We Have All The Time In The World: OHMSS Turning 50

[MakeshiftPython]

Oh, some people don't like the song. I've seen them say it has no place in a Bond film and sounds terrible to hear being played.

Strange. To me it sounds like the holiday music you’d hear at malls, so it not only perfectly fits where it’s played in the film but it also contrasts with Bond struggling to lose the SPECTRE goons. It’s the same with those cutaways with the maniacally laughing polar bear man with the flash camera. It all adds to frenzy atmosphere.

 

[cooleddie74]

And some people hate the guy in the polar bear suit scaring Bond so badly. "Sean Connery's Bond would never have been scared by a man in a polar bear costume!"

 

[XCV330]

Was hang gliding a big thing in the '70s? Because after not hang gliding at all in the first seven movies, Moore does it twice — the scene you described above, and again in Moonraker as his escape when the speedboat goes off the falls.

The rogallo wing was invented by the married couple of the same name after the war. It didn't see much uses until NASA looked at it as a way to reutn the Gemini capsules (They ended up using chutes instead).

During the 1960's a very few people tried adapting the rogallo for recreational use. It had the ability to be made cheaply and controlled with weight shift. By the early 1970's people were building them out of bamboo and cheap plastic sheeting with no training or experience, off of hilltops. An industry formed, popularity boomed for awhile. I don't think most modern hang gliders use the original rogallo wing, and they are a lot safer. But they're not as popular as they were for a brief period in the 70's.

 

[cooleddie74]

That moment when you learn that producers approached George Lazenby to return for Live and Let Die but then went ahead with their plans to hire Roger Moore.

 

[Captaindemotion]

That moment when you learn that producers approached George Lazenby to return for Live and Let Die but then went ahead with their plans to hire Roger Moore.

Wow, I really wish they’d gone with him again, though they’d still have missed a direct sequel to OHMSS.

Interesting to hear that he was supposed to play The Equaliser. Lots of people liked to speculate that McCall was really Edward Woodward’s character from Callan under a pseudonym. Not hard to imagine how they’d have viewed George in the part...

 

[cooleddie74]

George had a lot of lost opportunities due to what he calls the blacklist he received after falling out with Broccoli and the other Bond producers. That's why the revelation that they briefly asked him to return for Live and Let Die was so shocking - you're left with the impression that nobody at EON even wanted to talk to him much less again offer him the role of 007. When Connery quit the official series for the last time after 1971 it once again put them in a bind and they had to find somebody.

Moore was probably always going to be their next Bond but at least they gave Lazenby one more shot at the job, as half-hearted as it may have been. By 1972-73 he could have been an even better Bond than he was during 1968-69 having had more acting roles under his belt and a better understanding of how the industry worked.

 

[Kor]

I found Lazenby's performance rather unremarkable throughout the movie, until the very last scene when he was finally allowed to show more range. I would have liked more Bond films with him as the lead.

Kor

 

[cooleddie74]

Imagining him as the James Bond of the entire 1970s is a fascinating concept. Would Bond have become more campy the way it did under Moore's long tenure in the role or would Lazenby's more physical and visceral portrayal have kept the series more grounded? As we can see from Diamonds Are Forever the steer towards more lighthearted 007 adventures preceded even Roger Moore.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

OHMSS has campy moments of its own. The fight with the bodyguards at the beginning is littered with camp elements and beats. The scene of Bond getting kidnapped by Draco's men in which he says the line "Mystery tour, eh?" is campy. And the part when he samples the caviar and says, "Mm, royal beluga. North of the Caspian," that's another, and I could easily see Moore delivering that line. Also Bond sliding down the ice on his belly firing his machine gun during the assault on Blofeld's lair, like a curling stone, what the heck is that if not camp?

 

[MakeshiftPython]

It’s hard to claim OHMSS is grounded when it’s about a man hypnotizing supermodel beauties to poison various harvests/livestock all over the world. If there’s any part of it that you can say is grounded it’s that it’s emotionally grounded.

I would have been curious of how DAF would have turned out under Lazenby. I really think it might not have turned out all that different from what we ultimately got. The PTS probably would have been the same but with a more overt connection to OHMSS in an emotional level. Lazenby then goes to Vegas on a diamond smuggling case as per the book, oh look Blofeld is alive, giving Bond more incentive to take him down.

Originally DAF was supposed to end with Bond chasing Blofeld from the oil rig to a salt mine where Bond ultimately kills Blofeld once and for all. This is why the climax feels so half assed, they literally ended it midway. However, the salt mine sequence was never filmed anyway. Supposedly it was felt Blofeld should never die, that he should continue being a recurring villain like Lex Luthor or the Joker, so they decided to “retire” the character indefinitely. They wanted to bring him back for TSWLM, but then McClory threw his weight around.

I must confess though: I genuinely enjoy DAF, if case my avatar and location combo wasn’t an indicator. It’s such a bizarre macabre installment. I’ve heard many say it’s a Roger Moore film that happens to have Connery, but I don’t see that. Moore’s films don’t have the same dark sense of humor, and Tom Mankiewicz even said he had to recalibrate his writing of Bond for Moore’s sensibilities, going as far as to say Connery wouldn’t have worked in LALD as he wrote it for Moore. His commentary for LALD should be listened to, it’s very insightful.

 

[Captaindemotion]

It’s hard to claim OHMSS is grounded when it’s about a man hypnotizing supermodel beauties to poison various harvests/livestock all over the world. If there’s any part of it that you can say is grounded it’s that it’s emotionally grounded.

I would have been curious of how DAF would have turned out under Lazenby. I really think it might not have turned out all that different from what we ultimately got. The PTS probably would have been the same but with a more overt connection to OHMSS in an emotional level. Lazenby then goes to Vegas on a diamond smuggling case as per the book, oh look Blofeld is alive, giving Bond more incentive to take him down.

Originally DAF was supposed to end with Bond chasing Blofeld from the oil rig to a salt mine where Bond ultimately kills Blofeld once and for all. This is why the climax feels so half assed, they literally ended it midway. However, the salt mine sequence was never filmed anyway. Supposedly it was felt Blofeld should never die, that he should continue being a recurring villain like Lex Luthor or the Joker, so they decided to “retire” the character indefinitely. They wanted to bring him back for TSWLM, but then McClory threw his weight around.

I must confess though: I genuinely enjoy DAF, if case my avatar and location combo wasn’t an indicator. It’s such a bizarre macabre installment. I’ve heard many say it’s a Roger Moore film that happens to have Connery, but I don’t see that. Moore’s films don’t have the same dark sense of humor, and Tom Mankiewicz even said he had to recalibrate his writing of Bond for Moore’s sensibilities, going as far as to say Connery wouldn’t have worked in LALD as he wrote it for Moore. His commentary for LALD should be listened to, it’s very insightful.

That’s interesting, I’ve always said that I can imagine Moore in DAF & Connery in LALD, but maybe that’s a bit trite on my part. I must admit also to having a soft spot for DAF, but mainly because it’s the first Bond film I saw.

 

[cooleddie74]

Were Diamonds not the immediate followup to OHMSS it would fare a lot better in the memories of fans. By itself it's at worst a campy romp with a mediocre Blofeld and a crap final confrontation on the oil rig. The fact that the producers went out of their way to ignore the previous film aside from the pre-title sequence(and even then didn't make one mention of Tracy nor her death) is it's greatest shortcoming. One mention of Tracy as Bond drowned the plastic surgery clone in the mud bath would have sufficed, but whaddya gonna do. The producers were determined to forget the Lazenby affair as quickly as they could and go back to making even greater money with a Connery film so they pressed ahead and assumed the audience had already done so.

To be fair few Bond films prior to the Craig era directly reference the events of the previous installment in the franchise but in this case it would have been a nice gesture for those fans who did love OHMSS and didn't mind Lazenby's portrayal.

 

[MakeshiftPython]

Here’s a quote on the difference he saw between Connery and Moore:

The difference between Sean and Roger was that Sean looked dangerous. Sean could sit at a table with a girl at a nightclub and either lean across and kiss her or stick a knife in her under the table and then say, 'Excuse me waiter, I have nothing to cut my meat with.' Whereas Roger could kiss the girl, if he stuck a knife in her it would look nasty because Roger looks like a nice guy.

In the LALD commentary he remarks about how Connery entering that bar in Harlem wouldn’t have had the same connotations as it did with Moore, because Sir Rog’s very English urbane approach contrasted more greatly to his surrounding, whereas Connery wouldn’t look like he was as out of place given how much of a bastard his Bond is. Moore could easily fit in as the “honkey” who’s out of his depth, while you’d wonder why Connery is just messing around.

 

[cooleddie74]

Plus you can imagine Moore's funny dialogue with Rosie in the hotel room, whereas with Connery there'd have been fewer jokes and they probably would have dropped the amusing comments about the hat and not going into the bathroom without a mongoose.

 

[MakeshiftPython]

Were Diamonds not the immediate followup to OHMSS it would fare a lot better in the memories of fans. By itself it's at worst a campy romp with a mediocre Blofeld and a crap final confrontation on the oil rig. The fact that the producers went out of their way to ignore the previous film aside from the pre-title sequence(and even then didn't make one mention of Tracy nor her death) is it's greatest shortcoming. One mention of Tracy as Bond drowned the plastic surgery clone in the mud bath would have sufficed, but whaddya gonna do. The producers were determined to forget the Lazenby affair as quickly as they could and go back to making even greater money with a Connery film so they pressed ahead and assumed the audience had already done so.

To be fair few Bond films prior to the Craig era directly reference the events of the previous installment in the franchise but in this case it would have been a nice gesture for those fans who did love OHMSS and didn't mind Lazenby's portrayal.

It’s always better to approach it the same way the filmmakers did: as a follow up to YOLT. Considering the loss of Lazenby and OHMSS not having been so enamored by large crowds it made sense to try to have DAF go back to the tone of Goldfinger. In a strange way it at least gave the series a needed course correction in order to continue on as a series. Thankfully Bond filmmakers would later on acknowledge that OHMSS was truly a crown jewel even before its rep became more favorable.

Plus you can imagine Moore's funny dialogue with Rosie in the hotel room, whereas with Connery there'd have been fewer jokes and they probably would have dropped the amusing comments about the hat and not going into the bathroom without a mongoose.

Moore really had a much lighter touch combined with his self mockery that helped make him feel distinctive from Connery and prove that Bond didn’t belong to one star. Because of Moore’s contributions it made people more open to the idea that anyone other than Connery could handle the role. It’s amazing how much a smoother transition it is between DAF and LALD. You think EON caving in and having Connery back was an admission of defeat, and yet only a year and a half later it’s like “Nope. New Bond, get used to it”. No cute references to past films like OHMSS indulged in, it’s just a straight up new adventure. You’re either in or out.

This film series is a real doozy. To still be active after nearly 60 years is quite something.

 

[Captaindemotion]

I think the Connery/Moore distinctions may have carried over into real life. I read years ago that one reason why the fight scenes in Connery’s films were so much better was that Moore was always so considerate of stuntmen, pulling his punches etc and apologising if he accidentally connected with someone. Whereas Connery took the view “they’re stuntmen, this is what they get paid for” and just went for it!

 

[cooleddie74]

Live and Let Die starts off with the new Bond in bed with the Italian agent. No fanfare. No big buildup to his first reveal. Just Roger Moore in bed at night, waking up to check his digital watch and then answering the front door of his home to let in M. We're dropped into a domestic setting with no action nor excitement.

After Lazenby the producers didn't want to spend too much time introducing a new Bond actor just in case they had to replace him as well.

 

[Captaindemotion]

^I wonder was part of that also due to the fact that Rog was more of an established star than George? As in they felt audiences would be more likely to accept him in action from the outset, without that build up?

 

[MakeshiftPython]

It feels very suitable for Moore to be introduced like that. He was the randiest of the Bonds.

Moore was also not a physical kind of actor like Connery. During the shoot of LALD he was supposed to make a run for a double decker bus but then told the director it would not work because his own running looks funny, or as he put it “when I run I look like I have a broom stuck up my arse”. Guy Hamilton asked him to demonstrate his running, Roger runs and then Hamilton is like “ok, we’ll have to work around this”. So instead of running to the bus he just mildly hops into as it slowly passes by for him.

You can see in clips like this that he wasn’t quite right for fights. I blame Lewis Gilbert for letting this fight be edited so poorly, or not having enough coverage for John Glen to work around.

 

[cooleddie74]

It could be. Between The Saint and The Persuaders Roger was a known quantity so there was no need to explain who this new guy was from a visual standpoint. But I can see the producers saying to themselves: "No big buildup to his first reveal. We did all that with George Lazenby and see what happened."