James Bond in film Broccoli at Warwick Films expressed interest in adapting the Bond novels, but his colleague Irving Allen was unenthusiastic. In June 1961 Fleming sold a six-month option on the film rights to his published and future James Bond novels and short stories to Harry Saltzman, with the exception of "Casino Royale", which he had previously sold. Towards the end of Saltzman's option period, screenwriter Wolf Mankowitz introduced him to Broccoli, and Saltzman and Broccoli formed Eon Productions with the intention of making the first Bond film. A number of Hollywood studios did not want to fund the films, finding them "too
David Niven In that capacity, Niven worked closely with the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and sometimes with Major Glenn Miller and Miller's Army Air Force Band. Niven resumed his career while still in England, playing the lead in "A Matter of Life and Death" (1946), from the team of Powell and Pressburger. The movie was critically acclaimed, popular in England and the recipient of the first Royal Film Performance. Niven returned to Hollywood, and encountered tragedy when his first wife died after falling down a set of stairs accidentally at a party. Goldwyn loaned him to play Aaron Burr in "Magnificent Doll"