OHMSS

Bond_Lover_90

Hey what can people tell me about the way George Lazenby acts in OHMSS?

bondaholic007

You can read my review here


http://bondaholic.co.uk/viewtopic.php?t=857

Lazenby was a fine actor IMO

The main bits being of the review about Lazenby are;

George Lazenby handled action sequences well, Which is apparently the best thing he could do considering he had never acted before until this roll.

The main problem with this film which is hard to admit is the acting. Peter Hunt's background was though a technical profession having been the editor of 4 previous Bond films he had not got got the best performances out of the cast.

In the first shooting of this scene, Lazenby cried, but then Peter Hunt said "Bond dosen't cry" then scene was reshot and Bond did not cry.

Napoleon Plural

Hunt disputes this and said that the one with Bond crying is the one used, they did shoot another take but more for back up purposes.

I think Lazenby got better throughout the movie, when the action kicks in. He was picked because he was good at action but there isn't too much of it in the first half of the movie. To my mind he can't do the witty oneliners at all, lacking Connery's wryness or Moore's self-deprecation, he seems way to pleased with himself. That would have been worse with a cinema audience than to someone watching it on a DVD.

Lazenby's acting is best when he arrives at Piz Gloria and has to convey his apprehension at being in Blofeld's clutches. But then he's dogged by a phoney dubbed English accent which goes wholly against the down-to-earth style movie, as it's clearly not Lazenby's voice.

Final scene is very very good and hard to imagine it bettered by Connery. But much of the dialogue is written for Connery.

Thunderpussy

Lazenby got bad advice dropping out after only one film, if he'd stuck around he'd of improved ( i thought he was good). OHMSS is my favorite Bond film, DAF would of been very diffrent if Lazenby had done it, less camp it could of been the first Bond out for revenge Movies.
I'm sure he's still kicking himself today.

Tobias

I liked his performance in this film very much ohmss doesnt lack any action at all it is one of my favourites

Grishenkojr

Ummm, well, Lazenby is my least favourite of the Bonds, but consideing that OHMSS was his first (or at least one of his first acting roles) and he was wholly inexperienced it's not too bad. He did give the character some emotional depth that I didn't see Connery give.

TripleXXX

This movie could have been the best if Connery was in it.

LazyBee

Anyone who says Lazenby isn't good in it is incorrect. Sure they're entitled to their opinion but he fits the film so much more than Sean Connery would have. Connery seems devoid of emotion most times, yet Lazenby hits the nail on the head, portraying a Bond under pressure and a tortured soul as well as a younger and more flawed agent.
Don't let my Lazenby fanboyism be any kind of a factor here, but I think he did very well in OHMSS. Having Connery return in DAF was like watching "Meet the Spartans" after "The Shawshank Redemption".

thesecretagent

By and large Lazenby was alright. He could have got better had he stayed with the role. The film is ok too. The whole love affair with Tracey added an element not yet seen in Bond. Something Casino Royale (2006) played upon later.
Connery would have done a far worse job than Lazenby. Good as he was early on, he had gotten complacent and played Bond lazily and without interest with YOLT. Diamonds Are Forever would have been a hell of a lot better with Lazenby, that's for sure.

Doctor Nohands

Hi everybody I'm new to this forum and respect everybody's own opinion, but just wanted to say that I think George Lazenby was good in the role and agree that having SC in this particular film would no have worked well judging by his performances in YOLT and DAF. I would say OHMSS is one of the strongest Bond films with the final assault on Blofeld's HQ equalling the one in YOLT, however I would have preferred to see Donald Pleasence back in the role over Telly Savalas (who is still good with a great voice and much better than Charles Grey).

It would have been great to see GL do one more film, settling into the role and learning his craft. DAF would have been better if he stayed rather than enticing a clearly uninterested SC back for one final run out(barring NSNA).
Ooh that was my first post, thanks!

Napoleon Plural

Welcome to the forum nohands!

Personally I'd have thought foreigners might have the edge with OHMSS. Why? It's their voices that bug me. Telly's American tones might be dubbed into a deep European sound, much like Blofeld would sound himself. Lazenby's odd sounding voice, a bit high and going up at the end, would benefit and I know everyone likes Rigg but I found her a bit posh, she should sound European (ie Fr-Italian) too.

Thunderpussy

Hi, nohands OHMSS is a great movie and I agree that if GL had of stayed DAF would of turned out a better movie.But unlike Napoleon I love Telly Savalas's voice.
Welcome to the forum {[]

JimmyBond0129

LazyBee wrote:

Anyone who says Lazenby isn't good in it is incorrect. Sure they're entitled to their opinion but he fits the film so much more than Sean Connery would have. Connery seems devoid of emotion most times, yet Lazenby hits the nail on the head, portraying a Bond under pressure and a tortured soul as well as a younger and more flawed agent.
Don't let my Lazenby fanboyism be any kind of a factor here, but I think he did very well in OHMSS. Having Connery return in DAF was like watching "Meet the Spartans" after "The Shawshank Redemption".

It's Lazenby's fault for leaving he let his agent convince him that spy films would become archaic in the seventies. That agent wasn't good at predicting the future huh?

tohmss007

Lazenby was fine in OHMSS, the dubbing was a little annoying, but the film plays directly out of the pages of the Flemming novel. I believe there was true chemistry between Bond and Tracy, and by the way I think Dianna Rigg was the first women I fell in love with and she was great in her role. Yes, Lazenby was not as good as Connery, but honestly who could have been? To this day I believe that OHMSS with a committed Connery in the role could have been the greatest of all Bond films.

This was the first Bond movie I remember seeing first run in the movies as I was 5 at the time. I can also recall seeing the other Bond movies soon after 1969 as often double and triple features of the previous Bond films were run in the theatres in my neck of the woods, which was Queens, NY.

This is definitely where my love of the series began. Then later on it was big time in the household when ABC began showing them as Sunday Night movies. When ABC broadcast OHMSS I remember them changing the movie. I believe the movie began with "Bond" narrating the action as the ski chase/escape from Piz Gloria was shown. Very odd.

Once the films came out on VHS and were then shown on TV frequently OHMSS became my favorite film. The action, the locals, and the greatest score out of all the Bond films won me over. To this day I frequently crank the Bond tunes on my IPOD, and the music from OHMSS never disappoints.

Loeffelholz

tohmss007 wrote:

This is definitely where my love of the series began. Then later on it was big time in the household when ABC began showing them as Sunday Night movies.

Welcome to AJB, tohmss {[]

I'll never forget when ABC showed it---because I couldn't see it X-( I was about twelve, I think, and my sister had a dancing recital that was televised by a local TV station...so I was unavoidably detained As a result, I didn't see this particular Bond film until the advent of the miracle of VHS...one of the greatest Bond films of all time...the very first Bond novel I ever read B-)

Ilya Kuryakin

tohmss007 wrote:

When ABC broadcast OHMSS I remember them changing the movie. I believe the movie began with "Bond" narrating the action as the ski chase/escape from Piz Gloria was shown. Very odd.

Indeed. By all accounts OHMSS was not only re-edited and new footage introduced but was also very heavily cut by the ABC censors with every fight scene affected; one I hear being removed altogether.

For the curious and completist like myself, a certain Blofeld's Cat - he of the excellent OHMSS tribute site - has reconstructed that extended/censored ABC version into a fan edit. If you're really nice and do some serious arse licking he may even send interested parties a copy.

Napoleon Plural

Nice idea, but I understood he has gone to ground, certainly over the EONised, rescored Never Say Never Again. Is he about at all?