Roger Moore’s screen-worn shirt and Thunderball props on auction at Ewbanks

Roger Moore’s screen-worn shirt as 007 and a selection of rarities linked to Thunderball come together for Ewbank’s Auctions latest dedicated James Bond auction on July 8, 2021.

Thunderball highlights include an extremely rare British Quad Advance poster for the 1965 film which is expected to fetch up to £12,000.

It was created by two of the most sought-after graphic designers who worked on the Bond franchise, Frank McCarthy and Robert McGinnis and was designed to be cut up and displayed in four separate pieces, meaning few remained intact.

The example offered here was divided down vertically down the middle but was later preserved by mounting both halves on linen, bringing them back together.

Also on offer is a 30 x 40 inch British Quad poster for Thunderball with an estimate of £3,500-4,500, while a 20 x 30 inch Double Crown poster for Thunderball – a very different design from the main British Quad poster for the film – should make £1,500-2,500.

Other highlights in the James Bond 007 auction include Roger Moore’s screen-worn shirt from the pre-title sequence of For Your Eyes Only, when Bond visits the grave of his murdered wife, Tracy, before completing a helicopter sequence.

Accompanied by an autographed still which is inscribed “For the owner of my Frank Foster shirt” and signed by Roger Moore and helicopter pilot George Sweeney, it also comes with a still of Roger Moore signing the photograph. The estimate is £4,000-6,000.

Original artwork used in Eric Pulford’s design of the poster for A View To A Kill (1985), featuring Roger Moore and Grace Jones, comes to the rostrum with a guide of £2,000-4,000.

Aston Martin made the most of its association with James Bond by running an advertising campaign in the mid 1960s featuring the agent.

Featuring an action scene from Thunderball with the car front and centre, a poster headed with the legend Bond drives and Aston… naturally carries hopes of £1,000-1,500.

The same estimate applies to a signed and inscribed copy of the 1963 fifth printing by Signet of the book The Spy Who Loved Me. “To Donald from Ian Fleming”, it reads.

Another production costume – this time from The World Is Not Enough (1999), starring Pierce Brosnan – has a guide of £1,000-1,500. The one-piece ski suit made for Brosnan was around one of 15 created for the production and was the original sample used for sizing purposes on Brosnan himself.

A metal lightbox with the legend Albert R Broccoli 007 Stage used to hang at Pinewood Studios and carries a guide here of £800-1,200.

“James Bond has become a major part of our sales series in the past few years,” said Ewbank’s partner and specialist Alastair McCrea. “Few franchises have such a dedicated following, and the longevity of 007 over the past 60 years of films has created multiple generations of fans. Whether it’s rare posters, props, costumes or even toys and more commonly available memorabilia, the hunger to acquire these lots is palpable.”

Of particular interest is the outstanding appeal of Thunderball among films in the franchise.

“Thunderball sold over 58.1 million tickets in the U.S. on it release. This means that at the time more than one in every four Americans paid to go and see the movie and it became the highest-grossing hit of 1966 all over the world,” says McCrea.

“Even now, Thunderball is the only James Bond film to rank number 1 in the American box office chart, and taking inflation into account, it remains the most financially successful Bond film ever.”

You can view the entire catalogue for the auction online at www.ewbanks.co.uk where you can also find out about live bidding online.