Designing 007: Fifty Years of Bond Style is a new exhibit at the TIFF Bell Lightbox in Toronto, previewed on Wednesday, October 24, 2012. Items such as James Bond Attache Case, models of the Lotus Esprit, Piton Weapons, Casino clips and dresses, along with sections such as scenes from Goldfinger 1964 are on display. (Veronica Henri/Toronto Sun) Designing 007: Fifty Years of Bond Style

Villains, weapons, gadgets and girls: go behind the scenes of all things James Bond at a new TIFF exhibition celebrating the world's most famous secret agent.

Designing 007: Fifty Years of Bond Style is a new experiential journey presented by TIFF in collaboration with the Barbican Centre in London, England. (The Barbican organized the exhibit in partnership with EON Productions, producers of Bond films.)

The exhibit, which opens Friday and runs through Jan. 20, 2013, is part of the 50th anniversary of Bond on the big screen and it connects the dots to show how the longest-running film franchise has influenced design, culture and technology since Dr. No took the world by storm in 1962.

Visitors can see costumes, footage and still photos, weapons, mock-ups and brilliant detailed drawings from set designer Sir Ken Adam.

As luck would have it, EON productions kept and stored hundreds of Bond-related items. Unlike other companies that hold set sales or costume sales to recoup production costs, EON warehoused Bond artifacts and had maintained a treasure trove of important elements from the films.

That means Designing 007: Fifty Years Of Bond Style includes Bond paraphernalia never seen by the public before. This is a chance to examine the craft behind the bad guys and femme fatales, the costumes and set designs and the gadgets and special effects. There are even a few things on display from the new Bond film, Skyfall, that opens here November 9.

Among many other items, visitors can see Rosa Kleb's dagger shoes, Tee Hee's prosthetic arm, Jaws' formidable teeth and Oddjob's hat; the latter was given to a fan by mistake and bought back by EON for £62,000 at a Christie's sale in 1998.

Designing 007: Fifty Years of Bond Style comes to Toronto after its opening run in London, making our city the second stop and the North American premiere in what is anticipated to be a world tour of the exhibit.

TIFF has developed three programs and various workshops to complement the display. Film fans can experience Shaken, Not Stirred: Bond On Film, an ongoing program that will present five decades of Bond movies from Dr. No to Quantum of Solace.

Then there's Bond vs. Blofeld, this Friday's all-nighter extravaganza that features the six films in the series -- back to back -- that saw Bond go up against ubervillain Ernst Stavro Blofeld. (That program runs from Friday, Oct. 26, 7pm through to Saturday, Oct. 27 at 1pm.)

On November 9, Beyond Bond: The Other Secret Agents will introduce a program of European, Asian and American spy films that were born (Bourne?) out of the popularity of the Bond films.

Visit tiff.net for details on programs, school workshops, special guests and tickets.

liz.braun@sunmedia.ca