The Casting of Bond in LALD

I watched one of those Bond documentaries awhile back and in it Broccoli and Saltzman discussed the casting of Bond in LALD.

I found it quite interesting as most people would not expect it to have been like it was.

It all started with George Lazenby being offered a seven movie deal while filming OHMSS. That meant that Lazenby would have made, DAF, LALD, TMWGG, TSWLM, MR, FYEO, and OP. Broccoli also remarked how his original plan was to have Lazenby as Bond through his 8th Bond, which would have been around 1983, which of course turned out to be OP, which was in 1983. Lazenby would have still been only 43 in 1983. Then his original plan was to have Timothy Dalton take over as Bond in 1985, when he was 39 years old. Which of course turned out to be AVTAK. Obviously Roger Moore did not fit in his plans.

However, Broccoli's original plan for LALD, which had Lazenby as Bond, was foiled when Lazenby suddenly quit before the premier of OHMSS.

Then, the casting of LALD continued when they offered Sean Connery $5.5million to make LALD, he turned it down.

Then they decided to offer the LALD role to Timothy Dalton. Dalton however turned them down citing two reasons. 1. I am too toung for the role. and 2. No one follows Sean Connery

Then they decided to offer the role to Roger Moore. Moore however could not get out of his TV contract with The Persuaders, so he had to turn the role down.

Then, they decided to offer the role to John Gavin, who had been cast as Bond in DAF before Connery came back. Gavin however performed poorly in his screen test, and Broccoli and Saltzman decided against him.

Then, they decided to give the role of Bond to the English actor John Richardson. Richardson however was finally not cast as Bond because Saltzman said he was too short. Richardson was 6'0" without shoes and both Connery and Lazenby were 6'2" without shoes, so therefore Saltzman did not want Richardson. Broccoli did want him, but both had to agree on the casting. Funny because later on in the documentary Saltzman and Broccoli joked how Roger Moore was also only 6'0" tall without shoes on. So basically they both agreed that they blew it with Richardson. Richardson had also finished second to Lazenby for OHMSS apparently.

Next, they decided to have open audtitons and screen tests for Bond. However they did not find any actors they liked. It was remarked how all the actors capable of the acting were either bald or had bad teeth. Since Connery was bald, and since they could get someone's teeth fixed they did not feel it was that big of a deal. Still they realized none of the actors were close to good looking. Certainly ugly compared to Connery and Lazenby.

So then Broccoli and Saltzman made the decision that despite his being very difficult to work with, they would rehire George Lazenby. Lazenby just as in 1969, they felt was leaps ahead of any other candidate. However, before offering the role to Lazenby once again, Brcoccoli and Salztman decided to ask Bernard Lee, Desmond Lewylen and Lois Maxwell, the other 3 permanent Bond actors besides Bond, if they were willing to work with Lazenby again. All 3 said no, therefore the decision was made that Lazenby was too hard to deal with, and they once and for all canceled him out for future Bond casting.

After Lee, Maxwell, and Lewylen had nixed Lazenby for LALD the Bond producers were stuck with a dilema, so they decided to open up all actors to the role.

The first actor that MGM had wanted as their number one choice was Robert Redford. So EON decided to go along, despite not really wanting an American. They were pressed for time and really were running out of options. So they offered Bond to Redford. He turned it down to make The Sting.

The next actor on MGM's list was Paul Newman. So they offered the role of Bond to Paul Newman. He turned it down to make The Sting as well. So if it was not for The Sting Robert Redford or Paul Newman may have very well became Bond.

Now the producers were getting close to beginning filming for LALD and still no Bond. That was when LALD director Guy Hamilton suggested that Burt Reynolds be offered the role. So Broccoli and Salzman offered the role to Reynolds, as they thought he was better than any other options they had at the time. Reynolds turned down the role citing that he had already been offered to make an American version of Bond, called the Gator movies. XXX and Vin Diesel should be listening to this. Broccoli then stated in the documentary he was glad Reynolds turned them down because he did not want an American Bond anyway.

So, now they were close to shooting and still had no Bond. That was when Roger Moore contacted Broccoli and Saltzman that he had been let out of his contract with The Persuaders and could play Bond.

Interestingly enough though when Moore, who had been Harry Saltzman's number one choice for Bond in Dr. No was suddenly avaliable, the Bond producers had second thoughts. Broccoli remarked that by this point Roger Moore was over exposed as The Saint, and as Lord Brett Sinclair. Also that he was now 44 years old at the time, 3 years older than Connery, and they did not want a 44 year old first time Bond.

Broccoli even remarked, "I really felt that if we cast Roger Moore, at that point, we would be scraping the bottom of the barrel." Interesting to say the least.

So because of Moore's age they decided that Roger Moore would be kept as the top option, but not offered the role yet, just in case another younger actor came along. But at 2 weeks before shooting began, just as with Lazenby in OHMSS they had to cast a Bond.

Then, Julian Glover who played Kristatos in FYEO got a screen test with EON to be Bond. Because he was taller, and younger Glover moved ahead of Moore for Bond. Then EON brought forth several other actors at the last minute for screen tests including, Simon Oates, John Ronane, Mike McStay, and Michael Billington. Billington played Anya's husband that Bond kills in TSWLM. Billington then replaced Glover as EON's top choice.

Broccoli and Saltzman were very impressed with Micheal Billington and as far as they were concerned Billington was the 3rd Bond.

However, MGM's head, the same guy who pressured Lazenby so much, and bought out Gavin's contract and brought back Connery, ordered that MGM would not back EON unless all of the final Bond actors did a final screen test.

So, Simon Oates, John Ronane, Mike McStay, Julian Glover, Micheal Billington and Roger Moore all did a final screen test.

Broccoli and Salztman wanted Billington after the final test. MGM's head however wanted Roger Moore. He also told them that George Lazenby an unkown had not done well and that Billington was an unkown, while Moore was a huge star. Therefore he wanted Roger Moore. Broccoli and Saltzman argued that Connery was also an unkown. Ultimately EON had final say in casting the role, but MGM's head just like he had with Lazenby had made it pretty clear EON could lose MGM's distribution backing for the next Bond movie if they did not agree on the Bond casting.

So it was agreed that Roger Moore and Micheal Billington would have one final screen test. Apparently in the end still EON wanted Billington and MGM wanted Moore, so Guy Hamilton who had first suggested Burt Reynolds, was asked for his opinion. Hamilton said he wanted Roger Moore. Roger Moore was then cast as James Bond in LALD.

Broccoli then remarked in the documentary how at the time he had felt that both John Richardson and Micheal Billington would have been better Bonds than Roger Moore. He then however said that, "Of course as it turned out I was totally wrong about Roger. He turned out to be a really good James Bond. I still do not think he was as good as Sean, or Lazenby, but I think in the end, when all was said and done, the best man got the job. And since the first two Bonds were no longer options, Roger Moore was the best choice. All in all, everything turned out for the best, as despite Harry and I feeling differently, Roger was the best choice afterall."

It's quite amazing just how long Roger Moore's path to Bond was. Ian Fleming wanted him to be Bond in Dr. No but he could not get out of his contract with the TV show the Saint. Broccoli and Saltzman wanted him to be Bond in OHMSS, but he still was in his Saint contract. They wanted him to be Bond in DAF, but he could not get out of his Persuaders TV contract. Considering how long and hard his casting was in LALD, it is obvious that one way or another nothing was going to stop Roger Moore from becoming James Bond. People talk about how hard it was for Brosnan to get the role, or Lazenby, or how long Dalton went with turning down the role, even Connery getting cast for the first time in DN, but nothing compared to what Roger Moore's road to the role was like. It is almost amazing he ever got the role at all.

It is interesting to note that despite the popular belief that EON and not MGM had total say over Bond casting, it was in fact EON who wanted Lazenby for DAF, while MGM wanted Connery. It was EON who wanted Lazenby for LALD if they could get him, while MGM Connery if they could get him. It was EON who wanted John Richardson or Michael Billington for LALD once Lazenby and Connery were out, while MGM wanted Roger Moore. It was also MGM's head who bought out John Gavin's contract before DAF and got Connery back for DAF, not EON that actually did that. It was also as said in the documentary an MGM casting agent who first signed Gavin in the first place.

Broccoli and Saltzman did have control over casting in DN and OHMSS, but it seems MGM's head casted Bond in DAF and LALD. Very interesting, and also very interesting how later on with Dalton and Brosnan it seemed MGM had no say. All I can say is whoever MGM's head was in the early 70's they never did mention his name, he certainly seemed to have a much better grasp on Bond at the time than EON did.

Originally posted by Dr Noah
By the way, MGM was never involved with Bond at that time, it was United Artists. The head of which was personally involved in getting Connory back for DAF.

I doubt whether Saltman and Broccoli would have considered Lazenby for LALD for a few reasons :

1) OHMSS was considered at that time as being a flop, United Artists would never approve his return (both DAF and LALD were careful to distance themselves from OHMSS)

2) Lazenby had burnt his bridges with the producers with his behaviour on set.

Very Interesting Read by all..

But I persobally don't know much about how George was on the Set of OYMSS..

what did he do??? What were some the exact things he did... point for point? Why was he hard to work with...

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