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Ladies’ Night Vol. 3 featuring Claudine Auger in Triple Cross.
In the conversations about the most iconic Bond girls, Claudine Auger gets shortchanged. You start off with Ursula Andress. The first lady of Bond. The white bikini. Honor Blackman as Pussy Galore comes up. Daniela Bianchi, of course, because if you’re a #Bond_age_ fan you’ve heard me fawn over Tatiana Romanova. Shirley Eaton quite literally became a gold standard despite no more than a couple of lines. Diana Rigg. Eva Green. I could keep going. But where does Claudine Auger find herself in these impromptu recollections and reminiscences?
Despite her timeless beauty and iconic black and white two-piece bikini that makes both men and women swoon, poor Claudine Auger finds herself sequestered among the “other” ladies of Bond. Is it due to Thunderball‘s undervalued status as a lesser Connery? Is it because she plays a “kept” woman? In the end, she gets her revenge. No punches pulled.
For at least one night of good #Bond_age_, the French actress, fashion icon and 1958 Miss World runner-up gets to be the center of everyone’s attention.
The real life Eddie Chapman, aka Agent Zigzag.
Triple Cross reunites Auger with her Thunderball director Terence Young. The Anglo-French co-production also features future Bond villain Gert Fröbe, Yul Brenner and Christopher Plummer. Loosely based on the story of Eddie Chapman (code name “Zigzag”), a British spy believed to be Germany’s top agent in Great Britain. The film takes liberties with the narrative to present a more glamorous — “Bond-like” — version of the spy life so naturally we’ll take liberties with Triple Cross.
If you’re interested in reading two fantastic books about Agent Zigzag, I recommend Agent Zigzag and especially Double Cross: The True Story of the D-Day Spies both by Ben McIntyre. Essential reads for history buffs or fans of the espionage genre.
Join #Bond_age_ on Wednesday, March 29 for the World War II thriller Triple Cross (1966) featuring Claudine Auger.
Warner Archive’s preview clip from Triple Cross: