What's in an Acro-Name? The Weirdly-Punctuated History of S.P.E.C.T.R.E.
Chris Klimek
I went D.E.E.P. on the H.I.S.T.O.R.Y. of S.P.E.C.T.R.E. for this Atlantic essay chronicling the tortured-acronym-loving cabal's bizarre contributions to the James Bond literary and film franchises. Anyone with enough interest in the Bond flicks to stick with this thing for nine paragraphs won't be surprised by the SPECTRE spoiler found therein, but consider yourself duly warned.
Rights issues surrounding 1965's Thunderball would haunt the Bond films for decades.
One-and-done Blofeld Telly Savalas meets one-off 007 George Lazenby in On Her Majesty's Secret Service, 1969.
Charles Gray had previously played a 007 ally, but that didn't stop him from being cast as Blofeld in 1971's Diamonds Are Forever. It was the last EON Productions Bond film to use Blofeld until...
A SPECTRE gathering in SPECTRE. (Sony Pictures)