Tag: Verner Panton

“The Spy Who Loved Me” (1977): From Denmark with Love

For "The Spy Who Loved Me" (EON 1977), the German-born production designer Ken Adam once more let his interest in Danish furniture design rub off on the film's villain, Karl Stromberg (as played by another German, Curd Jürgens).

The famous designer Verner Panton (b. 1926, d. 1998) is represented for the third time in the EON Bond series. His Pantonova furniture system from 1971 features prominently in the underwater lair Atlantis where Stromberg as well as Anya Amasova (Barbara Bach) are seen reclining on the brown-cushioned steel sofa.

Verner Panton's Pantonova in The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)

The sculptural Pantonova system, originally created by Panton for the restaurant Varna in Aarhus in Jutland, consists of three modules – one linear, one concave, and one convex – which can be used separately or combined in various organic shapes such as a cirkel, an S or a wave. The company Montana Furniture, based on Funen, relaunched Pantonova in 2019. As of January 2023 a module will cost you somewhere between 1.300 and 1.800 €.
Time code (Blu-ray): from 01:06:05

The Pantonova system at Montana Furniture (external link)

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“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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