34 replies to this topic

[Syndicate]

So What do you all think about Yul Brynner? Would he have been a good Ernst Stavro Blofeld, if he was cast in the role? Do you think it was a good thing that he was never cast in the role in any of the Bond films? Could he have ruin the character or the franchise or even both?

I don't know, and I think we will never know would he have made a good Blofeld like Donald Pleasence, Telly Savalas and Charles Gray.

[jaguar007]

Yul Brynner would have made a good anything in any role he played. I think he would have been a far better Blofeld than any of the actors that actually played Blofeld.

[ConnerysToupee1983]

Based on his relentless and terrifying role in Westworld I think he would have made an exquisite Blofeld. He would have needed a very serious, intense and dark Bond film to accommodate him though. Definitely would have been good for Connery era. It would have been a beautiful thing to see happen.

[Royal Dalton]

Look 'ere: http://www.hmss.com/films/ohmss67/

I expect Yul Brynner would have been alright. Although, I would have liked to have seen Herbert Lom play the role myself.

[Harmsway]

Yul Brynner would have been marvelous in the part.

[PrinceKamalKhan]

Look 'ere: http://www.hmss.com/films/ohmss67/

I was hoping someone would post that link. Anyway, the answer to the main question is yes, Brynner would've made an awesome Blofeld or other Bond villain especially opposite Connery.

[Guy Haines]

He might have made a good Blofeld, or Dr No (he had that vaguely oriental look about him, re-inforced of course by his appearance in The King And I).

Would he have taken either role? We'll never know. Would he have even been offered either role? Bear in mind that, with one or two exceptions, the role of arch villain in a Bond film has rarely been given to a "star" actor. A happy result of that has been that, usually, we've had some good, even outstanding performances from actors playing Bond's nemesis, but I suspect that cost, as much as wanting the right person for the part, was a consideration in casting. And Yul Brynner was already a star name when the Bond series started.

[PrinceKamalKhan]

I could easily see Brynner as Largo, Scaramanga, Prince Kamal Khan or Sanchez also. Scaramanga would probably be the best with his experience as a gunfighter in many westerns.

[Mr. Blofeld]

At that point in time, Jan Werich being dubbed by Eric Pohlmann was probably the best they could do... because, remember, Blofeld had a full head of hair in From Russia with Love and Thunderball; Donald Pleasance was a last-minute choice, snapped up only because he was in England at the time and available, so they wouldn't have automatically made Blofeld bald, from the get-go.

[Mr_Wint]

I can't see Yul Brynner as a mastermind villain á la Blofeld. I'm not totally sold on his acting but maybe Brynner could have been more suitable as a henchmen.

The ultimate Blofeld is still the faceless one in FRWL/TB. I still think that there is only one actor in the world that could have continued that gravitas and menace on screen... Christopher Lee.

[Zorin Industries]

Of course Yul Bryner would have made a fantastic, urbanite BLOFELD. And a very good KAMAL KHAN at that too. And you wouldn't cast him as a henchman in a Bond film as that would be a casting waste.

[Loomis]

Brynner was way too handsome for Blofeld, surely? I'm told he was a huge hit with the ladies - might he not have overshadowed the guy playing Bond?

[PrinceKamalKhan]

Brynner was way too handsome for Blofeld, surely? I'm told he was a huge hit with the ladies - might he not have overshadowed the guy playing Bond?

Maybe the role of 006 then? Of course, Brynner was such an alpha male and strong screen presence, he would've only worked playing opposite Connery's Bond. Those two could've had a great mano a mano battle against each other.

[darthbond]

As much as I love Yul Brynner, I'm not sure he would be right for Bond. He probably would have rocked the socks off of it though.

darthbond

[jaguar007]

Brynner was way too handsome for Blofeld, surely? I'm told he was a huge hit with the ladies - might he not have overshadowed the guy playing Bond?

Maybe the role of 006 then? Of course, Brynner was such an alpha male and strong screen presence, he would've only worked playing opposite Connery's Bond. Those two could've had a great mano a mano battle against each other.

Well they could have always uglied him up with a scar, etc. I would have loved to see him opposite Connery. Imagine a screen Blofeld with some real menace.

[Syndicate]

(he had that vaguely oriental look about him, re-inforced of course by his appearance in The King And I).

I read that he is Russian, is he not 100% Russian and maybe a little mix.

[Guy Haines]

(he had that vaguely oriental look about him, re-inforced of course by his appearance in The King And I).

I read that he is Russian, is he not 100% Russian and maybe a little mix.

Yul Brynner was from the far eastern end of Russia - Vladivostok, according to the information I've seen - and was of Russian and Swiss descent. Of mixed blood but only "oriental" by place of birth. Maybe I had pictured him too much as the King Of Siam, or in other far eastern roles, rather than as, say, Chris from The Magnificent Seven.

[Syndicate]

He will always be remember for The King And I and The Magnificent Seven, even through he did a lot of other big name movies.
With movies like Anastasia, The Ten Commandments, Morituri, Night Flight from Moscow, Kings of the Sun and Futureworld.

[Turn]

As Mr. Blofeld states abouve, a bald Blofeld is something that was exclusive to the film series. The Fleming Blofeld had hair and even Jan Werich had hair and a beard. Having cast the already bald Donald Pleasance and the need to make his appearance bizarre was entirely the creative team's decision. That said, I think Yul Brynner would have made a great Blofeld if we stick to that context.

You'd think if Blofeld had created a way to grow a full head of hair by DAF he wouldn't need to be kidnapping billionaires and hijacking space weapons. He'd have made a lot for that. Come to think of it, that sounds like a Dr. Evil plot.

I expect Yul Brynner would have been alright. Although, I would have liked to have seen Herbert Lom play the role myself.

Interesting suggestion, but one I have trouble seeing based on knowing him so well as Chief Inspector Dreyfuss from the Pink Panther films. I am chuckling thinking of him twitching at Osato screaming "Kill Bond, now!!!" Or "I am about to inaugurate a little war" twitch, twitch.

[Guy Haines]

As Mr. Blofeld states abouve, a bald Blofeld is something that was exclusive to the film series. The Fleming Blofeld had hair and even Jan Werich had hair and a beard. Having cast the already bald Donald Pleasance and the need to make his appearance bizarre was entirely the creative team's decision. That said, I think Yul Brynner would have made a great Blofeld if we stick to that context.

You'd think if Blofeld had created a way to grow a full head of hair by DAF he wouldn't need to be kidnapping billionaires and hijacking space weapons. He'd have made a lot for that. Come to think of it, that sounds like a Dr. Evil plot.

I expect Yul Brynner would have been alright. Although, I would have liked to have seen Herbert Lom play the role myself.

Interesting suggestion, but one I have trouble seeing based on knowing him so well as Chief Inspector Dreyfuss from the Pink Panther films. I am chuckling thinking of him twitching at Osato screaming "Kill Bond, now!!!" Or "I am about to inaugurate a little war" twitch, twitch.

I must agree with you concerning Herbert Lom. A very good actor, but carrying all that Pink Panther baggage. Donald Pleasance's Blofeld has been undermined to an extent by Mike Myers. Herbert Lom as Blofeld? - well, you've made the point regarding the twitch. A pity, but there we are.

But then, was Blofeld ever properly cast? Jan Werich was dumped before audiences could cast judgement, Donald Pleasance was very much a last minute replacement. Telly Savalas and Charles Gray played the part in very different ways. I suppose one could argue, though, that the Blofeld of the books also changed from one story to another - from obese crime boss to svelte would-be aristocrat to armour plated lunatic. By casting a different actor with a different take on the part, one could say that the film makers were only changing the character, just as Fleming did in the books. Whether that was a conscious decision on the producers part I rather doubt.

Edited by Guy Haines, 01 August 2010 - 10:28 AM.

[jaguar007]

But then, was Blofeld ever properly cast? Jan Werich was dumped before audiences could cast judgement, Donald Pleasance was very much a last minute replacement.

Of the Blofelds we got, I think of Sevelas as the closest. In the books, Blofeld was a big man (I think he was supposed to be 6'3), certainly bigger than Bond.

[Mr. Blofeld]

But then, was Blofeld ever properly cast? Jan Werich was dumped before audiences could cast judgement, Donald Pleasance was very much a last minute replacement. Telly Savalas and Charles Gray played the part in very different ways. I suppose one could argue, though, that the Blofeld of the books also changed from one story to another - from obese crime boss to svelte would-be aristocrat to armour plated lunatic.

Werich certainly fit the bill for a Thunderball-era Blofeld (sans beard, of course); do you think they would have simply had the actor lose weight and dye his hair, were Werich not cast to begin with?

By casting a different actor with a different take on the part, one could say that the film makers were only changing the character, just as Fleming did in the books. Whether that was a conscious decision on the producers' part I rather doubt.

I suppose... but in Thunderball the novel, Blofeld was described; in Thunderball the film, the audience could not see his face -- as such, it was natural for the audience to assume that, when they saw him, his appearance would conform to what had been seen before; i.e., with a full head of hair, a business suit, and a cat.

What the audience got in YOLT, with the minor exception of the cat, was completely different; for no reason at all, Blofeld is now scarred, bald, and wears a Mao suit -- which isn't even appropriate, since the film is set in Japan! Granted, the filmmakers had been going for the Mao suit even with Werich in the role, but still...

In any case, at least they achieved a bizarre sort of consistency by hiring another bald actor for OHMSS, but even then, had director Peter Hunt been trying to steer clear of YOLT, they should've at least equipped ol' Telly with a wig... and I don't mean the one they gave to Charles Gray.

[Guy Haines]

But then, was Blofeld ever properly cast? Jan Werich was dumped before audiences could cast judgement, Donald Pleasance was very much a last minute replacement. Telly Savalas and Charles Gray played the part in very different ways. I suppose one could argue, though, that the Blofeld of the books also changed from one story to another - from obese crime boss to svelte would-be aristocrat to armour plated lunatic.

Werich certainly fit the bill for a Thunderball-era Blofeld (sans beard, of course); do you think they would have simply had the actor lose weight and dye his hair, were Werich not cast to begin with?

By casting a different actor with a different take on the part, one could say that the film makers were only changing the character, just as Fleming did in the books. Whether that was a conscious decision on the producers' part I rather doubt.

I suppose... but in Thunderball the novel, Blofeld was described; in Thunderball the film, the audience could not see his face -- as such, it was natural for the audience to assume that, when they saw him, his appearance would conform to what had been seen before; i.e., with a full head of hair, a business suit, and a cat.

What the audience got in YOLT, with the minor exception of the cat, was completely different; for no reason at all, Blofeld is now scarred, bald, and wears a Mao suit -- which isn't even appropriate, since the film is set in Japan! Granted, the filmmakers had been going for the Mao suit even with Werich in the role, but still...

In any case, at least they achieved a bizarre sort of consistency by hiring another bald actor for OHMSS, but even then, had director Peter Hunt been trying to steer clear of YOLT, they should've at least equipped ol' Telly with a wig... and I don't mean the one they gave to Charles Gray.

The Mao suit - I never quite understood why Blofeld wore that. To ingratiate himself with his paymasters perhaps? (who, oddly enough, were both wearing black business suits in SPECTRE's volcano lair!) Or was it simply a megalomaniac fashion statement? Either way it became part of the character.

As for the portrayal of Blofeld, the lack of consistency was more in the way the character was played than in appearance. As you rightly point out, Telly Savalas was also bald. But his version of Blofeld was very different from that of Donald Pleasance - apart from height difference, Pleasance played a scarred fanatic with an indeterminate European accent, whereas Savalas was a physical match for Bond, a hands on villain with a transatlantic accent and a fake veneer of European sophistication (ideal for the story, given Blofeld's aristocratic pretensions in OHMSS). As for Charles Gray - well, Noel Coward was once under consideration to play a Bond villain, and in Gray's Blofeld we have something similar, right down to the cigarette holder!

[Guy Haines]

But then, was Blofeld ever properly cast? Jan Werich was dumped before audiences could cast judgement, Donald Pleasance was very much a last minute replacement.

Of the Blofelds we got, I think of Sevelas as the closest. In the books, Blofeld was a big man (I think he was supposed to be 6'3), certainly bigger than Bond.

I agree. He is probably the most underrated of the Blofelds, but he was the one who was more of a match for Bond. Some critics have dismissed him as more of a henchman than a mastermind, but I thought he acquitted himself very well indeed, and casting an actor who had played some "tough guy" roles as a Blofeld with delusions of joining effete European aristocracy only made the "Count de Bleauchamp" seem even more bogus.

[Royal Dalton]

As Mr. Blofeld states abouve, a bald Blofeld is something that was exclusive to the film series. The Fleming Blofeld had hair and even Jan Werich had hair and a beard. Having cast the already bald Donald Pleasance and the need to make his appearance bizarre was entirely the creative team's decision. That said, I think Yul Brynner would have made a great Blofeld if we stick to that context.

You'd think if Blofeld had created a way to grow a full head of hair by DAF he wouldn't need to be kidnapping billionaires and hijacking space weapons. He'd have made a lot for that. Come to think of it, that sounds like a Dr. Evil plot.

I expect Yul Brynner would have been alright. Although, I would have liked to have seen Herbert Lom play the role myself.

Interesting suggestion, but one I have trouble seeing based on knowing him so well as Chief Inspector Dreyfuss from the Pink Panther films. I am chuckling thinking of him twitching at Osato screaming "Kill Bond, now!!!" Or "I am about to inaugurate a little war" twitch, twitch.

I must agree with you concerning Herbert Lom. A very good actor, but carrying all that Pink Panther baggage. Donald Pleasance's Blofeld has been undermined to an extent by Mike Myers. Herbert Lom as Blofeld? - well, you've made the point regarding the twitch. A pity, but there we are.

Not really sure why Lom's performance in The Pink Panther Strikes Again should have any bearing on a role he would have played nine years earlier, but to each their own...

[Guy Haines]

As Mr. Blofeld states abouve, a bald Blofeld is something that was exclusive to the film series. The Fleming Blofeld had hair and even Jan Werich had hair and a beard. Having cast the already bald Donald Pleasance and the need to make his appearance bizarre was entirely the creative team's decision. That said, I think Yul Brynner would have made a great Blofeld if we stick to that context.

You'd think if Blofeld had created a way to grow a full head of hair by DAF he wouldn't need to be kidnapping billionaires and hijacking space weapons. He'd have made a lot for that. Come to think of it, that sounds like a Dr. Evil plot.

I expect Yul Brynner would have been alright. Although, I would have liked to have seen Herbert Lom play the role myself.

Interesting suggestion, but one I have trouble seeing based on knowing him so well as Chief Inspector Dreyfuss from the Pink Panther films. I am chuckling thinking of him twitching at Osato screaming "Kill Bond, now!!!" Or "I am about to inaugurate a little war" twitch, twitch.

I must agree with you concerning Herbert Lom. A very good actor, but carrying all that Pink Panther baggage. Donald Pleasance's Blofeld has been undermined to an extent by Mike Myers. Herbert Lom as Blofeld? - well, you've made the point regarding the twitch. A pity, but there we are.

Not really sure why Lom's performance in The Pink Panther Strikes Again should have any bearing on a role he would have played nine years earlier, but to each their own...

As I mentioned above, Pleasance as Blofeld has been undermined a bit, for me at least, by the sight of Mike Myers as Dr Evil. I might well have had similar unworthy thoughts about Herbert Lom as Blofeld after seeing his twitchy Inspector Dreyfus. I take your point though.

[Mr. Blofeld]

I hope this video provides an acceptable (however cheap-looking) look at the Blofelds before Pleasence, as well as what Jan Werich's Blofeld may have looked like on the silver screen; enjoy:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRhVEl9veNM&fmt=18

[Guy Haines]

I hope this video provides an acceptable (however cheap-looking) look at the Blofelds before Pleasence, as well as what Jan Werich's Blofeld may have looked like on the silver screen; enjoy:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRhVEl9veNM&fmt=18

Now that was very interesting. I can see how they would have side stepped the alleged "problem" of Jan Werich's command of English. Whether that would have overidden the other so called drawback - his general appearance - we will never know. Another point - I had always assumed that Joseph Wiseman had been brought back to voice Blofeld in Thunderball. According to this, not so. As I said, an interesting find.

[Mr. Blofeld]

Now that was very interesting. I can see how they would have side stepped the alleged "problem" of Jan Werich's command of English. Whether that would have overidden the other so called drawback - his general appearance - we will never know.

My guess is that the production was large enough that the intent of Werich being dubbed didn't reach Lewis Gilbert (who, mind you, had never done a movie this big before) until after Werich was fired and they were looking for a replacement -- by that point, an English actor was needed, so there wouldn't be a dubbing at all.

Another point - I had always assumed that Joseph Wiseman had been brought back to voice Blofeld in Thunderball. According to this, not so. As I said, an interesting find.

It's a common misconception, I know, merely because it sounds like Wiseman -- but the filter they employed caused Pohlmann's voice to lose a bit of its basso intensity; hence, the mix-up.

[Guy Haines]

Now that was very interesting. I can see how they would have side stepped the alleged "problem" of Jan Werich's command of English. Whether that would have overidden the other so called drawback - his general appearance - we will never know.

My guess is that the production was large enough that the intent of Werich being dubbed didn't reach Lewis Gilbert (who, mind you, had never done a movie this big before) until after Werich was fired and they were looking for a replacement -- by that point, an English actor was needed, so there wouldn't be a dubbing at all.

Another point - I had always assumed that Joseph Wiseman had been brought back to voice Blofeld in Thunderball. According to this, not so. As I said, an interesting find.

It's a common misconception, I know, merely because it sounds like Wiseman -- but the filter they employed caused Pohlmann's voice to lose a bit of its basso intensity; hence, the mix-up.

On the "Blofeld's Hair" thread, I've asked the question whether the film makers ever considered casting Eric Pohlmann himself as Blofeld. He spoke good English but with a suitably foreign sounding accent, and I don't think it would have taken much to give him the right appearance as the villain. And it would have provided continuity - audiences finally putting a face to the voice.