A review by Heiko Baumann, published on Amazon.de with kind permission by the author
I've been waiting for years on this dream of a book to become reality. And now that it's finally here, I'm totally amazed, even though I had a rough idea of what was to be expected. Helfenstein has made himself a name among Bond fans as the expert on all things OHMSS. What he doesn't know on this movie isn't worth being known. It was only natural that he was going to write this book sooner or later, and rumours of it being in production have been making the rounds for a while. For more than 20 years, Helfenstein has collected virtually everything related to this movie ' from newspaper clippings to shooting scripts, from Corgi toys to Tracy's wedding dress. He travelled to all the locations, interviewed numerous crew members and searched the archives, with the ambitious aim to get to know the full story.
At first glance one notices the sheer incredible amount of pictures in this book. Promotional shots, behind the scenes pictures, Newspaper ads and clippings, artwork, concepts, many of them hard to find, previously unpublished, or even unheard of. Those alone are worth every penny. Lazenby's "Big Fry" adverts or his kilt fitting? The 'Angels of Death' while knitting and bowling? 8 pages with pictures and storyboards from the famous deleted rooftop chase? You name it, it's there. Some of them are amusing, others are informative and/or revealing and many of them are simply stunning. I spent my first hour with this book just flicking through the pictures.
The textual content is amazing. Helfenstein starts from scratch with the publication history of the novel, summarises early script drafts and goes into detail about the movie's extraordinary casting process. We learn what happened on location in Switzerland, Portugal and England, and about the perils of post production. Music, marketing, fashion, what the critics said and', and', and' Also, we get a good portion of remarkable side notes and cross references, some real gems and a few remarkable insights. Mysteries are solved, rumours confirmed or denied and records set straight. This book pinches the interest of every Bond fan, and it delivers. If there ever was a prime example on how a book on a single movie should be done, this is it. Don't think twice, buy it now!
-Heiko Baumann