419 Diamonds Are Forever (1971)
Description
This article is from the Movie Trivia, by Murray Chapman muzzle@cs.uq.oz.au with numerous contributions by others.
419 Diamonds Are Forever (1971)
- After the failure of "On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969)" (qv), EON was
desperate to get 'Sean Connery' (qv) back to save the series. When he
refused, the producers considered 'Roger Moore' (qv), then
'Timothy Dalton' (qv) before unexpectedly signing an unknown American actor
'John Galvin' (qv). UA chief, David Picker, was not impressed with the
choice of Galvin and the order went out to get Connery at any price. Connery
was finally lured back with an unprecedented deal making him the highest
paid actor to date. The final contract involved Connery getting $1.25
million up front, 12.5% of the gross and a commitment from UA to finance two
non-Bond films of Connery's choice. Connery later donated his fee to the
Scottish International Trust.
- Actresses considered for the role of Tiffany Case included:
'Raquel Welch' (qv), 'Jane Fonda' (qv) and 'Faye Dunaway' (qv).
'Jill St. John' (qv) had originally been offered the part of Plenty O'Toole
but landed the female lead after impressing the director 'Guy Hamilton' (qv)
during screen tests. St. John becomes the first American Bond girl.
- The original plot had 'Gert Frobe' (qv) returning as Auric
"Goldfinger (1964)" (qv)'s twin and seeking revenge for the death of his
brother.
- The death of Bond's wife Tracy was originally planned for the opening
sequence of "Diamonds Are Forever (1971)" (qv), but was later added to the
end of "On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969)" (qv) to ``tidy up loose
ends''.
- Upon release, this film broke Hollywood's three day gross record.
- 'Willard Whyte' (qv) is obviously based on 'Howard Hughes' (qv). Hughes,
however, played a more substantial role behind the scenes allowing EON to
film inside his casinos and at his other properties. His fee was reputed to
be one 16mm print of the film.
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