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 Sabatello that Neil sounded like his brother Sean. Sabatello met Neil at the Caledonian Hotel in Edinburgh to recruit him to play the lead role in a Eurospy film. Neil recalled when he did his screentest the crew kept saying "OK, Connery, OK" that became the title for the film. Experienced director Alberto De Martino who had previously filmed "Upperseven, the Man to Kill" and "Special Mission Lady Chaplin" (both 1966) recalled his father Romolo de Martino doing Neil's extensive makeup and problems with Neil's inexperience as an actor. He also recalled Sabatello approaching Sean Connery do to an appearance