NEXT month, a Canadian film crew will arrive on the island to shoot scenes for a highly anticipated upcoming documentary on the life and career of Sir William Stephenson, millionaire industrialist, brilliant inventor, celebrated World War II spymaster - and resident of Bermuda from 1968 until his death in 1989.

According to Bill MacDonald, Canadian author of The True Intrepid (the recent bestseller chronicling Stephenson's life), the documentary will highlight both Bermuda's involvement in wartime espionage activities and Stephenson's post-war life here.

"Bermuda was a communications station, and was involved in the interception and examination of mail that was going to and from North America," Mr. MacDonald explained.

"Bermuda was also an important military base after the war, in the Cold War. It was regarded as the first line of defence if there was going to be any type of submarine attack on the North American coast. It's very strategically located."

American mail-carrying Clipper flying boats and ships routinely stopped in Bermuda on their voyages to and from Europe during World War II. The examined transit mail provided valuable information on enemy activities throughout the Americas.

"The Bermuda Censorship station was run by the British out of the Princess Hotel. But Sir William Stephenson's British Security Co-ordination - which he ran out of New York specifically to liase with the US intelligence community - had a lot of people involved in it as well," Mr. MacDonald noted. "They had hired a bunch of people who could open and close mail without detection; they had certain code words that they would look for."

Thanks to Stephenson's relations with the British Imperial Censorship authorities, an experienced FBI agent was dispatched to Bermuda and instructed in the techniques of mail examination, intercepting diplomatic and privileged mail but resealing it so that recipients were not aware that their letters had been opened.

Stephenson had been supervising Allied espionage since 1940, when Winston Churchill ascended to the Prime Ministry and sent the Canadian-born industrialist to New York City to direct the US-based British Security Coordination.

He was to coordinate all British overseas espionage activities in the Western Hemisphere, recruit agents, establish a secret base in Canada to train agents for missions behind enemy lines, and function as a liaison between the BSC and the US, operating under his codename, Intrepid.

While overseeing mail examinations in Bermuda, Stephenson succumbed to the island's charms, as Mr. MacDonald explained.

"He visited Bermuda several times during the war, at least once with General William Donovan, head of the Office of Strategic Services (World War Two predecessor to the Central Intelligence Agency). Apparently that's when he fell in love with Bermuda and thought it would be a good place to retire."

When the crew from Mid Canada Productions arrives in September, they will shoot scenes at the Princess Hotel, which Mr. MacDonald described as "a big spy centre, where all the mail was examined".

In addition, Stephenson's grave and his former home in Paget will be featured for Canadian viewers of the Global network, which will air the documentary.

Mr. MacDonald hopes this documentary will dispel previous, inaccurate portrayals of Stephenson's life, in particular author William Stevenson's 1976 Man Called Intrepid, a highly romanticised biography of Sir William that caused public controversy.

"It's an important story, and deserves to be told correctly," Mr. MacDonald said. "Stephenson's connection to the winning of the war was incredible.

"He was involved in locating German U-boats during the war. His second in command created an unbreakable cipher machine, on which top-secret messages between Britain and the US were sent."

In addition to his wartime contributions, Sir William Stephenson left an indelible mark on pop culture, providing inspiration for the world's most famous fictitious spy: Bond, James Bond.

"He was certainly an inspiration for Ian Fleming's Bond stories," Mr. MacDonald contended. "They had houses near each other in Jamaica, where Fleming's 'Goldeneye' compound was located, and where Stephenson went after the war. Fleming knew Stephenson in the war, when he was with Naval Intelligence."

Fleming himself is quoted as saying, "James Bond is the highly romanticised version of a true spy. The real thing was Sir William Stephenson."

Bond parallels Stephenson not only in his spying prowess but also in his fondness for luxury. "Stephenson was famous for huge martinis and a love of fancy gadgetry," Mr. MacDonald laughed.

"One of his agents showed me a pen that could explode in your face. He had miniature cameras and stuff like that. That's where Fleming got a lot of his ideas."

Stephenson can also be credited for one of the entertainment industry's most enduring feminine institutions: the Bond girl.

"Since most men were in the Armed Services, most of Stephenson's employees were women," Mr. MacDonald explained. "Some of them were very attractive; I'm sure that's where Bond girls came from!"

Grace Gurner, Stephenson's secretary in his New York office, was the inspiration for the long-suffering Miss Moneypenny, perhaps the most famous Bond girl of all.

The documentary crew, led by Director Terry McEvoy, is currently looking to locate any Bermudians who knew Sir William Stephenson socially, but the task is proving rather challenging: if alive, Stephenson would be 103 today.