George Lazenby doing 7 Bond films

BuilderPlumber

I read that Lazenby was originally hired to do 7 Bond films. How would this have worked out is one of the big 'what ifs' of the Bond history. The series had changed a lot by 1969 since its early films of only 5-7 years earlier. The first 2 films had almost no humour, but from Goldfinger on, humour was entered. Many remember On Her Majesty's Secret Service (OHMSS) as a serious film but there is actually a lot of humour in it too. E.g. 'that didn't happen to the other fella' reference about Connery or Bond's dealings with the girls Blofeld was 'curing'.

I liked Lazenby's Bond and felt he did well to follow Connery. He even looked like and even managed to talk similar to Connery too. Of course, the book Fleming followed OHMSS with was You Only Live Twice where Bond got his revenge on Blofeld and his girlfriend for good. SMERSH was actually the main enemy in many Bond books and then SPECTRE were added later but there were also independent villains as well. The intention of the film series was that Blofeld would be around for some time yet.

The first intention was Lazenby as Bond along with Blofeld (Savalas or Gray?) and Irma Bunt would all return to Diamonds Are Forever (DAF) and that it would be revenge orientated. Though this idea was not entirely dropped, the film instead became an entertaining hybrid of a revenge film and a celebration of the return of Connery. Ultimately, DAF sold better than OHMSS. DAF is remembered as a more humourous film than OHMSS although the reality shows both offer humour and serious situations in equal measures. The OHMSS where Bond is fooling around with the clinic girls and all the Christmassy feel in the middle parts of it both in the clinic and where Bond meets Tracy after and during the chases is a very different film to the sad ending.

If Lazenby had been in DAF and others after it, what would have happened. A lot may have actually remained the same. Kevin McClory shut down a lot of the series' ability to use SPECTRE and then Blofeld. You notice in OHMSS, SPECTRE get only a few brief mentions and SPECTRE is not even mentioned in DAF. Blofeld does not appear at all in the next 4 films and he appears but is not named as such briefly in For Your Eyes Only. That period would correspond to Lazenby's run as Bond if he had accepted his contract.

Others then say that DAF is both a sequel to You Only Live Twice (note the opening scenes look like it is happening in Japan) and OHMSS. I think that Bond getting his revenge thinking he has actually killed Blofeld and then moves on and ends up taking on a villain called Willard White only to discover White is held hostage and Blofeld has assumed his identity was very clever. After the shootout on the oilrig, Blofeld tries to get away by a small concealed boat controlled by a lever to drop it but Bond assumes control and drops him and bashes him around. It is implied he may be killed but also leaves room open that he survives. The intention whether Connery, Lazenby or another actor (Moore would actually be the next Bond in Live and Let Die, the first Bond film possibly not to feature SPECTRE since Goldfinger (even though Gondfinger could well be an ally of Blofeld)) was that Blofeld could appear again but the McClory things made this impossible.

Of course, Irma Bunt was not referenced again in any film after OHMSS. The idea of Bond actually killing a woman just was unthinkable at the time. Klebb was killed by Tatiana in From Russia With Love and not Bond for example. It was not until The World Is Not Enough that the series thought it ready for Bond to do such a thing. Since Bunt was the person who ACTUALLY killed Tracy and not Blofeld (even though Blofeld ordered it) and since Bunt was most likely Blofeld's own wife or girlfriend, I'm sure Bond had tracked her down and killed her between OHMSS and DAF.

If Lazenby did do 7 films, he would be the most prolific Bond actor ever, beating both Connery and Moore who have 7 films each ironically because Lazenby turned down that deal. Lazenby is often a footnote as the guy who played Bond between 2 Connery classics. He and his film are very underrated in my opinion. But if he had done more films, I wonder would the whole world be remembering Lazenby as the best early Bond along with Connery?

Wedwood

I've mixed views on Lazenby. OHMSS has latterly been recognised as a good Bond movie, but throughout the 70's and 80's, Lazenby was generally panned by critics and audiences alike.

It'll always be a what if, but I'd suspect the real reason he only got the one movie was the significant box office drop that occurred. OHMSS earned about 50% less than You only live twice in the US, and about a 30% drop off elsewhere.

I don't particularly like Lazenby's performance being honest, he comes across as a guy who knows he fluked the role and him breaking the 'fourth wall' throughout the movie makes him hard to take seriously in the role.

BuilderPlumber

Wedwood wrote: »

I've mixed views on Lazenby. OHMSS has latterly been recognised as a good Bond movie, but throughout the 70's and 80's, Lazenby was generally panned by critics and audiences alike.

It'll always be a what if, but I'd suspect the real reason he only got the one movie was the significant box office drop that occurred. OHMSS earned about 50% less than You only live twice in the US, and about a 30% drop off elsewhere.

I don't particularly like Lazenby's performance being honest, he comes across as a guy who knows he fluked the role and him breaking the 'fourth wall' throughout the movie makes him hard to take seriously in the role.

It is rather obvious that their preference was for Connery to continue. They managed to coax him back for Diamonds Are Forever (DAF) but it was clear from the start that this was a once off return.

OHMSS was the forgotten Bond film for years. I first watched Bond films in the late 1980s and remember it being a Bond title I was not familiar with. People older than me remembered around the late 1980s that RTE showed all the Bonds from Dr No as far as Moonraker in 1983 but mentioned pretty much all of them except OHMSS when discussing that. Anyone who remembers that Bond season from around September to December 1983 could let me know if OHMSS was included among the films or if it was only the Connery and Moore films that were shown? So, even before I started watching them, I was familiar with titles like Goldfinger, From Russia With Love, DAF, You Only Live Twice, etc.

When I first heard of Bond movie OHMSS I assumed it must be the one that preceded The Living Daylights: A latterday film that escaped my attention made after Moore and before Dalton. I remember back at the time in 1987 or 1988 when I first saw it being very surprised that it turned out to be the one before DAF.

Of course the box office drop meant that this style of film would not be seen again. It also meant the film remained underrated and forgotten for years. Lazenby therefore was more or less forgotten and then DAF took the feel instead of a mix of Goldfinger and You Only Live Twice (YOLT). It worked better for audiences then.

Personally, I rate YOLT, OHMSS and DAF highly and think all of them fit together nicely despite being very different. My main problem with OHMSS is the middle part where for over an hour, not much happens. DAF or YOLT had clocked up much more action in that same part of the film. However, when OHMSS gets going with the action, it is among the very best ever of its kind in the series. The ski chase in particular is a classic. YOLT and DAF also contributed some of the very best action scenes of the series too: the 'Little Nellie' helicopter shootout and the Amsterdam fight between Bond and Peter Franks for example.

The other slight issue of course I have, and it again relates to the same part of the film, is Blofeld not knowing Bond. That worked in the book because that was the first time they met but in the films, Bond has already met Blofeld in YOLT. They have no problem recognising each other in DAF either. When you think about it: Bond looks like Bond and enters Blofeld's HQ undercover. One only has to conclude that Blofeld knows him and is going along with him like a cat with a mouse. A better idea may have been Bond letting it be known he no longer works for MI6 and decides to join SPECTRE (afterall, Dr No intended Bond to join it) to destroy it from within. This type of plot of course worked excellently when Bond decided to get close to Sanchez to avenge Felix's injuries and his wife's death in Licence to Kill.

OHMSS is often seen as a serious Bond film but yet it drifts into lengthy periods of comedy much moreso than YOLT, DAF or Live and Let Die do. This being that same middle part I outlined above where Bond pretends to be a rather odd academic and his fooling around with the girls in the clinic and the joke about the kilt. I think it stays serious at the start and end but is very lighthearted in the middle.

shrapnel222

do you know why Lazenby turned down the deal?

it's strange but i know YOLT and DAF incredibly well having seen them loads of times whereas i don't remember OHMSSvery well at all having only seen it once or twice years and years ago.
Always felt it left a massive footprint in terms of moulding Bond into his later persona, yet it's one of the movies most people have never seen.

BuilderPlumber

shrapnel222 wrote: »

do you know why Lazenby turned down the deal?

it's strange but i know YOLT and DAF incredibly well having seen them loads of times whereas i don't remember OHMSSvery well at all having only seen it once or twice years and years ago.
Always felt it left a massive footprint in terms of moulding Bond into his later persona, yet it's one of the movies most people have never seen.

I had the same experience. Starting into watching Bond films in the late 1980s I had heard of the titles of many from before I started watching them including YOLT and DAF but had never heard of OHMSS until one evening it came on. I automatically assumed it was the one before The Living Daylights, a post-Moore film that was forgotten and was very surprised at the time to see 'James Bond will return in DAF' at the end.

OHMSS was full of the jokey Moore-era one liners actually much moreso than any of the Connery films. Perhaps that is why I felt it was a one off film between Moore and Dalton.

As regards to why Lazenby turned it down: I would think that the decision was made for him. The sales of OHMSS were poor compared to YOLT and DAF for that matter too. It was clear audiences wanted Connery. When Live and Let Die came out with Moore, Moore seemed to have much less problems following Connery because Moore was wellknown and was previously considered for the role. Yet many aspects of OHMSS were closer to Moore's films than any of Connery's were.

BuilderPlumber

BuilderPlumber wrote: »

I read that Lazenby was originally hired to do 7 Bond films. How would this have worked out is one of the big 'what ifs' of the Bond history. The series had changed a lot by 1969 since its early films of only 5-7 years earlier. The first 2 films had almost no humour, but from Goldfinger on, humour was entered. Many remember On Her Majesty's Secret Service (OHMSS) as a serious film but there is actually a lot of humour in it too. E.g. 'that didn't happen to the other fella' reference about Connery or Bond's dealings with the girls Blofeld was 'curing'.

I liked Lazenby's Bond and felt he did well to follow Connery. He even looked like and even managed to talk similar to Connery too. Of course, the book Fleming followed OHMSS with was You Only Live Twice where Bond got his revenge on Blofeld and his girlfriend for good. SMERSH was actually the main enemy in many Bond books and then SPECTRE were added later but there were also independent villains as well. The intention of the film series was that Blofeld would be around for some time yet.

The first intention was Lazenby as Bond along with Blofeld (Savalas or Gray?) and Irma Bunt would all return to Diamonds Are Forever (DAF) and that it would be revenge orientated. Though this idea was not entirely dropped, the film instead became an entertaining hybrid of a revenge film and a celebration of the return of Connery. Ultimately, DAF sold better than OHMSS. DAF is remembered as a more humourous film than OHMSS although the reality shows both offer humour and serious situations in equal measures. The OHMSS where Bond is fooling around with the clinic girls and all the Christmassy feel in the middle parts of it both in the clinic and where Bond meets Tracy after and during the chases is a very different film to the sad ending.

If Lazenby had been in DAF and others after it, what would have happened. A lot may have actually remained the same. Kevin McClory shut down a lot of the series' ability to use SPECTRE and then Blofeld. You notice in OHMSS, SPECTRE get only a few brief mentions and SPECTRE is not even mentioned in DAF. Blofeld does not appear at all in the next 4 films and he appears but is not named as such briefly in For Your Eyes Only. That period would correspond to Lazenby's run as Bond if he had accepted his contract.

Others then say that DAF is both a sequel to You Only Live Twice (note the opening scenes look like it is happening in Japan) and OHMSS. I think that Bond getting his revenge thinking he has actually killed Blofeld and then moves on and ends up taking on a villain called Willard White only to discover White is held hostage and Blofeld has assumed his identity was very clever. After the shootout on the oilrig, Blofeld tries to get away by a small concealed boat controlled by a lever to drop it but Bond assumes control and drops him and bashes him around. It is implied he may be killed but also leaves room open that he survives. The intention whether Connery, Lazenby or another actor (Moore would actually be the next Bond in Live and Let Die, the first Bond film possibly not to feature SPECTRE since Goldfinger (even though Gondfinger could well be an ally of Blofeld)) was that Blofeld could appear again but the McClory things made this impossible.

Of course, Irma Bunt was not referenced again in any film after OHMSS. The idea of Bond actually killing a woman just was unthinkable at the time. Klebb was killed by Tatiana in From Russia With Love and not Bond for example. It was not until The World Is Not Enough that the series thought it ready for Bond to do such a thing. Since Bunt was the person who ACTUALLY killed Tracy and not Blofeld (even though Blofeld ordered it) and since Bunt was most likely Blofeld's own wife or girlfriend, I'm sure Bond had tracked her down and killed her between OHMSS and DAF.

If Lazenby did do 7 films, he would be the most prolific Bond actor ever, beating both Connery and Moore who have 7 films each ironically because Lazenby turned down that deal. Lazenby is often a footnote as the guy who played Bond between 2 Connery classics. He and his film are very underrated in my opinion. But if he had done more films, I wonder would the whole world be remembering Lazenby as the best early Bond along with Connery?

Just read that the woman who played Bunt died of a heart attack in real life between OHMSS and DAF. This was the main reason so why she didn't appear. My guess if the person had lived, Bunt's character would have appeared in the pretitle and could have been questioned by Bond and killed before Bond finds Blofeld himself. Perhaps, Bunt would have replaced the girl on the beach in France and Bond strangles her. Instead, it is probably assumed she is killed between the 2 films and is not recast in respect for the actor who played her.

OHMSS is not one of the better known of the Bond films but it is the one most referenced subsequently. For example:

DAF: it is clear Bond is angry and out for revenge at the start and also during the shootout on the oil rig. Tracy or events of OHMSS are not mentioned but it is implied that Bond has spent 2 years seeking revenge.
Live and Let Die: When double agent Rosie books herself into Bond's hotel room in San Monique as Mrs Bond, Bond says 'an incurable romantic, Mrs Bond'. Clearly a reference to Tracy.
The Spy Who Loved Me: XXX mentions Tracy's death in her summary of her know of Bond to Bond. Bond stops her and clearly is upset at the mention of it. This fits into his way of dealing with this is not to talk about it.
Licence to Kill: Bond gets upset when Felix's wedding reminds him of his own. Felix says to his new wife about Bond that he was once married a long time ago. Felix suffers the same fate later at the hands of a drug dealer. Bond's revenge on said drug dealer shows he feels his friend's pain as he went through something similar.

For Your Eyes Only was the one that referenced it most though. Bond visits Tracy's grave at the very start. Then he deals with Blofeld who takes control of Bond's helicopter. When Bond regains control, he dumps Blofeld down a chimney. Other similarities come later. The ski chases are very similar to the OHMSS one. The presence of a Contessa who befriends Bond and plays alongside Bond in a casino are very similar. When said Contessa talks in the North England accent, it brings back memories of one of the Blofeld cure girls who talked similar. When said Contessa is killed by one of the main villains, it reflects Tracy's death. Then there is Columbo and his Dove organisation. Columbo was the protector and probably lover of the contessa and his character is very like Draco. He befriends Bond and helps to take care of the main bad guys Kristatos and the Belgian hitman. The finale set on a high mountain albeit not snow orientated also reflect the Piz Gloria Blofeld clinic in OHMSS.

Blofeld was due back many times between DAF and SPECTRE but was ultimately not featured because of the Kevin McClory dispute. The Spy Who Loved Me was supposed to reintroduce him. Stromberg really was a Blofeld style guy and was written as Blofeld before they changed his name. Stromberg was not interested in extortion though and if Blofeld had been in this film, he would.

If Blofeld appeared here, he could appear in the next few films as the main villain or as a background figure. Perhaps that's what would have happened in Moonraker: Drax would be a Largo-type 2nd in command. Is would still be likely Moonraker would have been similar to what it was with Drax as a SPECTRE agent. Once more, Drax would be motivated by extortion rather than a super race. Blofeld could once more be the force behind Kristatos in For Your Eyes Only. He could feature again as the man behind Orlov and Khan in Octopussy with perhaps the Octopus Cult as a breakaway defector group from SPECTRE. Perhaps, Zorin could be another SPECTRE agent working for/groomed by Blofeld as a successor. Perhaps, created in a test tube by Blofeld. In other words, Blofeld would be that East German ex Nazi guy. Perhaps, on the top of the Golden Gate Bridge is where Blofeld if he had been reintroduced would have got his end leaving the way Clear for Dalton's films. This run of films with Blofeld was not to be.

I read somewhere too that Brosnan's era also tried to resurrect Blofeld. He would have fitted in as the power behind Travelyan/Janus/006 and Carver. Craig of course got permission to use Blofeld and SPECTRE at last. The baddies in his 3 first films were shown in SPECTRE as working for Blofeld.