The Actual prop Oddjob Hat

In this topic we will talk about the actual prop hat used by odd job i have some questions that i am looking to get answered for an article in a book I'm working on. Any help will be much appreciated.

it is my understanding that there were a number of hats that were used but only two that had the metal rim attached. in these photos we see one of those hats. first off is this correct?

4804706542_1abd69b549_b.jpg

i heard that one of the steel rimmed hats was said to go to the actor that played Oddjob and as it got used and worn the metal rim started to detach from the body so it was put back together using rivets. in this photo you can see the rivets used.

4903589_1_l.jpg

This same hat was in an auction if I'm not mistaken.

So to me the style of hat has always been a mystery I've seen it called a bowler hat and a top hat but theses styles don't exactly look right to me. don't get me wrong i realize that there are many different styles of a bowler hat and a top hat but the one that looks to me to be the most accurate is called a tall flat top derby hat. it is like a bowler hat but has a gentile curve top that is not exactly rounded nor flat.

if anyone knows the exact style please let me know.

Another mystery to me is the company name that produced the hat
in this picture I can see part of a company name but its obscured by the stand.

odd_job_hat_under.jpg

another thing i bring to the table is the thrown hat. Supposedly it was attached to a cable and the hat followed the cable but how was the hat attached to the cable and was it one of the hats with the metal rim attached?

Comments

  • Aston Martin DBSAston Martin DBS Derbyshire, EnglandPosts: 659MI6 Agent
    A bit of information here for you

    http://www.007magazine.co.uk/events.htm
    "NEVER SAY NO TO ADVENTURES." Ian Fleming
  • danjaq_0ffdanjaq_0ff The SwampsPosts: 7,283MI6 Agent
    For someone that has spent 15 yrs researching these props you don't know that much do you :D
  • dailo007dailo007 Posts: 182MI6 Agent
    danjaq_0ff wrote:
    For someone that has spent 15 yrs researching these props you don't know that much do you :D

    LoL!
  • ppw3o6rppw3o6r Great BritainPosts: 2,272MI6 Agent
    edited May 2012
    Ref Oddjob hat. The best font of knowledge on this would be Graham Rye of 007 Magazine. The hat with the rivets is believed to be (very important) the hat which Harold Sakata used professionally in the ring after his classic 1964 appearance as Oddjob so it may not (and I'm choosing my words carefully here) be the actual bowler which appeared on screen? The hat which struck the statue at Stoke Poges Golf club was on a wire or at least that is my understanding with a small eye to secure it to the cable. I have heard it said by someone who is also working on a project such as yourself that there was a small propeller inside to enable it to spin steadily as it slid down the cable. As with the Golden Gun, regrettably those who created this master illusion are no longer with us.

    Additionally & this is fact, the two hats you illustrated are two completely different props (cased example with card & J*****s auction listing photo with rivets). The cased example with card was the example which Graham Rye auctioned through Christies which was purchased by EON Productions Ltd and returned to the Archive.

    Regards Donk.
  • thespyboys11thespyboys11 Lindenwold,NJPosts: 1,845MI6 Agent
    danjaq_0ff wrote:
    For someone that has spent 15 yrs researching these props you don't know that much do you :D

    OUCH!!! Get some ointment...you've been "Burned"
    Ed
  • AbelAbel DenmarkPosts: 354MI6 Agent
    I am selling my version of the hat soon on ebay. I hawe two and onley need one.
    You Can see the one i am selling her
    http://thedangermen.com/
    You left this with Ferrara, I believe
  • MANDY1MANDY1 TISPosts: 2,608MI6 Agent
    danjaq_0ff wrote:
    For someone that has spent 15 yrs researching these props you don't know that much do you :D

    LMAO, trick is to know "right" people, build lifelong trust and have passion on the "hunt" - i've done active research for, let's say 3yrs. Most of the information has given to me by a very good friend of mine (I consider him as a family member - a big brother that i never had) all confidential and cannot be published here or anywhere, what so ever - it's matter of TRUST, RESPECT and FRIENDSHIP -{
    Knowing who to trust is Everything in this business.

    TIS - "The moment you think you got it figured - you're wrong"

    Formerly known as Teppo
  • spartanrkspartanrk Las VegasPosts: 88MI6 Agent
    danjaq_0ff wrote:
    For someone that has spent 15 yrs researching these props you don't know that much do you :D
    Lol... Here we go again
  • sumnersumner Posts: 46MI6 Agent
    edited May 2012
    danjaq_0ff wrote:
    For someone that has spent 15 yrs researching these props you don't know that much do you :D

    Ive spent that mass majority of those years studying the golden gun, I know very little about oddjobs hat
    thats why I ask, so I can learn.
  • sumnersumner Posts: 46MI6 Agent
    ppw3o6r wrote:
    Ref Oddjob hat. The best font of knowledge on this would be Graham Rye of 007 Magazine. The hat with the rivets is believed to be (very important) the hat which Harold Sakata used professionally in the ring after his classic 1964 appearance as Oddjob so it may not (and I'm choosing my words carefully here) be the actual bowler which appeared on screen? The hat which struck the statue at Stoke Poges Golf club was on a wire or at least that is my understanding with a small eye to secure it to the cable. I have heard it said by someone who is also working on a project such as yourself that there was a small propeller inside to enable it to spin steadily as it slid down the cable. As with the Golden Gun, regrettably those who created this master illusion are no longer with us.

    Additionally & this is fact, the two hats you illustrated are two completely different props (cased example with card & J*****s auction listing photo with rivets). The cased example with card was the example which Graham Rye auctioned through Christies which was purchased by EON Productions Ltd and returned to the Archive.

    Regards Donk.

    thank you donk,
  • sumnersumner Posts: 46MI6 Agent
    A bit of information here for you

    http://www.007magazine.co.uk/events.htm

    Thank you
  • jon_1ukjon_1uk Posts: 672MI6 Agent
    sumner wrote:
    In this topic we will talk about the actual prop hat used by odd job i have some questions that i am looking to get answered for an article in a book I'm working on. Any help will be much appreciated.

    it is my understanding that there were a number of hats that were used but only two that had the metal rim attached. in these photos we see one of those hats. first off is this correct?

    4804706542_1abd69b549_b.jpg

    i heard that one of the steel rimmed hats was said to go to the actor that played Oddjob and as it got used and worn the metal rim started to detach from the body so it was put back together using rivets. in this photo you can see the rivets used.

    4903589_1_l.jpg

    This same hat was in an auction if I'm not mistaken.

    So to me the style of hat has always been a mystery I've seen it called a bowler hat and a top hat but theses styles don't exactly look right to me. don't get me wrong i realize that there are many different styles of a bowler hat and a top hat but the one that looks to me to be the most accurate is called a tall flat top derby hat. it is like a bowler hat but has a gentile curve top that is not exactly rounded nor flat.

    if anyone knows the exact style please let me know.

    Another mystery to me is the company name that produced the hat
    in this picture I can see part of a company name but its obscured by the stand.

    odd_job_hat_under.jpg

    another thing i bring to the table is the thrown hat. Supposedly it was attached to a cable and the hat followed the cable but how was the hat attached to the cable and was it one of the hats with the metal rim attached?

    if this is an origional connected to the film wouldn't you expect the obscured name you can see to resemble the name "lock and co." as mentioned in the 007 magazine posted earlier ?
    "some men are coming to kill us, we're going to kill them first"
  • Donald GrantDonald Grant U.S.A.Posts: 2,241Quartermasters
    I suspect that hat is someone's replica. It has been known for a long time that the hat Harold Sakata wore in Goldfinger as OddJob was a "square crowned coke" provided by James Lock and Co. The "square crowned coke" does not usually appear in the Lock catalog, but you can get it if you ask for it.

    DG
    So, what sharp little eyes you've got...wait till you get to my teeth.
    image_zps6a725e59.jpg
    "People sleep peacefully in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf." Richard Grenier after George Orwell, Washington Times 1993.
  • sumnersumner Posts: 46MI6 Agent
    I suspect that hat is someone's replica. It has been known for a long time that the hat Harold Sakata wore in Goldfinger as OddJob was a "square crowned coke" provided by James Lock and Co. The "square crowned coke" does not usually appear in the Lock catalog, but you can get it if you ask for it.

    DG

    Thank you Mr. Grant
  • icsics Posts: 1,413MI6 Agent
    danjaq_0ff wrote:
    For someone that has spent 15 yrs researching these props you don't know that much do you :D

    :D {[]
  • scaramangasgoldengunscaramangasgoldengun ScotlandPosts: 1,388MI6 Agent
    edited May 2012
    3 Hats Said to be Used in GOLDFINGER

    One had a Spindle, mechanism Built into the crown - so
    it could be sent along a wire like the guys on here have
    already stated...... but when its thrown that is just Harold
    Sakata throwing a plain hat in a certain way to match the
    ''spinning'' effect motion... when its on a wire - is the shots
    where the camera focuses in on the hat itself

    Odd Job at no point in the film wears a steel brimmed Hat
    it was a plain 'Squere Crowned' Coke hat - it's also been
    called ( a Dressage Top Hat - A Felt Derby - A Flat Bowler )
    the list is endless depending on which book or article you are
    reading... But as the guys on here have stated, it was a
    Square Crowned Coke / Bowler

    INTERESTING Note.... anyone ever had a look at Winston
    Churchill's ''BOWKER HAT'' very similar in shape and style

    And the SFX Hat was made by John Stears - I am not 100% sure
    on this - but the Brim for this Metal Brimmed Hat was said to be
    made by the same metal works factory who made the Gold Bars
    for the Fort Knox Scenes ( Electro Plated Bricks ) in the background
    This hat is the only surviving Hat that EON own that was bought
    back by them at auction for £62,000 or something like that in the 90's
    thats the hat that goes on display and is the one in your first Pic

    The Hat with the rivits on the Brim .... was the hat Harold Sakata wore
    after Goldfinger during TV appearances, Promotions, Wrestling Matches
    etc where he now went by the name of ODD JOB and not TOSH TOGO as
    previously named before his fame in GOLDFINGER - Now this hat was the
    same style as the originals from Goldfinger - NOT Sure who made the hat
    for him, thats another mystery - when it was auctioned it fetched a large
    amount £40,000 region it was falling apart - The Auction House ''Julliens''
    thought Tape and the rivets were put on it to help fix it and hold it back
    together, shows how much reasearch they did before the sale because
    the rivets were on it from new since the mid 60's I think they claimed in
    the auction it was used in the film but it was NOT! the hat was given to his
    son after he died....... The Rivet hat was also Auctioned off With The Oriental
    Praying Buddha Ring, Sakata Wore in the film - which he either had / owned
    before Goldfinger or took it home after the production was finished as a
    keep sake

    OK so the plain hat that Sakata Wore in the film has never surfaced - which
    can mean a few things... its still around somewhere... at EON..... In a production
    crew members collection...........OR Sakata was allowed to take the Plain hat he
    wore throughout home with him after the film - As it was fitted & made for him by
    The London Hatters - so would not fit anyone else, He then got a factory / metal
    worker to fit it with a metal Brim - To make it the way people ''imagined it'' - for his
    follow up's as Odd Job.... which technically proves that the Rivet Hat IS an original
    from GOLDFINGER ... just tricked up with the brim after the film or it was just a
    similar hat he bought and got mocked up with the metal Brim - No one can say for
    sure aside from Sakata Himself - Sadly No Longer with us.... But thats my thoughts
    on the Odd Job Hats for what its worth


    The 3rd picture you posted up I think is the SD Sudios replica hat that came
    on a mirrored Base Display - If not its a replica made by someone

    The Original Hats Both SFX - With metal brim and Plain Worn Hat, were Black
    felt lnside and out and they had Tan leather inner head bands, No Real
    Odd Job Hats have labels or white silk lining like most store bought Bowlers


    Also the Original EON hat Has the brim bursting through the Felt Hat brim at
    each side - The Hat was made like this - because its clear to see in Ken Adams
    Workshop on the set of THUNDERBALL.... the only time you see the SFX hat
    in great detail was when its on the grass beside the statue head and you only
    see it from one side

    hope this is helpfull in some way ............

    cheers............. Mick
  • minigeffminigeff EnglandPosts: 7,884MI6 Agent
    Nice set of info tit bits there mick, but you forgot one thing;

    Odd job also used a rare working golden gun, there was a video clip of it around here somewhere... 8-)
    'Force feeding AJB humour and banter since 2009'
    Vive le droit à la libre expression! Je suis Charlie!
    www.helpforheroes.org.uk
    www.cancerresearchuk.org
  • scaramangasgoldengunscaramangasgoldengun ScotlandPosts: 1,388MI6 Agent
    Sh** :# :# :o :o I forgot all about that

    Sumner scrub everything I just said about The Odd Job Hats

    I am way off..... i didnt even notice the Golden Gun over and
    about the one Goldfinger used :s :s :s
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