James Bond’s 25th Movie Set for Filming in Jamaica
It’s been almost 60 years since the first James Bond movie was filmed. This year, the 25th film returns to Jamaica, the famous winter home of Ian Fleming, the man behind Bond.
The 007 books and films are filled with images of Jamaican landmarks, particularly in the three stories set on the island: “Dr. No”, “Live and Let Die” and “The Man with the Golden Gun”. But there’s much more to Bond’s connection to Jamaica.
In preparation for the forthcoming 007 film, which is being shot on the island this year and released in April 2020, fans can travel to the locations frequented by the author and his characters. Whether it’s staying at the Half Moon resort where Bond spent a night with Rosie Carver, relaxing on Laughing Waters Beach where Ursula Andress iconically emerged from the water, or touring the lesser-known locations where Dr. No and Live and Let Die were filmed, Jamaica will offers an opportunity for holiday makers looking to step into 007’s shoes.
FACTS
Below are some facts about Bond films in Jamaica:
* Two James Bond films - “Dr. No” and “Live and Let Die” - were made near the town Oracabessa, where the 12 original James Bond novels were written.
* The White River, dividing the parishes of St. Ann and St. Mary, is the location for the river scenes in Dr. No.
* The famous scene with Ursula Andress meeting James Bond for the first time was filmed at the private beach Laughing Waters in Ocho Rios. Other scenes were filmed at Dunn’s River Falls.
* Several Jamaican hotels have been used as film locations in James Bond films. What is now Cottage 10 at the Half Moon resort is the bedroom where Bond spent the night with Rosie Carver.
* Couples Sans Souci was used as a location in Live and Let Die. Bond’s hotel room is remembered with a special sign, ‘D20.’
* The iconic voodoo dance scene in Live and Let Die was shot in a restaurant in Ocho Rios in 1973.
* Bob Marley nearly bought Goldeneye, the home of Ian Fleming in the 1960s, before it was eventually bought by Chris Blackwell.
* Jamaica’s capital city Kingston was a principal location for Dr. No.
* The home of Jamaica’s governor general, called Kings House, is where Bond met United Kingdom intelligence at the beginning of his mission.
* The Grand Port Royal Hotel, (formerly Morgan’s Harbour Hotel) in Kingston was a film location in Dr. No and features in several scenes of the film.
* Iconic Jamaican soca band the Dragonnaires, led by Byron Lee, recorded and performed “Jump Up” in the Dr. No film and are on the first Bond soundtrack.
* Ernest Ranglin, the jazz and blues guitarist from Jamaica, appears several times on the Dr. No sound track, including in “Under the Mango Tree” with his wife Dianna Coupland.
* The Reynolds Pier in Ocho Rios, part of the Ocho Rios cruise ship facility, was used as Crab Cay in Dr. No.
* Fleming was a keen bird-watcher and appropriated the name James Bond from a leading American ornithologist. The real James Bond turned up with his wife at Goldeneye in 1964. Fleming said he was, “terribly amused by the whole thing.”
* The first ever Bond girl from the books, Vesper Lynd of Casino Royale, was named after a cocktail Flemming had been given in Jamaica, a mix of frozen rum, fruit and herbs.
* Two of Fleming’s famous heroines, Solitaire from Live and Let Die and Domino from Thunderball, are named after rare Jamaican birds.
* The desolate barren swamp scenes of Crab Cay in Dr. No were filmed at the dry swamp at Falmouth in Trelawny.
* The first Bond girl “villain” was Jamaican beauty queen Marguerite Lewars. She played Annabel Chung, the photographer sent to follow Bond. Her sister Barbara Lewars married Jamaica’s three-time Prime Minister Michael Manley.
* Jamaica was the film location for the fictional island of San Monique in the Bond film Live and Let Die.
* The Green Grotto Caves, a tourist attraction on the north coast of Jamaica, is the location of many of the subterranean scenes in Live and Let Die.
* The grounds at Rose Hall Great House, an 18th century plantation in Montego Bay, were used in the filming of Live and Let Die. A makeshift graveyard was built on the grounds and the scene of the poppy field was shot in the hills behind the house.
* Chris Blackwell, record mogul and founder of Island Records Music Empire, worked as a location scout on the original Dr. No.
* Those in the know think that Blanche Blackwell, mother of Chris, may have been an inspiration for Honeychile Rider, the Bond girl from Dr. No who like Mrs. Blackwell, was the Jamaica-born child of an old island family and a passionate student of sea life.
* In the book “The Man with the Golden Gun”, Fleming based the Bond character and plot across many Jamaican locations, including Morgan’s Harbour Hotel, Green Island and Lucea.
* Monty Norman, the composer of the iconic Bond theme tune, has grossed over $1 million in royalties since the franchise began.
For more information on Jamaica, go to www.visitjamaica.com.
