Review of On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969) by Tom B — 27 Dec 2009

I never expected to like a Bond film again. No wonder that feminist critic Molly Haskell praised it, for showing us an archaic hero-man "who actually dares to think that one woman who is his equal is better than a thousand part-time playmates.

" What is most affecting about this film is the romance between James and Tracy. Lazenby is perfect as Fleming's self-conscious romantic hero, and Rigg more than elevates the character of Tracy di Vincenzo.

This is a sweet and sentimental Bond film, low-tech, high on gorgeous mise-en-scene and hyperkinetic Diabolik-style editing. It's a superhero movie with heart, and I can attest it makes young men weep, though here's hoping they don't read my review.

If you are looking for a film that summarizes who Bond may have been, this one may be it. Fleming's protagonist evolved horribly on film, in some ways, taking away the humanity and taste of the original (I always preferred Connery in Hitchcock's Marnie and The Anderson Tapes, if at all, but not as Bond.

) Lazenby is vulnerable, and sensitive, aware of decor and perfume, and quite conscious that toast is indeed required with caviar. All the stylistics and meanness of Bond are relieved here by his being a person, as much an equal to Rigg's di Vicenzo as she is to him.

This is my experience of the written Bond, who is really a stand-in for a somewhat self-reflective author who seemed fully aware that the biggest challenge to a man is himself when emotionally gaffing his way through serious love.

The charm of this one in the end perhaps makes all other Bond films obsolete. Bond on film doesn't, and probably won't, get better than this.