WI: Cary Grant IS James Bond

A rather logical choice to play James Bond, Cary Grant was the front runner when it came to casting the first Bond film of the official series in 1962, Dr. No. Apparently Grant didn't want to commit to a multi-film deal, as well as his going rate at the time being $1 million per film, which effectively ended his consideration.

However, what if he did sign a multi-film deal, and negotiated his rate to play 007, becoming the first film actor to play James Bond?
 
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He would have been laughed off considering he would have been 57 at the time of filming. Granted, that's the same age Roger Moore was when A View to a Kill was filmed, but Moore had more than a decade of films behind him (so people were used to him as Bond) while Grant wouldn't have had such an excuse. Everyone would see him as too old to be an action hero and the series would have to restart.
 

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Not the wa I would want to see Cary Grant end his career.
 
He would have been laughed off considering he would have been 57 at the time of filming. Granted, that's the same age Roger Moore was when A View to a Kill was filmed, but Moore had more than a decade of films behind him (so people were used to him as Bond) while Grant wouldn't have had such an excuse. Everyone would see him as too old to be an action hero and the series would have to restart.

I'm also guessing that a certain percentage of Grant's previous fan-base would be offended by the more overt sexuality of the Bond films. Yes, I realize that the series was partly aimed at the "dirty old man" segment of the Silent Generation(sort of like early Playboy), but I still think there would be a large number of that cohort who would be put off by the implied endorsement of bed-hopping. Especially if we're talking about older people who had been fans of Grant's going all the way back to the 1930s.
 
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