1969-1971 George Lazenby Is The 'Other Fella'
With huge media and public interest on Connery’s replacement, EON hunted high and low.
Two likely British candidates were Roger Moore, who was tied to his contract with TV show The Saint, and Shakespearian thesp Timothy Dalton, who ruled himself out for being too young.
Meanwhile, Columbia Pictures, who still had the rights to Casino Royale, released an all-star comedic extravaganza (David Niven, Peter Sellers, Woody Allen, Orson Welles) that sent up the whole idea of James Bond.
Finally, Broccoli and Saltzman gambled on George Lazenby, an Australian model with limited acting experience, who convinced on the strength of his 007- esque manner in screen tests and commercials work.
Lazenby’s debut – and only – Bond certainly took risks. On Her Majesty’s Secret Service was a bona-fide tragic romance, as Bond falls in love and marries Teresa di Vicenzo, only for her to be assassinated en route to the honeymoon.
And while structured as a semi-sequel to You Only Live Twice, Lazenby in-joked that “this never happened to the other fella,” setting up the vague possibility that there were many Bonds using a shared code name – pretty much the premise of the ’67 Casino Royale.
Lazenby’s stilted delivery, allied to the film’s unusual elements, killed its chances at the box office – and Lazenby, perhaps unfairly, was out. The search was back on for a new Bond...or an old one.
Amazingly, EON persuaded Connery to make a comeback. Or, rather, he persuaded them to accept his terms: a then-record salary and plenty of residual perks.
The Seventies began with Diamonds Are Forever, at once reassuringly familiar (Connery, John Barry, Shirley Bassey, Blofeld) and thoroughly modern, with a camp, cynical tone that lounge lizard Connery, clearly in it only for the money, encouraged.
Connery quit again, but this time he’d left a template that could be followed by EON.
Positively Shocking Quip: As an assailant is pureed in a snow blower in On Her Majesty's Secret Service, Lazenby drawls, “He had a lot of guts.”
Boys With Toys: Handy for beating the casinos in Vegas, Q gives Bond an “Electro-Magnetic RPM Controller” for a guaranteed jackpot every time on the slot machines.
Petrolhead: Lazenby joins an ice-rink stock-car derby in a Mercury Cougar XR7.
Girls in Bondage: Diana Rigg as Teresa Bond, RIP; Jill St John as Tiffany Case
Expecting You To Die: Telly Savalas and Charles Gray as Blofeld, Bruce Glover and Putter Smith as Mr Wint and Mr Kidd
Action! The highpoint of OHMSS is its vertiginous ski chase, still the benchmark for alpine action.
Belting It Out: Louis Armstrong's woozy, gorgeous We Have All The Time In The World - not the actual credits tune from On Her Majesty's Secret Service, but probably the finest 007-related song of the lot.
James Bland: In Diamonds Are Forever, Connery makes his low-speed escape from a research base in...a moon buggy. Was anybody taking this seriously?
Comments
davebau
Apr 28th 2010, 7:38
The information on how Bond got his name is wrong. It came from the name of an author of a bird watchers book. And the name of the estate is Goldeneye, which Flemming owned.
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blade32
Apr 30th 2010, 13:24
daniel craig as bond is dull dull dull. bond movies should be spy + mild comedy + gadets, not jason bourne style muscle. bring back pierce i say!! and get tarantino in too!
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Illustratedman
Apr 30th 2010, 15:59
Here we go with that Monty Norman c**p! Wiki: Norman is famous for writing the music to the first James Bond movie Dr. No, and has been credited with writing the "James Bond Theme," the signature theme of the James Bond franchise. Norman has received royalties since 1962 for the theme, but it was arranged by John Barry after the producers were dissatisfied with Norman's music. Barry claims that he actually did write the theme, but nevertheless, Mr. Norman won two libel actions against publishers for claiming that Barry was the composer, most recently against The Sunday Times in 2001. During the trial, Barry testified on the stand that he had, in fact, composed the The James Bond Theme, but that Norman was contractually obligated to receive credit for the score.
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Chrissie1954
Apr 30th 2010, 18:18
I agree with Blade 32. I can't stand what they've done with Bond now. Craig is a good actor but it's just NO FUN anymore - Bond was always about going to the cinema and waiting for the opening scene, the fast cars, the gadgets and the quips. It's just like any other spy movie now and it sucks.
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