BELL ROCKET BELT

Contributed by: The James Bond Movie Encyclopedia by Steven Jay Rubin

A one-man, jet-propelled flying apparatus worn by James Bond (Sean Connery) during his escape from the French chateau of Jacques Bouvar (Bob Simmons) in the pre-credits teaser of Thunderball. As 007 remarks to his French contact Mademoiselle LaPorte (Mitsouko), “No well-dressed man should be without one.”

The suit was real and actually flew, though it was piloted by a US Army jet-pack specialist assigned to the film crew. The stunt was performed outside France’s Château d’Anet on the afternoon of February 19, 1965. Bond’s escapades with the jet pack became a prominent element of the film’s poster and trailer campaign, alongside his underwater antics.

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