James Bond gadget that cut off the legs of a crew member

(Source: Far Out / United Artists Releasing)

Fri May 24, 2024 14:30, UK

Gadgets have always been an integral part of the James Bond character and the franchise that bears his name, but once upon a time, 007’s shiny new toys were almost as deadly to the stunt team in real life as they were to the villains who faced them on screen.

Before cameras started filming Sean Connery’s fifth appearance as the iconic secret agent You only live twice, the Bond saga was already firmly established as one of Hollywood’s most important films. The problem was that audiences expected him to raise the bar with each installment, which in turn made the sets bigger, bolder, bolder, and more dangerous.

After developing and creating the WA-116 gyroplane in the early 1960s, Air Force veteran Ken Wallis captured the imagination You only live twice production designer Ken Adam, who listened to an interview with a former wing commander in which he discussed the tiny ship he had built and successfully piloted.

Recognizing that Bond desperately needed a gyroplane, the device was included in the film along with the necessary accessories. Special effects supervisor John Stears equipped it with a variety of weapons and gadgets, renaming it “Little Nellie” in honor of the legendary musical artist and Nellie Andrews of “Essence of Eccentricity.”

As the only person capable of piloting this ship, Wallis was drafted into the crew when You only live twice landed for location shooting in Japan. Due to the unfavorable weather conditions and small size of the gyroplane, it was often left at the mercy of the elements and repeatedly collided with a film crew following it through the sky.

Unfortunately, while capturing aerial footage, cameraman John Jordan’s techniques almost resulted in tragedy. He devised a way to hang from a harness with his feet resting on the Little Nellie’s support, but in a downwind his foot got caught in the rotors and almost completely severed it.

Fortunately, a surgical conference was held near Miyazaki and Jordan’s nearly severed appendix was reattached. However, he couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong, which led to his foot being completely amputated when he returned home to London. Now equipped with a prosthetic leg, Jordan spent the next few years working on the Bond franchise before he fell more than 2000 feet in 1969 and died while filming another film.

It was an ignominious – if cruelly fitting – end for the daring crew member, who performed disastrously, but realistically could have suffered much worse in the future. You only live twicebut at least “Little Nellie” will forever be recognized as one of Bond’s most iconic performances.

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