THIS is the film that did what many say Sir Roger Moore’s era was the perpetrator of; the broad comedy, winking, smarmy looks, the laughing AT Bond, not with him. Once again the producers faced a three-pronged dilemma; recast the part with yet another actor, woo Lazenby back or the far-fetched notion of bringing back Connery. Two of the three were tried as Brocolli dismissed right off ever working with Lazenby again. The first choice was, Burt Reynolds. Speaking from a fan perspective the actor said no, a decision he would later regret. Intent on making Bond a Yankee, actor John Gavin was cast. Still not confident of the film’s success, Cubby explored his back-up plan, which was to woo Connery. If he accepted the offer, Gavin's contract would be bought out and his services no longer required, which to everyone’s surprise is exactly what happened, with just a few weeks away before shooting began, Connery was made an offer he couldn’t refuse, a cool $1 million, an astonishing amount at the time, agreeing to play James Bond for just one more picture. Too bad for us, as the picture ranks as one of the worst and wastes Connery’s massive appeal and charisma. A direct contrast to OHMSS, Diamonds takes a strange, light-hearted approach, at least after the pre-credit sequence that has Bond on the war path searching for Blofeld and tying up loose ends from the previous film. On the case again, SPECTRE has used stolen diamonds, led by Blofeld once again (with another new face and hair!) to build a massive orbital laser cannon that can destroy entire cities from space that of course can be used as a tool for global blackmail. Sean Connery's return was the films biggest selling point, aside from the curiosity factor, they needn't have bothered, the film spits in the audience’s eye with jokey contempt. The revenge angle is introduced nicely, Connery is excellent using his anger to find the answers but the intensity is quickly abandoned, instead we get wonderful gags (sarcasm) like; a dumb moon buggy chase across the Nevada desert and the annoying Jill St. John as Bond girl Tiffany Case, who’s as worthless as a plot in a porno. A car chase on the strip feels more at home in a Steve McQueen film than Bond. Charles Gray as Blofeld is good, but his scenes with Bond are surprisingly muted and scarcely limited. Henchwomen, Bambi and Thumper as killer gymnasts, are fun, but Connery's fat, bloated physique is laughable. A great observation was made once that ‘Connery was only 41 at the time, but didn’t look a day over 57.’ An energetic fight in an elevator is welcomed, but Connery's toupee is nearly lost. The homosexual hitmen, Mr. Wint and Mr. Kidd played by Bruce Glover and Putter Smith are surprisingly low-key. In an otherwise over-the-top film, their performances are slow-burns and a welcomed respite from the inanity. Their deaths are vintage Bond with one getting stabbed with a burning shish-cabob and the other having a bomb strapped to his pants. The film's script was originally more ambitious having Bond dump Blofeld in a salt mine, but thanks to Connery's budget busting paycheck, the sequence was never filmed, leading Blofeld’s fate murky until “For Your Eyes Only.” Still we get a great title song, from Shirley Bassey and score from John Barry. Even though this was Connery’s official swan song, he would continue to receive a first look at all the Bond scripts, even before Roger Moore, all the way up to “Octopussy.”