James Bond: Ranking Every Blofeld From Worst To Best
5. Charles Gray (Diamonds Are Forever, 1971)
"Right idea, Mr Bond..." "...But wrong pussy."
On the contrary, Blofeld, it's definitely the right pussy - the SPECTRE head's famous white cat is present and accounted for here - but when it comes to your portrayal, Diamonds Are Forever had completely the wrong idea.
Perhaps it's unfair to compare the magnitude of On Her Majesty's Secret Service to its immediate successor given that the producers were clearly aiming for a complete change in tone. Perhaps it's unfair to hold up Charles Gray's uber-campy pantomime villain of a Blofeld to Telly Savalas and his ruthless, tough-as-nails portrayal.
Still, one film after a titanic plot in which Ernst Stavro Blofeld (and his lackey Irma Bunt) dealt James Bond arguably the most devastating blow in cinematic canon by murdering 007's newlywed bride, it's hard not to feel underwhelmed - even a little bewildered - by the cross-dressing incarnation of the character that's presented in Diamonds Are Forever.
Once you get past the idea that Sean Connery's Bond isn't about to pursue bloody vengeance (à la Timothy Dalton in Licence to Kill), Gray's Blofeld can be a lot of fun with some clever one-liners and an extravagantly bombastic blow-up-stuff plot.
But when it comes to the sinister SPECTRE chief... are we really looking for fun?