Tag: Bodil Kjær

“On Her Majesty’s Secret Service” (1969): From Denmark with Love

For "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" (EON 1969) production designer Syd Cain once again furnished the arch villain Ernst Stavro Blofeld's hideout with Danish Modern.

Disguised as the herald Sir Hilary Bray James Bond (George Lazenby) checks in at the Swiss mountain resort Piz Gloria. His room features two pendant lamps created in 1964 by the famous Danish designer Verner Panton (1926-1998). Each of the Fun 0DM lamps (DM is short for the German term "Decken-Montage" meaning ceiling-mounted) consists of a four-ring chrome-plated metal frame with natural sea shells discs. The lamps are clearly visible around the film's 56-minute mark (Blu-ray) as Bond is checking the lamp for hidden microphones. Early versions of the Fun 0DM lamp were manufactured in Switzerland which is also the film's primary location.

OHMSS Panton 1

● Link to the Fun 0DM lamp at verpan.com

In the same sequence (time code 56:20) Syd Cain reused the iconic Bodil Kjær Office Desk from 1959 as part of the furniture in Bond's room. The free-standing table previously featured in "From Russia with Love" (EON 1963) and "You Only Live Twice" (EON 1967).

Around the two-hour mark Tracy di Vicenzo (Diana Rigg) is seen fiddling with another Verner Panton-designed lamp, the Fun 5DM, in Blofeld's office. Fun 5DM is an extra-large ceiling mounted lamp with two clusters of shells hanging from stainless steel rings.

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“You Only Live Twice” (1967): From Denmark with Love

● Danish Modern design by Bodil Kjær(born 1932) made its first Bond appearence in "From Russia With Love" (EON 1963) in several sequences showing Ernst Stavro Blofeld sitting behind Kjær's iconic Office Desk from 1959.

In "You Only Live Twice" (EON 1967) Bodil Kjær's free-standing wood and aluminum table reappears several times. In the film's teaser sequence, delegates from the three superpowers USA, USSR and United Kingdom are each seated behind Office Desks.
Time code (Blu-ray): 03:56-05:02

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“From Russia with Love” (1963): From Denmark with Love

In this new blog series James Bond•O•Rama.dk will attempt to cover every connection to Denmark seen on-screen in the James Bond 007 film series. If you spot a detail that we have missed, please fill us in!

● When Rosa Klebb (Lotte Lenya) and Kronsteen (Vladek Sheybal) are reporting to their leader Ernst Stavro Blofeld (Eric Pohlmann) on a SPECTRE boat, he is sitting at a desk created by Danish furniture designer Bodil Kjær (born 1932).
Cabinetmakers E. Pedersen & Søn produced the free-standing working table from Pao Ferro wood on a chromium-plated steel frame. Kjær originally designed the desk in 1959 as part of the "Office Units" collection for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. This very fotogenic example of Danish Modern later found its way onto the silver screen in "You Only Live Twice" (EON 1967) and "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" (EON 1969). Allegedly, both Sean Connery and Michael Caine privately owned Bodil Kjær desks. Today a company called Karakter Copenhagen is still manufacturing the Office Desk albeit in oak or walnut with an aluminum frame.

Bodil Kjær's Office Desk at Karakter Copenhagen (external site)

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