CULTURE Jaguar is a movie veteran. Frankly, it could be deserving of its own star on Hollywood Boulevard 1938 “Sweet Devil” Bobby Howes with his SS Jaguar Jo Morrow gets cozy with a 1958 MK VIII in Our Man in Havana While the filmmakers were shooting the latest James Bond movie Spectre earlier this year in international locations from Mexico City to the Austrian Alps, there was the usual paparazzi shots from the locations. Some of the most eye-grabbing images to leak from the set were of a night-time car chase along the banks of the River Tiber in the Italian capital of Rome. We see the movie’s camera crew racing along the river in a speedboat in the dead of night, while on dry land 007’s DB10 is pursued by a sleek, metallic orange Jaguar C-X75 bearing the number plate ROMA 860K. The Jaguar looks alluring, menacing and fast, with the historical backdrop lending the whole scene a touch of timeless class. It’s the latest in a long history of movie close-ups for Jaguar in a series of film appearances that stretch right back to the brand’s earliest days in the 1930s. In the 007 series alone, you only have to go back to the last Bond film, Skyfall, to find another performance from a Jaguar: the XJ was the car for Judi Dench’s M in that 23rd movie and driven by Daniel Craig’s Bond himself. But more often than not it’s the Bond villain who’s in the Jaguar’s driving seat. In 2002’s Die Another Day, terrorist Zao (Rick Yune) is behind the wheel of a XKR, the first Jaguar ever to feature in a Bond film. Then, a few years later, in Casino Royale (2006), both Le Chiffre (Mads Mikkelsen) and Mr 1970 1980 GET CARTER (1971) Model: Mk II Used by gangsters trying to kill Carter (Michael Caine) when he travels up to Newcastle to investigate the suspicious murder of his brother. A great film with an awesome Roy Budd score too. HAROLD AND MAUDE (1971) Model: XKE Series 2 A replacement for Harold’s Cadillac hearse, which he then (morbidly) turns into a smaller hearse. Film trivia and auto buffs alike may notice the Jaguar/hearse hybrid was actually an 1961 E-Type Series 1, not the 1971 XKE Series 2 Vivian Pickles (Harold’s mum) gifts him. EMMANUELLE (1974) Model: E-Type Seen driving through the streets of Bangkok, where the film is set. The Jaguar was probably not the only thing getting film viewers’ hearts racing either… RETURN OF THE SAINT (1978-79) Model: XJS (1975 prototype) Lead character, Simon Templar (Ian Ogilvy), uses the two-door XJS coupé as his car of choice in the late 70s, world hit TV series. When the producers called up Jaguar they were immediately given the latest XJS for the new TV series, however Jaguar had previously declined the use of an E-Type as The Saint’s car in the original 1960s series that featured Roger Moore. THE OCTAGON (1980) Model: XJ6 Series II Chuck Norris uses the XJ numerous times in this ninja cult classic. Bonus fact: The car in the film was actually the director’s personal vehicle.
Peter O’Toole tries a bit of seduction in a canary yellow E-Type roadster Series 1 (with Audrey Hepburn) in 1966’s How to Steal a Million Bud Cort gets a gift-wrapped E-Type in 1971’s Harold and Maude White (Jesper Christensen) drove a Jaguar XJ8. The same car is driven by Dominic Greene (Mathieu Amalric), the twisted water magnate in Quantum of Solace (2008). Bond, though, is only one part of Jaguar’s long and distinguished screen story. Jaguar cars now grace movies from all over the world, including recent Hollywood hits like 2004’s Ocean’s Twelve and 2015’s Furious 7 – both films in which cars are central to each movie’s story as well as its style. Very recently, a Jaguar had an honorary mention in Guy Ritchie’s summer 2015 Hollywood reboot of the 1960s TV series The Man From U.N.C.L.E. In it, the film’s debonair hero, CIA agent Napoleon Solo (Henry Cavill), blags his way into an exclusive Italian party by confidently telling the doorman that he’s mislaid his physical invite: “I wonder, did I leave it in the Jag?” he asks with cocky bravado. We don’t see the actual car. We don’t need to: we know it’s exactly the car that this playboy secret agent should be driving. Jaguar is a movie veteran. Frankly, it could be deserving of its own star on Hollywood Boulevard and a retrospective segment at the Academy Awards. The car even features in the film often voted the greatest movie of all time: Alfred Hitchcock’s 1958 masterpiece Vertigo. Kim Novak’s mysteriously cool beauty Madeleine drives a green 1957 Jaguar Mk VIII about San Francisco as James Stewart’s retired detective Scottie becomes increasingly obsessed with this blonde icon and Hitchcock leads us into strange, feverish psychological territory. Three decades after making that A MK II packs the requisite punch for gangster Michael Caine’s revenge roadtrip in 1971’s Get Carter 1990 2000 THE EQUALIZER (1985-89) Models: XJ6 Series III & XJ40 Stylish transport for the lead character McCall (Edward Woodward) as the ex-secret agent catching hoodlums pro bono to atone for previous sins. Bonus Fact: The late 80s TV show was adapted into a 2014 film with Denzel Washington (no Jaguars involved). AUSTIN POWERS: INTERNATIONAL MAN OF MYSTERY (1997) Model: E-Type Series 2 Mr Powers’ ahem, ‘Shaguar’. MEMENTO (2000) Model: XKR In this quality psychological thriller Leonard (Guy Pearce) tracks down the man who murdered his wife in an XKR, but his quest is compounded by suffering from a rare, untreatable form of memory loss. THE 51ST STATE (2001) Model: XJ6 Series III Driven by lead character Elmo McElroy (Samuel L Jackson). LARA CROFT: TOMB RAIDER (2001) Model: XJ220 The ultra-rare supercar features as a background vehicle in this 2001 film but Tomb Raider’s video game developers, Core Design, thought it was worth more and designed an arcade-style racing game based on the model afterwards. Quite right. THE BLOCKBUSTER ISSUE j 31
Jaguar Magazine celebrates creativity in all its forms, with exclusive features that inspire sensory excitement, from beautiful design to cutting-edge technology.
In this issue, we explore the art of creativity from the Brazilian masters who devised the graceful art of Capoeira, to the Irish artists mixing new culture with old. You will also discover the creative line that links Victorian wallpaper to the iPhone. While the multi-talented actor and performer, Riz Ahmed, explains why it is the right time to reveal his true self to the world.
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