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 role. Niven also became heavily involved in American TV as a partner in Four Star Television, a company he established with Dick Powell and Charles Boyer. It ended up producing a considerable number of shows, in several of which Niven appeared. Niven's next few films were made in England: "The Love Lottery" (1954), a comedy; "Carrington V.C." (1954), a drama which earned Niven a BAFTA nomination for Best Actor; "Happy Ever After" (1954), a comedy with Yvonne de Carlo which was hugely popular in Britain. In Hollywood he had a thankless role as the villain in an MGM swashbuckler "The