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 and rejoined the army, being recommissioned as a lieutenant. In 1942 he co-starred in the morale-building film about the development of the Supermarine Spitfire fighter, "The First of the Few" (American title "Spitfire"), which was enthusiastically endorsed by Winston Churchill. Niven resumed his acting career after his demobilisation, and was voted the second-most popular British actor in the 1945 Popularity Poll of British film stars. He appeared in "A Matter of Life and Death" (1946), "The Bishop's Wife" (1947) with Cary Grant, and "Enchantment" (1948), all of which received critical acclaim. Niven later appeared in "The Elusive Pimpernel" (1950), "The