One of the most notable, though sadly obscure, spy epics is OPERATION KID BROTHER. Sean Connery's brother Neil was talked into becoming an actor and his first major assignment was to play the brother of 007. Neil Connery plays Neil Connery, brilliant surgeon and hypnotist drafted into secret service when his skills are required to defeat a criminal organization. Although his name is Connery, he's the brother of you-know-who, and thus quickly falls into the pace of things. With Neil are Barnard Lee and Lois Maxwell, M and Moneypenny of the James Bond franchise. Clearly, they're playing the same parts under civilian code names (Miss Maxwell really enjoyed the chance to be a more active part in a mission than she ever got to be in the Bond films). The magic of OPERATION KID BROTHER is that the producers could've gone the cheap road and made a cheesy quickie to cash in on Bondmania, but instead produced a lush, legitimate spy adventure which is easily among the best Europe ever produced. When Sean Connery decided to leave the role of James Bond, Neil was suggested to EON as a suitable replacement. That would've been a pretty good idea, but as history shows, EON passed. Neil acted in a few other things, but never had another starring role in a major motion picture (his next, and next-best, part was as the hero's sidekick in THE BODY STEALERS). And because Italian pictures were shot MOS (minus optical sound), the finished film doesn't even feature Neil's voice! The actor fell ill and wasn't able to attend the recording session.
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