JAMES Bond depended on many things during his 40-year reign as the world's coolest secret agents.

Magnetic watches, exploding Parker pens, fast cars and not so fast cars (he once drove a Citroen 2CV) have all helped 007 out of a sticky situation.

Moviegoers acknowledge the role played in the series' success by North Yorkshire musician John Barry, design genius Ken Adam and credits maestro Maurice Binder, but one area has been almost criminally neglected - until now.

A new exhibition in the North-East revels in the glory that is Connery, Lazenby and Moore - showcasing foreign film posters from the golden era of Bond from Dr No in 1962 to A View to a Kill in 1985.

The toupees and double chins get less convincing as the years roll by, but they all have one thing in common - a licence to thrill.

Designed simply - as the collection's owner Henry Cook explains - "to get bums on seats", the tone was set by Dr No. That poster features Bond, guns, girls and plenty of pyrotechnics.

The films never compromised on quality. So it was with the posters. Work by artists such as Frank McCarthy, Robert McGinnis and Jan Mascii now command large sums among fans.

Henry was at Washington Arts Centre, on Tyneside, yesterday to launch the Vintage Bond collection of 51 posters.

The 39-year-old, who owns about 7,000 movie posters, explained the long-standing appeal of Bond posters.

He said: "They hit you between the eyes. They put so much time and imagination into them, particularly in the Sixties, that you sometimes wonder how they came up with the ideas."

A poster of On Her Majesty's Secret Service, starring the second official Bond George Lazenby, featured the actor's name, but had his face blanked out and replaced with a question mark.

Henry stopped collecting Bond posters after a View to a Kill because he felt they had lost that spark of originality that made them so unique.

Vintage Bond - The Poster Art of James Bond runs at the Arts Centre, in Biddick Lane, Fatfield, Washington, until May 3.