George Lazenby by Paul Gilbert
Tenure as Bond: 1 movie
Essential Adventure: On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969)
George Lazenby wanted to be Bond badly. After Sean Connery left the titular role after the disastrous production and contract negotiations of You Only Live Twice producers Cubby Broccoli and Harry Saltzman were in need of a Bond. In comes the Australian born model Lazenby. In fact, Lazenby (as he tells it) sneaked past Saltzman secretary and presented himself as the new James Bond. A few screen tests later and the two producers had found their new star. Broccoli and Saltzman had taken a risk in casting Lazenby and now they were going to take a few more in the adaptation of On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. A film whose plot changed the trajectory of Bond and the franchise that revolved around him.
One of the reasons that Lazenby was given the job was that he could pull a punch and he does, BAM right in the kisser. The quick cutting and brutal punching style of Lazenby create great hand to hand combat scenes. Lazenby is not a great actor and fails to be truly convincing as Bond. It’s not surprising that audiences found it hard to warm up to Connery’s replacement. This is distracting and one can sense the uneasiness that the producers felt after Connery’s departure. In the end, Lazenby left the franchise because he felt with films such as Easy Rider and the rise of New Hollywood that Bond was quickly going to become pastiche. Poor fella.
On Her Majesty’s Secret Service was not your average Bond film. After the bizarre opening sequence which ends with the infamous inside joke muttered by Lazenby, “This never happened to the other fella,” the film cuts to the most rockin theme of any of the Bond films. It’s fully orchestral and singularly James Bond. It was so popular that films continue to use it such as Pixar’s The Incredibles and one can hear it during the final trailer for latest installment in the Bond franchise, Spectre. In a film dominated by late 1960’s sexism, Tracy (Diana Rigg) stands out as strong and confidant female character. Despite what the men in her life say, she is not emotionally imbalanced. She is a reassured women and ready for anything. Tracy saves Bond’s life by escaping in a Cougar XR-7 through the sides streets of an Alps resort town and through a rally car race. By the end of the film Tracy “dominates” Bond instead of the other way around. Thanks to time and home video On Her Majesty’s Secret Service has found new respect and ceases to be a footnote on the long running franchise.
Advertisement
Advertisement
