In my previous log I pulled the curtain back behind a quick blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment in Superman II and revealed the back story behind Leonard Nimoy’s surprise appearance in the film. Little things like that reveal the verisimilitude that went into these films, further solidifying Superman’s recognizable image in the world thanks in part to its temporary custodian of the role, Christopher Reeve.

And then there was the time that the world’s greatest superhero crossed paths with the world’s greatest secret agent.

It was in the first half of November 1982 that production on Superman III was nearing completion at Pinewood Studios in London. Christopher Reeve had a number of visual effects sequences left to complete, and he had also been approached to appear in a couple of scenes for the Salkinds’ forthcoming Supergirl spinoff film, which he declined.

Meanwhile, production was rolling along at Pinewood on Octopussy, the 13th film in the hugely popular James Bond film series. Based on part on the short story Property of a Lady by Ian Fleming, the film would be about Bond matching wits with international businessman Kamal Khan over a prized Faberge egg and engaging in a showdown right out of Richard Connell’s short story The Most Dangerous Game, while attempting to stop a smuggling ring from bombing an overseas U.S. Air Force base.

Part of the shooting on Octopussy occurred at the giant 007 Stage, which had been constructed six years earlier for the submarine sequence in The Spy Who Loved Me. It had also played host to some of the spectacular Fortress of Solitude exterior scenes in Superman: The Movie in the fall of 1977, and in the late summer of 1982 filming on Superman’s confrontation with the giant super computer had occurred there as well. A few months earlier, in late June 1982, the junkyard fight between Clark Kent and the evil Superman was shot at the 007 Stage’s back door.

Now the 007 Stage was in use again in November 1982, this time for a seemingly lighter sequence at first. It is a tremendous testimony to the crews of both films and the studio itself to have a quick turnaround in getting the stage prepared for filming on a relatively short notice. That’s how organized they are.

In Octopussy we are treated to a good old fashioned circus sequence at an overseas U.S. Air Force base, complete with big top canvases, ringmasters, elephants, acrobats, clowns, human cannonballs, and the like, everything you would expect at a circus. All of this had been organized and arranged by Barbara Broccoli, the daughter of longtime Bond film producer Albert “Cubby” Broccoli and only 22 at the time. But this circus had a much deadlier purpose. It is here that a bomb has been planted, and it is up to James Bond to intercept and stop the bomb before it kills Air Force officers and numerous innocent bystanders. And he has to do it in the most inconspicuous, or should I say conspicuous, manner…

It does indeed seem kind of low brow humor at first when you see an agent of the British secret service masquerading as a circus clown, but when lives are at stake, you don’t question Bond’s motives. You get the job done, even if it means wearing clown makeup and big floppy shoes.

Meanwhile, across the set at Pinewood, Christopher Reeve had taken a break from shooting some visual effects scenes for Superman III, and he ventured to the 007 Stage in full Superman makeup to observe the circus scene. In between takes he and Roger Moore met, and someone who happened to be in the right place at the right time captured a shot of Superman and James Bond together. (It would be really interesting if Reeve had been in the background of the circus sequence during filming.)

Reeve and Moore would later be seen at several events, including a wine tasting event. Moore would later write in his autobiography My Word is My Bond about his friendship with Reeve, and at one point he commented how, when Reeve was in makeup as Clark Kent, hardly anyone paid attention to him, but in full makeup and costume as Superman, the women swooned left and right.

But for one brief moment in time, the world was safe in the hands of both Superman and James Bond. I for one would have given anything to see that crossover story occur, even in comic book form.

(Some screenshots and photographs in this blog are courtesy of CapedWonder.com.)