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Universal Soldier is a 1971 film starring George Lazenby as a mercenary.

The film had a £1,000,000 ($2,200,000 US) production budget. George Lazenby and his (then) manager, Ronan O'Rahilly, financed the film and were the executive producers. The film was directed by controversial director Cy Endfield. On O'Rahilly's advice, Lazenby turned down an offer by Harry Saltzman of $1 million from United Artists and EON Productions to star as 007 in Diamonds Are Forever, opting instead to make Universal Soldier—a decision he would come to regret.

Lazenby financed, co-produced, co-wrote, and starred in Universal Soldier, for which he was paid a salary of £100,000 per month plus 25% of the worldwide profits, which at the time was the highest salary for any actor in the UK. The film was a sort of James Bond parody, combining elements of James Bond with the hippie movement of the era, and using many themes from the film Easy Rider (1969). Originally, Jimi Hendrix was signed to co-star with Lazenby in the film, however he died from complications due to an alcohol/drug-related overdose shortly before filming was set to begin, which gave the film much bad press even before it began shooting. Although critically acclaimed by some, the film caused a lot of controversy in the UK at the time of its release due to its blatant depictions of sexuality, hippie culture, and drug use. Germaine Greer appeared as pot-smoking Clara Bowden. Well known models from the time as well as several actors in the film, including Lazenby himself, were reported to have actually used real drugs in the film and on the set^{[citation needed]}.

Due to the negative press the film received it flopped at the box office despite its relatively large budget for an action film (at that time) and having the most recent James Bond starring in it. Lazenby subsequently fired O'Rahilly.

After this, O'Rahilly's career as a film producer failed and he went back into radio production. Lazenby's would-be acting career in the UK fizzled due to the film's box office failure and he went to Italy, then to Hong Kong, and then to Australia to make more films, before landing a Hollywood contract in the late 1970s.

[edit] External links

• Universal Soldier at the Internet Movie Database

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