23 replies to this topic

[PrinceKamalKhan]

George Lazenby as the mysterious "J.B." who comes to the aid of Napoleon Solo and a beautiful Russian defector in 1983's "Return of the Man From UNCLE".




Which means all 3 Bond actors(up to that point in the series' history) played the role in 1983.

[Doctor Whom]

George Lazenby as the mysterious "J.B." who comes to the aid of Napoleon Solo and a beautiful Russian defector in 1983's "Return of the Man From UNCLE".


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WIXI4AfbwA

Which means all 3 Bond actors(up to that point in the series' history) played the role in 1983.

I haven't seen this movie since its original airing. While I remember enjoying the Lazenby cameo, I thought the movie itself was below average. But then, CBS reunion movies of that era tended to be notably poor (q.v. "The Return of the Beverly Hillbillies" and "Return to Green Acres").

[Safari Suit]

Oi Vey! And people said he was wooden in OHMSS!

Good to see though, that's better action than I'd expect from an early 80s TV Movie

[GUY007]

And Lazenby plays one last time James ( Bond ?) in 1989 in "Diamonds Are'nt Forever"

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0508383/

http://doubleosectio...01_archive.html

Edited by GUY007, 20 December 2010 - 05:16 PM.

[Doctor Whom]

And Lazenby plays one last time James ( Bond ?) in 1989 in "Diamonds Are'nt Forever"

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0508383/

http://doubleosectio...01_archive.html

It was cute. Various characters would refer to Lazenby as "Mr. James..." only to get cut off before they reveal his last name. The executive produer of this series was Michael Sloan, who also produced "The Return of the Man From UNCLE."

[jaguar007]

I have not seen that since 1983 either. Gawd that was cheesy, especially the music.

[THX-007]

Yeah I posted that video not too long ago.
I like watching it because it looks like George is having fun.

I'm thinking of uploading clips from DIamonds Aren't Forever. The clips would just be of George since the other parts are pretty bad. No wonder almost no one remembers The New Alfred Hitchcock Presents. Once again George looks to be having fun and bemused at the over-the-topness and coriness of the other actors.

I have not seen that since 1983 either. Gawd that was cheesy, especially the music.

Its an 80s TV movie, its kinda of the standard.

Edited by THX-007, 21 December 2010 - 08:07 AM.

[Stephen Spotswood]

justin bieaber?

[Doctor Whom]

I have not seen that since 1983 either. Gawd that was cheesy, especially the music.

And not a "good" cheesy, either. As I said, I haven't seen this film since it first aired, but I remember being quite disappointed in it. Part of the appeal of the original was the relationship between the two leads and in this film, they spend the majority of their time apart.

[THX-007]

Found another Laz appearance from 1983, the year of the Bonds.
Laz makes an appearance in the TV series "Bring Em' Back Alive" which ran from 82 to 83. George stars in the episode "To Kill A Princess" as Captain Hayward who, along with two other villains, plots to kill a Singapore princess and take her power. Laz is great form as the bad guy and engages in a fist fight and sword fight with series star Bruce Boxleitner (known for his role in Tron). I'm sad that the original plan for the Never Say Never Again project to star Lazenby fell through after Connery expressed interest. George was the most fit Bond actor out of the three.

[Napoleon Solo]

Lazenby's 1979 appearance on Hawaii Five-O may be coming out in April on DVD:

http://www.tvshowson...Season-11/14916

That, of course, means you have a former James Bond with a former Felix Leiter.

For a review, go to this URL and scroll down to episode 259.

http://www.mjq.net/fiveo/5-0log11.htm

[jaguar007]

Lazenby's 1979 appearance on Hawaii Five-O may be coming out in April on DVD:

http://www.tvshowson...Season-11/14916

That, of course, means you have a former James Bond with a former Felix Leiter.

For a review, go to this URL and scroll down to episode 259.

http://www.mjq.net/fiveo/5-0log11.htm

Interesting, they have Barry Bostwick as martial-arts-practising drug kingpin and Lazenby as a gay choreographer who addresses McGarrett as "darling." Sounds like they may have gotten the casting a bit backwards

[Mr. Blofeld]

I'm sad that the original plan for the Never Say Never Again project to star Lazenby fell through after Connery expressed interest.

That's not true; Connery was attached to the project the whole way through. Lazenby was never approached for (or even attached to) Never Say.

[THX-007]

I'm sad that the original plan for the Never Say Never Again project to star Lazenby fell through after Connery expressed interest.

That's not true; Connery was attached to the project the whole way through. Lazenby was never approached for (or even attached to) Never Say.

I heard the original title of the film was "James Bond of the Secret Service" but was scrapped because it sounded too much like OHMSS. The producers originally thought to cast George seeing how he was the most likely candidate to star in the film. When Connery expressed interest in the script, the producers went after him.

Your information is probably better than mine I admit. I heard this info during this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5JtsCcpsFZs&feature=related

[jaguar007]

The documentary above does leave some information out. Originally when Connery first became involved, it around 1977 and McClory was planning to make Warhead. Connery was going to co-produce, co-script and possibly direct but not star. It is possible that Lazenby was mentioned as a possible Bond, but I don't think he was ever actually seriously considered or approached. Warhead fell flat and plans were scrapped for several years until Jack Schwartzman became involved in the early 80s and Connery was set to play Bond from the get-go for what became NSNA.

[THX-007]

The documentary above does leave some information out. Originally when Connery first became involved, it around 1977 and McClory was planning to make Warhead. Connery was going to co-produce, co-script and possibly direct but not star. It is possible that Lazenby was mentioned as a possible Bond, but I don't think he was ever actually seriously considered or approached. Warhead fell flat and plans were scrapped for several years until Jack Schwartzman became involved in the early 80s and Connery was set to play Bond from the get-go for what became NSNA.

Thanks for the info =)
I never knew about Warhead

[Gothamite]

That's pretty interesting. I'd heard about this cameo before, but I never knew how completely blatant it was that the character Lazenby is playing is actually James Bond. Isn't this massive copyright infringment?

It's nice seeing George drive the DB5 with new gadgets. It's also funny that Laz broke the fourth wall in both of his performances as Bond.

Edited by Gothamite, 23 January 2011 - 04:21 PM.

[Napoleon Solo]

That's pretty interesting. I'd heard about this cameo before, but I never knew how completely blatant it was that the character Lazenby is playing is actually James Bond. Isn't this massive copyright infringment?

It's nice seeing George drive the DB5 with new gadgets. It's also funny that Laz broke the fourth wall in both of his performances as Bond.

Parody is an exception to copyright and I suppose the producers could claim that. That's also why he's listed as "JB," not as James Bond. Still, in the original TV Guide listing in 1983, it said something like, "George Lazenby reprises his role of James Bond from 1969's On Her Majesty's Secret Service."

[Mr. Blofeld]

Connery was going to co-produce, co-script and possibly direct but not star.

No, McClory finally persuaded Connery to star; they even made detailed production paintings for crucial scenes and went on location reccesses, not to mention snagging Len Deighton for the initial draft (the Warhead copy I have has a little written statement on it by Deighton, saying he contributed nothing to that version of the film), James Bond of the Secret Service -- once EON had to scrap their grandiose SPECTRE-related ideas for The Spy Who Loved Me, McClory and Connery gladly snatched them up for the Deighton-less Warhead.

It would've been ludicrously over-the-top; it's a very good thing we only got Never Say, and not The Whimsical World of Sean Connery.

[jaguar007]

Connery was going to co-produce, co-script and possibly direct but not star.

No, McClory finally persuaded Connery to stsr; they even made detailed production paintings for crucial scenes and went on location reccesses, not to mention snagging Len Deighton for the initial draft (the Warhead copy I have has a little written statement on it by Deighton, saying he contributed nothing to that version of the film), James Bond of the Secret Service -- once EON had to scrap their grandiose SPECTRE-related ideas for The Spy Who Loved Me, McClory and Connery gladly snatched them up for the Deighton-less Warhead.

It would've been ludicrously over-the-top; it's a very good thing we only got Never Say, and not The Whimsical World of Sean Connery.

McClory originally brought Connery on board JBOTSS, renamed Warhead, to co write the film with Deighton because he wanted Connery's sense of humor for Bond in the script as well as his name attached. When Connery came on board, the plan was to have another actor to play Bond (although it was probably in McColry's head to get Connery as involved as possible and to convince him to play Bond). It was not until the script was finished (or close to it) that McClory offered him the director chair and finally the offer to play Bond.

[Shakey Martini]

What always strikes me about George's cameo in 'The return of the man from Uncle' is how credible his looks (if not altogether his acting abilities) were still in 1983 for playing the role of James Bond, certainly when you compare him to the much visibly older Roger Moore of Octopussy it does make you wonder that if George had only stuck with the role we might of been looking at the actor who realistically could of played Bond in maybe at least nine Bond pictures...(Shakey Martini sighs wistfully as he imagines a far better world with nine Lazenby Bond films)

[MajorB]

I have not seen that since 1983 either. Gawd that was cheesy, especially the music.

And not a "good" cheesy, either. As I said, I haven't seen this film since it first aired, but I remember being quite disappointed in it. Part of the appeal of the original was the relationship between the two leads and in this film, they spend the majority of their time apart.

Same here. IIRC, the basic plot was originally written for the TV series--without the reunion aspect, of course--so the splitting of Solo and Illya made more sense. It was something that often happened in the series. When the story was used for the TV movie instead , it wasn't restructured to give them more time together, which was a shame given Vaughn and McCallum's great screen chemistry. Actually, I always thought it seemed pretty obvious that what Michael Sloane really wanted to do was make the reunion into his own "Bond film." Not only are there the Bond in-jokes ("J.B.," the equipment officer called "Z"), but the whole thing is structured like a Bond film, complete with a final assault on the villain's headquarters. Sloane even concocted a new character, the head of Thrush--who hadn't existed in the series--presumably because he wanted a Blofeld-type character. It's too bad. And the chatter about the Soderbergh U.N.C.L.E. film seems to have dried up, so who knows if that will ever happen. *Sigh*

[Napoleon Solo]

Same here. IIRC, the basic plot was originally written for the TV series--without the reunion aspect, of course--so the splitting of Solo and Illya made more sense. It was something that often happened in the series. When the story was used for the TV movie instead , it wasn't restructured to give them more time together, which was a shame given Vaughn and McCallum's great screen chemistry. Actually, I always thought it seemed pretty obvious that what Michael Sloane really wanted to do was make the reunion into his own "Bond film." Not only are there the Bond in-jokes ("J.B.," the equipment officer called "Z"), but the whole thing is structured like a Bond film, complete with a final assault on the villain's headquarters. Sloane even concocted a new character, the head of Thrush--who hadn't existed in the series--presumably because he wanted a Blofeld-type character. It's too bad. And the chatter about the Soderbergh U.N.C.L.E. film seems to have dried up, so who knows if that will ever happen. *Sigh*

Also, Sloane's Thrush boasted it had "become a nuclear power." In the series Thrush had much more exotic projects including a vaporizer (The Arabian Affair), a device to get gold from sea water (The Five Daughters Affair parts I and II) and was developing space platforms (The Love Affair). The caper in Return is like a rehash of Thunderball.

Sloane became involved after an attempt by two other would-be UNCLE producers, Danny Biederman and Robert Short, didn't come to fruition. That duo had contacted Ken Adam, who was interested. The basic idea was Thrush had conquered the world economically, but nobody knew it. A few years earlier, there was a TV movie project, scripted by Sam Rolfe, that featured an exo-skeleton that would have been more exotic than what's seen in Return.

[MajorB]

Same here. IIRC, the basic plot was originally written for the TV series--without the reunion aspect, of course--so the splitting of Solo and Illya made more sense. It was something that often happened in the series. When the story was used for the TV movie instead , it wasn't restructured to give them more time together, which was a shame given Vaughn and McCallum's great screen chemistry. Actually, I always thought it seemed pretty obvious that what Michael Sloane really wanted to do was make the reunion into his own "Bond film." Not only are there the Bond in-jokes ("J.B.," the equipment officer called "Z"), but the whole thing is structured like a Bond film, complete with a final assault on the villain's headquarters. Sloane even concocted a new character, the head of Thrush--who hadn't existed in the series--presumably because he wanted a Blofeld-type character. It's too bad. And the chatter about the Soderbergh U.N.C.L.E. film seems to have dried up, so who knows if that will ever happen. *Sigh*

The basic idea was Thrush had conquered the world economically, but nobody knew it. A few years earlier, there was a TV movie project, scripted by Sam Rolfe, that featured an exo-skeleton that would have been more exotic than what's seen in Return.

I now remember reading that. Interesting that Quantum sounds like it's something along the same lines.