 I admire your courage, Mr. Trinch. Sylvia Trinch. I admire your luck, Mr. Bond. James Bond. October 1962. Movie audiences were first introduced to Sean Connery portraying the suave British secret agent James Bond 007 in Doctor No. And he would continue to reach a superstar sex symbol status right up there with the Beatles during the 1960s a period reaching the peak of Bond mania. I would definitely argue that along with Fleming, Coby Broccoli and Harry Saltzman Connery was definitely for one of the largest parts responsible for the cinematic success of James Bond. And if you've been following my content for some time you will very likely be aware that Connery is my favorite James Bond. And if you're not familiar with this channel consider subscribing and check out my channel after this video for lots more Bond and related content. Following the success of Doctor No Connery starred in what he often mentions to be his favorite Bond film from Russia with Love in 63 and by the time he did Goldfinger in 64 Bond had become a cultural phenomenon. Followed by 1965's Thunderbolt which for the longest time remained the highest grossing Bond film when adjusted for inflation right up until Skyfall was released in 2012. And it was around the time that Thunderbolt just came out that Connery grew more and more fed up with the role or as he put it they became more focused on the hardware. And thus after 1967's You Only Live Twice Connery parted ways from the role of Bond. I've done five now over six years and that's it, I've finished. You're not gonna be James Bond anymore? No, I'm afraid not. Only for Connery to return in arguably two of the worst Bond films 1971's Diamonds of Forever and the unofficial Kevin McClurey produced Never Say Never Again in 1983 because You Only Live Twice ended up being followed up with On Her Majesty's Secret Service starring the then unknown male model, George Lazenby. As all Bond fans know, Lazenby's Bond film ended up being a one-off and thus sometimes it's viewed as either the black sheep or the absolute pearl of the series. Whatever way you look at it though, it's one of the most unique Bond films that was ever made. It's the one in which Bond gets married and loses his wife in the tragic ending. Even though upon its initial release at the time audiences weren't too keen on the movie yet or at the very least, financially it was less successful than most of the Connery movies. It took years for On Her Majesty's Secret Service to receive most of the praise it often gets nowadays because Majesty's is often seen at the top of Bond fans' ranking lists. This mostly has to do with the story being more emotional and grounded in reality as well as the tragic ending. If you're familiar with my channel, I always felt that Majesty's is an odd one that I really wish grew on me more. I think one of the biggest problems I have with the movie, sadly, is Lazenby. Or, I should say, Lazenby's attempt at acting. It takes me out of the movie a lot and I think it keeps the movie down on my ranking despite having great potential. I should add though, it's nothing personal against George Lazenby himself. I love the dude. As a matter of fact, I identify with his attitude and outlook on life. He is a fantastic man. But I'm just saying, I never was that much of a fan of his portrayal of Bond. I guess you can't fault the guy, he wasn't even an actor and he was convincing in the physical stuff and he actually did pretty decent with the emotional side of things too. I'm not hating on him at all, but I always wondered if I would like this film more had Connery starred in this one as well? That's exactly what we're going to be examining in this video. What if, in some alternate reality, Connery did star in Honor Majesty's Secret Service? People often claim that given how fed up Connery was with the series, he probably wouldn't have given his A-game for Majesties had he starred in the film. And I agree. Around the time period of 1969 you won't see the absolute best version of Bond that Connery portrayed in, I'd say, his first four movies. It's often said Connery looked progressively more bored in the part than you only live twice. I'd say though, with all respect to Lazenby, Connery would still top him bringing in a shoe-worn to you only live twice like performance to Majesties. And also, Connery had always said he'd be interested to play a Bond story that's more focused on the realism and the actual Bond character compared to all the more fantastical hardware, as he put it. Majesties is exactly that, so who knows if Connery had returned, it might have been more motivated because of the script. Speaking of which, Connery may ended up doing Honor Majesty Secret Service twice because it was at one point planned out to be the fourth Bond movie following Goldfinger. But due to Kevin MacLory owning the rights to Fundable, they shelved that idea and wanted to do Fundable as fast as possible. Again, after Fundable, plans were made for Majesties to be the fifth Bond film, but there were issues with the schedule and filming in Switzerland in time during that period, so it ended up being number six instead. So, what would the film look like if Connery had done that one as well? Well, I think most of the structure of the film would have been very much the same had Connery starred in it. Of course, some subtle differences may be there, but we'll get into those. The pre-title sequence of the film, for the most part, would be exactly the same with Connery. Although, since he wouldn't be a new Bond, they probably wouldn't tease hints of his face like they did with Lazenby, but probably would have gotten some casual shots of Connery driving around, seeing Tracy pass him on the road and following her right over to the beach. An explanation. My name is Bond, James Bond. The signature, this never happened to the other fellow. Line was clearly only there because Lazenby had always mentioned this line on set, referring to Connery, so we know that that wouldn't have been in there. They probably would have gone with something a little different. Well, now that's a cougar I'd like to ride. That's another thing with Connery, by the way. The humor. Even in a shoe-horned-in performance, he would be spot-on. You can already picture the delivery of the same jokes in the movie. Is anything's in better? Oh, just a slight stiffness coming on. But what about one of the most important aspects of the movie? The dynamic between Bond and Tracy. Wouldn't have worked well with Connery and Diana Rigg? Well, if the movie would even star Diana Rigg with Connery, we know she was mainly cast to balance out the inexperience of Lazenby and see what brings some star power to the piece. The role could have easily been given to various other actresses to star alongside Connery, but for the sake of this what-if video, let's just say that it was indeed Diana Rigg to star with Connery. You can picture them meeting up and Connery grabbing her gun in the hotel room and stuff, but what about the actual falling in love part? Could Connery have pulled it off in a convincing way? I love you. You mean it? But of course. Most fans claim Connery's Bond is two months of a Playboy type of Bond. His heart being untouchable and his emotions readily at the forefront, I think people are forgetting Connery is an actor. Lazenby, again with all respect, wasn't. He pulled it off. Why wouldn't Connery be able to do so? Also, I feel the fact we've seen Connery with all these previous Bond girls in the first five Bond films. Definitely caring about some of them, but never truly falling in love. I think seeing him here now falling for this woman that's just different to him, to me, because we would have shared all the history with Connery's Bond seeing that evolution of this time falling in love would have been even more powerful than the already powerful version we have with Lazenby. It's hard to say whether or not Diana Rick and Sean Connery would have had great chemistry, but they're both terrific actors and I think they could sell it. Of course, it's hard to imagine Connery's Bond actually settling down and getting married. Well, we did see him actually get married for a cover in the previous movie, of course, but in Majesties, it would have been different. But man, would it be amazing to see that contrast. Also, I think Moneypenny's tears would have been even more touching with Connery too. Knowing all their flirty history together from the previous movies, Connery and Maxwell probably had the best chemistry out of all the Bond and Moneypenny pairings. Speaking of chemistry, I think Connery's Bond would also have great chemistry with Draco, Tracy's father. And the relationship would probably be very similar to Connery's Bond and Karen Bay in From Russia with Love. It's very easy to picture. What about all the scenes on Peace Gloria where the biggest junk of the movie takes place? Well, for one, I think Connery would look right at home in that Scottish Kilt. And he would have a field day messing around with the Angels of Death up there. I also never liked that Lays and Bee was dubbed by George Baker in the film and you would hope that that wouldn't have been necessary had Connery done it. The big problem here, of course, is the continuity with Blofeld. In the books, Majesties is the first instance in which Bond and Blofeld meet face to face. This was directly translated to screen even though Bond and Blofeld had already met face to face in the movie before it. Here, because it also actually was Connery's Bond who had actually met Blofeld in the previous one, it could have been even more of a confusing problem. There are a couple of things I guess you could do to bypass this. Either Bond's disguise of Sir Hilary Bray needs to be disconvincing that he's trying to fool Blofeld from his true identity. Eh, I'm not too much of a fan of that idea. Or you could change the villain of Blofeld entirely to whatever other villain. I mean, Spectre is hardly ever mentioned in Majesties. You could make him pretty much any other guy. Or you just keep it this way Ignore that part of the continuity like they did in the actual movie. I think I would still prefer Telly Savalas to Donald Pleasons in this iteration of Blofeld though. I just can't picture Donald Pleasons Blofeld on skis. Speaking of which, Connery would have to go skiing in this movie. That's definitely an aspect of James Bond I wish we got to see with him. I think on all fronts Connery would have been fantastic in Majesties. It would be refreshing to see him get back in a more down-to-earth adventure after he only lived twice. It would have been even more mind-blowing to actually see his Bond fall in love and lose his wife at the end of the film. And I think audiences at the time would have probably warmed to on a Majesties Secret Service a lot more had Connery done this one as well. It must have been really something at the time to see someone else besides Connery play James Bond. Someone nobody knew star alongside the well-known cast of Lois Maxwell, Bernard Lee, and Desmond Llewellyn, all with Connery at the back of their mind. The idea of someone else playing Bond hadn't really been established yet. It took until Roger Moore for people to grow to the idea that there was life after Sean Connery. Here, I think Majesties would have received a praise upon its release like it does now only in retrospect. Also, having Connery in Majesties would probably influence Diamonds of Forever as well. Maybe that would have made out to be the revenge story I always thought it had the potential to be. Whatever the case, it's always interesting to fantasize and speculate how things would have played out in some alternate universe. And I hope you enjoyed my look at what that might have been like. Be sure to share your own thoughts on this idea below and like and subscribe and see you guys in the next video.