On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969)
Country: GB
Technical: col/scope 140m
Director: Peter Hunt
Cast: George Lazenby, Diana Rigg, Telly Savalas, Gabriele Ferzetti
Synopsis:
In his second confrontation with Blofeld, 007 prevents the suave master criminal from unleashing biological warfare on the world through the beauty products distributed among a bevy of international ladies attending his mountain-top allergy clinic.
Review:
One of the slenderest of premises is the background for an unconventionally romantic Bond outing, with considerable screen time devoted to the love interest that is briefly to become Mrs James Bond. In this regard its chief felicity is the casting of Diana Rigg, who can not only act, but also acquits herself in the field as every secret agent's wife should. Unhappily the film is also unique for the blank persona of its lead actor, which may be an asset or a weakness according to taste. Feminists aside, however, Lazenby looks good but his voice is too light and he is dealt some atrocious one-liners. He is also made to look seriously out of his depth on more than one occasion (not a bad thing necessarily), and it is his perennial promiscuity with women that threatens his life and the whole mission. Amazingly enough, and a sign of the film's age, he is back in Tracy's arms in no time declaring exclusive devotion, and we didn't bat an eyelid! When all's said and done, it is this Bond's exclusivity that makes it stick in the memory, and it does contain some thrilling second unit sequences and a memorable non-vocal Barry title track.
Country: GB
Technical: col/scope 140m
Director: Peter Hunt
Cast: George Lazenby, Diana Rigg, Telly Savalas, Gabriele Ferzetti
Synopsis:
In his second confrontation with Blofeld, 007 prevents the suave master criminal from unleashing biological warfare on the world through the beauty products distributed among a bevy of international ladies attending his mountain-top allergy clinic.
Review:
One of the slenderest of premises is the background for an unconventionally romantic Bond outing, with considerable screen time devoted to the love interest that is briefly to become Mrs James Bond. In this regard its chief felicity is the casting of Diana Rigg, who can not only act, but also acquits herself in the field as every secret agent's wife should. Unhappily the film is also unique for the blank persona of its lead actor, which may be an asset or a weakness according to taste. Feminists aside, however, Lazenby looks good but his voice is too light and he is dealt some atrocious one-liners. He is also made to look seriously out of his depth on more than one occasion (not a bad thing necessarily), and it is his perennial promiscuity with women that threatens his life and the whole mission. Amazingly enough, and a sign of the film's age, he is back in Tracy's arms in no time declaring exclusive devotion, and we didn't bat an eyelid! When all's said and done, it is this Bond's exclusivity that makes it stick in the memory, and it does contain some thrilling second unit sequences and a memorable non-vocal Barry title track.
Country: GB
Technical: col/scope 140m
Director: Peter Hunt
Cast: George Lazenby, Diana Rigg, Telly Savalas, Gabriele Ferzetti
Synopsis:
In his second confrontation with Blofeld, 007 prevents the suave master criminal from unleashing biological warfare on the world through the beauty products distributed among a bevy of international ladies attending his mountain-top allergy clinic.
Review:
One of the slenderest of premises is the background for an unconventionally romantic Bond outing, with considerable screen time devoted to the love interest that is briefly to become Mrs James Bond. In this regard its chief felicity is the casting of Diana Rigg, who can not only act, but also acquits herself in the field as every secret agent's wife should. Unhappily the film is also unique for the blank persona of its lead actor, which may be an asset or a weakness according to taste. Feminists aside, however, Lazenby looks good but his voice is too light and he is dealt some atrocious one-liners. He is also made to look seriously out of his depth on more than one occasion (not a bad thing necessarily), and it is his perennial promiscuity with women that threatens his life and the whole mission. Amazingly enough, and a sign of the film's age, he is back in Tracy's arms in no time declaring exclusive devotion, and we didn't bat an eyelid! When all's said and done, it is this Bond's exclusivity that makes it stick in the memory, and it does contain some thrilling second unit sequences and a memorable non-vocal Barry title track.