Eps 28: James Bond Just Made Me A Better Salesperson Than You
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| Content creation: | GPT-3.5, |
Host
Perry Bowman
Podcast Content
Beginning his professional career as a model, Lazenby had acted in commercials alone when cast as replacement for the original Bond actor, Sean Connery. While making good money as a male model, an agent named Maggie Abbott suggested Lazenbys suit to 007, even though he had never played an acting role. Although signed to seven Bond films, Australian actor George Lazenby appeared in just one, alleging he was treated badly by producers. When Lazenby left the role upon completion of the films, Lazenbys stated at the time was that he did not wish to become typecast, and Bond himself was rapidly becoming a relic in the midst of countercultures growth.
By November 1969, before OHMSS was released, Lazenby said he did not wish to do another Bond role, saying, The producers made me feel I was numb. Only a year later, having led both the US and the UK box-offices with the one and only George Lazenby Bond movie, On Her Majestys Secret Service, Lazenby left a deal for seven films and a million-dollar contract, fading into legend. Through a worldwide casting process, Australian model and mechanical engineer George Lazenby was cast by director Peter Hunt and producers Albert R.Cubby Broccoli and Harry Saltzman as the next 007 for 1969s On Her Majestys Secret Service . In 1968, Sean Connery had left his role as British Secret Agent James Bond, and producer Albert R. Broccoli met George Lazenby when the two were getting haircuts in the same hair salon.
Lazenby dressed for the part of James Bond, sporting a number of Bond-specific fashion items, such as a Rolex Submariner wristwatch and Savile Row suit, that had been ordered, but not collected, from the original Bond actor, Sean Connery. The James Bond character was solidified when Lazenby accidentally punched a professional wrestler, acting as stunt coordinator, in the face, impressing producer Albert R. Broccoli with his ability to show aggression. After seeing the movie, it was surprising for me, as a longtime Bond fan, to find out that the nucleus of "Being Bond," and of George Lazenbys whole career trajectory, was the untold romance, discovered by "Being Bond" director Josh Greenbaum during a meeting with Lazenby. The amazing journey which took George Lazenby from hunting down his lost love half way around the world and to international fame is told by the once-007 himself himself, in the movie.
To even recognise the name George Lazenby, one has to be somewhat of an avid fan of the James Bond action film franchise . These scenes star Australian actor Josh Lawson as George Lazenby, and have numerous interesting guest appearances, including Dana Carvey as Johnny Carson, and Jane Seymour, the ex-Bond girl, as Lazenbys agent. The personal details filling out more familiar stories somehow carry just as much intrigue and humour as her Bond excursions. Worse, the Bond-related stuff is not particularly illuminating--we see Lazenby goofing around the set, sleeping through cast members, and pissing off co-producer Harry Saltzman by refusing to sign a seven-film deal and doing promotional work for the movie while sporting an obviously un-Bond-like mustache--but we never really get a good idea what is going on inside his head.
The second, and bigger, problem is that Become Bond is so enamored with Lazenbys reminiscences of Lazenbys formative years--which writer/director Josh Greenbaum himself questioned the truth of at one point--that it goes nearly an hour before it gets to James Bonds part, an almost fatal decision for a film that clocks in at just 95 minutes. Still, if George Lazenby is a bullshitter good enough to feign his way to a role as James Bond, he surely has the chops to spin a tall tale that will keep you entertained for ninety minutes. Lazenbys got Connerys haircut, bought one of Bonds earlier rejected suits, and impresses Harry Saltzman--no flower-wilting--with his bravado and personal magnetism (look out, too, for an incredible scene--apparently the real thing--in which Jake Johnson plays the Saltzmans representative, who brings girls to Lazenbys room and watches him make love to them, only to be convinced that he is not gay. You know, the biggest claim of fame of Lazenbys is I took over the role of 007 from 3000 other actors, and I am not an actor.