20 Things You Didn’t Know About Thunderball (1965)

14. “Well! Now That We’re All Here...”

Thunderball Domino
MGM/UA

Retired US Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Charles Russhon appears as an Air Force officer in several sequences set in the MI6 conference room alongside the Home Secretary (Roland Culver), M, and Miss Moneypenny (Lois Maxwell) whilst they monitor Operation Thunderball.

Russhon had previously negotiated with the Turkish authorities for filming locations in From Russia With Love (1963) and with the US government for permission to film at Fort Knox with limited access to the gold depository there in Goldfinger.

On Thunderball, he not only secured experimental rocket fuel to destroy the Disco Volante, but also used his connections to arrange for the US Coast Guard and US Air Force paratroopers to stage a filmed demonstration off the coast of Miami, Florida for the sequences in which American forces engage Largo’s heavily-armed divers and chase the Disco Volante.

Russhon also negotiated for James Bond's jet pack, the Fulton Skyhook equipment that airlifts Double-0 Seven and Domino to safety in the film's finale, and US Navy diving equipment worth $92,000 to appear in the film.

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