Life and career

Glen had his start in the film-making industry as a messenger boy in 1945. By the late 1940s, he was working in the visual and sound editorial departments of Shepperton Studios for films produced by Alexander Korda, such as The Third Man (1949) and The Wooden Horse (1950). Moving up the ranks, Glen made his picture editorial debut on a documentary series titled Chemistry For Six Forms in 1961, and his directorial debut on the TV series Man in a Suitcase in 1968 (directing the episode "Somebody Loses, Somebody ... Wins?").

During the 1960s and 1970s, Glen served as a film editor and second unit director, working on such films as Superman (1978) and The Wild Geese (1978); he also contributed to three James Bond films: On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969), The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) and Moonraker (1979). Following the release of Moonraker, Glen was promoted to the rank of official director of the series; he went on to direct all five Bond films of the 1980s. He holds the record for directing the most number of films in the series to date, just one film more than Guy Hamilton. The films are:

• For Your Eyes Only (1981)
• Octopussy (1983)
• A View to a Kill (1985)
• The Living Daylights (1987)
• Licence to Kill (1989)

After Bond, Glen continued to direct, with credits including Christopher Columbus: The Discovery (1992) and The Point Men (2001). He also directed episodes of the science-fiction television series Space Precinct (1994-95). In 2001, he published his memoir, For My Eyes Only.

Directorial style

Glen's films contain a recurring motif in the form of a startled pigeon that makes the actor (as well as the audience) jump; it is especially noticeable in his five James Bond films. Variations exist; in some cases, the animal is a cat (A View to a Kill) or a monkey (The Living Daylights). As editor of Moonraker, Glen was responsible for creating the "double-taking pigeon", an editing trick that makes it appear as if a bird in St Mark's Square in Venice cannot believe its eyes when Bond's (Roger Moore) gondola transforms into a hovercraft. In addition, all of Glen's Bond feature a character who dies by falling from a height, in a sequence commonly accompanied by the same "male scream" sound effect.

Glen often re-used actors in his films. In his autobiography, he states that he wanted to cast Timothy Dalton in Christopher Columbus: The Discovery but that Dalton left the project before shooting commenced; Glen wonders whether - following an argument at the end of shooting on Licence to Kill - Dalton did not wish to appear in any more of his films. Several other cast members from the Glen Bond films appear in Christopher Columbus: the Discovery; among them are Robert Davi, Benicio Del Toro, and Michael Gothard.

Filmography

Year	Film	Director	Editor	Other	Notes
1968	Baby Love		Yes
1969	The Italian Job			Yes	Second unit director, uncredited
	On Her Majesty's Secret Service		Yes	Yes	Second unit director
1971	Murphy's War		Yes	Yes	Second unit director, uncredited
	Catlow			Yes	Second unit director
1972	Pulp		Yes
	Sitting Target		Yes
1973	A Doll's House		Yes
1974	Gold		Yes	Yes	Second unit director
	Dead Cert		Yes
1975	Conduct Unbecoming		Yes
1976	Shout at the Devil			Yes
1977	The Spy Who Loved Me		Yes	Yes	Second unit director
	Seven Nights in Japan		Yes
1978	The Wild Geese		Yes	Yes	Second unit director
	Superman			Yes	Second unit director
1979	Moonraker		Yes	Yes	Second unit director
1980	The Sea Wolves		Yes
1981	For Your Eyes Only	Yes
1983	Octopussy	Yes
1985	A View to a Kill	Yes
1987	The Living Daylights	Yes
1989	Licence to Kill	Yes
1990	Checkered Flag	Yes
1992	Aces: Iron Eagle III	Yes
1992	Christopher Columbus: The Discovery	Yes
2001	The Point Men	Yes

[ Source: Wikipedia ]