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Comments
I think he acted like a gangster. But he looked very distinctive, without the use of short cuts (scar, patch eye). Obviously Savalas was of Greek origins, but his bald head gave him a sort of ambiguity. He definitely doesn't look WASP (unlike Pleasence, who without the scar has a British civil servant vibe), but neither does he really look Mediterranean.
Yes, Savalas is foreign enough to look like a genuine villain.
Yes, it's a shame that he didn't come back for DAF. I think he would have still worked well in either the Maibaum or Mankiewicz script(s).
Yes, he is truly a unique looking villain, but in a natural way. I know that Richard Maibaum said that Telly should have done an accent, but I like Telly's Blofeld for his mixture of uniqueness in appearance and voice. Maybe Maibaum should have written Blofeld as having an accent in his script, instead of criticizing Telly for trying to make his (and Fleming's) special words work. Telly's unique enough presence makes up for dialogue.
Donald could pass for Himmler's dopelganger, and you can't be much better qualified to play an evil villain than that...
True, I too was very disappointed the first time around, plus, as I discovered later, he is nothing like the book Blofeld
In that sense Tele is much better, even though he is no giant either. By the by, as far as I'm aware, like Sean Connery, Tele did not do "accents".
However I recognise that Donald can make a great villain, worthy of a Bond movie, if given the right circumstances. Apart from actually playing Himmler in "The Eagle Has Landed", he also played a "hated security chief" in the Peter O'Toole political thriller "Power Play" and a rogue Russian operative in Charles Bronson's espionage effort "Telefon".
He did play Himmler in The Eagle Has Landed. But Himmler himself looks rather bland and unassuming. There's something creepy about a bland man with glasses, mind you.
I will trust their judgement to flush out Jan Wernich. They were in a bind. I do wonder why they cast Jan in the first place and what wasn't there when he was in the role?
Producers Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman decided that Werich was not nearly menacing enough. Director Lewis Gilbert said that Werich appeared more like Santa Claus than Blofeld. Gilbert would also note that Werich struggled with his English, making shooting more difficult. After several days of filming with Werich, the producers then decided to recast the role of Blofeld
Himmler reminds us that evil is not always obvious or conspicuous, the architypal faceless bureaucrat or éminence grise
But not ideal for a Bond villain
This is how most film franchises roll, when they make a capricious decision they often lie about the reasons why, and try to spin the circumstances in order to soften the blow or deflect blame and protect the legacy.
In this case the casting director, Weston Drury Junior made a mistake, by making a casting choice that the someone more important than him disagreed with
By the by, Weston was casting director for FRWL, The Ipcress File, The Quiller Memorandum, YOLT, The Assassination Bureau, DAF, The Innocent Bystanders, LALD, The Macintosh Man, The Tamarind Seed, TMWTGG, TSWLM, MR, and many other non-espionage movies.
He was not casting director for DN, GF, TB or OHMSS
Pictures can only tell so much, but Werich seriously looks like a garden gnome. He doesn't come off as menacing at all. In fact, in these shots he looks afraid. Donald Pleasence may not have been perfect, but even without the scar his piercing blue eyes were somewhat creepy.
Question for the ages: why not Eric Pohlmann? Too common looking, perhaps? At least he had the voice.