The effi ciency of writing and direction
in Blofeld’s scenes was so eff ective, it was
repeated almost verbatim for his next
appearance. 1965’s Thunderball gives Blofeld
even less screen time — under three minutes
— but the fi lm cements the character’s
hallmarks. His face is still hidden, the presence
of the cat shows he remains an ailurophile and
his methods of dealing with under-performing
employees still tend towards the extreme. Again,
Blofeld goes unnamed and uncredited, although
Dawson and Pohlmann reprise their respective
roles. He remains a shadowy presence, this time
behind a plot to threaten a major Western city
with an atomic bomb unless NATO forks out
£100 million.
Despite the low-key approach, in around
seven minutes over two films, version 2.0 of
Blofeld left his mark on the Bond films and on
cinema. The series’ phenomenal popularity
would make the enigmatic, string-pulling villain
a staple of thrillers and action franchises for
decades to come. After all, who is Thanos but
a big, purple space-Blofeld, spending the early
days in a comfy chair while minions do all the
graft? And like Thanos, Blofeld eventually
realised if you want a job doing, sometimes
you’ve got to get off your arse and blow shit up.
Blofeld v.3 was almost ready for his close-up.
•••
FORYOU ONLY Live Twice, filmed in 1966 AND
1967, screenwriter Roald Dahl replaced the bulk
of Fleming ’s novel with some glorious sci-fi
bunkumin which SPECTRE snatches American
and Russian rockets right out of space. With
the two superpowers blaming each other,
SPECTRE’s endgame is nothing less than World
War III.
Producers Albert ‘Cubby’ Broccoli and Harry
Saltzman knew they couldn’t keep their monster
in the shadows any longer: it was time for the
big reveal. So Dahl’s script gave Blofeld a vastly
expanded role, and a new actor was hired to
play the part of the Bond universe’s biggest
bastard. One who looked, in the words of
director Lewis Gilbert, like “a benevolent
Father Christmas”. Unbeknownst to Gilbert,
Saltzman had hired little-known actor Jan
Werich to play Blofeld. Possessing less menace
than his own cute kitty, Werich was dismissed
after a week’s filming and replaced with Donald
Pleasence, although tufts of Werich’s grey hair
can still be seen in shots where he’s mostly
hidden by his chair.
Pleasence represented a total make-over
for Blofeld. Sharp black suits were out; beige
Nehru jackets were in. Hair was a no-no; true
evil was bald as a coot. And yacht cabins and
Below right:
Czech actor
Jan Werich as
the fi rst Blofeld
in You Only
Live Twice. He
was replaced
by Donald
Pleasence
due to his
“benevolent
Father
Christmas”
vibes. Below:
Telly Savalas
and George
Lazenby as
Blofeld and
Bond in On
Her Majesty’s
Secret Service
(1969).