Lazenby made a terrible
error when he tried to mimic Conner rather than making his own version of the
role, and like anyone can tell you, mimicry just makes us want the real person.
Steve Rhodes stated in his review, “Lazenby, an exceedingly plain looking actor
devoid of much personality, lacks Connery's handsome face as well as his suave
demeanor. He went on to appear in the television soap opera "General
Hospital" and in many minor films.” Thankfully, he never again reprised
the role after the mistake of playing 007.
(Rhodes noted, “Bond
films titillate with hints of nudity and intercourse while showing neither. ON
HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE skirts the no nudity policy by having naked women
dance during the opening credits, but they appear only in silhouette.”)
When a beautiful woman
named Tracy, played by Diana Rigg, runs away from James Bond in the film’s
opening scene, it makes him say, “This never happened to the other fella.” The
link satirizes the change but also gives us a reminder that the best Bond actor
is sorely missing. (Connery would return twice to play James Bond, something no
one knew or even guessed when they first saw this film.)
Rhodes commented, “The
intelligent and erotic Diana Rigg, rightfully famous for her role as Emma Peel
in the TV series "The Avengers," seems miscast as a Bond beauty.” She’s a lot smarter than Lazenby that she
seems to be casted in the wrong film. (Rhodes admitted, “I once had the delight
of spending time in a small room with Diana Rigg as we waited to see a private
doctor in Harley Street in London. I was merely a sick tourist, and she was
there to escort her ill mother. Even without make-up or fancy clothes her
natural beauty dominated the room like a thick perfume.)”
When Bond quits the
mission early on in the film, you think you should be happy in the small hope
that Connery will reprise the role – that happiness being motivated as much by
wanting to get right of Lazenby and his poorly done performance as by getting
our favorite Bond actor back.
The story’s plot doesn’t
really have much to it. SPECTRE’s CEO, played this time without much interest
by Lt. Kojak himself, Telly Savalas, rather than the much better Donald
Pleasence, runs an exclusive hate institute on top of his private, snow-covered
mountain. Richard Maibaum’s script doesn’t tell us much about SPECTRE’s plans
until the last act of the film. Eventually, we find out that the evil plan in
the works is releasing a deadly virus all over the world. That is, unless
SPECTRE gets a lot of money.
One of the best devices
Bond uses is a small photocopying machine that most receptionists have in their
offices today. Some advance device in a film seems to quickly get invented in
the really world fast. Rhodes noted, “We're still waiting, however, for
THUNDERBALL-style personal jetpacks to be available at Sharper Image.”
The film has many
technical issues. As Bond and Tracy ski one night down the mountain on their skies
with a group of men with guns skiing quickly after them, the lighting is
strange. Scenes evidently shot during the day are entwined with ones shot at
night.
“I hope I can live up to
your high standards,” Bond says at one point. Well, Lazenby couldn’t and didn’t.
This was another Bond
film that I was really underwhelmed by. That’s not to say that I only like the
Connery Bond films, but those are just amazing and are all worth checking out.
There are others that are good later on, but the thing with the franchise is
that the films are hit or miss. Some are good and some are bad. This is one
that you can easily give a pass to.
Look out tomorrow when I
review another great entry in “James Bond Month.”
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