli. He did this by hopping into an actual orchestral cello case himself.

[tamara]

Although the pre-credits sequence shows a hijacked Land Rover careening down various sections of road for several minutes before bursting through a wall towards the sea, the location mostly used the same short stretch of road at the very top of the Rock, shot from different angles.

[ava]

Product placements, brand integrations, and promotional tie-ins for this movie include Aston Martin Lagonda, Audi AG, Carlsberg beer, Harrod's, Bollinger champagne, Cartier, Phillips Electronics, J&B rare Scotch, Rolex watches (Rolex Submariner 16800/168000), and the Domark video game, The Living Daylights (1987).

[leo]

Aerial stuntmen B.J. Worth and Jake Lombard performed the pre-credits parachute jump. The terrain and wind were unfavorable. Consideration was given to the stunt being done using cranes, but Worth stuck to skydiving, and completed the scenes in a day.

[cameron]

Timothy Dalton says the famous "Bond. James Bond" during the pre-title sequence, This is the third (and so far last) time Bond has done this before the opening titles, after On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969) and Diamonds Are Forever (1971).

[wallace]

The MI6 and Universal Exports building exterior, used in this film, Octopussy (1983), A View to a Kill (1985), and Licence to Kill (1989), is the old War Offices near Westminster. It is close to other Bond filming locations, including the College of Arms (used in On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969)), Westminster tube station exit (used in Skyfall (2012)), and Westminster Bridge (used in The World Is Not Enough (1999), Die Another Day (2002), and Spectre (2015)).

[ella]

Timothy Dalton was originally considered for the role of James Bond in the late 1960s, after Sir Sean Connery left the role, following You Only Live Twice (1967). Dalton was screentested by Albert R. Broccoli for On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969), but he turned down the part, as he thought he was too young. He was also considered for Diamonds Are Forever (1971), but turned it down again, still feeling he was too young. He was considered again for the role in For Your Eyes Only (1981), when for a while, it was unclear whether Sir Roger Moore would return. However, Dalton declined at that time, as there was no script (or even first draft). Dalton was offered the role again in 1983 for Octopussy (1983), and yet again in 1985 for A View to a Kill (1985), but had to decline the role both times, due to previous commitments.

[terry]

Contrary to popular belief, the film was never written with Sir Roger Moore in mind. At first, screenwriters Richard Maibaum and Michael G. Wilson wrote several treatments, in which a twenty-something James Bond teams up with a senior agent named Burton Trevor on a mission to infiltrate the jungle compound of a Chinese warlord named Kwang. Trevor would die helping Bond escape, Bond would hunt down and kill Kwang, and subsequently be promoted to the Double-0 section, taking Trevor's old number "007". After two full-length treatments, producer Albert R. Broccoli vetoed the idea, arguing that audiences were more interested in who James Bond is rather than who he was. The Bond origin idea was (partially) resurrected for Casino Royale (2006), in which Bond is shown shortly after being promoted to Double-0.

[harry]

For a brief time, when it was presumed Sir Roger Moore would return for one more film, one of the main ideas floated around by the screenwriters was to have Bond battle an evil villainess, to be played by Bette Davis. This idea was quickly scrapped when the screenwriters learned Moore would not return for another Bond film.

[duane]

A stuntman was originally going to play the role of The Impostor, the Russian assassin in Gibraltar at the beginning, but after watching rushes, director John Glen decided that they needed a real actor for the part, and it was given to Carl Rigg. At the time, Rigg was out of work and staying home, taking care of his baby, while his wife was away on business. Upon getting the call, Rigg left the baby with a neighbor, left his wife a note telling her he'd gone to be in a James Bond movie, and caught the next plane to Gibraltar to start filming.

[victoria]

After collecting the Cello from the conservatoire, Maryam d'Abo stuffs the huge case into the Aston bashing Dalton on the head...not in the script.

[carla]

The second James Bond movie to employ the service of a Synth-pop band to sing the opening main theme for the movie. Also, the second film to have a Synth-pop flavored theme song, after A View to a Kill (1985).

[ethel]

Contrary to popular belief, the strange looking rifle Bond used to shoot Kara (Maryam d'Abo), is an actual rifle, and not some prop designed for the movie. The rifle is a WA2000 sniper rifle, perfect for Bond, since it's designed by Walther Firearms, maker of his classic PPK.

[victoria]

Ken Sharrock worked three days.

[carl]

At the start of the film, a Land Rover flies off the cliff edge in Gibraltar. The point at which the Land Rover flies off the cliff was filmed on Beachy Head, near the town of Eastbourne, England.

[norma]

This was the first official James Bond film not to feature Lois Maxwell as Miss Moneypenny. Consequently, it is the first Bond film in the franchise to feature another actress, Caroline Bliss, in this role. In Warner Brothers' Never Say Never Again (1983), Pamela Salem officially became the first actress, other than Maxwell, to play Miss Moneypenny in a straight Bond movie, though Barbara Bouchet played her in the Bond spoof Casino Royale (1967).