Blofled in TSWLM: How would it have worked?

MaxRebo120

As we all know, Blofeld was in early drafts of THE SPY WHO LOVED ME, but due to copyright claims at the time, Blofeld was replaced by Karl Stromberg.

However, let's just pretend for a minute that no legal actions were taken at the time, and Blofeld and SPECTRE were back as villains after a seven year absence.

I think with an established character like Blofeld as the main villain, a greater deal of menace would be felt by the characters and audience alike. MI6 and KGB allying together to put an end to SPECTRE would make for an excellent finale to the evil organization. Also, Jaws being part of SPECTRE is just plain cool!

However, the idea of Blofeld wanting to create a new civilization under sea does seem a bit odd, seeing hoe Blofeld has had no interest in marine life in past films.

Also, the scene where Bond first meets Stromberg (Blofeld) would probably have to be changed. After meeting three times in past films, it would just be palin dumb for them not to recognize each other. Bond's meeting with him would probably be replaced by a fellow SPECTRE agent under disguise.

Also, if this were to be SPECTRE's final film, Bond's final cronfrontation with Blofeld would undoubtably be more epic, and Blofeld would probably end in a slightly more dignified way.

Who do you think would have played Blofled? Do you think Curd Jurgens would still have been casted, maybe shaved bald, or do you think another actor would land the role?

Anyway, I'm really just fanwanking here, but what do you think the film would have been like with Blofeld as the main villain? Would it have improved the film, or made it worse?

0BradyM0Bondfanatic7

I am glad that Blofeld didn't feature. Stromberg doesn't get a lot of screen time, which is a shame, so if Blofeld was back I would want to see much more of him.

DouglasQuaid

Well, if the film went ahead as originally planned then it also would've come out a year earlier then it actually did.

Soundofthesinners

I'd rather have had Blofeld. He would have had instant gravitas, which Stromberg lacked for the most part.

myworldisenough

I liked Stromberg as a villain. He had a good helping of mad deluded menace about him. He may have lacked a larger than life personality or obvious physical defection which tends to goes down well but creepy nevertheless.

echo

I felt they could have done more with Stromberg's webbed hands somehow--is it supposed to be a callback to Blofeld's earlobes in OHMSS?

Ludovico

At first I thought: well, since TSWLM is a recycled YOLT, I wonder if it would have made much differences, if any. Thinking about it again, the main problem, I think, is that however Blofeld had been massacred in DAF, he never appeared, in his previous incarnations, as a fanatical idealist wanting to destroy the world to create utopia. I am not saying they wouldn't have changed him into one, but I find this a bit of a stretch. Sure, they had changed his personality radically before, but to the point of turning him into a whole different villain altogether? Give any villain a cat and a Nehru suit and he is Blofeld? So TSWLM would have to be modified, have Blofeld with different motivations and a somewhat different plot for instance.

pachazo

MaxRebo120 wrote:

Also, if this were to be SPECTRE's final film, Bond's final cronfrontation with Blofeld would undoubtably be more epic, and Blofeld would probably end in a slightly more dignified way.

I agree that it would have been a better end for Blofeld. However, if they were able to keep using him, I seriously doubt this would have been the last time we saw him. You just know that they would have had good ol SPECTRE creep up again...

Sir_James_Moloney

MaxRebo120 wrote:

As we all know, Blofeld was in early drafts of THE SPY WHO LOVED ME, but due to copyright claims at the time, Blofeld was replaced by Karl Stromberg.

However, let's just pretend for a minute that no legal actions were taken at the time, and Blofeld and SPECTRE were back as villains after a seven year absence.

I think with an established character like Blofeld as the main villain, a greater deal of menace would be felt by the characters and audience alike. MI6 and KGB allying together to put an end to SPECTRE would make for an excellent finale to the evil organization. Also, Jaws being part of SPECTRE is just plain cool!

However, the idea of Blofeld wanting to create a new civilization under sea does seem a bit odd, seeing hoe Blofeld has had no interest in marine life in past films.

Also, the scene where Bond first meets Stromberg (Blofeld) would probably have to be changed. After meeting three times in past films, it would just be palin dumb for them not to recognize each other. Bond's meeting with him would probably be replaced by a fellow SPECTRE agent under disguise.

Also, if this were to be SPECTRE's final film, Bond's final cronfrontation with Blofeld would undoubtably be more epic, and Blofeld would probably end in a slightly more dignified way.

Who do you think would have played Blofled? Do you think Curd Jurgens would still have been casted, maybe shaved bald, or do you think another actor would land the role?

Anyway, I'm really just fanwanking here, but what do you think the film would have been like with Blofeld as the main villain? Would it have improved the film, or made it worse?

I realise this thread is a month old but thought I'd interject. Whilst SPECTRE featured heavily in the early drafts of TSWLM, Blofeld only appeared briefly. In the very earliest drafts, a bunch of new guys come in, kick Blofeld out and take over SPECTRE themselves.

In the earliest draft, I think Hugo Drax was in charge of SPECTRE.

SirHenryLeeChaChing

MaxRebo120 wrote:

As we all know, Blofeld was in early drafts of THE SPY WHO LOVED ME, but due to copyright claims at the time, Blofeld was replaced by Karl Stromberg.

However, let's just pretend for a minute that no legal actions were taken at the time, and Blofeld and SPECTRE were back as villains after a seven year absence.

I think with an established character like Blofeld as the main villain, a greater deal of menace would be felt by the characters and audience alike. MI6 and KGB allying together to put an end to SPECTRE would make for an excellent finale to the evil organization. Also, Jaws being part of SPECTRE is just plain cool!

However, the idea of Blofeld wanting to create a new civilization under sea does seem a bit odd, seeing hoe Blofeld has had no interest in marine life in past films.

Also, the scene where Bond first meets Stromberg (Blofeld) would probably have to be changed. After meeting three times in past films, it would just be palin dumb for them not to recognize each other. Bond's meeting with him would probably be replaced by a fellow SPECTRE agent under disguise.

Also, if this were to be SPECTRE's final film, Bond's final cronfrontation with Blofeld would undoubtably be more epic, and Blofeld would probably end in a slightly more dignified way.

Who do you think would have played Blofeld? Do you think Curt Jurgens would still have been casted, maybe shaved bald, or do you think another actor would land the role?

Anyway, I'm really just fanwanking here, but what do you think the film would have been like with Blofeld as the main villain? Would it have improved the film, or made it worse?

Finally, someone realizes that if you put lipstick on a pig, you get "palin dumb" ;)

I think it would have worked just fine either way. I agree with those who felt Stromberg had menace, just his opening scene alone shows how ruthless he is and he orders deaths as easily as he was getting Chinese take out. I can't see Blofeld being any better or worse, unless you'd prefer he died more personally in 1977 as opposed to how he went in 1981.

And having a bald guy as Blofeld is not a prerequisite, nor should it be. Jurgens would have been just as good with the hair he had. Remember that Charles Gray wasn't bald either and he played Blofeld. Well, he tried the best he could I'm sure. Dr.Evil has turned Blofeld's image into a caricature and that image simply wouldn't do anything more than draw comparisons and laughter.

Ludovico

I am not a big fan of TSWLM, but it would have been much weaker with Blofeld in it. If he was to be dispatched easily by a group taking over SPECTRE, that would have been so anticlimactic and would have destroyed any type of remotely satisfying revenge for the murder of Tracy. If he had been to appear as the main antagonist, he would have turned into a cypher, a name they put on any villain.

MaxRebo120

Sir_James_Moloney wrote:

Whilst SPECTRE featured heavily in the early drafts of TSWLM, Blofeld only appeared briefly. In the very earliest drafts, a bunch of new guys come in, kick Blofeld out and take over SPECTRE themselves.

In the earliest draft, I think Hugo Drax was in charge of SPECTRE.

Huh, that's the first time I've ever heard that. That would have been very anti-climactic indeed.

Sir_James_Moloney

Ludovico wrote:

I am not a big fan of TSWLM, but it would have been much weaker with Blofeld in it. If he was to be dispatched easily by a group taking over SPECTRE, that would have been so anticlimactic and would have destroyed any type of remotely satisfying revenge for the murder of Tracy.

I agree @Ludovico. But as Blofeld's final appearance in DAF / FYEO (delete as you see appropriate) was really anticlimactic anyway, it might not have made much of a difference.

St_George

echo wrote:

I felt they could have done more with Stromberg's webbed hands somehow--is it supposed to be a callback to Blofeld's earlobes in OHMSS?

Love Spy as I do, must admit, I always thought that too. There's even a moment when it could have been obvious - Strommers putting the tips of the fingers of both his hands together when Bond goes to shake hands as, the social misfit he is, Stromberg doesn't like to do the latter.

I guess they came up with the idea as a contribution to the age-old Bond-villain-has-a-physical-deformity gambit...

TheWizardOfIce

St_George wrote:

echo wrote:

I felt they could have done more with Stromberg's webbed hands somehow--is it supposed to be a callback to Blofeld's earlobes in OHMSS?

Love Spy as I do, must admit, I always thought that too. There's even a moment when it could have been obvious - Strommers putting the tips of the fingers of both his hands together when Bond goes to shake hands as, the social misfit he is, Stromberg doesn't like to do the latter.

I guess they came up with the idea as a contribution to the age-old Bond-villain-has-a-physical-deformity gambit...

Quite convenient of course that a bloke born with webbed fingers ended up having an obsession with the sea. Are the script writers saying he is part fish? Or maybe he was called fish boy at school so often he developed a complex about it?

Anyway as to the main question as the film plays out it would have made no difference really to have Stromberg become Blofeld except of course regarding the elephant in the room -Tracy.

How would they have adressed this? Rog out for revenge? Are we buying that?
Or would they have just ignored it like they did in DAF and hope no one noticed? I guess that means they would have had to remove the line in the bar about Bond being married just so they didnt jog anyones memories.

Also would they have killed Blofeld off? Probably so that they could then be done with the risk of Mcclory taking them to court.

Sir_James_Moloney wrote:

Whilst SPECTRE featured heavily in the early drafts of TSWLM, Blofeld only appeared briefly. In the very earliest drafts, a bunch of new guys come in, kick Blofeld out and take over SPECTRE themselves.

I'm pretty sure in some drafts the PTS featured a SPECTRE board meeting a la TB when all of a sudden a load of terrorists storm in and kill everyone thereby pulling off some sort of putsch and gaining control of SPECTRE, although Blofelds fate in this was unclear. I think they came up with it as a way of making the break with SPECTRE when Mcclory started shoving his nose in but then even the slightest mention of SPECTRE becaome untenable once dear old Kevin got wind of another possible court settlement over his 'rights'.

MaxRebo120

I almost wish this were made, just to see what it would have been like.

SirHenryLeeChaChing

Sir_James_Moloney wrote:

Ludovico wrote:

I am not a big fan of TSWLM, but it would have been much weaker with Blofeld in it. If he was to be dispatched easily by a group taking over SPECTRE, that would have been so anticlimactic and would have destroyed any type of remotely satisfying revenge for the murder of Tracy.

I agree @Ludovico. But as Blofeld's final appearance in FYEO (delete as you see appropriate) was really anticlimactic anyway, it might not have made much of a difference.

I deleted DAF because I still don't get how anyone could think it wasn't Blofeld in the FYEO PTS. Let's see- bald head, check. White cat, check. Nehru jacket, check he's even got that old relic. You'd pretty much be clueless not to see they are killing off good old Ernst Stavro himself.