20 Things You Didn’t Know About The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)

15. Quite Illuminating!

The Spy Who Loved Me Jaws
MGM/UA

The son et lumière is a great spectacle that heightens the manmade splendour of The Great Sphinx of Giza and the pyramids. Sadly, it was not possible to capture the outdoor lighting effects properly on location for The Spy Who Loved Me.

Instead, production designer Sir Ken Adam and special visual effects supervisor Derek Meddings recreated it at Pinewood Studios in Buckinghamshire on a sandy dune with Roger Moore, Barbara Bach, Nadim Sawalha (who portrayed Fekkesh), and numerous extras (including Cubby Broccoli’s stepson, special assistant, and current Bond producer, Michael G. Wilson). They also developed miniatures of the Sphinx and the pyramids to stage their own son et lumière.

When James Bond shadows Jaws whilst he pursues Fekkesh, production still of Roger Moore was pasted over the footage that had been shot on location at Giza to make it appear as though he was observing the metal-toothed killer from behind a boulder.

Contributor

I started writing for WhatCulture in July 2020. I have always enjoyed reading and writing. I have contributed to several short story competitions and I have occasionally been fortunate enough to have my work published. During the COVID-19 lockdown, I also started reviewing films on my Facebook page. Numerous friends and contacts suggested that I should start my own website for reviewing films, but I wanted something a bit more diverse - and so here I am! My interests focus on film and television mainly, but I also occasionally produce articles that venture into other areas as well. In particular, I am a fan of the under appreciated sequel (of which there are many), but I also like the classics and the mainstream too.