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Our asylums are full of people who think they're Naploeon.
Ha ha ha. Well said!
As far as other candidates, judging just by the photos, I like Campbell, he had the look. Richardson not so much. In the full article there are photos of him that he looks skeletal, quite the opposite of Connery. I am not sure Campbell's being American would've necessarily worked against him considering Eon hired another American, John Gavin. before Connery was lured back.
I will disagree here. Consider the times. Given I was only about 2 when OHMSS was in production, there is no way I could've had any knowledge of the situation, but how well communicated was the fact Lazenby would not return as Bond? Opposed to the communication-driven world we are in today, those in the entertainment industry would've known, but the general public was likely less informed. Perhaps some of our members around at the time may have some insight, I just think a majority of moviegoers were not necessarily into entertainment news, especially here in the U.S. where there weren't the Entertainment Weekly magazines or anything similar. Not even an official fan club back then.
Audiences heard there was a new James Bond movie. There was likely enough goodwill that those who liked Connery would take a chance on the new guy. Then it was likely word-of-mouth that said the new guy sucked, the longer running time and it was bleak as far as the tone and ending. Knowing he would be back for more wouldn't have created any type of better acceptance, I wouldn't think if they didn't like the initial offering.
I guess the others weren't cast for a reason. But the fact that a photographer was allowed to shoot photographs suggests they were the final to get serious consideration.
Moore had a three films contract.
Makes me wonder if LTK had shown up 1.5 years later too, might the box office have been better? Another what if...
I agree that only Moore at the time could have succeeded Connery directly and be accepted as Bond. I also do agree with @mtm and @ToTheRight that Moore would have made a better OHMSS overall, his weakness as a fighter notwithstanding.
I can easily see him falling in love with Diana Rigg. In addition his fight scenes on THE SAINT are far more physical than he later got with Bond. There's something bad ass about his suit being rumpled and his messed up pompadour. Coming right off THE SAINT in '68 he could have easily slid into 007's shoes for OHMSS.
They cast Rigg because of Lazenby? They had previous experience opposite eachother?
Ah gotcha, I'd figured not.
I don't think that's true: they're not written very deeply I know, but he's able to get a convincing bond of affection between himself and Octopussy, and to lesser extents Anya and Goodhead; even Stacey gets wined and dined and tucked into bed with something approaching respect. He has more of a bond with his leading ladies than Connery ever does for example- Roger is the romantic Bond.
Plus he'd have been able to more than hold his own with Rigg- the Saint and Emma Peel would have been able to pitch it just right, much better than Lazenby who gets out-acted at every turn.
I'd add to this that Moore in subsequent Bond films played the grieving widower very well, better I'd say than Dalton. And far better than Connery (albeit this was probably due to the writing of DAF).
He wouldn't, but I lived with that through his films! And in his earlier ones he's not too bad: Golden Gun's fight is decent enough so perhaps coming off the end of The Saint he would have been fine I think.
I don't know if that's a definite though..?
Tucking someone into bed is something a parent can do with a child. We're talking about conveying passionate love. And there's very little resembling that in Roger's films. It's rare to even find eroticism between the leads, which was a regular feature of the Connery era. Moore, as I said earlier, was a self-contained actor, and there's seldom a convincing emotional connection between him and his leading ladies. He's not entirely at fault since Barbara Bach and Lois Chiles gave such bad and distant performances. Maud Adams was a warmer and more capable actress, but even then she and Roger seem more like old friends than lovers. Moore was less of a "romantic Bond" than a charmer--lots of chat-up but not much real feeling behind it.
Nope, Rigg would have eaten him alive. I think he'd have come off rather cardboardy, lightweight, and artificial next to her. Lazenby was barely even an actor, which is probably why he didn't do badly overall. He wasn't trying to maintain a pre-conceived star persona that would have looked flimsy next to an actress as steely and versatile as Rigg. Instead Lazenby comes off looking natural with her. Just as neorealist directors were able to wring fine performances from non-actors, Hunt managed to draw on Lazenby's natural attributes--his self-assurance and athleticism--and get something Bondian out of them. I think that makes OHMSS a much fresher film than it would have been with Moore in it.
And there's none of that in OHMSS as it is. Bond Moore could do a romantic connection very easily, as my examples show.
8-| If Pat Macnee could manage it, Roger Moore could manage it. It's not as if Moore never appeared with any good actors in his career. He was a movie actor with charisma, just like she was. If they were on stage in Shakespeare, sure; he wouldn't stand a chance. But a James Bond film was hardly unfamiliar territory for him- you just have to watch some of his work to know that.
Well, aside from all the scenes of courtship and the marriage proposal...
He could certainly tuck people into bed.
He was also a better overall actor and less typed.
He was rarely paired with good actresses though.
There's no passionate love, no.
Not really, no. They were pretty much of the same level: very charismatic stars of action TV shows, not the best actors in the world but great at doing what they did. Neither were the standard of Rigg in terms of range, but could easily hold their own next to her in terms of screen presence.
Because that's completely different of course. 8-|
You must give the name of your oculist. On second thought, don't.
Macnee's long pre-Avengers career was far more varied and multi-genre than Moore's and even included some Shakespeare.
It is in some ways. A lots of Moore's appearances with venerable actors involved him in either in semi-deferential roles to his elders or playing his standard persona against rowdier and broader actors (Tony Curtis and Lee Marvin) in buddy films. He was rarely cast alongside substantial actresses, which points to how producers and Moore himself judged his strengths.
Having a new actor in the role also allows us (the viewer) to sort of re-set our expectations of who Bond is and how he will react to certain situations. And since I think I “know” how Moore would have reacted based on the movies that he was actually in, I don’t have that same willingness (or openness) to accept his Bond’s vulnerability.
My two cents anyway. Carry on folks…..
Yes yes, I'm blind. Keep 'em coming. This is dazzling stuff.
One of the all-time greatest love stories in cinema history, I'm sure it's on lots of lists. Oh it isn't.
Everyone's done Shakespeare, Moore even went to RADA. I'm judging them on their abilities: decent dramatic actors, even better with light comedy.
No, it isn't. Actors are actors. Stop trying to make everything an argument, it's so tiring.
If you insist!
Why should it be? That's usually reserved for straight-up romances, which OHMSS isn't. But nowadays the film is consistently praised by audiences and critics for telling a convincing love story. If it didn't its modern reputation wouldn't be so high.
And Macnee did more Shakespeare. He did more of everything than Moore, as his IMDB listing shows. He had a more varied career before and after his big break.
You're on a message board. If you find arguing tiring, why argue back?
"Actors are actors" doesn't say anything about the individual strengths and weaknesses of actors, let along how different actors act with different actresses.
Well, Bond was sort of going for revenge on the PTS, so I guess they didn't completely ignored it. It just seems that killing Blofeld's decoy was enough for him to get over his grief.