The Bonds in other Bonds:

[adam]

We all know what films each Bonds starred in. But all the Bonds (except Craig & Lazenby) nearly starred in other Bond movies. Would they have suited these movies ?

Connery in OHMSS and LALD.

Brocoli and Salzman pleaded with Connery to continue as Bond after YOLT and DAF.

I feel OHMSS would have been 20 minutes shorter with him in it. Having Bond fall in love may have also been cut out. Similar to CR, everyone was perhaps trying too hard with OHMSS to compensate for a new Bond. Connery would have enjoyed the humour in the film when Bond was living with all those women. Unless Connery got back into great shape, the fight scenes may not have been as impressive as the Lazenby fight scenes. With Connery, the film, good or bad would have done better box office.

Sean would have perfectly suited LALD. It was simply a slightly superior DAF. Wearing a toupee would'nt have been a problem for me. He'd been wearing it since the mid 60's. However he would need to get into better shape than he was in DAF.


Moore in OHMSS and DAF

Brocoli and Salzman were friends of Moore prior to him becoming Bond. However he was tied to T.V. contracts and not available.

Moore was well known in 69, however OHMSS may have still flopped. The public at the time were simply finding it hard to accept another actor as Bond. As a more experienced actor than Lazenby with a stronger voice he would have given a better performance. He would have been only 41 so Peter Hunt may have still brought out some great fight scenes.

Moore would have perfectly suited the laid back humour of DAF.


Dalton in LALD and FYEO.

Dalton was a favourite of Cubby Brocoli and considered for several Bond movies. However rumour has it he turned down the part in the 70's and 80's.

Dalton was a complete unknown in 1973 and also very young. He would have wanted LALD to be more serious and less outlandish. This may have made it less fun. By now the public had accepted Connery wanted 'out' and may have accepted Dalton.

Moore annonced he was quitting after finding out Brocoli had been testing James Brolin in 1979. Dalton would have suited the more serious FYEO. But it was not to be.


Brosnan in TLD & LTK:

We all know what happened in 1986.

The script was already written for TLD before a new Bond was chosen. So Brosnan in it would'nt have much different to Dalton. However Brosnan did look very young and had limited film experience. Perhaps too early for him.

Brosnan is perfectly able to play it tough and would have relished the chance to do so in LTK. However him looking so young would still be a problem.

[FormerBondFan]

What about this man in a non-reboot CR? ;D

[caribbeanjack]

May 16, 2010 8:07:58 GMT -5 adam said:

We all know what films each Bonds starred in. But all the Bonds (except Craig & Lazenby) nearly starred in other Bond movies. Would they have suited these movies ?

Hey Adam. Thanks for putting this together. This is a good thread, and you summarized some good insights in the casting.

Connery in OHMSS and LALD.

[/b]
Brocoli and Salzman pleaded with Connery to continue as Bond after YOLT and DAF.

I feel OHMSS would have been 20 minutes shorter with him in it. Having Bond fall in love may have also been cut out. Similar to CR, everyone was perhaps trying too hard with OHMSS to compensate for a new Bond. Connery would have enjoyed the humour in the film when Bond was living with all those women. Unless Connery got back into great shape, the fight scenes may not have been as impressive as the Lazenby fight scenes. With Connery, the film, good or bad would have done better box office.
[/quote]

Lengthwise, I think OHMSS would've still been over two hours had Connery done it. The story has a bit more things going, like the angle with Draco/Bond/Tracy. The scenes with Bond and Draco would've probably been tighter with Connery--maybe more dialogue from Connery. As it is, Lazenby is a bit stiff in those scenes, especially the first meeting with Draco. Maybe more sly humor on Connery's part would have also gone into those Draco scenes.
The love story probably would have been kept. I remember reading how John Barry said that he imagined Connery cradling the dead Tracy at the end when he read the script and mentioned how that scene would have been a bombshell of a moment in cinema history. I could picture Connery really getting in that scene, it would have probably been the greatest moment in his Bond films, and he could've exited the series with that legacy.

In terms of action, John Glen (who edited OHMSS) would've probably trimmed some of the action if Connery was Bond. I remember reading in one of those Bond film books (maybe it was Raymond Benson's James Bond Bedside Companion) that the producers wanted to emphasize action because Lazenby was new and they were aware that he wasn't all that experienced in acting.

Sean would have perfectly suited LALD. It was simply a slightly superior DAF. Wearing a toupee would'nt have been a problem for me. He'd been wearing it since the mid 60's. However he would need to get into better shape than he was in DAF.

I can also picture Connery in LALD. The humor in DAF was already something of a basis for the type of humor that would make it in LALD. The scriptwriter for LALD (Tom Mankiewicz) said that he played golf with Connery and he was telling the actor all about LALD, that there would be boat chases, alligators, etc. But Connery just wasn't into it.

Moore in OHMSS and DAF

Brocoli and Salzman were friends of Moore prior to him becoming Bond. However he was tied to T.V. contracts and not available.

Moore was well known in 69, however OHMSS may have still flopped. The public at the time were simply finding it hard to accept another actor as Bond. As a more experienced actor than Lazenby with a stronger voice he would have given a better performance. He would have been only 41 so Peter Hunt may have still brought out some great fight scenes.

Moore would have perfectly suited the laid back humour of DAF.

Moore in OHMSS would've been really interesting. He was apparently approached or at least considered but he said that plans to make the film got botched when all sorts of chaos happened in Cambodia. Yeah, Cambodia was apparently one of the major locations, so it sounds like a whole different story was planned for this one. With Moore on board, one would think that humor would get emphasized; but Peter Hunt was really intent on sticking to the Fleming novel so maybe he would've struck a compromise, and the tone would've reached more like the type of films he made with Moore in the early 70s (films like Gold).

Dalton in LALD and FYEO.

Dalton was a favourite of Cubby Brocoli and considered for several Bond movies. However rumour has it he turned down the part in the 70's and 80's.

Dalton was a complete unknown in 1973 and also very young. He would have wanted LALD to be more serious and less outlandish. This may have made it less fun. By now the public had accepted Connery wanted 'out' and may have accepted Dalton.

Moore annonced he was quitting after finding out Brocoli had been testing James Brolin in 1979. Dalton would have suited the more serious FYEO. But it was not to be.

There were also reports that Cubby considered Dalton for DAF. Dalton felt that he was too young, and during interviews for TLD, he said that the world at that time (early 70s) was grieving the loss of Connery in the role and that it would've been crazy for him to take over. I agree that LALD would have been more serious with Dalton. With Dalton's fierce persona, the producers would've maybe looked at the tone of the Eastwood Dirty Harry films at the time to cater it in some way to a Dalton Bond film.

FYEO would have been a touch more serious with Dalton--stuff like the outlandish opening sequence with the helicopter would probably be removed. John Glen said that he made that cemetery scene at the beginning with Bond visiting Tracy's grave to present a new actor in a dramatic way. With Dalton, that somber tone probably would have remained for the rest of the film.

Brosnan in TLD & LTK:

We all know what happened in 1986.

The script was already written for TLD before a new Bond was chosen. So Brosnan in it would'nt have much different to Dalton. However Brosnan did look very young and had limited film experience. Perhaps too early for him.

Brosnan is perfectly able to play it tough and would have relished the chance to do so in LTK. However him looking so young would still be a problem.

John Glen said that the screen tests for Brosnan was spectacular. Everyone at Eon and MGM were impressed, and they knew they had their man. The only drawback, as John Glen recounted in his biography, was that Brosnan did look young. But after seeing Roger Moore for so long in the role and aging in the role, audiences may have welcomed a youthful-looking Bond. Maybe the producers would have increased the amount of babes in the film to play to Brosnan's strengths as a romantic lead. He had something of a female following during the Remington Steele series.

For LTK, Brosnan would have relished the darker storyline. I can see him expressing some of that dark dangerous quality he had in The Fourth Protocol in his Bond for LTK.

[adam]

Yeah, Brosnan in 'The Forth Protocol' did look like a good Bond. He had previously looked too young and lightweight in 'Remington Steel'. He was still very skinny but nothing a personal trainer could'nt resolve. Dalton in TLD also looked very youthful and the public took to him. Mind you any new Bond would have looked youthful after AVTAK.

[adam]

I wonder why Connery was'nt into OHMSS. He complained that Bond was'nt giving him enough acting experience but OHMSS would have had Bond falling in love, marrying and then losing his wife. Maybe Connery was just fed up with paparazi.

[FormerBondFan]

May 16, 2010 15:36:09 GMT -5 adam said:

Mind you any new Bond would have looked youthful after AVTAK.

Tim and especially Pierce looked very youthful in their Bond debut.

[poirot]

Connery's OHMSS
This probably wouldn't have been as faithful to the book, as Broccoli would've insisted on retaining the series' most popular elements (ie. humor; unusual gadgets; etc.) However, I do think it would've resulted in one of Connery's best efforts and be more respected by casual audiences today.


Dalton's FYEO
Dalton would've been too young for LALD, but this would've been a very good fit. However, I have a feeling it wouldn't have been very successful at the box office. Not while audiences were so comfortable with Moore and over-the-top Bond films like TSWLM and MR.


Brosnan's TLD
This could've been another good fit, assuming Glen and Broccoli approached the film as a younger Bond outing. Instead, they were still trying to maintain the "seasoned pro" angle of the previous films.


Ironically, I think Lazenby, `71 Dalton, and `86 Brosnan would've all been ideally suited for Wilson and Campbell's original vision of CR: A young, inexperienced Bond on his first mission.

[009]

Dalton should have taken over a couple of films earlier than he did.

[caribbeanjack]

May 16, 2010 15:42:25 GMT -5 adam said:

I wonder why Connery was'nt into OHMSS. He complained that Bond was'nt giving him enough acting experience but OHMSS would have had Bond falling in love, marrying and then losing his wife. Maybe Connery was just fed up with paparazi.

You raise a good point. OHMSS did offer more in terms of drama and Connery would've had a chance to do more acting. From the accounts I've read, that was a really turbulent time for Connery, especially since he soared fairly quickly into a larger-than-life persona and felt stifled by the Bond role. Yeah, the paparazzi was something that irked him too. But I think the main thing that frustrated him with the series was his relationship with Broccoli and Saltzman. Despite gaining fame and fortune from Dr. No to YOLT, his relations with the producers deteriorated. There's a good book by Steven Jay Rubin called The James Bond Films that raises some interesting things (I think it's out of print but I highly recommend it). In the chapter on YOLT, Rubin states that rumblings within Eon began in October 1965 when Connery demanded that the producers shorten the filming schedule of YOLT. Then nine months later, Eon released Connery from his 6 picture contract, and YOLT became basically a one-picture deal. Connery then did some interviews where he told reporters that he was sick of the role and that he was disappointed that the producers didn't make him a partner in the Bond enterprise. Broccoli responded by pointing out that the series had been lucrative for Connery, that the actor was making impossible demands, and that Connery began to lose sight of the fact that the success of the series was not only due to him but to everyone involved. Until I read this book, I never knew that Connery supposedly wanted to be a partner.

[harrypalmer]

I see DC as more of a Connery type character offscreen in that he'd find it constrictive to be shackled to Bond for too long. Connery wanted to do other things and Craig would be the same. Roger & Pierce were the two actors that just loved being Bond I think.

[poirot]

May 27, 2010 13:35:28 GMT -5 harrypalmer said:

I see DC as more of a Connery type character offscreen in that he'd find it constrictive to be shackled to Bond for too long.

Even though Connery didn't like being typecast, he still enjoyed starring in high-profile films. Craig appears to be more like Dalton, in that he doesn't seem to care one way or the other.

Dalton actually suggested that the series (or at least his tenure) might be on its last legs before EON ran into legal troubles back in the early 90s. He didn't seem too bothered when it came time to leave the role either.

Since Craig was always concerned about having to commit to multiple sequels- and that EON wouldn't be able to maintain a standard of quality- I doubt he's losing too much sleep over this meltdown.

This is a problem EON now faces whenever its time to recast the role with a modern actor. Most of them have little interest in being typecast- especially in a series as old as Bond. (It's one reason I always thought they'd have trouble getting Clive Owen.) Ideally, they need to get someone that's not only young enough to stick around for an entire decade, but that enjoys the role enough to do so.

[FormerBondFan]

May 27, 2010 13:35:28 GMT -5 harrypalmer said:

Roger & Pierce were the two actors that just loved being Bond I think.

Out of the 6 actors, Pierce loved being Bond the most.

[007]

DC is similar to Dalton, someone who takes acting seriously and could take or leave Bond. I think DC did Bond for a quick boost to his bank balance and profile.

[FormerBondFan]

May 28, 2010 10:07:59 GMT -5 007 said:

DC is similar to Dalton, someone who takes acting seriously and could take or leave Bond. I think DC did Bond for a quick boost to his bank balance and profile.

Except Tim loved to do Bond and he could be funny at times. Rocketeer is one example.

[007]

It's a shame he didn't make a third film.