On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
For the sixth James Bond film, the producers were unable to come to terms with Sean Connery (whose performances had come to belie his boredom) and instead went with Australian male model George Lazenby in the part: In many ways it’s a shame: while Lazenby is not REALLY bad in the part, given the script and story, there’s little doubt that this would have been the ultimate Bond film had Connery returned, with the character lineage built up over the past five films by him coming to a head with incredible emotional resonance. Lazenby does his best though (in the only time he played it), projecting a masculine arrogance as Bond is coerced (and then agreeing of his own free will) to marry for the only time in the series, to a spoiled jet set rich girl played by The Avengers’ Diana Rigg. As Tracy Di Vicenzo, Rigg is no doubt superior to the past Bond girls, which included Ursula Andress’ freewheeling Honey Ryder to Honor Blackmon’s hostile lesbian Pussy Galore. Projecting a strong will, vulnerability, and yet strong sense of self-reliance, the fact that she comes to actually RESCUE Bond from the bad guys (plus the fact that her chemistry with Lazenby is potent) makes the audience believe that this could very well be the girl that tames 007. The spy plot itself is okay at best, with Bond resuming the hunt for Ernst Stavro Blofeld, and tracking him down to his new lair in the Swiss Alps (complete with great location photography), where he has assumed a new identity as an allergy specialist who actually wants to unleash a virus upon the world that will render all life to be infertile. Telly Savalas takes on the role of Blofeld this time from Donald Pleasence, and brings the suave authority that Pleasence never quite did, playing some mental cat and mouse with Bond (who has assumed the identity of a genealogist) before dropping the veneer and trying to kill Bond while interestingly making a play for Tracy as well. Unfortunately, the near forty-minute middle section of the film, with Bond undercover at the compound checking out the digs and meeting and seducing various girls working for Blofeld, slows the pace pretty bad, as we know the hero and the villain are gonna stop bullshitting each other soon and get down to business. In addition, the aforementioned girls who are being brainwashed to carry out Blofeld’s plan and spread the virus (which is never quite explained) are a dumb subplot and makes you wonder why Blofeld wouldn’t just open a vial in a public place and be done with it. Regardless, the film is directed with zest by Peter Hunt, with tight editing and camerawork on the action scenes, as Lazenby handles himself very well physically, whether it be brawling with henchmen or chasing Blofeld down a bobsled trail. The script is also quite good, bringing across well the (genuine) romance between Bond and Tracy (we believe Lazenby when his Bond asks her to marry him), all leading up to the devastatingly sad finale. Overall, perhaps the most emotionally satisfying entry in the series that Connery was an arrogant fool to have turned down…
7/10