35 replies to this topic

[DLibrasnow]

In the Roger Moore forum the question was raised as to which actress people wish had appeared in a Roger Moore Bond movie....Zencat stated Raquel Welch as a possible candidate and I remembered reading in "The James Bond Films" that she had been considered for the role of Domino in TB...Lo and behold I checked out the book and found that more than simply considered, she had been SIGNED for the role.

On page 63 of "The James Bond Films: A Behind the Scenes History" by Steven Jay Rubin (Pub: Arlington House. 1983) the author discusses the casting of Domino in TB and reveals that the actress Raquel Welch was in fact signed for the part:

"The next serious contender for the role was Raquel Welch whose photograph Saltzman had seen in the October 1964 issue of 'Life' magazine. At that time, she had made only one film, with Elvis Presley, but Broccoli and Saltzman signed her up on a visit to Hollywood. Back in London, Broccoli received a call from Richard Zanuck, the production chief of Twentieth Century Fox in Los Angeles, asking him, as a favour, to release Raquel Welch from her contract so that she could appear in the forthcoming "Fantastic Voyage"; Broccoli reluctantly agreed."

[Bryce (003)]

Oh Raquel.....(btw - the lovely lady turned 63 yesterday;))

I knew of all this. The Fox issue was that she was being tested for "Our Man Flint" - Somewhere there are some great stills of her "test" with James Couburn.

Alas, OMF went back into rewrites and she lost out on Bond.

Fox made it up to her (or tried) by making "Fathom" with her in '67 - I own the DVD and it is fantastic 60's spy camp with some classic moments.

The best being in Spain, where - while escaping her would be captors - she runs into a bull-ring......in a RED minidress.

Yeah baby!



Bryce says: Check it out.

[DLibrasnow]

I also own "Fathom" on DVD....I like the scene where the guy in the house checks out her skydiving outfit near the beginning of the movie...(while Raquel is still in it)...
I also bought the Region 2 DVD of "One Million Years B.C." -- thank goodness for region free DVD players!!

[Bryce (003)]

Cheers DLibra;)

To men who know how to spend their money wisely....

[DLibrasnow]

Thanks Charlie...You know if Raquel had ended up as Domino I dare say that TB would find its way into my DVD player a lot more...

[Bryce (003)]

*already watching "Fathom"*

Shut up....

[zencat]

Would have been great... But I think I would have liked to have seen Raquel as Tiffany Case instead. Not only is the character better suited to Ms Welch, but I think the '70s Raquel was even hotter than the '60s Raquel.

[Triton]

Very interesting. I did not know that she was actually signed as Domino.

One Million Years BC, LOL!

I have to check out Fathom, I have never heard of the film until now.

I also wish that they would release Bedazzled (1967) with Dudley Moore and Peter Cook on DVD. Remember that Raquel Welch plays Lilian Lust. I think this film is much funnier than the re-make with Brendan Fraser.

I also like her in The Three Musketeers (1973) and The Four Musketeers (1974) as Micheal York's mistress Constance.

[DLibrasnow]

"Fathom" is my favorite Raquel Welch picture....it had some very Bondian moments....

[zencat]

I've never seen Fathom. I'll have to check it.

Favorite Raquel movie...

Kansas City Bomber

Best girlfight movie ever made.

[Bryce (003)]

I'll hook you up with a copy Zencat. You MUST see this film.

As to Raquel as Tiffany Case - Would have been great. Early 70's Raquel was hot as the 60's if not more so.

KCB - Absolutely! Don't get me started on Mother, Juggs and Speed though;)

[DLibrasnow]

I've never seen "Kansas City Bomber"....
Zencat - you have to check out "Fathom", seriously Bryce is right, it rocks!

[zencat]

I just added Fathom to the top of my Netflix queue. As soon as I return Easy Rider, it's Raquel all the way. (I like the looks of the box.)

Kansas City Bomber is not available on any format!

[DLibrasnow]

I can see Raquel as Tiffany Case...but I think she would have made a good Domino too....As Rubin points out in the book, she was an unknown actress at the time..
Did you know the first "serious contender" for Domino was Julie Christie - that I cannot see at all.

[Blofeld's Cat]

The Inside Thunderball DVD docco never mentioned that Racquel had actually signed, but was merely considered. Along with Julie Christie and Faye Dunaway.

[Triton]

Originally posted by DLibrasnow
I can see Raquel as Tiffany Case...but I think she would have made a good Domino too....As Rubin points out in the book, she was an unknown actress at the time..
Did you know the first "serious contender" for Domino was Julie Christie - that I cannot see at all.

Raquel Welch certainly would have made a better Tiffany Case Jones than Jill St. John. I have never liked Jill St. John.

I cannot see Julie Christie as Domino either. I wonder if she was seriously considered before she got really popular. I seem to remember reading that she didn't get the part because she was too flat chested. Don't know if I believe that though. Wasn't the skinny model Twiggy popular around that time?

Oh well, I guess it is good for us that she didn't get the part because she was in David Lean's Doctor Zhivago released in the same year as Thunderball. I think that she makes a much better Lara than she ever would a Domino.

[PrinceKamalKhan]

Originally posted by DLibrasnow
I can see Raquel as Tiffany Case...but I think she would have made a good Domino too....As Rubin points out in the book, she was an unknown actress at the time..
Did you know the first "serious contender" for Domino was Julie Christie - that I cannot see at all.

Actually, Raquel wanted to play Tiffany Case but Guy Hamilton rejected that idea stating there would be "no chemistry" between her and Sean Connery. Another contender for both the roles of Domino and Tiffany Case(as well as Octopussy!) was (believe it or not)FAYE DUNAWAY! Now she would have made an interesting, off-beat pick for a Bond girl.

[DLibrasnow]

So instead of Raquel, Guy Hamilton chose Jill St. John **shakes his head in disbelief**

[Ed King]

I don't think she should play either Domino or Tiffany, because being a Bondgirl used to ruin the actress's career at that time.

BTW, I love Jill St. John as Tiffany and hate Claudina Auger as Domino.

[DLibrasnow]

I would have liked to have seen her appear as Domino in TB....I wonder why Broccoli let her go so Zanuck could use her in "Fantastic Voyage"??

[Blofeld's Cat]

I wonder why this factoid was never mentioned in the DVD docco at all. It's a pretty big omission if it's true.

[Triton]

John Cork and Bruce Scivally mention Raquel Welch's casting as Domino in their book James Bond: The Legacy. It's very strange that John Cork mentions this in his book, but does not include the information in his script for the documentary that appears on the Thunderball Special Edition DVD. Didn't Bruce Scivally produce the documentary?

On page 128 in the section of the book devoted to Diamonds Are Forever the authors write:

Pre-production planning was well underway by 9th February1971...

The next day, Variety reported that Raquel Welch was rumored to be the next Bond femme fatale, but her decision to do the film would depend on who played James Bond. Broccoli had cast Welch once before for the part of Domino in Thunderball, but 20th Century-Fox asked him to release her so that she could do Fantastic Voyage. Now, Broccoli was reconsidering her. Guy Hamilton however, felt that Welch's persona might overpower 007. He told Cubby. "Bond and Raquel together is bad chemistry. She's much too animal for this particular role."

[Blofeld's Cat]

Originally posted by Triton
On page 128 in the section of the book devoted to Diamonds Are Forever the authors write:

Pre-production planning was well underway by 9th February1971...

The next day, Variety reported that Raquel Welch was rumored to be the next Bond femme fatale, but her decision to do the film would depend on who played James Bond. Broccoli had cast Welch once before for the part of Domino in Thunderball, but 20th Century-Fox asked him to release her so that she could do Fantastic Voyage. Now, Broccoli was reconsidering her. Guy Hamilton however, felt that Welch's persona might overpower 007. He told Cubby. "Bond and Raquel together is bad chemistry. She's much too animal for this particular role."

Doesn't really indicate that she actually signed on the dotted line, but she must have been committed to it anyway for the request for her "release" to make sense.

[DLibrasnow]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Blofeld's Cat
[/QUOTE]
Doesn't really indicate that she actually signed on the dotted line, but she must have been committed to it anyway for the request for her "release" to make sense. [/B][/QUOTE]

Steven Jay Rubin (as quoted above) is quite specific that Welch did sign "on the dotted line" for "Thunderball"...

[Blofeld's Cat]

As with any author Rubin can say anything he likes, but it doesn't make it true.

It could very well be, but I'm just curious that this has not been re-mentioned in the many non-fiction Bond books over the years since.

Even you were surpised when you came across this tidbit of travia Darren, which proves that it's never been well documented.

[DLibrasnow]

Originally posted by Blofeld's Cat
As with any author Rubin can say anything he likes, but it doesn't make it true.

It could very well be, but I'm just curious that this has not been re-mentioned in the many non-fiction Bond books over the years since.

Even you were surpised when you came across this tidbit of travia Darren, which proves that it's never been well documented.

True, but I have never found anything in Rubin's book to be false.

I read the book when it was released in 1983 and it was (and still is) to my mind the best and most comprehensive work on the James Bond movies from Dr. No to FYEO! It really was the Bible for a James Bond fan at the time and I have been consistently disappointed with other non-fiction books on 007 during the intervening years (including "The Legacy").

The Rubin book is also the only book I have found that has details of the several scripts that were produced by Fleming, Whittingham and McClory.

[ChandlerBing]

I have never been crazy about Guy Hamilton, and this only deepens my feelings of ambivilance about him. Raquel would have been terrific. Hamilton is one of the Bond directors who I feel just never quite got Bond.

[zencat]

Bond and Raquel together is bad chemistry? No way.

[Triton]

But we are considering this 1970 casting decision in 2003. In 1966 she played a cave woman in One Million Year B.C., Lilian Lust in Bedazzled (1967) and Priestess of the Whip in The Magic Christian (1969).

My understanding is that everyone was shocked that she could do comedy playing Constance de Bonancieux in The Three Musketeers (1973) and The Four Musketeers (1974) and this role was image changing for her.

Therefore, I can undersand why Guy Hamilton thought of Raquel as "too animal" for the Tiffany Case role in 1970. Unfortunately, Guy Hamilton lacked imagination.

[DLibrasnow]

The movie "Fathom" was a comedy spy caper that she made in the 1960s.