1969’s On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (which shall be known as OHMSS) in this blog post is by far one of the most intriguing entries in the 007 series for a host of reasons.

The most obvious is that, for the first time, someone other than Sean Connery plays the super spy. George Lazenby is perhaps the most famous movie trivia answer of all time. He got the unfortunate assignment of replacing a legend. It would be his only portrayal of 007. During the filming of You Only Live Twice, Connery announced his decision to step down from the role.

OHMSS is also notable for its lack of gadgetry. Longtime Bond editor but first-time Bond director Peter Hunt purposely chose to stick closer to the Ian Fleming novels for this outing than previous entries. The film’s budget is $7 million, a hefty budget for the time but less than the budget of its two predecessors, Thunderball and You Only Live Twice. 

Another major departure: 007 really falls in love with Bond girl this time around. The character of Countess Tracy di Vicenzo is played by Diana Rigg, already a well-known at the time due to the TV series “The Avengers”. Rigg give us one of the best Bond girls in the franchise’s history. Uncharacteristic to Bond from the other features, he falls hard for her. So much so that she becomes Mrs. James Bond at the end (!). Of course, this turns out to be an even shorter marriage than Kim Kardashian’s.

The picture opens with Bond saving Tracy’s life as she attempts suicide. This begins a bond (pun intended) between them. Soon, 007 learns that Tracy’s father is a wealthy criminal who may be able to lead Bond to his arch nemesis, Blofeld. He continues to romance Tracy because of that, but as mentioned, Bond’s usually cold heart turns all gooey for her.

Bond is eventually tasked with going undercover as a genealogist in order to meet with Blofeld. This all takes place in the Swiss Alps at an allergy research clinic for beautiful young women. Sound bizarre? Oh, it is. It really, really is. So is Lazenby’s acting as the undercover genealogist. So is a scene that shows the young women eating the food they were once allergic to. Of course, it’s not really an allergy research clinic. Blofeld is brainwashing the women for a later biological attack that SPECTRE has been planning.

If that last paragraph didn’t prove it, let me just state OHMSS is often just a strange movie. That’s not necessarily a bad thing for the film, but the sequences at the clinic simply go on far too long (the picture itself feels bloated at 140 minutes). This stretch provides little action and Lazenby’s performance just isn’t strong enough to keep it moving.

Once this protracted section of the film closes, OHMSS really does pick up quite nicely, with an exciting ski, car, and bobsled chase. There’s also an extremely impressive snow avalanche sequence.

You have to credit the producers for trying something different with OHMSS. Particularly, the dynamic of Bond falling in love turns out to work very well. The dissolution, so to speak, of his marriage gives the franchise its first and only truly downbeat ending.

When the movie was released, it did not perform up to expectations. Part of it had to be the audience’s disappointment with Connery’s exit. Worldwide, it grossed just about half of what You Only Live Twice did. In the U.S., same story. You Only… gross: $43 million. OHMSS: $22 million. That placed it only 10th for 1969’s biggest releases.

Then a strange happened as the years went by. OHMSS began to have the reputation of one of the finest 007 entries in the franchise. Some critics have gone as far to say it is the best. Simply put, this is not an assessment I concur with. The final half hour of the picture is near great. Telly Savalas (best known as TV’s Kojak) is solid in his turn as the evil Blofeld. And it does have one of the very best Bond girls.

However, there are problems, most especially with the movie’s pacing. The plot, too, is often just plain weird. And also, we simply cannot ignore the fact that George Lazenby doesn’t make much of an impression as 007. I don’t want to criticize him too much because probably no one could properly fill Connery’s shoes. Still, Lazenby is mostly just bland. When he delivers his one-liners, they suffer badly in comparison to his predecessor, who had impeccable comic timing.

The theme song this time around hearkens back to the first two 007 films in that it’s instrumental, from longtime Bond composer John Barry. As usual, Barry’s score throughout the film is lush and memorable.

In closing, OHMSS has the curious distinction of probably being an underrated Bond flick when it was released, due to the tepid audience response in 1969. Since then, it’s become a rather overrated movie. Don’t get me wrong – if you’re a Bond fan, it’s a must-see. However, I don’t believe it reaches the level of any of the Connery pictures that came before it.

Here are the facts:

Film: On Her Majesty’s Secret Service

U.S. Release Date: December 18, 1969

Director: Peter Hunt

Screenplay: Richard Maibaum

Bond: George Lazenby

Main Villain: Ernst Stavro Blofeld (Telly Savalas)

Main Bond Girl: Tracy di Vicenzo (Diana Rigg)

Theme Song: “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service” – composed by John Barry

Budget: $7 million

Worldwide Box Office: $64.6 million

My James Bond blog series will return with “The 007 Files: Diamonds Are Forever”