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Oliver Reed as James Bond

IronCrabIronCrab Northamptonshire
in Actors Posts: 16
I was watching The Assassination Bureau the other night and watching Oliver Reed with Diana Rigg I wondered what OHMSS would have been if Reed had played 007 instead of George Lazenby.

If you haven't seen The Assassination Bureau then check out the trailer here:

Reed and Rigg had real chemistry and the inclusion of Telly Savalas links this film even more to OHMSS.

Would the film have been better with Reed? Do you think he would have stayed for more than one film?

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Comments

  • mepal1mepal1
    Posts: 1,098
    Ummm...........i don't think Reed would of been able to meet the strict regime set by the producers, and the studio, such as keeping fit, amongst other things, to of played the role........though he was a very good actor!
  • ThunderpussyThunderpussy My Secret Lair
    Posts: 13,384
    Agreed, Oliver was not into taking orders and following strict regimes. So
    I doubt he'd have had the discipline needed for Bond .
  • ClarkDevlinClarkDevlin Martinis, Girls and Guns
    Posts: 15,423
    An article emerged two months ago, citing a story where Oliver Reed was rejected from the role for being "too rough".
    http://spinoff.comicbookresources.com/2015/09/02/movie-legends-revealed-what-famous-actor-was-actually-too-rough-to-play-james-bond/
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    Posts: 18,281
    I don't think that it would have ended well...
  • PFOPFO
    Posts: 18
    Robert Sellers' biography of Reed recounts the time George Lazenby punched Reed's lights out in a restaurant.

    "What Fresh Lunacy is This?: The Authorized Biography of Oliver Reed"
  • ThunderpussyThunderpussy My Secret Lair
    Posts: 13,384
    :))
  • mepal1mepal1
    Posts: 1,098
    PFO wrote: »
    Robert Sellers' biography of Reed recounts the time George Lazenby punched Reed's lights out in a restaurant.

    "What Fresh Lunacy is This?: The Authorized Biography of Oliver Reed"

    I wonder what Reed said to Lazenby?

  • ThunderpussyThunderpussy My Secret Lair
    Posts: 13,384
    " Didn't you used to be Sean Connery ?" :D
  • ThomasCrown76ThomasCrown76 Augusta, ks
    Posts: 757
    go back to selling cars
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    Posts: 18,281
    ThomasCrown76 wrote: »
    go back to selling cars

    Hilarious! :))
  • BAIN123BAIN123
    Posts: 11,189
    Reed would have been great as a former hero gone bad. That's why I think he would have made a great Whitiker ( if the character's background was changed slightly).
  • ThunderpussyThunderpussy My Secret Lair
    Posts: 13,384
    In an alternative universe, Reed would have mad a Brilliant Henderson in YOLT.
  • BAIN123BAIN123
    edited November 2015 Posts: 11,189
    You mean a version of the novel where the character's a drunken Austrailian?

    That's probably George's forte ;)
  • ThunderpussyThunderpussy My Secret Lair
    Posts: 13,384
    George is never Forty ? Is he ? Boy he hasn't aged well ! :))
  • TheWizardOfIceTheWizardOfIce 'One of the Internet's more toxic individuals'
    Posts: 9,117
    Way too much frivolity at the legend's expense here for my liking.

    Could the boorish Reed have entered the casino with the same swagger as Laz? I think not. Clinging to the bannister as he stumbled down to land in a heap ending up lying in a puddle of his own piss more likely.

    Could he have handled himself better in the fight scenes? Clearly not if George has battered him in real life.

    Could he have sold a line like 'North of the Caspian' better than Laz? Probably about the same odds as you getting a cigarette off Grant when he's about to kill you: not a chance!

    Could he have said 'he had lots of guts' more convincingly? Well I'll have to concede that one I suppose.

    If EON found George hard to handle though, the acting equivalent of Gazza would have tried their patience way too far; turning up the being a prick and shagging his way through the angels of death to eleven.

    I really can't picture him as Bond at all.
  • suavejmfsuavejmf Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England
    Posts: 5,131
    He was considered I beleive. He was talented. BUT he was a drunk, he was difficult to handle and he wasn't good looking enough.
  • bondjamesbondjames You were expecting someone else?
    Posts: 23,883
    Thank heavens this ridiculous notion was not considered!
  • IronCrabIronCrab Northamptonshire
    Posts: 16
    bondjames wrote: »
    Thank heavens this ridiculous notion was not considered!

    Actually, according to The Bond Files: The Unofficial Guide to the World's Greatest Secret Agent it was considered quite seriously.

    As a fan of The Assassination Bureau I think Oliver Reed would have been okay in OHMSS. Certainly no worse than Lazenby. But I agree that he would have only lasted one or two films at most.

    I do find it funny that some people think he wasn't good looking enough. I seem to remember similar comments about Daniel Craig.
  • BAIN123BAIN123
    edited November 2015 Posts: 11,189
    Being a drunk doesn't necessarily mean you wouldn't be successful as the character.

    Bernard Lee had a serious drinking problem and yet he's widely accepted as the best M.

    However, Reed's reputation was too well-known and I agree the producers would have considered him too much of a liability at his worst.

    I do like Wizard's comparison of Reed being the acting equivalent of Gazza.
  • MyNameIsMyBondRnMyNameIsMyBondRn WhereYouLeastExpectMeToBe
    edited November 2015 Posts: 221
    --It was Lazenby; .." In Vienna Lies The Truth!..not in beer -chap..!.."..(him going down); .."who shut the lights out?..(Grrmmph..)"..!
  • TheWizardOfIceTheWizardOfIce 'One of the Internet's more toxic individuals'
    Posts: 9,117
    MyNameIsMyBondRn wrote: »
    --It was Lazenby; .." In Vienna Lies The Truth!..not in beer -chap..!.."..(him going down); .."who shut the lights out?..(Grrmmph..)..!

    @MBalje - any chance you could make sense of this for me old chap?
  • MyNameIsMyBondRnMyNameIsMyBondRn WhereYouLeastExpectMeToBe
    Posts: 221
    Actors are like everybody else-they fit or does not fit in,-recently it sounds like Bond is saying "Top of The Line"(as in I am Top of The line..) as in a certain Mouse..)..(in Wein lieght wahrheit)..(as opposed to more ordinary acting)..-Shake Your Spears-anybody?!..
  • MyNameIsMyBondRnMyNameIsMyBondRn WhereYouLeastExpectMeToBe
    edited November 2015 Posts: 221
    bump

  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    Posts: 18,281
    TheWizardOfIce wrote: »
    MyNameIsMyBondRn wrote: »
    --It was Lazenby; .." In Vienna Lies The Truth!..not in beer -chap..!.."..(him going down); .."who shut the lights out?..(Grrmmph..)..!

    @MBalje - any chance you could make sense of this for me old chap?

    He's about the only one who could! :))
  • TheWizardOfIceTheWizardOfIce 'One of the Internet's more toxic individuals'
    edited November 2015 Posts: 9,117
    MyNameIsMyBondRn wrote: »
    Actors are like everybody else-they fit or does not fit in,-recently it sounds like Bond is saying "Top of The Line"(as in I am Top of The line..) as in a certain Mouse..)..(in Wein lieght wahrheit)..(as opposed to more ordinary acting)..-Shake Your Spears-anybody?!..

    Dont think me rude @MyNameIsMyBondRn but can I ask is English perhaps not your first language perchance?

    Or do you suffer from a debilitating affliction that means you can only speak in cryptic crossword clues?
  • MyNameIsMyBondRnMyNameIsMyBondRn WhereYouLeastExpectMeToBe
    Posts: 221
    ..not me speaking sloppy british crap..!..per chance !
  • MyNameIsMyBondRnMyNameIsMyBondRn WhereYouLeastExpectMeToBe
    Posts: 221
    ..my debilitating work speaks volumes; a language is the matter of coveying Your self against another self..and wizard wants people to convey it in what he thinks is a correct uttering..how red-icoulus..is that not.
  • MyNameIsMyBondRnMyNameIsMyBondRn WhereYouLeastExpectMeToBe
    Posts: 221
    Language=Logic..and because of this,for as long as You have a Brain,you will understand it; Your own debilitating logic is the plain answer here-because; for as long as You live-you are actually condemned to learn..every day!-
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    Posts: 18,281
    Some of us try to conform to the rules of grammar though.
  • MyNameIsMyBondRnMyNameIsMyBondRn WhereYouLeastExpectMeToBe
    Posts: 221
    Latin is the basis of All Logichal Grammar, my Grammar comes out of that..!
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