Where to watch Diamonds Are Forever (1971)

Trivia & production notes

• George Lazenby turned down a seven-film Bond contract after just one outing, on advice from his agent Ronan O'Rahilly, leading producers to consider actors like Clint Eastwood and Burt Reynolds before bringing back Sean Connery.
• Sean Connery demanded $1.25 million to return as Bond, and used the fee to establish the Scottish International Education Trust to help Scottish artists fund their careers without leaving the country.
• Tom Jones was considered for the Bond role but rejected because Albert Broccoli felt he was too famous and audiences would not believe him as 007.
• Jill St. John became the first American Bond girl after a Las Vegas fixer recommended her to the producers, eventually landing the lead female role.
• Richard Maibaum initially wrote the film with Goldfinger's twin brother as the villain seeking revenge, but the plot changed after producer Albert Broccoli had a dream about his friend Howard Hughes being replaced by an imposter, inspiring the Willard Whyte character.
• Tom Mankiewicz was hired as the American screenwriter after David Picker recommended him based on the stage musical Georgy he wrote, and he was originally brought on for a two-week trial but stayed for the entire film and several subsequent Bond movies.
• The puffer fish gag used to kill a character was censored out by British film censors, who objected to the original scripted scene of Mr. Wint and Mr. Kidd forcing a scorpion down a victim's mouth.
• Filming in Las Vegas took place mostly in hotels owned by Howard Hughes as a favor to producer Cubby Broccoli, with Hughes also coordinating with local police and shopkeepers to clear streets for shooting.
• Sean Connery stayed awake throughout his entire Las Vegas location shoot, going to shows at night and golfing during the day, and once delayed a scene while collecting winnings from slot machines.
• The cinematography team took advantage of Las Vegas's neon lights for night scenes, eliminating the need for additional lighting equipment during location filming.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article Diamonds Are Forever (film), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Rewritten for StreamShack; errors are ours — tell us about them.