In the fountain of 1966 , at roughly the same clip Sean Connery was growing vocal about his increasing tedium playing British spyJames Bond , Italian film producer Dario Sabatello opened a newspaper and number across a photo thatsenthis mind race .
There , photographed alongside Sean , was Neil Connery , the doer ’s youthful brother . marvellous — though not quite as magniloquent as Sean — and giving , the 28 - class - old struck Sabatello as someone who could conceivably supercede his more famous sib as Bond . And failing that , well , he could at least play James Bond ’s crony . Or something .
Sabatello locomote from Rome to Edinburgh to fill with Neil , who was then making $ 8 or $ 9 an hour working as a plasterer . The manufacturer order Neil he could try his hand at acting and would be perfect as a counterpart to Sean ’s most celebrated role in a new , unauthorized Bond knock - off . Even theirvoiceswere spookily similar .
Neil , who was not an actor , say he would be concerned under the “ proper circumstances , ” a nod to the fiscal potential of such an effort . Both he and Sabatello knew such a role would be out-and-out development , a mode to collect publicity for a film that did n’t even seem legally promising — and might very well raise Sean ’s ire .
Whatever Neil ’s reservation , they disappeared soon after Sabatelloproduceda ascertain for roughly $ 15,000 . By February 1967 , Neil was in Rome to trifle “ Doctor Neil Connery ” inOperation Kid Brother , aspoofthat was easily one of the strange attack to knock off the Bond franchise that had ever fare before a camera .
In the 1960s , the Italian film industryhad developed a reputation for mimicking genres that had been successful in other country , though with a homegrown flavor that made them feel once remove from their inspirations . Dozens of “ spaghetti Westerns ” inundate theaters , most notably Sergio Leone’sMan With No Nametrilogy starringClint Eastwood . The body politic had also discovered talents like Sophia Loren and Marcello Mastroianni .
Other Italian film were often severely dubbed and knock for stilted functioning . Many unashamedly copied come to films , and Sabatello ’s Julian Bond - stylus project would be no exception . After make what he may have felt were cursory overtures to EON Productions — the right field holder toIan Fleming ’s novels — about an officialBondfilm starring the secret agent ’s brother and being rebuffed , Sabatello decide to bilk out any overt mentions of Fleming ’s characters and instead hop the audience would make the necessary illation .
Sabatello reckon Neil Connery provided all the context need . A working - class house physician of Edinburgh , Scotland , Neil had small playacting experience beyond a abbreviated least sandpiper on a London stage . He was reportedly on proficient condition with Sean , who had left their neighborhood behind to go after bodybuilding and then acting before making a name for himself as Bond in 1962’sDr . No . The two had beenclosegrowing up , and Neil tell press that Sean often gave him suits and shoes . Sean had once even gifted his blood brother with a Modern Jaguar — though Neil reported that Sean had burned out the engine . So he sold it for scrap .
Neil saw footling issue in accepting Sabatello ’s offer . Sean was already ostensibly tired of Bond , which Neil pointed out . Publicly , Sean rebuke Sabatello for the stunt . Privately , Neil said he advised him to make certain the contract was good .
“ hoi polloi have enjoin that he does n’t like what I ’m doing , but I think he realizes I ’m no danger to his calling , ” Neil toldThe San Francisco Examinerin August 1967 . “ He ’s an established actor , and I ’ve picture all his films and enjoy every one of them … He wished me luck , and I know he ’s interested in how I make out . ”
In a confusing minute of meta - fiction , Operation Kid Brothersaw Neil ConneryplayingDoctor Neil Connery , a charge card surgeon who is also an expert in hypnosis and archery . His fictional brother was referenced oft , though just mention to as a renowned tiptop spy — never by name . The patch saw British Intelligence urging Dr. Connery to get require in foil a secret plot to moderate the world ’s finances by an evil organization known as THANATOS .
Neil Connery might have been only a tenuous connection to Bond , but Sabatello had additional plans . He take Lois Maxwell , whoappearedas repository Miss Moneypenny in the five official Bond moving picture released up to that decimal point , along with Bernard Lee , who represent M in the first 11 Bond films . Sabatello also enter two “ Bond miss , ” Daniela Bianchi and Yasuko Yama . ( At one full point , Bianchi — embracing Neil — proclaim , “ Your comrade was never like this . ” )
There were others . Adolfo Celi , who played the baddie in 1965’sThunderball , appeared inOperation Kid Brother . So did Anthony Dawson , who portrayed Ernst Blofeld .
None would be mention to as their Bond characters — Maxwell was simply “ Max ” and Lee was Commander Cunningham — but the full stop was clear . Despite a deficiency of any official joining , this spoof would have a placeable cast .
procedure Kid Brother(also known asO.K. ConneryandOperation Double 007 ) pip in Italy , Spain , Morocco , and the French Riviera . While the locations were beautiful , filming was not without its hazards . A sequence involving a flame thrower in Rome send two extras to the infirmary and burned up music director Alberto De Martino ’s jacket . ( as luck would have it , he was n’t wearing it at the time . ) In Rabat , Morocco , a sequence in which Neil dissemble to be blind and of Arabic descent call for real blind extras , many of whom got lost and rove off . While running on the pack of cards of a racing yacht , Neil skid on a rug that had been heedlessly leave in his path and break up into an obstacle , which lead to five stitch in his pegleg .
Neil was also stung that he often only cause his product line the dawn of shot . “ For some reason I ’m only tell what my lines are as I go into make - up for the Clarence Day ’s workplace , ” he told theExaminer . “ I acknowledge the script , but I ’m living on a 24-hour interval - to - day fundament . It aim quite frantic at times . ”
WhenOperation Kid Brotherwas released in the United States in October 1967,the reviews were not tolerant . In a piece forThe Boston Globe , movie critic Marjory Adamswrotethat Neil lacked “ the panache , the personality , the attractiveness , [ or ] the gift ” of Sean . Not even “ the most fleeceable moron ” could take the moving picture ’s plot seriously . During amatory scene , Adams compose , Neil lacked “ the right oomph . ”
Audiences also seemed disinterested in a Bond spoof , peculiarly one with an arbitrary Connery in its cast . Only Sean would do .
Neil quickly return to his calling as a plasterer , accepting only sporadic performing role in film like 1969’sThe Body Stealersand 1984’sMad Mission 3 : Our Man from Bond Street . Operation Kid Brothereventually bruise up on the satirical motion picture comment seriesMystery Science Theater 3000 in 1997 .
Though Neil importune Sean was largely supportive of his attempt to become a replica Bond , his one-time comrade seemed to see it mostly as a money snatch .
“ Neil is a plasterer , not an role player , ” Sean oncesaid . “ Still , they put him in a moving picture over in Rome — gave him the lead , too ! It ’s a typical object lesson of the way some people do things . It does n’t count whether the person can play or not . What count is one happens to be one ’s buddy . ”
