Everything Everywhere Daily: History, Science, Geography & More - Broccoli, James Broccoli

Episode Date: July 6, 2020

You probably couldn’t think of two things which are further apart than the character James Bond and the vegetable broccoli. Yet, in a not so roundabout way, there is a very direct connection between the two. In fact, if it wasn’t for broccoli, we might never have had any James Bond movies. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You probably couldn't think of two things which are further apart than the character of James Bond and the vegetable broccoli. Yet in a not so roundabout way, there is a very direct connection between the two. In fact, if it wasn't for broccoli, we might never have had any James Bond movies. Find out what the link is between this cruciferous vegetable and a fictional British spy on this installment of Everything Everywhere Daily. What if your perceptions about the past were wrong? ThruLine is a podcast that takes you back in time to uncover the, the parts of the story that may have gone unnoticed. It effectively turned day into night.

And how it shaped the world now. Time travel with us every week on the Thuline podcast from NPR. This episode of Everything Everywhere Daily is brought to you by G Adventures. Gadventures is the world's premier small group tour operator, offering tours in over 100 countries and on all seven continents. In addition, Gadventures has been a leader. in the area of responsible tourism helping to establish social enterprises around the world. When you travel with G, you not only get to explore the world, you also get to help the people

in the communities you visit. And I speak from firsthand experience. I've personally visited over 40 countries on all seven continents with G Adventures. And I can attest to their high standards and the quality of their tours. To learn more about Gadventures and to find a tour that's right for you, click on the link in the show notes. The broccoli plant that you and I are all know hails from Italy, where a variant of it has been a stable food for centuries. It is essentially an edible flour that is related to other vegetables, such as kale, cauliflower, and Brussels sprouts. Broccoli isn't a native wild plant. It was believed to have been created by a selective propagation of wild cabbage by the ancient Etruscans. For the most part, the broccoli plant stayed

in the Mediterranean. During the 18th century, it did spread somewhat becoming known as Italian asparagus in England. There are reports that Thomas Jefferson trying to plant some broccoli seed in Virginia, but the plant never took off and gained popularity. The broccoli variant that we are familiar with is called Calabresi broccoli, named after the region of Italy where it was developed. It was created in the 19th century by an Italian family who crossed cauliflower and a plant called Broccoli Rob, which is actually more closely related to a turnip. At the turn of the 20th century, Giovanni Broccoli, yes, that's the family's real name, and his brother immigrated from Calabria to Long Island where they started a farm,

producing the Calabrese broccoli that they grew up with. The farm grew quickly, and their broccoli exploded in popularity in the United States. Eventually, the entire broccoli extended family was working on the family farm. After moving to Long Island, Giovanni had a son named Albert. Like the rest of his family, Albert worked on the family farm, harvesting, packing, and shipping broccoli. Albert's cousin, Pat DeChica, left Long Island for Hollywood, made his fortune as an agent and a producer, and wound up marrying silent film star Thelma Todd. Side note, Pat DeChica later married Gloria Vandervilt, who is the mother of CNN's Anderson Cooper.

But you can't really call him a stepfather, however, because it all happened before he was born. Pat invited Albert out to Hollywood, and with stars in his eyes, he left New York and headed for California. Albert, whose nickname was Cubby, made the move out to Hollywood, and after a series of menial jobs, landed a position as an assistant director on the set of the movie The Outlaw after a chance meeting with Howard Hughes. Assistant director sounds like an impressive title, but in reality he was just a gopher and a personal assistant to the director Howard Hawks. During the movie, Hawks stepped down as director and Hughes took over, which set up a working relationship between Broccoli and Hughes which extended beyond World War II. After the war, Cubby became a theatrical agent for Charles Feldman representing Hollywood talent such as Lana Turner. Feldman, ironically enough, actually produced the 1967 James Bond Spoof Casino Royale starring Peter Sellers. Cubby Rockley had created a fairly successful career for himself in Hollywood, but being an agent wasn't what he wanted to do.

What he wanted to do was become a producer. He was well into his 40s before he happened upon the idea which would make his dream of becoming a producer true. In 1950, the British government passed a law called the EDI Levy, which was a tax on box office receipts at movie theaters. The money was to be used to create the British film production fund, which was to subsidize the British film ministry. He realized that if he were to shoot films in the United Kingdom and hired a crew that was 80% British, he could get large subsidies from the British government, potentially in the millions of pounds. Brockley and his partner produced a series of films in the early 1950s using subsidy money, including The Red Beret, Hell Below Zero, and Fire Down Below. All action films with strong charismatic male leads. It was in the early 1960s that Broccoli began reading Brooks about a secret agent by the author Ian Fleming.

He assumed that some major studio would have tied up the movie rights to the books, but when he researched it, he found that only one book, Casino Royale, had actually been optioned by a major studio. The options on the rest of the books were held by a Canadian named Harry Saltzman, who was interested in making movies but couldn't secure funding. Broccoli tried to buy out Salzman's right to the books, but he refused to sell. Instead, they created a 50-50 partnership and a production company called Eon Productions. The pair booked a meeting with United Arts in New York, and within 45 minutes, they had a six-movie deal with a million dollars in funding for the first film. Casting for the lead role of James Bond was extremely important. The entire success of the franchise would rest on who they got to play the role. Broccoli's first choice was his friend and the best man at his wedding, Carrie Grant.

Grant would have been perfect for the role, but there was no way they could afford him with the limited budget that they had. The next choice was a British actor by the name of Roger Moore, but he was busy shooting. shooting on the television show The Saint. More later went on to play James Bond in the 1970s. The person they eventually chose was discovered from his role in the 1959 Disney movie Darby O'Gill and the Little People. That was, of course, Sean Connery. They made the movie Doctor No, which was a critical in box office hit, and it spawned the longest running franchise in the history of motion pitchers. The next James Bond film, No Time to Die, would be the 25th installment in the series.

Albert Broccoli passed away in 1996. Like the family's broccoli farm in Long Island, the production of James Bond films has become a family business. The main producers of the films today are his daughter's Barbara Broccoli and his steps on Michael G. Wilson. Even though Albert Broccoli passed away almost 25 years ago, his name is still the first words that appear in the opening credits of every James Bond film. Even though it is a long, circuitous path, there is a definite connection between the family that gave us broccoli and the man which brought James Bond to life. This is a brand new podcast, and as such, it can really use your support. If you know someone who is curious and you think would like the show, please share it with them. And if you've enjoyed this show, please subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Google Podcasts,

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