Was George Lazenby's James Bond a casualty of the Hippy Revolution?

Dragonpol

Was George Lazenby's James Bond a casualty of the Hippy Revolution? Lazenby said as much in an interview in a 1996 television broadcast - that he was advised that the conservative character of James Bond had no future in the counter-culture movement of the 1960s Hippy Revolution - flower power, The Summer of Love and flowers in guns, "Peace, man" etc. He was told that he was going down with a sinking ship, that he had made his big name as James Bond and that was all that mattered - something that he later regretted, of course! He stated that he wished he had went on to make another Bond film (presumably DAF). If only he hadn't heeded this very bad advice!

Sebastian Faulks's Devil May Care (2008) references this anti-Bond background - drugs/Rolling Stones/heroin/long hair/1967 etc.

The Harpies 1960s Daily Express cartoon strip also references this hippy scene.

See this article here for more details on George Lazenby and the Hippy Revolution:

http://movies.yahoo....-220348935.html

As Philip Larkin once wrote it was a blessing in disguise that Ian Fleming didn't live to write about Bond in the post-1964 world of The Beatles, The Stones, Charles Manson's Helter Skelter murder gang, drugs, mass immigration from the colonies, Rastafarians in London, race wars, drugs, The Summer of Love, free love, Carnaby Street, the progressive Harold Wilson Labour Govt. etc. - abortion, homosexuality decriminalised, divorce made easier etc.

Wonder what Old Ian would have made of this type of Britain of the late 1960s and early 1970s?

What is the George Lazenby fan consensus on this one?

I consider OHMSS the best James Bond film ever made, just so you all know where I stand on this one.

myworldisenough

OHMSS is in my top two favourite Bond flicks. Lazenby and Bond may have not been favour of the month with the hippy movement but clearly Bond and his tux had plenty of glamourous appeal to many in the 70's. It was widely suggested that poor old George was given some bad advice and thought he could use his one Bond appearance to launch him onto Hollywood stardom.

The producers wanted him to sign on for many films but it was not to be.

He wasn't a casualty of the time but a casualty of ignorance, arrogance and some unhelpful people who thought they knew best.

doubleoego

The only thing Lazenby was a casualty of was, ignorance and stupidity. Lazenby is a perfect case study of a cautionary tale.

Dragonpol

I'd love to hear some more of your views on this subject.

4EverBonded

I was very much a part of that era. During that time I was a pre teen and teen. I really think that Lazenby was in no way a victim of the times. Not at all. His decision, whatever it was based on (bad advice from agent?) was obviously not the smart thing. Unless he had truly had enough of being Bond.

I personally do not think there is any relevance to that theory.

001

Lazenby just made a mistake in not signing a new contract.

senthilvel

It was quite unfortunate that George Lazenby spoiled his future by himself. Though OHMSS could not fare well at Box Office being his maiden movie as Bond and shadowed by Connery's Bond image, he could have perfected with continuation. His physique was really impressive and in stunt scenes he excelled. Happened is happened but still one feels sorry for him whenever OHMSS is screened

TheWizardOfIce

I think its a bit strong to label him a casualty of the hippy revolution. He's just a casualty of piss poor advice from that O'Reilly bloke. Although as he was basing his advice on the hippy culture that was starting to pervade society perhaps the theory has some credence?

The mistake O'Reilly made was thinking that hippy culture was the general public. Bond has always appealed to the majority of the mainstream population and has been immune to fads of the day such as Teddy Boys, Mods, Punks, EMOs etc.

All these groups are outside the vast majority of people who pay for the cinema tickets so the fact they might stand against everything Bond believed in is irrelevant as their influence over the box office is negligible.

How were Hippies on Carnaby St ever going to affect the thinking of the average man on the street in Leeds or Liverpool who went to watch a Bond film for some escapism from his humdrum life? These guys have always been EONs bread and butter - not the critics and not even us fans. It's all about bums on seats.

Gerard

Wonder what Old Ian would have made of this type of Britain of the late 1960s and early 1970s?

Well, I'm sure there's one thing from these years he would have loved:

Mini Skirts.

Dragonpol

TheWizardOfIce wrote:

I think its a bit strong to label him a casualty of the hippy revolution. He's just a casualty of piss poor advice from that O'Reilly bloke. Although as he was basing his advice on the hippy culture that was starting to pervade society perhaps the theory has some credence?

The mistake O'Reilly made was thinking that hippy culture was the general public. Bond has always appealed to the majority of the mainstream population and has been immune to fads of the day such as Teddy Boys, Mods, Punks, EMOs etc.

All these groups are outside the vast majority of people who pay for the cinema tickets so the fact they might stand against everything Bond believed in is irrelevant as their influence over the box office is negligible.

How were Hippies on Carnaby St ever going to affect the thinking of the average man on the street in Leeds or Liverpool who went to watch a Bond film for some escapism from his humdrum life? These guys have always been EONs bread and butter - not the critics and not even us fans. It's all about bums on seats.

Thank you for your thoughtful reply, Ice. Much appreciated. I think you atre spot on there on audiences and James Bond films - it's the ordinary folk, not just the fan contingent that made the James Bond films so successful. But I do think the Hippy Revolution played its part in the ending of George Lazenby's time as James Bond - he'ds on record for saying as much himself in at least one TV interview I've seen him in. Straight from the horse's mouth, so to speak.

4EverBonded

Well, Laz may have believed it - but as a former quasi-Flower Child myself and a lover of all things British AND American, I disagree. Respectfully. Sorry, Mr. Laz, you were Bond one time only and I believe that was of your own doing (taking bad advice or whatever) and not truly influenced by the times.

LeChiffre

a victim of wooden acting more like!

Dragonpol

Yes, but given another bite at the cherry in DAF, who can say, really? One of the great "what ifs...?" of Bondology in my view.

BeatlesSansEarmuffs

Lazenby's short-lived career as James Bond was a casualty of his own limitations, no more and no less. Although good in the action sequences, his reading of the lines he was given was nowehere near competent. If he had continued as Bond, I think the series would have been in real trouble.

Yes, looked at from a limited perspective you can say --or perhaps more appropriately phrased, from his own self-involved perspective Lazenby can say-- that he was a victim of the times. As others here have remarked, he took poor advice, and really should only blame himself for that bad judgment.

Tracy

He should've known his own limitations (pun intended lulz) :D

Happiestinthesaddle

Hippies do not "stand against everything Bond believes in".
Bond clearly believes in free love and peace.
He fights for world peace, and loves the ladies :)
Just because you don't like hippies because you're a conservative dinosaur Bond fan who's never known the touch of a woman, doesn't mean your hero Bond has the same mindset.
Bond is friendly and welcoming to all and fights for a better tomorrow.
He is hedonistic, loves life to the max.

But to address the original question, I think Lazenby was the most hippieish Bond.
In fact, OHMSS would have been a little bit improved I think had Lazenby's Bond had long hair and a beard!
It would certainly be in charatcer for his younger, hipper 007.
BTW OHMSS is my #2 Bond movie!
A real classic and very evocative of the hippie era IMO.

Bradford4

It makes you wonder what wed get if Lazenby stayed on!

Give me a marijunana- shaken. Not stoned.

Lets make it better.

SirHenryLeeChaChing

LeChiffre wrote:

a victim of wooden acting more like!

I've seen better acting in Pinocchio and sock puppet shows.

BeatlesSansEarmuffs wrote:

Lazenby's short-lived career as James Bond was a casualty of his own limitations, no more and no less. Although good in the action sequences, his reading of the lines he was given was nowhere near competent. If he had continued as Bond, I think the series would have been in real trouble.

Yes, looked at from a limited perspective you can say --or perhaps more appropriately phrased, from his own self-involved perspective Lazenby can say-- that he was a victim of the times. As others here have remarked, he took poor advice, and really should only blame himself for that bad judgment.

Well said. I don't hate George personally, he's got balls and style that I respect. That's what got him the job and what makes a great action star. But as a professional actor who could deliver emotional content as well as kick ass action and humor, Connery set a bar much too high for him to even grab, let alone climb up on. Sir Roger, also being a fine actor in his own right, realized that not even he was capable of filling those shoes in a similar fashion, hence he took the character in a different direction. Dalton went for the book version, again different. Brosnan, well he was a better actor because of his experience. Just not sure he ever really got the whole idea when it comes to making a part your own and seemingly settled for box ticking. Craig is actually the first actor with the complete package as far as competing with any and everything Sir Sean did. I see many of those qualities and that's something I never thought I'd see.

Hippie Bond with a beard and hair over his ears would not have worked better than the image he conveyed, Bond is not an undercover narc who changes his appearance for the job, that's as antithetical to the character's class as Brozzer looking like a caveman in a Hong Kong hotel. So my answer to the thesis would tend to agree with most of the opinions here. He listened to O'Reilly's opinion, didn't want to be typecast like Connery felt he'd been, and thought he just needed a bit of notoriety to launch his career. I would have welcomed him in DAF, it better suited his limited ability and we would have gotten a true OHMSS sequel instead of Sean on autopilot.

Bradford4 wrote:

It makes you wonder what we'd get if Lazenby stayed on!

Give me a marijuana- shaken. Not stoned.

Lets make it better.

It couldn't have hurt!

Tracy

If you're gonna condemn Laz for weed.....then how bout Connerys LSD ;)

Reporter : Did you ever smoke weed with (name of actor)

Roger Moore : No , not with (actors name) ;)

Even Cesar Romero smoked it (prolly giggled like The Joker while doing it)

BeatlesSansEarmuffs

I don't think anybody's condemning Laz for weed -- certainly not I! -- just for being a poor thespian and even worse career planner. Still, I'd like to second Sir Henry's remark about Brosnan never really making the part of Bond his own. This one lapse is (to my mind) the primary reason for the flack that Pierce sometime takes around here.

Bradford4

I was not condemning its a harmless vice

Dragonpol

Tracy wrote:

If you're gonna condemn Laz for weed.....then how bout Connerys LSD ;)

Reporter : Did you ever smoke weed with (name of actor)

Roger Moore : No , not with (actors name) ;)

Even Cesar Romero smoked it (prolly giggled like The Joker while doing it)

I've heard it said that Roger Moore once smoked dope - it's a rumour, but I don't know for sure. And yes, I agree that Lazenby was the closest we ever got to a hippy James Bond. There was Philip McAlpine too - a 1960s spy novel series written by Adam Diment. See more on this author here:

http://www.nickelinthemachine.com/2009/08/the-disappearance-of-the-author-adam-diment/

SirHenryLeeChaChing

Tracy wrote:

If you're gonna condemn Laz for weed.....then how bout Connerys LSD ;)

Reporter : Did you ever smoke weed with (name of actor)

Roger Moore : No , not with (actors name) ;)

Even Cesar Romero smoked it (prolly giggled like The Joker while doing it)

I'm thinking the blank here has to be Tony Curtis. Such a funny story Rog tells about that, especially with the policeman.

I also agree that weed smoking is a harmless vice and for years have fully advocated it's legalization. People who speak out against it are often highly misinformed, if not outright clueless. I am constantly amazed how such an injurious and addictive substance as alcohol is legal, whereas weed is none of those things.

Happy belated 4/20 by the way to all my mah jokers, smokers, midnight tokers, and snoops out there :)

Dragonpol

SirHenryLeeChaChing wrote:

Tracy wrote:

If you're gonna condemn Laz for weed.....then how bout Connerys LSD ;)

Reporter : Did you ever smoke weed with (name of actor)

Roger Moore : No , not with (actors name) ;)

Even Cesar Romero smoked it (prolly giggled like The Joker while doing it)

I'm thinking the blank here has to be Tony Curtis. Such a funny story Rog tells about that, especially with the policeman.

I also agree that weed smoking is a harmless vice and for years have fully advocated it's legalization. People who speak out against it are often highly misinformed, if not outright clueless. I am constantly amazed how such an injurious and addictive substance as alcohol is legal, whereas weed is none of those things.

Happy belated 4/20 by the way to all my mah jokers, smokers, midnight tokers, and snoops out there :)

Apart from the fact that there are proven links between the smoking of dope and mental illnesses in later life, of course. I oppose legalisation. We're not Holland here in the UK, thank you all the same.

Tracy

Condemn was prolly a bit strong word ;)

He wasn't a great actor but I prefer him over Brosnan.......

One also has to remember that Laz had some bad luck with Hendrix and Lee dying before he got around working with them and there's a possibility he could've had a spaghetti western career in Italy for example , that would still be a decent career imo.

I really think "Game" would've boosted his career , people underestimate it snd say it wouldn't have mattered in his career. I say it would. Lee was gonna continue shooting in Sept '73 and most likely it would've been out at spring '74......after "Enter" smash worldwide success I fail to see that Game would flop and/or average biz.

No trend lasts forever though.......

identigraph

If Lazenby had impressed enough people as Bond, he would have gotten more offers for other films but I don't t think people were queueing up to work with him.

I think he actually gets a bit lost in the film and other things overshadow him and to me Bond should always be the centre of attention, carrying the film along. He was lucky to get his shot in the first place so I don't really see him as a victim of anything.

timmer

I agree with the the general sentiment on this thread. Laz blew it. He had his chance and made a bad career decision. I think he would have made a great '70s Bond though. He would have only gotten better.
He was kind of stupid though. The guy was 30 in 1969. That was ancient for the counter culture. The oldest of the big rock-stars of the day were mid-20's for the most part, or younger (Zep was just getting started but selling gazillions) while their devoted long-haired fans were way younger than that - teenagers for the most part.
This wasn't Laz's scene. He was an old sod, so what was he going on about. His age-peers for the most part, probably only listened to the Beatles with earmuffs too, just like Connery's crowd.
Keeping his hair short and playing to the Bond crowd, should have been very natural to him. Laz probably watched Easy Rider one too many times, and thought that was the direction film was headed in.
I think Fleming would have found a way to offer commentary on the counter culture. He probably would have made fun of it. He might have even incorporated it into a villain scenario, with KGB or villain infiltration. Bond would have had no truck with it. He would have been too old, just like Laz.

Dragonpol

But what if Lazenby's bad career decision was also informed by viewpoints held at the time that James Bond was a conservative character and as such was a sort of fish out of water in the hippy craze and Flower Power of the late 1960s? This is where my thesis really bites and I stick by it against all comers.

identigraph

The thing is though, even though OHMSS was considered a bit of a failure at the box office, it was still one of the biggest hits of the year, so that should have told it's own story!

Dragonpol

identigraph wrote:

The thing is though, even though OHMSS was considered a bit of a failure at the box office, it was still one of the biggest hits of the year, so that should have told it's own story!

Yes, Lazenby and Hunt should have returned for DAF as a revenge film a la the YOLT Fleming novel!

timmer

Dragonpol wrote:

But what if Lazenby's bad career decision was also informed by viewpoints held at the time that James Bond was a conservative character and as such was a sort of fish out of water in the hippy craze and Flower Power of the late 1960s? This is where my thesis really bites and I stick by it against all comers.

But the hippie craze and Flower Power had no appeal beyond young people ,and by that I mean really young people, late teens and very early '20s.
There was no need for Bond to address this demographic and I don't think youth even expected that a 30-plus years British agent, originated in the '50s, would even attempt to. It could get real dorky.
Just as youth these days don't reasonably expect olders to get hip-hop culture or even want them to.
Laz I guess considered himself maybe a bit of an older hipster in the Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper mode.
Laz was the victim of real bad advice. Those who attached too much importance to the hippie culture, really had it all wrong. It was only a niche market, which attracted a share of niche films which played to this market for a short period of time.
Laz and his real clueless advisors badly overstated the importance of the this hippie fad, moving forward. It was a pheenom of the late '60s and early '70s and no more.