Goldeneye *** (1989, Charles Dance, Phyllis Logan, Patrick Ryecart) – Classic Movie Review 11,548

Goldeneye is the name of Ian Fleming’s estate on Jamaica.

Director Don Boyd’s 1989 drama Goldeneye is a glossy biographical sketch of James Bond creator Ian Fleming (ably played by Charles Dance), focusing on his love life and work in military intelligence during the 1940s and early 1950s.

It is full of knowing references to Bond movies and wry parallels with Fleming’s fictional spy hero that entertain while illuminating the personality of the author, and there are compelling performances from a fascinating cast.

The title is the name of Fleming’s Jamaica home, reused for the 1995 Bond movie GoldenEye. It is subtitled The Secret Life of Ian Fleming.

Spymaker: The Secret Life of Ian Fleming (1990) revisits the same territory.

The film is based on the 1966 biography The Life of Ian Fleming by John Pearson, Fleming’s assistant in the 1950s, who has access to his private papers. The film’s screenwriter Reg Gadney has a cameo as James Bond, the American ornithologist whose name was taken by Fleming for his spy.

The  cast are Charles Dance as Ian Fleming, Phyllis Logan as Ann Fleming, Patrick Ryecart as Ivar Bryce, Marsha Fitzalan as Loelia, Ed Devereaux as Sir William Stephenson, Julian Fellowes as Noël Coward, Lynsey Baxter as Wren Lieutenant, Donald Hewlett as Admiral Godfrey, Richard Griffiths as Second Admiral, Joseph Long as Lucky Luciano, Donald Douglas as Lord Kemsley, David Quilter as Lord Rothermere, Freda Dowie as Harley Street doctor, Christoph Waltz as German spy, Lisa Daniely as Wren Captain, Reg Gadney as James Bond, Steve Plytas as Dragoumis, Kim Kindersley as Royal Navy Lieutenant, Deborah Moore as Secretary, and Philip O’Brien as CBS Interviewer.

Goldeneye is directed by Don Boyd, runs 105 minutes, is made by Anglia Films, is released by Castle, is written by Reg Gadney, is shot by Richard Greatrex, is produced by Brenda Reid and Graeme MacDonald, and scored by Michael Berkeley.

Goldeneye is the name of Ian Fleming’s estate on Oracabessa bay on the northern coastline of Jamaica. He bought 15 acres next to the Golden Clouds estate in 1946 and designed his three bedroom home on the edge of a cliff overlooking a private beach.

He named Goldeneye either after Carson McCullers’s 1941 novel Reflections in a Golden Eye or Operation Goldeneye, a Second World War contingency plan Fleming developed to combat a Nazi invasion of Gibraltar through Spain.

He joined The Sunday Times in 1946, overseeing its worldwide network of correspondents. His contract allowed him to spend three months a year at Goldeneye, where he entertained Ann Fleming, then married to press magnate Lord Rothermere, who thought she was staying with Noël Coward.

On 17 February 1952, Fleming began writing his first Bond novel, Casino Royale, at Goldeneye. He wrote all his Bond stories there for the next 12 years, Bond movies, including Dr No and Live and Let Die, were filmed near Goldeneye.

Derek Winnert 2021 Classic Movie Review 11,548

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