Everything or Nothing

A documentary made for the fiftieth anniversary of the James Bond series. Its subject is not the films but the people who made them exist: Ian Fleming, the producers Albert Broccoli and Harry Saltzman, and Kevin McClory, who kept the series in court for years. Stevan Riley directs. The title comes from the company. Eon Productions, founded by Broccoli and Saltzman, stands for Everything or Nothing. Choosing it is not incidental, because that is exactly the story: two men putting everything into one character and then coming apart from each other. The most interesting section is the legal one. Kevin McClory sued over the rights to the story of Thunderball, won, and that is why a Bond film could be made outside the series: Never Say Never Again in 1983. Sean Connery's return was a consequence of that judgment. The documentary also covers Connery's withdrawal from the part, George Lazenby's one film career, and the near halt the series came to during the Timothy Dalton years. Who it is for: Bond viewers, and anyone interested in studio history, rights litigation and producer relationships. Who it is not for: this is a production made from inside the franchise, and its critical distance is limited. The hard subjects are described, but nobody is ever blamed.