7 replies to this topic

[ChandlerBing]

I got this idea after reading a bit from other interviews, commentaries, etc. What if Connery had played Bond well into the 1970s? How do you think the films would have been different? I am going to throw in some for starters:

Live and Let Die. Honey Rider would have been the one in bed with Bond in his apartment, instead of Miss Caruso. Connery would have snuck up on the Filet of Soul after dark, still getting caught, punching out several of Mr. Big's minions, not being very nice to Solitaire, etc.

The Man With The Golden Gun would have been an appropriate pitting of Connery's Bond versus someone like either Jack Palance or even Chris Lee. The dark Connery Bond would have made more sense and we might have gotten into their heads a bit if we had someone like Terence Young or Peter Hunt doing it. At this point, Guy Hamilton couldn't take Bond seriously anyway.

Anyone want to on and do more? Check out Connery in films like Murder On The Orient Express in 1974 or even Cuba in 1979 to see what he looked like then. Detractors might be surprised. He looked quite well with the right hair piece.

It would be interesting if someone also wanted to speculate about Lazenby doing DAF and LALD, etc, or even Roger doing The Living Daylights.

[ray t]

why bother? can u imagine a 60-ish roger hanging off a jeep motoring furiously down the side of gibralter?

i cant.........

[ChandlerBing]

That would have been his redheaded stunt double.

[Johnson Galore]

I would argue that the series would have died. Sometime around OHMSS to DAF public interest would have waned. The reason DAF was so big was the previous change in actors so that Connery could return. LALD was big because of the change yet again. TLD was big because of the change. GE was big becasue of the change. You get the idea. Additionally, Connery's performances would have become more and more distant. YOLT was downhill from TB. Very likely that that path would have continued.

[Loomis]

I agree with Johnson Galore. If Connery had continued as Bond well into the 1970s, the quality and popularity of the series would most likely have declined to the point of death, and he'd have given some truly rotten performances. It's rather like when Paul McCartney was asked a few years ago whether he regretted The Beatles' split and wished they'd carried on, and he replied that he felt that if they'd kept going throughout the 70s they'd have ended up sounding like ELO and making really rubbish records.

[ChandlerBing]

I don't think The Living Daylights was that big actually, with attendence in the US being the lowest since The Man With The Golden Gun. Not good.

[SirMiles83]

I love The Living Daylights, but I don't see Roger at 58 (what would age be?) doing it. I would love to see Roger Moore do TLD at the time of Moonraker, that would be nice. If Lazenby did DAF, I think there could be more of a revenge factor involved with Blofeld. But they would probably have to bring back Telly to do Blofeld to keep continuity.

[ChandlerBing]

Lazenby stalking Savalas would have been really wild, much more convincing than Charles Grey, who poised absolutely no threat whatsoever to Connery. Connery's first few villains were great, and then they all went down hill after Adolfo Celi.