Charles Gray as Blofeld


Jan Werich was originally slated to play Blofeld in "You Only Live Twice" but the producers decided that he wasn't menacing or threatening enough for the part so at the last minute they got Donald Pleasence(whom I thought was the best Blofeld ever) for the part. Well Charles Gray wasn't very menacing or threatening, either in this movie, he was more of an elegant cad than a true Bond villain plus he was Bond's ally in "You Only Live Twice" and that's why I'm surprised that he wasn't replaced. Connery vs. Gray? No contest! Small wonder then that the producers elected to stuff Gray in his bathosub at the end of the movie!

reply

Agreed. I'm supposed to believe this fop is capable of putting together a plot to potentially destroy major cities with a lazer?

Until I started watching all these last month, I had completely forgotten that Blofeld was (1) the crook in so many movies, and (2) was played by so many completely dissimilar actors. Honestly, I think overall they butchered the character. At least attempt some sort of continuity. About the only thing they stuck with was the damn cat.

-------------------------

I have meddled with the primal forces of nature and I will atone.

reply

Yeah they never explain in the movies that Blofeld changes his appearance and personality to hide himself.

And it doesn't even work in this movie since Bond immediately recognizes him anyway even though he looks vastly different from the last movie.

reply

Yeah they never explain in the movies that Blofeld changes his appearance and personality to hide himself.


Let me guess, you also believe "James Bond" is a code name? There's nothing to explain, the character is recast, that's all! He doesn't change his looks or personality, he's simply played by different actors in a series in which most installments are stand-alone movies that completely and intentionally disregard continuity.

reply

Let me guess, you also believe "James Bond" is a code name? There's nothing to explain, the character is recast, that's all! He doesn't change his looks or personality, he's simply played by different actors

I'm guessing that MooseNugget was referring to the habit of Blofeld changing his appearance throughout the novels:
Blofeld makes three appearances in Ian Fleming's novels. He first appears in [...] Thunderball. Blofeld is described physically as a massive man, weighing roughly 20 stone (280 lb; 130 kg), has black crew-cut hair, black eyes (similar to those of Benito Mussolini), heavy eyelashes, a thin mouth and long pointed hands and feet.
Blofeld is absent from the next novel, The Spy Who Loved Me. In On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1963), Bond learns that Blofeld has radically altered his appearance—he is now tall and thin; has reduced his weight to 12 stone (170 lb; 76 kg); sports long silver hair, a syphilitic infection on his nose and no earlobes; he wears dark green tinted contact lenses to hide his distinctive eyes.
In You Only Live Twice Blofeld [...] has once again changed his appearance: He has put on some muscle, and has a gold-capped tooth, a fully healed nose, and a drooping grey mustache. Bond describes Blofeld on their confrontation as being "a big man, perhaps six foot three (190 cm), and powerfully built". It is indicated that Blofeld has by now become a madman, as he all but admits himself when Bond levels the accusation.
So I think your reply was a little rude. Of course the character was recast in each film, that's obvious. But that doesn't mean they couldn't have used the in-universe explanation, which was provided in the novels, as a way to address it. For once a series has the perfect excuse for the old continuity problem of recasting, and they didn't even bother to use it.

reply

I don't think Moosenugget is a "Code name theory" believer.
He was just pointing the fact that even in the novels, Blofeld changes his appearance in order to disguise himself.

So it could have worked as well in the movie universe, with Blofeld being so different as a cover to hide himself. But that is not explained, and it is such a pity.

reply

It seems a little weird that they changed the actor for credibility reasons in YOLT, while they didn't mind creating a effiminate, camp and goofy Blofeld in this one...

For their defense, I would say that Gray's Blofeld can be menacing and a match for Bond. And it was actually a good idea to make him calm and elegant.

They just spoiled it all when they made him dressed as a woman, when they made him a weak villain, running as soon as a danger happens.
And the stupid plot didn't help : the "double" story, the fact that we don't know about his fatre at the end, etc...

reply