A representative from the Egyptian government was on-set throughout the shoot in Cairo and Giza, to make sure that the country was not portrayed in an unflattering light. For that reason, when the scaffolding collapses on Jaws, and Bond quips "Egyptian builders", Sir Roger Moore merely mouthed the line, dubbing it in later. It went unnoticed by the official Egyptian minder, and ironically, got a great laugh from Egyptian audiences.
The eyesight of cinematographer Claude Renoir was failing at the time of this movie, and he could not see to the end of the massive supertanker set. As a result, he could not supervise the lighting. Sir Ken Adam turned to his friend Stanley Kubrick, who, under the condition of complete secrecy, supervised the lighting. He suggested the use of floodlights. In addition Katharina Kubrick (Kubrick's stepdaughter) designed the dentures that Richard Kiel (Jaws) wore in this movie and "Moonraker" (1979).
The closing credits say, "James Bond will return in Rien que pour vos yeux (1981)" but, because of the successes of La guerre des étoiles (1977) and Rencontres du troisième type (1977), Moonraker (1979) was chosen.
By the time this movie was made, the James Bond films were the most lucrative in the world, and many manufacturers wanted their products featured. There was great competition for the company that would supply Bond's car. Don McLaughlin, Public Relations Manager of Lotus, realized that the best way to win this coveted position was to make the producers chase after him, rather than going begging to them. One day he turned up at Pinewood driving a brand new unreleased Lotus Esprit, with all identifying names covered up. He parked it outside the Bond set, knowing that the producers would see it when they broke for lunch. Once the car had attracted a crowd, all clamoring to know what the car was, McLaughlin nonchalantly got in the car and drove away without answering any questions. As he had expected, the producers were desperate to discover what the car was, and producer Albert R. Broccoli later chose it for this movie.
The stunt driver was having problems making the Lotus Esprit look sufficiently exciting in the chase scenes, because it held the road too well, and had to be driven dangerously fast to make it slide impressively on corners. One scene in Sardinia required the car to drive up a hill on a mountain pass and round a sharp bend. The normal stunt driver was not available, and the crew who were waiting at the top asked Lotus employee Roger Becker to drive the car up. He thrashed the car, skidding dramatically around the corners and making a dramatic one hundred eighty-degree turn on a gravel area as he stopped at the top. "Would you mind doing that again?" they asked him. "And this time we'll have the cameras rolling." From that time on, Roger became the stunt driver for shots involving the Lotus.
Victor Tourjansky: Uncredited as the man with the bottle, who wonders whether he's hallucinating at seeing the Wet Nellie drive out of the water. He repeated the gag in the following two movies: in Moonraker (1979), he is drinking in Venice when Bond drives his gondola out of the water, and in Rien que pour vos yeux (1981), he is a patron of the lodge, at which Bond skies off the table. His main job was assistant director.
Michael G. Wilson: The screenwriter is a man in the audience at the Pyramid Theatre. He is sitting in the row behind Fekkesh and XXX at the Pyramid Show. He is also seen as a guard on the Liparus tanker.