5 replies to this topic

[B5Erik]

While George Lazenby's tenure as Bond was short lived and he didn't exactly give a great performance he is often unfairly bashed for his portrayal of James Bond.

I honestly think he could have developed quite nicely into one of the better Bonds, and his style may have been similar to Timothy Dalton's. Whether or not the Bond franchise would have lasted this long without lengthy interruption (of 10 or more years) had he done 2 or 3 more Bond movies is debatable, but I do think that he could have learned a little more about acting and become better at those subtle things that would have earned him a lot of respect.

He had some really good moments in OHMSS, and overall I thought he did a fine job. He didn't have the charisma that Connery had, nor the charming wit of Roger Moore, but he did have a lot of what the literary Bond had. There was a solid beginning from which he could have grown into the role very well.

[Turn]

I have no doubt that Laz would have improved with every film. He had the looks and moves to become as associated with the role as the other actors who played it. In the end, he couldn't have picked a better film to have been his one and only.

As far as those who bash, it's mainly non-fans or very casual fans. Others see and appreciate his performance for what it was - a debut by a man with no acting experience in an epic film in the biggest film series of the decade and replacing one of the biggest stars in the world. In other words, well done.

[Major Tallon]

I agree with both of the above posts.

[Double-0-Seven]

Peter Hunt himself mentions in the "Inside OHMSS" documentary that Lazenby could have gone on to become a very credible Bond. He already did pretty good based on his little acting experience, and I have no doubt he would have grown into the role. He had the look and the physicality, and he even handled the humor pretty well. Didn't quite have Connery's charisma and his acting in the love scenes left a bit to be desired (though he's pretty convincing in the final scene), but overall he did a good job and I have no doubt he would have developed his portrayal more over a couple more films.

[BarbarasBallGown]

What spoilt the movie mostly is having him disguise himself as Hilary Bray and use that accent (voiced by George Baker), they were cringeworthy scenes. For me, they go down as the worst scenes in Bond history. It looked embarrasing, and I bet Lazenby was embarrased too.
Otherwise, he was good at Bond and would've done "Diamonds..." better than Connery. Connery was'nt into that movie at all. He looked like he was on auto-pilot throughout the whole movie. Lazenby should've got 2nd chance.

[Mallory]

Connery looked like he had more fun when the cameras were not rolling for Diamonds. He was great in the stunt scenes though.

 

Lazenby's problem was his ego. If he was a better sport he would have done the seven films. He also listened to the wrong people. He was convinced by his agent that Bond was dead but Roger Moore pretty much took Bond into the 70's and 80's. He seemed better about Brosnan though. 

 

One thing Lazenby had was raw talent, he wasn't a great actor yet he moved well, his fights were convincing (because he was a combat instructor for the SAS) and from his military experience he knew how to handle weapons. He was a known womanizer so he had that part down but his role in OHMSS was more romantic than womanizing and seducing the other girls seemed more like an effort to bang as many broads as he can before he has to give it all up. Plus it was all for Queen and Country. 

 

I was taken aback by the dubbing in the Hilly scene but his body language seemed spot on. Like I said, he knew how to move. Just needed to handle lines better.

 

There was an interview in 1969 when he had the beard and long hair and he talked about how Bond should be more human. A ruthless assassin but have human characteristics. This was dabbled by Moore and Connery but Dalton took it to another level which Craig continued onward.

Edited by Mallory, 30 December 2012 - 05:01 AM.