American Cinematographer - July 2003 - 105

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made Florse Without

Albert J. Luxford,
the Gimmick Man
Memoir

ofa Special Effects Maestro

a

Fiead at the

studio in the

early 1960s, Luxford was
called upon to make doors slam shut and
windows shatter by themselves. Fie
subsequently joined the special-effects
team at

in

digital productions, how to select

the

right digital camera, and much

more.

Everything for the novice

right up to the pro is covered.

Pinewood and worked under

John Stears, one of Britain's foremost
effects experts.
For the first Bond film, Dr. No,
Luxford had
Albert 1 Luxford

a

hand in

some

of the final

sequences, but it was in From Russia
With Love that his work really began to
shine. This memoir, written in the third

Albert J. Luxford:

The Gimmick Man

by Albert J. Luxford
(with Gareth Owen)
McFarland & Company, Inc.
224 pp„

$35

ISBN 0-7864-1150-3
Fans of James Bond films will
find this

autobiography particular inter¬
esting. Albert Luxford is the mechanical

with extended quotes by Luxford
incorporated into the text, offers many
amusing anecdotes about events that
transpired during filming. The famous
attache case, which incorporates a
throwing knife, 20 gold sovereigns, a
sniper's rifle and a tear-gas canister, is
discussed in detail (and depicted in
numerous photos). "It wasn't my first
assignment for Commander Bond,"
person

writes

Luxford.

"Flowever,

it

was

special-effects artist behind the gadgets
that were used in the early Bond films,
including the multifarious attache case,
the underwater breathing device and the

certainly the one that set the standard for
the gadgets that followed, and presented
me with a real challenge. In fact, it led to
me being dubbed 'The Gimmick Man.'"

famous Aston Martin DB5. Desmond

The Aston Martin DB5 used in

Llewelyn, who first appeared as "Q" in
From Flussia With Love, completed a
foreword to this book just days before
his death in 1999. "There seems to be

perception that between films I
actually work in Q-Branch making new
gadgets," notes Llewelyn. It was actu¬
ally "Bert" Luxford, working with produc¬
tion designer Ken Adam, who built the

this

clever mechanisms.

Luxford left school at age
attend the Institute of Automobile

16 to
Engi¬
neers in West London, and he began
working as a sound engineer at
Pinewood Studios. When Walt Disney

Goldfinger

-

sometimes called "the

world's most famous car"

-

featured

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The Video Camera

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an

ejector seat, a weapons-control panel in
the center armrest, revolving tire slash¬
ers, front-mounted machine guns hidden
behind the front indicator lights, revolv¬
ing license plates (valid in England,
Switzerland and France), a rear bullet¬
proof shield, and an oil, smoke and nail
dispenser behind the taillights. "That
was a job and a half," writes Luxford.
"There was nothing electronic in those
days; it was all mechanical. We had
hydraulic tanks in the boot running all the
gimmicks."
»*

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Measurement
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Lighting
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and much

more

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www.theasc.com
American Cinematographer - July 2003

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Cinematographer - July 2003
