On Her Majesty's Secret Service

Yeah, I think so. Like most people who are interested in James Bond, I saw the films over and over on TV before I read any of the books. I then got round to buying Casino Royale, and being knocked out by it - this was somewhat different to Moonraker and all that Roger Moore stuff. So I read the books in their sequence, seriously the best way, and by the time OHMSS came round, I had a pretty good idea of who James Bond was. And, I'm sorry to inform all the Seanophiles, James Bond is not Connery, Moore, Dalton (though he came close, but is Welsh..)or Brosnan. Oddly enough, given the choices, he's kind of like George Lazenby.

Sure, Sean Connery was suave, sexy, and spoke rather curiously, Timothy Dalton had the serious side sorted, Brosnan is sophisticated etc, Roger Moore.. well, another time, maybe.

George Lazenby, maybe due to his lack of experience, (though why is his debut so widely mulled over in that respect.... it's not something that most actors are subjected to?) is not so at ease with his surroundings, not so cocksure that everything is going to work out fine as the others, and this is the real James Bond. The one in the books. You can almost believe in this one. And when things don't work out fine, you feel a weird familiarity with him. He's just a man, though admittedly he's disproportionately talented at a pretty impressive range of activities, from skiing to flying, swordsmanship, shooting people, jumping out of things, carnal endeavours etc.. Oh no, sorry, that's me. Well, anyway, I'm quite tired now. OHMSS is the best of the films, though From Russia With Love contains possibly the finest fight scene of all and maybe the best trio of baddies (including a slightly peripatetic Blofeld)and is Connery's best.

George Lazenby is the best Bond, because his talents - a certain naturalistic charm, physical dexterity, and a capacity for possible failure - are used brilliantly, and he is closer by far than any of the others to the book-Bond.

There you go.

Oh, and Diana Rigg is the best 'Bond girl', though that description is not very fair to her, We Have All The Time In The World is the best Bond song, and the theme tune is possibly John Barry's finest work.. let alone being the best Bond title theme.

There you go again.

Thanks for reading, and if you happen to disagree, well... you're wrong. Cheers.

"On Her Majesty's Secret Service" is a sadly under-appreciated Bond film which is stylishly-directed and features an outstanding score, like most of these early Bond films. Other than a silly self-referential line in the teaser and some sappy romantic montages, "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" is a thrilling adventure which sees Bond traveling to the Swiss Alps to encounter villains and partake in dangerous action sequences.

It sounds like a Bond film, alright, but this is actually quite different from the formulaic films one would later expect from the series, and the sort of film Bond was gravitating towards with "Thunderball" and "You Only Live Twice". It certainly delivers on the promise of sexual innuendo and lots of provocatively dressed women, but it's a different sort of Bond in that it seems to be more straight-faced and harsh, culminating in what is probably the saddest Bond ending. It's also probably the closest to Fleming's version of Bond outside of "Casino Royale", although "The Living Daylights" was also somewhat similar to the literary Bond. As a Fleming fan it is nice to see the Bond series take after the books.

Lazenby, who has been frequently criticized and is many people's least favorite Bond, actually does a decent job of the role. He's nowhere near as good as Connery, of course, but I thought that other than the scenes where he tried to seriously emote, he carried the film with his charisma and physical presence. I strongly believe he should have continued in the role. Lazenby fits the content of the film, which is certainly far more down to Earth than many other Bond films, and focuses heavily on hand-to-hand combat in the action scenes, which is somewhat refreshing after the overblown (entertaining, but seriously outrageous) action scenes in "You Only Live Twice". This is a genuinely good script, with a solid plot, good dialogue, and good characterization.

It's not just a throwaway action flick, it's an excellent espionage thriller with a strong dramatic core, and as fun as things like "Goldfinger" certainly are, it's nice to see one of these movies treat women as more than mere sex objects, and it's interesting to see a Bond girl paired with a Bond who reacts as a human would and not a cartoon character. Diana Rigg is probably my favorite Bond girl. She gives a strong performance and is helped by an excellent script which gives her a fair amount to do.

By staying closer to the source material, "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" dramatically improves on its two predecessors and features some of the best locations in the series, although I admit my familiarity with the majority of the Swiss shooting locations gives me a nostalgic view of things. "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" is a strong contender for the title of best Bond film.

9/10

To understand the controversy behind `On Her Majesty's Secret Service,' one must understand the events so impacting the spy genre by the time of its production in 1969. After the back to back tremendous successes of `Goldfinger' and `From Russia With Love,' every hack producer and distributor rushed to make spy movies. There were serious ones (`The Spy That Came in From the Cold,' `The Ipcress File'), satirical ones (`Our Man Flint,' `The Man From U.N.C.L.E.,' `Get Smart' ), and incredibly silly ones (`The Silencers,' `Last of the Secret Agents,' `Casino Royale'). `Casino Royale' was especially damaging, since it was (VERY LOOSELY) based on a Fleming novel, and used the character of James Bond, 007. In fact, in `Casino Royale,' nearly EVERYBODY played `James Bond'. `If we don't know what we are doing, how will the enemy,' was the explanation `James Bond' (David Niven) gave to explain why MI6 was calling all its agents `James Bond'. To protect their franchise, the producers of the `real' James Bond movies emphasized in their promotion `Sean Connery IS James Bond.' In a demonstration of `gratitude,' Connery up and quit the series, leaving `On Her Majesty's Secret Service,' which was shortly to go into production, without a `Bond.'

Arguably the most ambitious and difficult to shoot of ALL the Bond films (at least to that time), it's a miracle ANYTHING works in OHMSS. Much of the time it works VERY well, though the shaky underpinnings of the first hour frequently threaten to undo it. There is so much choppy editing and dubbed dialogue, one begins to suspect he is watching a foreign film. The second hour plus works much better, all the more surprising since it was shot first. One reason may be that the film went WAY over both shooting schedule and budget, and there was enough made up `bad' press to put a great deal of pressure on the producers, first time director, Peter Hunt and star, George Lazenby. In the middle of it all, Lazenby's publicist announced that Lazenby was not going to do another Bond (Lazenby is credible when he says that announcement was not his idea. One suspects, from the bonus material, that Cubby Broccoli planted that story to discredit Lazenby, should the film fail). Add to all this the films' tacked-on, unhappy ending (planned to be the prologue for `Diamonds are Forever'), which plays completely against the humor of earlier moments, and it's a wonder the film was NOT a dismal failure. Quite the contrary, OHMSS is one of the BEST of the Bond films, filled with nonstop action, outstanding stunts, incredible sound, the best score (along with `Goldfinger') and a credible enough romance to lend it genuine poignancy. Lazenby overcame many tremendous handicaps: having to replace one of the best known and popular actors in the world; he was 28, younger than Connery when he made `Dr. No'; he was completely inexperienced as an actor (OHMSS was Lazenby's FIRST movie, not just his first starring role); his accent (thick Australian outback) and the INCREDIBLE physical demands (Lazenby did many of his own stunts). Considering all this, Lazenby is downright remarkable. Certainly, in my opinion he is better than either the snooty Timothy Dalton or the lightweight Roger Moore were in ANY of their outings as Bond.. The bonus feature on the DVD concludes with strong evidence that Lazenby became a scapegoat, despite the eventual financial success of OHMSS. Lazenby, refreshingly displays no bitterness that his career nearly ended as soon as it began. He's had a reasonably busy career playing character roles and we have OHMSS. Not a bad deal at all.

This is the first and only film starring George Lazenby as James Bond 007, where he helps mobster Draco (Gabriele Ferzetti) track down arch nemesis Ernst Stavro Blofeld (Telly Savalas), where takes him to Switzerland and poses as Sir Hilary Bray to find out Blofeld's secret plan. Along the way, Bond woos Draco's daughter, Tracy (Diana Rigg).

This movie goes at a steady pace with some intriguing scenes that I've found appealing including 007 attempting to escape from Blofeld's pursuing henchman and the romantic chemistry between Bond and Tracy. Lazenby proves he is a formidable Bond that can could some serious butt, using his own moves and stunts when grappling with the henchman. This makes Bond an even more serious force to be reckoned with and an agent to fear more, in addition to his already famous license to kill.

Lazenby as Bond is a women charmer and equipped with a few one-liners and somewhat suaveness. However, his Bond has a serious and sensitive tone as evident in his emotional interaction with Tracy, who becomes one of the more unique Bond Girls, stealing Bond's heart and coming to rescue his life a few times. This makes this one of the more touching Bond movies.

The plot itself picks up speed right from the start, drags towards the middle and abruptly comes to an action-packed climax. As with many of the Bond movies, there are a lot of talk and less action, but this one lacks some suspense and humor as well. The good acting, though, counterbalances it. It's not one of the best Bonds, but overall, it's a pretty movie.

Grade B-

After viewing "Die Another Day" recently, one thing I noticed was that the filmmakers were trying to do things a little differently. In the latest Bond, the producers and director Lee Tamahori give hit and miss results. Bond is tortured, held captive, and made to seem much more falliable than before. Halle Berry's Jinx is certainly the most active female in the series to date (save maybe Michelle Yeoh). I think the latest Bond film was overall good, and while the film scores points for trying to mix the serie s up a bit, ultimately the experiment is a hit or miss affair.

What "Die Another Day" should have modeled on was the vastly superior "On Her Majesty's Secret Service", the only Bond movie to really stray from the formula (babes, bombs, gadgets)effectively. Both "OHMSS" and "DAD" are Bond films about Bond maturing. Here, in "OHMSS", Bond matures enough to actually settle down with a woman and marry her. Diana Rigg's Tracy is that woman--probably running neck and neck with Honor Blackman (who also played Emma Peel) as Pussy Galore for the title of Best Bond Girl ever. Blofeld (played here by Telly Savalas, and not nearly as good as Donald Pleasance's Blofeld but superior in every way to the guy who played Blofeld in the awful "Diamonds Are Forever")--Bond's archnemesis--is Bond's equal in ruthlessness, as demonstrated in the shock ending. This is a key difference, for most bond villains are total buffoons.

Lastly, the key and unignorable difference in "OHMSS" is George Lazenby as Bond. He's not the best Bond ever, but after the rollicking and brutal beach fight ("This never happened to that other fella") in the opener, I accept him as Bond. Really, I only need to accept the actor as Bond, not have him be the best ever (or live up to Connery--an impossible task). In this manner, Lazenby passes.

Lazenby's performance is unique. Another post mentions that Lazenby's modeling background gave him a looser, more slinky demeanor. I wholeheartedly agree. If Connery is the Bond who is fierce and macho, Moore is Bond The Old Man, Dalton playing Bond as Shakespeare, and Brosnan's Bond as a modern Connery, then Lazenby is the only actor to really convince me that Bond is a SPY. His nimble movements are nicely balanced with blasts of ferocity, and the sublime, Hitchcockian safecracking scene really reflects this superbly. Several times in the film, Bond is forced to don disguises, something we rarely see him do. In fact, I can't think of a Bond film where the quieter "spy" moments outshine the action.

The romance is quiet too, and when Bond finally beds Tracy, it is earned rather than conquered. The score, and especially Louis Armstong's "We Have All the Time In the World" (so delightfully ironic)highlight these themes beautifully.

"Die Another Day" could have exploited differences in the Bond formula to fabulous effect, but the film really just is a string of sex, quips, gadgets and explosions (albeit above average ones). For those seeking a truly different James Bond film seek out "On Her Majesty's Secret Service". The purists should love it as well, for gadgets aside (radioactive pocket lint? c'mon Q, you can do better), the film has a great opener, a great villain, a superlative female lead (as well as a bevy of babes for Bond to be tempted by--in a Swiss chalet no less), plenty of hard hitting action (bobsled chase!), and globetrotting. "OHMSS" is easily the most effectively well rounded Bond film, second only to "Goldfinger".

P.S. For posterity, here is how I rank my top five Bond films: 1. "Goldfinger" 2. "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" 3. "GoldenEye" 4. "From Russia With Love" 5. "You Only Live Twice"