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Obit of the Day: “Q” and A(rt Direction)

The late Desmond Llewellyn made a career of playing the gadget wizard “Q” in seventeen James Bond films. His first appearance was in the 1967 film, From Russia With Love. The scene lasts a little over a minute-and-a-half but during that time his presents Bond, played by the dashing Sean Connery, with a briefcase filled with hidden weapons and secret money. Classic.

The man who designed the briefcase was Syd Cain. Cain worked on five Bond films: Dr. No (uncredited), From Russia With Love, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, Live and Let Die, and Goldeneye. He was credited as art director or production designer in three of the five, while developing the storyboards for Goldeneye, and receiving no credit, literally, for his work on the first film.

Cain didn’t just work for 007. He would be responsible for visual feel of dozens of films over his five decade career. Whether it was Stanley Kubrick’s Lolita or François Truffaut’s Fahrenheit 451, Cain would ensure that the director artisitce vision was effectively represented on screen. On several films he helped design the storyboard that presented a shot-by-shot illustration of the film before a single camera is turned on including Who Framed Roger Rabbit.

Cain who began working on films in 1947 and retired in 1999 after developing the storyboard for the Michael Caine vehicle, Shiner. In 2002 he published his autobiography, Not Forgetting James Bond: The Autobiography of James Bond Production Designer Syd Cain.

He was 93.

(The video clip is the copyright of MGM and courtesy of AvengedS939 on YouTube.com)