20 Things You Didn't Know About Diamonds Are Forever (1971)

Although it is lauded today, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969) was not particularly understood or revered upon its release. In particular, its haunting climax was so unlike the James Bond films that fans knew and loved that a return to form was all but demanded for the next entry in the franchise, Diamonds Are Forever.

Scoring the major public relations coup of luring Sir Sean Connery back into the lead role, the seventh official Bond film deliberately recalled Double-0 Seven’s glory days. However, it also took a campier approach to offset George Lazenby's single Bond adventure, reminding audiences that the British spy was still ready and willing to entertain.

Believing that he has finally thwarted his arch nemesis, Ernst Stavro Blofeld (Charles Gray), James Bond is assigned to investigate what he believes is “a relatively simple smuggling matter” involving gems being stolen from British diamond mines in South Africa. Making contact with known gem smuggler, Tiffany Case (Jill St. John) in Amsterdam, Holland, Double-0 Seven is spirited through the diamond smuggling pipeline to its head in Las Vegas.

There, he is surprised to find that Blofeld is alive and well, having faked his death to distract Bond from his plot to hold the world to ransom once more.

Ensure that, just like diamonds, “nothing hides in the heart” of this film to escape you!

The previous Bond film had not been massively successful at the US box office and producers, Albert R. “Cubby” Broccoli and Harry Saltzman were concerned about alienating one of their major markets.

When George Lazenby resigned from the role of James Bond, they seriously considered casting an American actor as Double-0 Seven. They approached such stars as Adam West, Clint Eastwood, and Burt Reynolds who were flattered, but told them that only a British actor could play James Bond.

Eventually, they cast John Gavin - who had portrayed Sam Loomis in Sir Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho (1960) - as the new Double-0 Seven and were ready to start filming when the CEO and President of United Artists, David V. Picker emphasised that the new Bond film would only be successful if Sean Connery returned as James Bond.

Picker agreed to Connery's demands of a then-unprecedented fee of £1.25 million (which he donated to his charity, the Scottish International Education Trust), a percentage of the profits, and funding for two back-to-back films of his choice. Ultimately, only one of these films was made - Sidney Lumet’s The Offence (1973) - as Connery abandoned his plans to make a faithful film version of William Shakespeare's play, Macbeth when Roman Polanski beat him to it.

Nevertheless, Cubby insisted that John Gavin's contract as the shortest-lived James Bond still be paid in full.