film information
Produced by Albert R. Broccoli
Directed by Lewis Gilbert
Screenplay by Christopher Wood & Richard Maibaum
World Premiere 7th July 1977 (London, England)
US Release Date 13th July 1977
Worldwide Box Office $185,400,000 US
Budget $14,000,000 US
Running Time 125 Minutes
james bond
bond girls
Barbara Bach (Major Anya Amasova)
q-branch
posters
vehicles
bond villains
Michael Billington (Sergi Borzov)
Sydney Tafler (Liparus Captain)
bond allies
Bryan Marshall (Commander Talbot)
Edward de Souza (Sheik Hosein)
locations
Moscow; People's Rest & Recuperation Centre in Soviet Union; Canada (doubling as Austria for the parachute jump); London; Scotland; Egypt; Sardinia and the Atlantic Ocean.
bond james bond
James Bond introduces himself in the customary way to Max Kalba.
behind the scenes
Production designer Ken Adam told Albert ‘Cubby’ Broccoli that there wasn't a sound stage big enough in the world to house the massive set of the inside of the Liparus. The solution to this problem? Simple, build the world's biggest sound stage in England at Pinewood Studios, nicknamed the ‘007 Stage’.
The interior shots of the Liparus were originally going to be held inside a real oil tanker. The Bond team managed to secure a real tanker, but were told they would have to insure it. They decided to use a miniature for the exterior shots and the sound stage for the interior shots when they realised the insurance would be £50,000 a day!
Richard Kiel, who played Jaws, could only wear his mouthful of metal teeth for 30 seconds at a time, since it was so uncomfortable to wear.
The Spy Who Loved Me was the only film in the Bond series in which M's real name is revealed. After M offers the way for General Gogol, he replies "No, no, after you Miles".
During the outside shots of the Lotus underwater, the inside of the car was actually flooded and driven by two scuba divers.
After the film's release, demand for white Lotus Esprits surged to the point that new customers had to be placed on a three-year waiting list.
Captain Benson also played Sir Hillary Bray in On Her Majesty's Secret Service. §
