BOGNER, Bond and Bobsleds

Movies

It is one of the most famous scenes in film history – James Bond’s chase down the bobsleigh run at Mürren, filmed by Willy Bogner Jr. Fearless, he raced after the bobsleighs of 007 and his villainous adversary Blofeld on skis down the ice channel – at 100 km/h and with a special camera weighing 30 kg on the front of his stomach. But the stunt sequences from “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service” were only the prelude to the close relationship between Bogner and Bond. The man from Munich was used a total of four times as cameraman and director of the skiing scenes for the British spy.

The images became more and more impressive. For the opening sequence of “The Spy Who Loved Me”, which Willy wrote, he filmed a dizzying chase through crevasses in the Bernina Range at minus 35 degrees and at 3,000 metres above sea level. For two minutes of thrills, the film crew needed three weeks of shooting time! The skiing scenes with motorbikes in “On a Deadly Mission”, or with snowmobiles and helicopters in “In the Face of Death” were also to set standards, and Willy provided action-packed shots by riding along with the camera to deliver the close-ups.