Unless you’re some sort of idiot, you’ll know that ON HER MAJESTY’S SECRET SERVICE (1969) was the first Bond film produced following Sean Connery’s retirement from the role after 1967’s YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE. Nowadays, the Bond producers have the luxury of having a precedent for recasting Bond. Back in 1969, recasting was a sink-or-swim proposition. For all anyone knew, James Bond was Sean Connery. In essence, producers Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman were kind of fucked.
Charles K. Feldman’s CASINO ROYALE, the all-star spoof version rather than the 2006 “proper” version, had likewise opened in 1967 and had been a box-office hit, despite a crippling lack of Connery. By that same token, it hadn’t made nearly as much as the Connery movies had. Broccoli and Saltzman were left with a few facts to consider:
James Bond = $
Sean Connery + James Bond = $$$$$!!!
Deciding that $ was better than no $ at all, they forged ahead with OHMSS. They had apparently first planned to make OHMSS after GOLDFINGER, then after THUNDERBALL, and only after YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE did they get the chance. I think it had something to do with them finding the requisite winter locations in time for their shooting schedules. One can see why they wanted to film OHMSS from the outset: Ian Fleming’s novel is fucking fantastic – one of his best, and full of cinematic potential.
After an extensive search for a new Bond, they somehow managed to end up with Australian car salesman/male model/amateur rock star/unarmed combat instructor/all-around badass George Lazenby. That sort of combination would normally be a recipe for unfettered awesomeness.
So what sort of broth did the Lazenby recipe yield? A delicious, long-lasting broth of rich consistency? Or a ghastly broth with wooden line delivery and big ears? Or am I taking this broth simile too far?
Let’s just say that Broccoli and Saltzman had a new equation to consider:
James Bond – Sean Connery + George Lazenby = : (
1 comment:
Thanks for writing this.
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