Posted on 02/25/2022 5:53:03 PM PST by DUMBGRUNT
...007 is strolling through the swanky secret headquarters of the eponymous villain, Dr No, when he pauses to admire a painting on a gilded easel. The moment passes so quickly that today's viewers barely notice it, but to cinema-goers in 1962, this would have been one of the film's sharpest jokes. The painting, a portrait of the Duke of Wellington completed by Francisco Goya in 1814, had been stolen from the National Gallery in London in 1961. Nobody knew who had taken it or where it was, so the idea that it might have fallen into the robotic hands of a megalomaniacal SPECTRE agent seemed as plausible as any other.
... the morning of 21 August 1961, the guards realised that the painting had been spirited away. They didn't spot any intruders, no damage was done, and there were no traces of any equipment or weapons on the scene. But the Goya was gone. Nothing like this had happened before in the gallery's 138-year history. If Dr No wasn't responsible, then the culprit had to be a similarly cunning, experienced, and well-funded international criminal mastermind.
Newspaper articles speculated that a gang of Italian crooks was behind the heist, or perhaps a thrill-seeking aristocrat.
The twist in the tale
The actual culprit was his 20-year-old son, John, a boat repairman. In 1969, he belatedly turned himself in, but the Director of Public Prosecutions deemed that as there was no other evidence available, it was simpler to brush the matter under the carpet. Besides, Britain's legal establishment wanted to avoid any further embarrassment. "If they tried John for the crime," says Bentham, "they would have to call Kempton back to the stand and have him admit to perjury, and they just didn't want to give him a platform again."
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.com ...
Never knew that about the portrait in Dr No. Pretty funny, actually.
Back story according to Wiki is that the director of Dr. No painted the portrait used in the film himself overnight. There was zero dollars available to buy a copy or hire a professional to paint one. Bond films became a gold mine, but the budget for Dr. No allowed no frills at all. And it was a good joke to have the painting in the film.
flr
That explains why the painting used in the movie appears a bit off.
Thanx
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