Bond in the Cold War Modern

John DrakeJohn Drake On assignmentPosts: 2,564MI6 Agent
If you happen to be in London any time between now and the 11th of January, then I recommend a visit the Victoria & Albert’s Museum’s Cold War Modern Exhibition. There is one section in particular that should appeal to Bond fans. ‘Crisis and Fear’ is the fourth part of this exhibition and focuses on spying techniques and surveillance equipment used by either side. Some of the stuff used as examples made me smile. There is a camera hidden in a cigarette packet, but all it would take is somebody trying to cadge a smoke off you and you would be in trouble. Bond makes an appearance in a brief cameo, a description of the success of Dr No and Goldfinger. Clips from those films appear on a TV screen, as well as an excerpt from The Ipcress File. Ken Adam’s set design on GF and Dr Strangelove is also touched upon.

And there’s plenty of other stuff to hold the attention, including some cool retro consumer items, awesome examples of architecture on either side of the conflict, and some futuristic fashions designed as examples of what our generation might be wearing. There’s even some fallout gear you can buy in the shop, but hopefully won’t, as you’ll look like a member of the Ku Klux Klan. They’re also selling posters for DN and GF, though sadly not for the psychedelic one for Tarkovsky’s Solaris, which is hanging in the Space Odyssey section. Well worth seeing for anybody with an interest in the 50’s and 60’s. Entrance is £9 and well worth the money.
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