James Bond in film Roger Moore, and he tried not to imitate either his predecessor Sean Connery or his own performance as Simon Templar in "The Saint"; Mankiewicz adapted the screenplay to emphasise Moore's persona by giving him more comedy scenes and creating a light-hearted feel to Bond. Guy Hamilton was again chosen to direct, and Mankiewicz suggested they film in New Orleans, as he knew Hamilton was a jazz fan. Hamilton didn't want to use Mardi Gras, as "Thunderball" featured Junkanoo, a similar festival, so after more discussions with the writer and further scouting, he decided to use two well-known features of the
O.K. Connery "flair and skill with which the Bond films are made. The script is labored, the direction slow and the acting is barely adequate." In Phil Hardy's book "Science Fiction" (1984), a review noted that "though it's stylishly mounted, the result is a routine Italian spy romp." In an interview in 1996, Lois Maxwell said that Sean Connery, when he learned that she would join the cast, got very angry and started screaming: "You have betrayed me!" and he forgave her when she saved Neil from a fool at the press conference. As a "James Bond rip-off", reaction to the film