On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969) – Secret Agent 007, James Bond (George Lazenby) finds himself drawn into a “salvage mission” to try and help the troubled adult daughter of a Corsican criminal boss. As he and Tracie (Diana Rigg) discover the beginnings of a real romance, Bond continues his hunt of his arch-enemy Blofeld (Telly Savalas), who is trying to bring the world economy to its knees.
This is the “other” Bond. Not Connery, not the dreadful “pretty boy” Bonds of Brosnan and Moore, nor the rather flat but adequate Dalton and certainly not the true “blunt instrument” Bond of Daniel Craig. George Lazenby is the only movie actor to take on Bond in a non-comedy version who appears in only a single movie (David Niven took a comic turn as an aging 007 in the 1967 version of Casino Royale). I have been a Bond fan since I was a pre-teen. I’ve read all the original books, seen most of the movies (the exceptions were otherwise all in the Brosnan/Moore years), and consider myself a little bit of a purist. For me the best Bond remains Sean Connery. He brings a deadly edge to the character even as he tosses of the terse quip and fondles the Bond girls (his Bond Girls are also the best as well). I will grant that Daniel Craig has really done a fabulous job of expressing the deadly aspect of 007. It should never be forgotten that what makes Bond special is his “license to kill”. It is in one of John Gardner’s continuation novels where Secret Service head “M” says that there are times when Her Majesty’s government requires a “blunt instrument”. Connery and Craig bring that aspect through with the greatest effect.
Lazenby isn’t bad, however. I’d put him in the Timothy Dalton middle ground with Lazenby perhaps just a bit a head.
This is a very faithful adaptation of the novel, which is one of my personal favorites. This is the book where we see greater depth of character for Bond. He’s tired, nearly mentally defeated as the story begins but finds new things to stir his blood as time goes on. His discovery of a woman with a sense of adventure that could match his own in Tracie takes him somewhere unexpected. Savalas is underwhelming as Blofeld, made even worse by the modern parody of “Dr. Evil” from the “Austin Powers” movies. On the whole they did a very nice job until the very end. They stayed faithful to the ending (a personal favorite again) but it fell flat in Lazenby’s hands. Unfortunate.
This movie actually did very well at the box office. Lazenby’s reviews have been decidedly mixed over the years. Some folks rank even below the “pretty boys” which is criminal in my opinion. Lazenby believed that the secret agent genre was a dead issue in the more liberated ’70s and declined to continue in the role. That’s truly unfortunate given what followed for 30 years.
Rating – *** Worth A Look
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