20 Things You Didn’t Know About Octopussy (1983)

9. “The Woman Must Not Be Harmed.”

octopussy movie
MGM/UA

Peter Lamont designed Octopussy's ornate bed to look lavish onscreen; however, it was constructed from polystyrene.

Once the octopus shape and structure had been approved, it was strengthened with wire mesh and linen soaked in plaster. It was then primed, sealed, covered in red ochre, and polished to resemble wood.

Although Roger Moore and Maud Adams made it look comfortable onscreen, actor William Derrick learnt that it was quite the opposite.

When the wire of the yo-yo buzz-saw (a creation of the film’s original screenwriter, George MacDonald Fraser) that Derrick was wielding was pulled during rehearsals, he was sent crashing onto the bed, breaking his arm. However, Derrick insisted on completing the sequence, despite wearing a plaster cast.

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