Review of On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969) by Chris G — 25 Jan 2009

Does anybody here remember George Lazenby? He was the first actor to take over the role of James Bond from Sean Connery, who had had enough by 1969 and wanted to end his reign as Bond (though he would come back one more time officially when they offered him an ungodly sum of money). Lazenby had the impossible task of following someone who defined a role. That's like replacing Indiana Jones or if they try to replace Heath Ledger in the next Batman movie- whoever takes that role will forever be compared to the "original".

On Her Majesty's Secret Service is Lazenby's only Bond film, sandwiched in between two Connery films (You Only Live Twice and Diamonds Are Forever). It's main plot is that a gangster (Gabrielle Ferzetti) is willing to pay Bond one million pounds to wed his indulgent daughter. The film follows their budding relationship while Bond investigates Blofeld's (Tell Savalas) allergy clinic and what it's a cover for.

While interesting the story is a little lackluster with the entire "Marry my daughter" storyline feeling a little pushed. The cast is adequate, though being a child that remembers Kojak it's a bit difficult for me to see Telly Savalas as Blofeld. The film ends up being an average Bond/espionage film that delivers on action (Lazenby is probably the biggest ass kicker out of all the Bonds). Even with Connery I don't think OHMSS would have been better than Goldfinger or From Russia With Love.

Which brings us to Lazenby because any review of On Her Majesty's Secret Service is essentially a review of Lazenby as Bond. Is he better or worse than Connery? The answer is he's different. Just like Roger Moore was different. And Timothy Dalton. And Pierce Brosnan. And Daniel Craig. And Barry Nelson. And David Niven. Bonds are like General Motors. Yeah, there's a bunch of different styles and makes, but they're all built essentially on the same frame. The character is the frame. The actor is the one who fills it out.