On Her Majesty's Secret Service (film)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 This article needs additional citations for verification.
Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (July 2007)
On Her Majesty's Secret Service

On Her Majesty's Secret Service film poster
James Bond George Lazenby
Also starring Diana Rigg, Telly Savalas
Directed by Peter R. Hunt
Produced by Albert R. Broccoli
Novel/Story by Ian Fleming
Screenplay Richard Maibaum
Cinematography by Michael Reed
Music by John Barry
Main theme On Her Majesty's Secret Service
Composer John Barry
Performer John Barry Orchestra
Editing by John Glen
Distributed by United Artists
Released December 18, 1969 (UK / USA)
Running time 140 min.
Budget $7,000,000
Worldwide gross $87,400,000
Preceded by You Only Live Twice (1967)
Followed by Diamonds Are Forever (1971)
IMDb profile

On Her Majesty's Secret Service, released in 1969, is the sixth spy film in the James Bond series, and the only one to star George Lazenby as the fictional British secret agent James Bond, 007. In the film, Bond faces Blofeld, who is planning on unleashing a plague through a group of brainwashed "angels of death" unless his demands are met. Along the way, Bond meets, falls in love with, and eventually marries Contessa Teresa di Vicenzo.

This Bond film is the second in what is considered the "Blofeld Trilogy", coming between You Only Live Twice (1967) and Diamonds Are Forever (1971). This trilogy is of interest not only for the three different Blofeld actors (Donald Pleasence in You Only Live Twice, Telly Savalas in On Her Majesty's Secret Service, and Charles Gray in Diamonds Are Forever) but for its two Bond actors (Sean Connery, then George Lazenby, and back to Connery).

This is the only Bond film to be directed by Peter R. Hunt, who before was a film editor or second unit director on every previous film. While On Her Majesty's Secret Service didn't earn quite as much money as the predecessor You Only Live Twice, it was still a box office success, and was met with positive critical reviews.

Contents

[edit] Plot

The pre-title sequence shows Miss Moneypenny, M and Q discussing the whereabouts of Bond. He is in Portugal, driving on a coastal highway. Suddenly, a woman in a Mercury Cougar overtakes him. Soon after he encounters her attempting suicide on a beach. Bond drives down to the shore, runs into the surf, and carries her from the sea. He brings her to consciousness and introduces himself. After a fight with two thugs, from which Bond emerges the victor, the woman jumps into her car and speeds away.

Bond later encounters the woman in a casino. She places a bet she cannot pay and he rescues her by paying it. The woman, Contessa Teresa "Tracy" di Vicenzo invites him to her room to thank him. When Bond later visits her room he finds nobody there, until a thug emerges behind Bond. After defeating him, Bond returns to his own room, finding Tracy there. After Tracy threatens to kill him for a thrill, Bond disarms Tracy and questions her about the thug. Tracy has nothing to say.

In the morning, she is gone. Later, as Bond leaves the hotel, several men kidnap him and lead him to Marc-Ange Draco, the head of the European crime syndicate Unione Corse. Bond recognizes Draco immediately. Draco reveals that Tracy is his only daughter and tells Bond of her troubled past, offering Bond a personal dowry of one million pounds if he will marry her. Bond refuses, but agrees to continue romancing Tracy under the agreement that Draco reveal the whereabouts of Ernst Stavro Blofeld, the head of SPECTRE.

Bond and Tracy.
Bond and Tracy.

Bond returns to MI6 but is told he has been relieved from the task of hunting Blofeld, prompting him to resign. After M accepts the letter, Bond learns that as Moneypenny was recording his dictation she changed the wording to request two weeks leave. Realizing he can pursue Blofeld on his time off and not quit MI6, he thanks her and heads for Draco's birthday party in Portugal. there, Tracy discovers Bond's deal with her father and strong-arms him into providing Bond with the information he requested. Draco tells Bond that his next line of pursuit should be a law firm in Bern, Switzerland. After a brief argument, Bond and Tracy begin a whirlwind romance.

Bond and Tracy go to Bern with Draco to investigate the lawyer's connection with Blofeld. Searching the man's office, Bond finds Blofeld's correspondence with the London College of Arms: Blofeld is attempting to claim the title 'Comte Balthazar de Bleuchamp'. His College of Arms correspondent is genealogist Sir Hilary Bray. Bond visits M at home and is granted permission to recommence investigation of Blofeld.

Blofeld (Telly Savalas) and James Bond (George Lazenby).
Blofeld (Telly Savalas) and James Bond (George Lazenby).

Posing as Bray, Bond visits Blofeld, who has established a clinical research institute atop Piz Gloria in the Swiss Alps. In disguise, Bond meets ten young women. They are patients of the institute's clinic. In fact, the women are being brainwashed to distribute bacteriological warfare agents throughout their parts of the world.

Bond's lasciviousness betrays him to Blofeld's henchwoman Irma Bunt, who captures him during a second visit to the room of one of the "patients". Bond escapes imprisonment, skiing down Piz Gloria. He reaches the village of Mürren and encounters Tracy. A blizzard forces them to a remote barn. Bond declares his love for Tracy and proposes marriage to her. She accepts. The next morning Blofeld captures Tracy and leaves Bond in an avalanche.

Blofeld holds the world to ransom with the threat of destroying its agriculture using his brainwashed. His price is amnesty for all past crimes. Bond enlists Draco and his forces to attack Blofeld's headquarters. The raid is successful and Bond and Blofeld are the last to escape before the institute is destroyed. The pair engage in a furious bobsled chase down Piz Gloria. Eventually Blofeld is snared in tree branches.

Bond and Tracy marry in Portugal. They drive away in Bond's Aston Martin, pulling over to the roadside to remove flowers from the car. A Mercedes-Benz 600 drives past. Blofeld is driving, and Bunt fires at the newlyweds. Despite several bursts on the vehicle, Bond is unharmed. He quickly enters the car and then speaks to his wife, only to realize that she has been killed.

[edit] Cast

[edit] Production

On Her Majesty's Secret Service was originally to have followed Goldfinger, and early prints of that film even announced this. But Thunderball was filmed instead since the rights dispute was arranged. Then it was earmarked to follow Thunderball, but the impossibility to search for winter locations made Harry Saltzman and Albert R. Broccoli postpone the film, favouring production of You Only Live Twice.[1]

Peter R. Hunt asked to direct after editing the other Bond films and being second unit director in You Only Live Twice.[2] When writing the script, the producers decided to make the closest adaptation of the book as possible: virtually everything in the novel occurs in the film. [2] They stayed so close to the book that they caused several continuity errors due to the movies taking place in a different order: Blofeld did not recognise Bond at first, despite having met him face-to-face in the previous film, You Only Live Twice. Also, in that film, Bond had a small, portable and quick-to-use safecracking device, whereas here he uses a larger and much slower one. In the original script, Bond undergoes plastic surgery to disguise him from his enemies. The intention was to allow an unrecognizable Bond to infiltrate Blofeld's hideout, and help the audience accept the new actor in the role. However, this was dropped in favor of ignoring the change in actor, a decision later mirrored with Superman Returns, the Batman series, and the rest of the Bond films.

[edit] Casting

In 1967, after five James Bond films, Sean Connery quit the role. In his place Albert R. Broccoli initially chose actor Timothy Dalton. However, Dalton declined, believing himself too young for the role.[3] Harry Saltzman considered Roger Moore, but he was unavailable, because of his television programme The Saint. Saltzman also briefly considered Jeremy Brett for the role of Bond after seeing his performance in My Fair Lady. The confirmed front runners were John Richardson, Hans de Vries, Robert Campbell and Anthony Rogers, Richardson was said to have been runner up to Lazenby and was strongly considered for Live and Let Die.

Broccoli eventually chose Australian George Lazenby after seeing him in a commercial.[2] Lazenby dressed the part by sporting several sartorial Bond elements such as a Rolex Submariner wristwatch and a Savile Row suit (ordered, but uncollected, by Connery) Lazenby recalled in an interview.[4] Broccoli noticed Lazenby as a Bond-type man, physique and the character elements, and offered him an audition. Lazenby was offered a contract for seven movies, but was convinced by his agent Ronan O'Rahilly that the secret agent would be archaic in the liberated 1970s and left the series in 1971.[5]

For Tracy Bond, the producers wanted an established actress opposite neophyte Lazenby. Brigitte Bardot was invited, but declined, so Diana Rigg, who had been the popular heroine Emma Peel in The Avengers, was cast.[6] Rigg said one of the reasons for accepting the role was that she always wanted to be in a epic film.[2] Telly Savalas was cast following a suggestion from Broccoli, and Hunt's neighbour George Baker was invited for Sir Hilary Bray. Baker's voice was also used when Lazenby was impersonating Bray.[2]

[edit] Filming

"One time, we were on location at an ice rink and Diana and Peter were drinking champagne inside. Of course I wasn't invited as Peter was there. I could see them through the window, but the crew were all outside stomping around on the ice trying to keep warm. So, when she got in the car, I went for her. She couldn't drive the car properly and I got in to her about her drinking and things like that. Then she jumped out and started shouting 'he's attacking me in the car!' I called her a so-and-so for not considering the crew who were freezing their butts off outside. And it wasn't that at all in the end, as she was sick that night, and I was at fault for getting in to her about it. I think everyone gets upset at one time."
George Lazenby[7]

Filming began in Canton Bern, Switzerland, in October 1968, and used several locations including the capital city, Berne, itself and various regions in the Berner Oberland including the now famous revolving restaurant "Piz Gloria", and wrapped in Portugal, in May 1969.

Filming locations included London with the historic Pinewood Studios. Bern, Switzerland included several scenes shot on location. The Christmas celebrations were filmed in Grindelwald, Switzerland. Various chase scenes in The Alps were shot at Lauterbrunnen while Piz Gloria and Schilthorn were shown as Blofeld's headquarters in the Alps. Lisbon was used for the reunion of Bond and Tracy and the pre-credit coastal and hotel scenes were filmed at Estoril in Portugal.

The downhill skiing involved professional skiiers, and various camera tricks. Some cameras were handheld, with the operators holding them as they were going downhill with the stuntmen, and others were aerial, with cameramen Johnny Jordan — which had previously worked in the helicopter battle of You Only Live Twice — developing a system where he was dangled by a parachute harness rig at 18 ft. high, allowing scenes to be shot from any angle. The avalanche scenes involved both explosions made by the Swiss army annually to prevent snow build-up and another created by the special effects crew. The stuntmen were filmed later, added by optical and editing to the avalanche footage.[8]

For the scene where Bond and Tracy crash into a car race while being pursued, an ice rink was constructed, with water and snow sprayed on it constantly. Diana Rigg and George Lazenby did most of the driving due to the high number of close-ups.[2]

George Lazenby did not reprise the role in Diamonds Are Forever. His agent convinced him the secret agent would be archaic in the liberated 1970s. He had been offered a seven-film contract, had signed a letter of intent to star in Diamonds Are Forever, and was even paid an initial fee installment (which he refunded) before declining.[2]

[edit] Music

Main article: On Her Majesty's Secret Service (soundtrack)

The soundtrack to the film was composed, arranged, and conducted by John Barry. It was his fifth successive Bond film.

John Barry felt it would be difficult to compose a theme song containing the title "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" unless it was written operatically, in the style of Gilbert and Sullivan. Director Peter R. Hunt allowed an instrumental title theme. The track is notable for its incorporation of the Moog synthesizer in its recurring bassline - the first time this instrument had been heard in a film soundtrack. Its distinctive sound would become a mainstay of soundtracks in the 1970s.

The theme, "On Her Majesty's Secret Service", is used in the film as an action theme alternate to Monty Norman's "James Bond Theme", as is the case with Barry's previous "007" theme. "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" was remixed in 1997 by the Propellerheads for the Shaken and Stirred album. Barry-orchestrator Nic Raine recorded an arrangement of the escape from Piz Gloria sequence and it was featured as a theme in the trailers for the 2004 Pixar animated film The Incredibles.

Barry also composed the love song, "We Have All the Time in the World", sung by Louis Armstrong. With lyrics by Burt Bacharach's regular lyricist Hal David, it is heard during the Bond–Tracy courtship montage, bridging Draco's birthday party in Portugal and Bond's burglary of the Gebrüder Gumbold law office in Bern, Switzerland. It was Louis Armstrong's last recorded song (He died of a heart attack two years later.)

[edit] Release and reception

On Her Majesty's Secret Service was released on December 18, 1969. It grossed $ 87,400,000 worldwide,[9] with $22.8 million in the United States alone.[10] It was one of the highest-grossing films worldwide in 1969.[11]

The film's producers, perhaps mistrusting Lazenby's ability to carry the picture, took the unusual step of overdubbing Lazenby's voice with that of George Baker in major scenes in which Bond impersonated Baker's character. The technique had never been used in a Bond film for a leading actor whose first language was English. According to an interview with Lazenby, the difficulties were due to director Peter R. Hunt refusing to talk directly to Lazenby, who was too brusque in passing on a request that Hunt's friends clear a set before filming[12]. Allegedly, there also were personality conflicts with leading lady Diana Rigg, who was already an established star. However, according to director Hunt, these rumours are untrue and there were no such difficulties - or else they were minor - and he would have agreed to direct Diamonds Are Forever if Lazenby had accepted the contract[13]. Rigg herself acknowledged having eaten food spiced with garlic just before her kissing scenes with Lazenby, though witnesses also acknowledge that was done in an ironic and jesting tone, demonstrating a very English sense of humour on the part of Rigg.

Critical response to On Her Majesty's Secret Service remains sharply divided, affecting estimates of Lazenby's potential as Bond. It followed the plot of the novel more closely than the other film adaptations of the eponymous source novels, including serious dramatic subject matter pivotal to the development of Bond's character: Bond's contemplated resignation from MI6; his comically-botched impersonation of a sexually ascetic genealogist at a mountaintop allergies clinic for beautiful young women; and his brief, tragic marriage to Tracy Draco, the daughter of a Corsican crime syndicate leader. American movie reviewer Leonard Maltin has suggested that had Connery held the leading role, On Her Majesty's Secret Service would have epitomised the series.[citation needed]

The film performed well at the box office, only marginally down on the previous outing You Only Live Twice, taking about 80% of the box office gross with 74% of the budget[14][15], and was one of the highest-grossing film of that year.

A heavily edited TV version[16] was broadcast by ABC in 1976 and again in 1980 with Lazenby dubbed. This version opens with Bond's escape from Piz Gloria, and follows that section of the film through to the scene in M's office after the avalanche that results in Tracy's capture by Blofeld. The entire film is then played as a flashback, including the entire ski chase/escape from Piz Gloria sequence, all over again.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Inside You Only Live Twice [DVD]. You Only Live Twice Ultimate Edition DVD: MGM Home Entertainment Inc.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Inside On Her Majesty's Secret Service [DVD]. OHMSS Ultimate Edition DVD: MGM Home Entertainment Inc.
  3. ^ Inside The Living Daylights [DVD]. MGM Home Entertainment.
  4. ^ De 'vergeten' 007. Andere Tijden, VPRO, Nederland 2 20:25–21:25.
  5. ^ Inside On Her Majesty's Secret Service [DVD]. OHMSS Ultimate Edition DVD: MGM Home Entertainment Inc.
  6. ^ (2006) Album notes for On Her Majesty's Secret Service Ultimate Edition DVD.
  7. ^ "Interview with George Lazenby and Peter R. Hunt". Andere Tijden. Dutch TV. 2002.
  8. ^ John Glen (March 1970). "FILMING THE THRILLS, CHILLS AND SPILLS OF 007" ([dead link] – Scholar search). American Cinematographer 52 (3). 
  9. ^ On Her Majesty's Secret Service - Box Office Data, Movie News, Cast Information - The Numbers
  10. ^ On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969)
  11. ^ [1]
  12. ^ Interview in Bondage, magazine of the James Bond 007 Fan Club
  13. ^ Retrovision magazine interview with Peter R. Hunt
  14. ^ IMDB business data for On Her Majesty's Secret Service
  15. ^ IMDB business data for You Only Live Twice
  16. ^ The original version edited for American Television was re-cut in several places. The film started "in medias res" with the escape from Piz Gloria, then flashing back to the beginning of the film. The entire film featured Bond's voice over (done by a different actor than Lazenby), and included a shot before the wedding in which Bond and Tracy buy her the wedding ring and Irma Bunt's reflection is seen in the window of the jeweler's.

[edit] External links

v • d • e
James Bond films and actors
"Official" films (EON Productions)
Films
Actors
Films
Actors