On Her Majesty's Secret Service

On Her Majesty's Secret Service is a novel by Ian Fleming.

A film adaption of the book was released in 1969 starring George Lazenby as James Bond. Lazenby was the second actor to be cast in the film role of James Bond, the first being Sean Connery. This movie is the sixth in the canonical Bond series.

Plot

Warning: Plot details follow.

In the movie and book, James Bond saves a woman (Teresa di Vicenzo, played by Diana Rigg) who tries to drown herself in the ocean and later gambles with money that she does not have. Her father, Marc Ange Draco, (Gabriele Ferzetti) the head of a Corsican mafia family, thinking that Bond can help with his daughters emotional instability, proposes that if James Bond marries his daughter, Bond will receive one million dollars on their wedding day. Bond refuses, but agrees to see her again as part of an agreement that Draco will provide Bond with information about the location of Ernst Stavro Blofeld (Telly Savalas), the head of the crime organization S.P.E.C.T.R.E. The name Blofeld was inspired by the father of English Cricket commentator Henry Blofeld, with whom Fleming went to school.

Draco eventually complies and informs Bond that several men from Draco's organization have been recruited by Blofeld, via an attorney in Bern, Switzerland. A search of the attorney's office reveals correspondence between Blofeld and the Royal College of Arms. Blofeld is attempting to lay claim to the title 'Compte Balthazar de Bleuchamp'. His correspondence is with Sir Hillary Bray, a geneologist at the College. Bond proposes posing as Bray so that he may visit Blofeld, on the pretense of verifying a physical attribute of the Bleuchamps - a lack of earlobes.

Blofeld has established a research institute, Piz Gloria, on top of a mountain in Switzerland (filmed at a restaurant on top of the Schilthorn in the Bernese Oberland). Bond, undercover as the foppish Bray, meets ten beautiful women from around the world. The women are at the institute undergoing an unorthodox treatment for their allergies. In reality, the young women are unknowingly being trained to distribute biological warfare agents throughout the world.

Bond's lasciviousness exposes his true identity. He escapes by skiing down the mountain, while being chased by Blofeld and his henchmen. He ends up in a village during a winter festival. Now it is TracyÃÂÃÂs turn to save James. Tracy is in Switzerland undergoing therapy, and has found out James' location from her father. James and Tracy meet unexpectedly while Bond is being pursued. They escape in her car, but she is captured by Blofeld. With Draco, Bond returns by helicopter to destroy the institute, save Tracy and to stop Blofeld from carrying out his plans to blackmail the worlds governments under the threat of bacteriological warfare.

After their raid on Piz Gloria, Bond and Tracy marry, but Tracy is shot by and killed Irma Bunt, Blofeld's right hand woman, while Bond's car was on the side of the road, stopped to remove the flowers decorating it from their wedding reception. Bond would eventually avenge Tracy Bond in an confrontation with Blofield in the pre-credits sequence of For Your Eyes Only (1981).

Trivia

Many fans consider this to be the best of the Bond series. Lazenby "nailed" the part of James Bond as described in the novels. Some fans of the movie series only, however, were disappointed in his performance as it diverged significantly from Connery's portrayal of the character.

Lazenby wanted this part so much that he set up an "accidental" meeting between himself and author Ian Fleming. Lazenby arranged to have his haircut at the barber he knew Fleming to frequent. Lazenby dressed the part, by sporting sevearl Bond elements, such as a Rolex watch. Fleming noticed the elements and offered him a reading for the part.

Despite all the work Lazenby went through to get the part, he wasn't interested in reprising the role. He thought the tuxedo-clad Bond would be archaic in the sexually liberated 60s.

External links

James Bond movies

Casino Royale | La Resurrection du Dragon | The Green Jade Mahjongg | Never Say Never Again | The Property of a Lady