With George Lazenby's hasty departure as 007, the entire Bond franchise landed in jeopardy. The main obstacle: to find an actor who could establish an immediate rapport with the Bond role and endear himself to audiences the way Sean Connery did. The obvious answer was to lure Connery back. This seemed unlikely for a number of reasons. Ultimately, American actor John Gavin was signed for the role. Gavin proved to be an unexpected choice, not only because of his nationality, but also because he had little in way of box-office appeal. United Artist's President, David Picker, was less than enthused about the choice and decided to get Connery - at any cost. Connery received a large salary, a percentage of the gross rentals and a commitment from U.A. to finace two non-Bond films of his choice. Unexpectedly, the generous Mr. Connery donated his entire salary to the Scottish International Trust, a charity he formed to help the underprivileged in his native land.

Bond is assigned to investigate the dissappearance of a large cache of the world's diamonds. He later learns that the gems are being hoarded by his old nemesis Blofled, who plans to construct a diamond-powered satellite death star capable of emitting a deadly laser force. Naturally, Blofeld wants to hold the world ransom, though it is rather puzzling just what ransom could appease a man who possesses enough diamonds to cover an entire satellite. The plot is sometimes rather confusing, and not as interesting as previous efforts.

Diamonds is a very mixed bag, given that it represents Connery's last Eon sponsored appearance as Bond. The cast is weak in key areas; Charles Gray portrays Blofeld as a bon vivant with a great deal of avuncular charm. Gray is a fine actor, but does not excude the least bit of menace. He is also hampered by being the third actor to play Blofeld in as many films, and resembles his predecessors as much as he does Ursula Andress - not a very convincing villain.

Jill St. John's Tiffany Case is first seen as a brash, tough opportunist whose moody dispostion rivals 007's machismo. Unfortunately as the script progresses, Tiffany evolves into a bimbo whose bra size is significantly larger than her IQ. Putter Smith and Bruce Glover as the homosexual "hit men" Wint and Kidd are amusing, but again pose more laughs than menace even though their demise at the film's climax is imaginatively done. Jimmy Dean, the country singer, is creatively cast as reclusive Willard White.

The film was a sucess for all involved. Connery became the highest paid actor in history while Broccoli and Salzman proved they still had the Midas touch.