Lazenby V. Connery
Agree with you both re: the music. My own opinion is Lazenby would have been a very good Bond indeed if the producers had never settled their dispute with Connery. IIRC Connery was holding out for an increase in salary or commission or whatever from each film, and of course management was saying no - they wanted to show him he was nothing special and put out this film w/Lazenby in the lead, which flopped - and Connery won his case. The audience won Mr. Connery's case for him as well as his own acting ability, they had accepted him as "Bond" and no one else could take his place. If you leave that aside, and look at Mr. Lazenby's portrayal of Bond on its own, he did a very creditable job. Too bad about the Contessa; if she had survived and they had written her into future scripts, with her adventurous bent she would have made a fine practical backup for Mr. Bond as well as providing a feminine side to the series. Of course, given his personal proclivities, and her own rather considerable combative tendencies, the legal scrimmaging in divorce court would have been vastly amusing as well!