OHMSS with Connery
https://twitter.com/ThatTallGinger/status/1578422153308798980
shareI just finished rewatching this and am pretty sure this couldn't have worked with Connery.
We've just seen him work his way through too many women by this stage and he has a stoic cynicism about him which would not have worked at all. e.g. It's almost impossible to imagine Connery doing that final scene, holding the dead Tracy and saying it's all going to be alright...
We got lucky having Lazenby for this film and also lucky he didn't continue.
Cutting back to Connery, removing the closeness of the connection to the character who's wife's just died, works. Just imagine Lazenby in DAF chasing after Blofeld in drag...
IF OHMSS was made when it was and Connery did it, he would've been terrible because he'd lost interest in the role because of the fame he experienced in Japan while filming You Only Live Twice - been photographed on the toilet etc, and by that point he hated Cubby Broccolli and refused to film while he was on set. However, IF it was made after Thunderball when he was still putting an effort into the role, he'd have been very good.
Another reason why he lost interest in the role was because he felt that the gadgets had taken over. OHMSS would've given some material to get his teeth into. And it's not impossible to imagine Connery doing that final scene because he was a far better actor, let's face it it's not hard, than Lazenby.
All that said, I really like Diana Rigg in it and I'm not convinced that she would've been in it if Connery had done it. I think they went with a good actress and a star like her to counter balance Lazenby's inexperience and lack of status.