What if George Lazenby had been in Diamonds Are Forever?

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  • Posts: 232
    Oh, man! Thanks for letting me know. It seems to always default now to private, but I fixed it. :)
  • Posts: 232
    Perfect poster for my trailer actually!
  • Posts: 12,506
    Jarrod wrote: »
    What if George Lazenby's career as Bond had lasted as far up to 1989 with License To Kill? Lazenby would have been 50 years of age, a pretty good time to retire an actor playing Bond. This teaser trailer I made, suggests this notion.


    Loved that Jarrod! The end piece in particular! :)) :-bd
  • WalecsWalecs On Her Majesty's Secret Service
    edited September 2014 Posts: 3,157
    As I was watching that video of Lazenby in LTK (nice video, by the way), my mom approached and asked me who that man was.
    I told her he played Bond in one movie, she said that if he did just one movie, he mustn't have been a successful Bond.
    I explained her that he was offered a seven-movies contract, and that Lazenby's agent was an idiot because told him to refuse because Bond wouldn't have been a succesful series.
    And my mom said: "Just because you like Bond, it doesn't mean it's a successful franchise" =)) :))
  • Posts: 232
    Thanks for watching guys!

    @Walecs, That's pretty funny comment from your mom, but funnily I was kind of thinking of things in terms of what would have happened if Lazenby had taken over for such a long time in the Bond franchise. I mean, maybe he wouldn't have been able to carry the series successfully into the 70s and 80s. Maybe the series would have dropped in budget and become more of a cult thing. When trying to make "what if" trailers with Lazenby, I'm always hampered with footage from his B movies, which in result makes the Bond film (I'm attempting) look cheap. I'm always looking for the most degraded quality for a Bond trailer or VHS footage to match the Lazenby quality. There's a bit of intentional humor in what I'm attempting though.
  • SirHilaryBrayOBESirHilaryBrayOBE Chez Hilly, Portsmouth
    Posts: 66
    Nice trailer for a Lazenby LTK though a twenty-year stint might've been a stretch even for our George.
  • I'm curious-- in your new LTK trailer, there's a part when George has a gun in each hand.... What's that from?

    I'm guessing him in the car at the beginning was from a commercial, but I sort of thought he wasn't in much during that time other than 'Diamonds aren't Forever'
  • edited September 2014 Posts: 232
    The footage of George Lazenby in the car is from a film called Eyes Of The Beholder (1992), and the one where he has two guns is from a film called Fatally Yours (aka: The Evil Inside Me) (1993). Both were made a few years after LTK, but close enough in age to work for that period. I was originally working on a trailer for The Man With The Golden Gun, but I think that one will take a lot of time, to do it the way I want. So I got sidetracked by processing later Lazenby footage, that wouldn't fit with TMWTGG's timeline. I decided to make this quickie teaser trailer instead. Unlike the others, this one was made in 2 days flat.
  • edited September 2014 Posts: 4,622
    RogueAgent wrote: »
    Jarrod wrote:
    Also, I recently found this artwork by Steve Sistilli that captures the essence of what I was trying to achieve with my trailer.

    diamonds_are_forever_art_tribute.jpg
    online photo storage

    That is incredible! Awesome picture!!! :O
    Second that emotion! What a great poster, and those shots of laz and st. john are gold. Who knew? Wonder if they were pre or post OHMSS.
    From my own readings Sean had affairs with both St John and Lana Wood while filming DAF. Wood has confirmed her participation via her own writings.

    As for the opening post question, no thank you. DAF is a Connery tour de force. The film is perfect as is. The film oozes the Connery vibe. A great sendoff for the legend.

    However what is tragic IMO is that Eon couldn't have patched things up with Laz and launched a glorious '70s era of Laz Bond, continuing right up to LTK.
    Maybe in an alternative universe. What could have been. Rog did an adequate job and certainly advanced the series beyond the Connery era, but Laz had such potential Bond upside, that was never fully realized beyond OHMSS.
    I've always had Connery and Laz on a pedestal, way above the other 4 Bonds.

    ==btw here is link to Lana Woods Daily Mail recollections of her time with Connery


    "At the time, Connery had acquired a reputation of being ‘difficult’ on set, but the man Lana met ‘could not have been more helpful’.
    So who made the first move?
    ‘He did. I was never that forward. We went out to dinner, then met some of his friends, then went for a walk, and you know. We actually started having an affair before filming began, but we kept it secret.
    'Neither of us was married at the time, but it still isn’t done to be public about it.
    ‘I remember being very embarrassed when we had to do the love scenes, because we were trying not to let people know.
    ‘You want to be a good actress, but for it not to seem too convincing.’
    "
    Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2089587/James-Bond-star-Lana-Wood-She-bedded-Sean-Connery-expected-Hollywood-fall-feet-husbands-regrets.html#ixzz3DUXBRjcz
    Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
  • edited January 2015 Posts: 4,813
    Jarrod wrote: »
    The footage of George Lazenby in the car is from a film called Eyes Of The Beholder (1992), and the one where he has two guns is from a film called Fatally Yours (aka: The Evil Inside Me) (1993). Both were made a few years after LTK, but close enough in age to work for that period. I was originally working on a trailer for The Man With The Golden Gun, but I think that one will take a lot of time, to do it the way I want. So I got sidetracked by processing later Lazenby footage, that wouldn't fit with TMWTGG's timeline. I decided to make this quickie teaser trailer instead. Unlike the others, this one was made in 2 days flat.
    Any update on TMWTGG?
  • ThomasCrown76ThomasCrown76 Augusta, ks
    Posts: 757
    It was still released in 1974 and starred roger Moore and Dracula.
  • edited January 2015 Posts: 4,599
    OHMSS was as much about Hunt as it was GL IMHO, if both had returned and retained Hunt's style of direction, with GL only getting better, its hard to imagine it leaving a worse legacy than the film that was made.
  • edited January 2015 Posts: 4,813
    Any update on TMWTGG?
    It was still released in 1974 and starred roger Moore and Dracula.

    stone-cold-laughing-o.gif
  • Posts: 232
    Any update on TMWTGG?

    Thanks for asking Master_Dahark! Yeah, I've been slowly working on it. Just looked at some of the footage the other night, but it's no where near done. It maybe a while I'm afraid. It's probably gonna be a little different from the others. I kind of want to reread the book TMWTGG, to get some ideas on certain scenes.
  • MurdockMurdock The minus world
    Posts: 16,328
    Here's a poster I made for a second Lazenby film. But I made it with the context DAF was a sequel to YOLT instead of OHMSS.
    007_property_of_a_lady__fan_poster__by_comandercool22-d8dob1z.jpg
  • ThunderpussyThunderpussy My Secret Lair
    Posts: 13,384
    Just wanted to say I loved that teaser trailer Jarrod. :)
  • ThunderpussyThunderpussy My Secret Lair
    Posts: 13,384
    http://www.shropshirestar.com/news/2015/01/15. /bond-star-george-lazenby-heading-to-shropshire-to-film-new-dracula-movie/
    Lazenby is to film a new Netflix Dracula film (sorry if this has already been posted.)
  • edited January 2015 Posts: 1,405
    First thing, I do think that the script of DAF was wrote in order for Connery to fit, like his contract was written in order to please him, like everything around DAF was planned with the ultimate goal of getting him aboard. End result, we, the audience, got a dull, uninterested actor only in for the big money he could make out of it.

    Had Lazenby not listen to his agent and kept the role, we would have been served with a very different story. Part of the appeal of Connery's DAF is that there are many funny moments. The "The stiff...ehh...the deceased back there, you're brother M. Franks?" is a clear example. Isn't that kind of script, or dialogue, in direct opposition to a man, arguably the best spy in the world, out to bring down the man responsible for his wife death? Where was Irma Bunt? The continuity was sacrificed to please the actor only out to siphon all the money, and more, he could possibly get from the producers.

    DAF let down the audience the way QOS let us down after CR. I do firmly believe that had George Lazenby been James Bond in DAF, the film would have been much more darker, much more violent. Irma Bunt would not have survive the entire 120 minutes.
    We never learned what happened to Tracy's killer, and for that we have Sean Connery to thank.
  • ThomasCrown76ThomasCrown76 Augusta, ks
    Posts: 757
    The actress who played Irma bunt died around the time ohmss was released in theatres. If Harry saltzman had his way, George would not have even been invited for diamonds as he was such a colossal pain in the ass to everyone
  • Posts: 1,405
    The actress who played Irma bunt died around the time ohmss was released in theatres. If Harry saltzman had his way, George would not have even been invited for diamonds as he was such a colossal pain in the ass to everyone

    How many different actors played Blofeld? Or Bond? They easily could have put another actress in Irma's shoes.

    Being an ass, as you so elegantly put it, isn't the issue. Many actors, who are asses, get parts in movies. If the ass delivers, who cares?
  • ThomasCrown76ThomasCrown76 Augusta, ks
    Posts: 757
    Well he didn't deliver enough for them to want to put up with it again. Lazenby would even call them up again over the years and want to do it again, and cubby just said no.
    I honestly have no good answer for why they ran so hard and fast from ohmss. Yeah, it made less than you only live twice, but honestly they weren't going to make thunderball grosses every time. The fact is--and some people don't like to believe this about st cubby and st Harry--they were greedy.
  • Posts: 14,799
    I love OHMSS, I dislike DAF, but had Lazenby done DAF, whatever the approach would have been (serious or more comedic), it would have made the franchise decline faster.
  • ThomasCrown76ThomasCrown76 Augusta, ks
    Posts: 757
    Lazenby wasn't Olivier--he wasn't even an actor. He was a person who got in way over his head with broccoli and saltzman. He was like a kid given the keys to the candy store who got overindulged and then tried to get out once he saw what was in the contract. I've knocked lazenby, but I feel a tiny bit sorry for him for jumping into a pool he never should've jumped into
  • Posts: 232
    Well, I for one think George Lazenby delivered the goods in OHMSS. Realistically, I can't see how anyone (in their right mind) wouldn't choose George Lazenby as Bond, especially when looking at the candidates. If one looks at the runner-ups in the original LIFE magazine article; not one of them is a better fit for Bond, in looks or physicality. Yes, Lazenby is not Olivier, but who is? And Lazenby is a probably a whole lot more natural because of it. He's also not Connery, but neither were any of the other candidates. Lazenby went to a lot of lengths to get the role, so I don't consider this as falling into his lap. One of the 5 candidates for the role was John Richardson, who was actually in a lot of italo genre films from the late 60s throughout the mid 70s. Even though he had steady work in Europe, John Richardson is an extremely wooden actor, definitely not better than Lazenby. Another candidate, Hans De Vries (wouldn't that be a name over the Bond title) could never even make it past extra work on TV shows and (again) not better than Lazenby. Another Candidate was Anthony Rogers, who couldn't even get an acting job after being turned down for Bond. His last film was a bit part in Camelot in 1967. My point being, that though Lazenby wasn't an actor, neither were his candidates. They were specifically looking for unknowns for the role. Even after Lazenby left the role, the candidates were pretty dire. Adam West! Still not better than Lazenby. And lastly John Gavin, which would have been a real misstep by EON, hadn't they admitted defeat and begged Connery back to DAF. Though I don't mind John Gavin (his one eurospy film "OSS 117 Double Agent" is a lot of fun), he would have been a sad and wooden replacement for Lazenby. Lazenby may not have been an actor, but he was a model with enough star power to make the jump. It's really a disappointment he didn't make DAF.
  • edited January 2015 Posts: 1,778
    Jarrod wrote: »
    Well, I for one think George Lazenby delivered the goods in OHMSS. Realistically, I can't see how anyone (in their right mind) wouldn't choose George Lazenby as Bond, especially when looking at the candidates. If one looks at the runner-ups in the original LIFE magazine article; not one of them is a better fit for Bond, in looks or physicality. Yes, Lazenby is not Olivier, but who is? And Lazenby is a probably a whole lot more natural because of it. He's also not Connery, but neither were any of the other candidates. Lazenby went to a lot of lengths to get the role, so I don't consider this as falling into his lap. One of the 5 candidates for the role was John Richardson, who was actually in a lot of italo genre films from the late 60s throughout the mid 70s. Even though he had steady work in Europe, John Richardson is an extremely wooden actor, definitely not better than Lazenby. Another candidate, Hans De Vries (wouldn't that be a name over the Bond title) could never even make it past extra work on TV shows and (again) not better than Lazenby. Another Candidate was Anthony Rogers, who couldn't even get an acting job after being turned down for Bond. His last film was a bit part in Camelot in 1967. My point being, that though Lazenby wasn't an actor, neither were his candidates. They were specifically looking for unknowns for the role. Even after Lazenby left the role, the candidates were pretty dire. Adam West! Still not better than Lazenby. And lastly John Gavin, which would have been a real misstep by EON, hadn't they admitted defeat and begged Connery back to DAF. Though I don't mind John Gavin (his one eurospy film "OSS 117 Double Agent" is a lot of fun), he would have been a sad and wooden replacement for Lazenby. Lazenby may not have been an actor, but he was a model with enough star power to make the jump. It's really a disappointment he didn't make DAF.

    Well said Jarrod. George Lazenby's performance really isn't as bad as many make it out to be. Plus it was said that Peter Hunt directed him a certain way to make him come off as more insecure and more of a loner than Connery's Bond. I even heard that Hunt deliberately kept him separated from other cast/crew members as to maintain that loner veneer. Whether or not that was the right decision on Hunt's part is up for debate but hindsight being 20/20 Jarrod is absolutely right in that things could've turned out alot worse. Remember the final two came down to Lazenby and a 43 year old Richard Burton who, despite his matinee idol status, had not aged well at all. Yes Burton was the better actor but he was already out of shape and a notorious diva, much bigger than Lazenby was.
    Jarrod wrote: »
    Any update on TMWTGG?

    Thanks for asking Master_Dahark! Yeah, I've been slowly working on it. Just looked at some of the footage the other night, but it's no where near done. It maybe a while I'm afraid. It's probably gonna be a little different from the others. I kind of want to reread the book TMWTGG, to get some ideas on certain scenes.

    I though Lazenby did alot of kung-fu films in the 70s? That'd fit in easily with TMWTGG's style.
  • I though Lazenby did alot of kung-fu films in the 70s? That'd fit in easily with TMWTGG's style.
    You better believe it! Imagine Bond fighting his way out of the dojo alone rather than letting two girls do it for him!!
  • I though Lazenby did alot of kung-fu films in the 70s? That'd fit in easily with TMWTGG's style.
    You better believe it! Imagine Bond fighting his way out of the dojo alone rather than letting two girls do it for him!!

    That's what I thought. His fight scenes in "The Man From Hong Kong" were pretty damn amazing. TMWTGG would've fit him like a glove.
  • Posts: 232
    Have you guys been watching my rough edits. Way ahead of you. :)
  • edited January 2015 Posts: 232
    The only other thing I'll add, is that the film version of TMWTGG missed out on a nice political paranoia aspect of the novel, by not including the whole M assassination subplot. It would have fit nicely into 1974 with the "Manchurian Candidate" type theme of the novel. Could have been an awesome pre-credit teaser, had they been able to fit it into the script. An angle I'm trying to squeeze into my "what if" trailer.
  • edited January 2015 Posts: 1,778
    Jarrod wrote: »
    The only other thing I'll add, is that the film version of TMWTGG missed out on a nice political paranoia aspect of the novel, by not including the whole M assassination subplot. It would have fit nicely into 1974 with the "Manchurian Candidate" type theme of the novel. Could have been an awesome pre-credit teaser, had they been able to fit it into the script. An angle I'm trying to squeeze into my "what if" trailer.

    Very true. It could've been an odd mixture of genres though. Kind of like Three Days of the Condor meets Enter the Dragon.

    By the way Jarrod I'm throwing a Bond double feature at the pub next Sat. From Russia With Love followed by Goldfinger. I wish you still lived here buddy :)
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