How ‘Man With Bottle’ Wound Up in 3 Consecutive James Bond Films

The late Victor Tourjansky made a behavior of looking on in disbelief for a trio of James Bond movies within the late ’70s and early ’80s.

The assistant director had a extra prolific profession behind the digicam than in entrance of it, however Bond aficionados confer with him fondly as “Man With Bottle” or “Man With Wine Glass,” a job he performed in three consecutive franchise entries: 1977’s The Spy Who Loved Me, 1979’s Moonraker and 1981’s For Your Eyes Only.

The Spy Who Cherished Me encompasses a high-wire chase wherein Bond and Main Anya Amasova drive off a pier and into the ocean to escape an assault helicopter in Bond’s Lotus Esprit sports activities automobile, which converts right into a submarine. Tourjansky sits on the seashore and watches, dumbfounded, because the Lotus emerges from the water. He gapes on the the automobile, then appears to be like again on the wine bottle in his hand.

The same gag takes place in Moonraker, as Bond pilots a hovercraft gondola by means of St. Mark’s Sq. in Venice. Tourjansky, sitting outdoors a restaurant, as soon as once more sits in surprised disbelief earlier than directing his consideration back to his wine bottle. In For Your Eyes Solely, a wide-eyed Tourjansky tries to make sense of issues whereas trying over the destroyed lodge balcony, wine glass in hand, after Bond barrels by means of a ski lodge on a bike whereas being pursued by assassins.

Watch Victor Tourjansky’s First Bond Scene

Tourjansky’s preliminary cameo was purely a matter of being in the precise place as the precise time. He was working on-set in Italy as an area assistant director and wound up in The Spy Who Cherished Me as “a ghastly in-joke of [director] Lewis Gilbert and myself,” affiliate producer William P. Cartlidge mentioned in 2000’s Inside ‘The Spy Who Loved Me.’

“I’ve finished a couple of components right here and there, like serving to out, you already know, on the final second when an actor was behind schedule or one thing,” Tourjansky mentioned in the identical documentary. “And so they requested me to do it, so I mentioned, ‘Effectively, let’s strive. Can I take advantage of a bottle?’ So I would take a double take. I used to be trying first on the Lotus, then on the bottle. And he mentioned, ‘Do something you need to do and let’s have a look at what occurs.’ However he was comfortable.”

Tourjansky racked up lower than a handful of different appearing credit following his Bond cameos, although he served as a second unit director or assistant director on practically 30 options, in accordance with IMDb. Regardless of his scant appearing resume, his onscreen appearances have been sufficient to earn him a particular place within the hearts of many Bond followers.