Surely Sean Connery wasn't a big feartie* when it came to tarantulas? You can clearly see that the Spider is only projected on to him.
*A Scottish word for someone who has slightly less courage than the typical Scot. See also Big Jessie.
Properly read, the Bible is the most potent force for atheism ever conceived. -Isaac Asimov
A double was used for shots showing the tarantula crawling over Bond's shoulder where no face was visible, but those shots involving Connery weren't projection or superimposition of any kind; he's under a pane of glass or plexiglass, over which the tarantula is walking. If you look closely, the point where the glass/plexiglass meets his shoulder and presses on his skin can be seen.
Something similar was done for shots involving Connery and a shark (in Largo's pool) in Thunderball.
Poe! You are...avenged!
Ahh, cheers for the correction. It still shows he didn't trust the animal handlers :D Or maybe they couldn't get a de-fanged Tarantula and Sean's insurers balked at him being eaten by a spider?
Properly read, the Bible is the most potent force for atheism ever conceived. -Isaac Asimov
I know he didn't yet have the clout he'd later have, but if I'd been him, I'd have balked even under those conditions. I've never done well with creepy crawlies, but ones that large...well, they'd have had to sedate me just to get me "under glass" (or let me down enough full ones beforehand).
Poe! You are...avenged!
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With a lot of these people "not doing their own stunts" there are insurance considerations too, or just plain movie companies protecting their assets! It'd be no good if Connery was bitten by a tarantula and was unable to complete his scenes (we'd have a Plan 9 From Outer Space scenario). With the millions at stake they'd never get insurance to cover that eventuality.
shareBut tarantulas are relatively harmless. He would have been in no danger at all.
shareI have always found the scene laughable, since a tarantula bite is no more dangerous than a bee sting; and there has never been a reported death from their bite. Plus, they are VERY unlikely to even bite in the first place. I have owned my tarantula for 6 years and she has never tried to bite me. So, in conclusion, Sean Connery could have been bitten 25 times and still be fine. I have an extremely hard time believing they didn't know that in the 1960s (especially since it would only take one person to be bit, in order to find that out!).
shareYes, Connery is a big bald arachnophobe.
That being said, I love his movies. And he's my favorite Bond. (Just my opinion, of course).
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