OHMSS’ 55th: ‘This never happened to the other fella’
Updated and adapted from a 2019 post. When Sean Connery was cast as James Bond in Dr. No, there was interest. Ian Fleming's 007 novels were popular. U.S. President John F. Kennedy was among their fans. Still, it wasn't anything to obsess over. By the…
When Sean Connery was cast as James Bond in Dr. No, there was interest. Ian Fleming's 007 novels were popular. U.S. President John F. Kennedy was among their fans. Still, it wasn't anything to obsess over.
By the end of the 1960s, things had changed. Bond was a worldwide phenomenon. 007 was a big business that even producers Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman hadn't anticipated originally. Now, the role was being re-cast after Sean Connery departed the role.
As a result, On Her Majesty's Secret Service, which debuted 55 years ago this year, was under intense scrutiny. The film required a long, exhausting shooting schedule. This time, Bond would be played by a novice actor, George Lazenby, and supervised by a first-time director, Peter Hunt.
Hunt, at least, was no novice to the world of 007. He had been editor or supervising editor of the previous five Broccoli-Saltzman 007 films and second unit director of You Only Live Twice. So he was more than familiar with how the Bond production machine worked. Also, he had the support of other 007 veterans, including production designer Syd Cain, set decorator Peter Lamont, screenwriter Richard Maibaum and composer John Barry.
Lazenby, on the other hand, had to take a crash course. He was paired with much more experienced co-stars, including Diana Rigg and Telly Savalas. And he was constantly being compared with Connery.
When, at the end of the pre-titles sequence, Lazenby says, "This never happened to the other fella," the statement was true on multiple levels.
Majesty's was also the first time Eon Productions re-calibrated. You Only Live Twice had dispensed with the main plot of Fleming's novel and emphasized spectacle instead. Majesty's ended up being arguably the most faithful adaptation of a Fleming 007 novel. It was still big, but it had no spaceships or volcano hideouts.
Majesty's global box office totaled $82 million, according to THE NUMBERS WEBSITE. That was a slide from You Only Live Twice's $111.6 million. Twice's box office, in turn, had declined compared with Thunderball.
For Lazenby, once was enough. He subsequently has said he erred by not making a second Bond. One such occasion was the official James Bond convention in Los Angeles in October 1994.
"This never happened to the other fella" indeed.
The film also marked Hunt's exit from the series. He had been one of the major contributors of the early 007 films. But Eon would no longer employ his services after Majesty's.
Today, Majesty's has a good reputation among many 007 fans. In 1969 and 1970, the brain trust at Eon Productions and United Artists concluded some re-thinking was needed.
Even at this late date, some Bond fans pine away for a version of Majesty's with Sean Connery as Bond. The fantasy is everything would be the same except Connery would be in place instead of Lazenby.
Except, a Connery version of Majesty's likely wouldn't have had Diana Rigg playing Tracy. Rigg was cast primarily because of Lazenby's inexperience. Perhaps we'd get another beauty pageant contestant as Tracy such as happened with From Russia With Love and Thunderball.
Other fans like Majesty's just the way it is. Writer Jeffrey Westhoff sang the praises of the movie in a 2014 essay.
His article begins thusly: "On Her Majesty's Secret Service is my favorite movie. Not just my favorite James Bond movie, but my favorite movie. I watch it at least once a year, and it never fails to thrill me and to move me. I revel in nearly every moment, from George Lazenby's daring plunge to one knee during the opening gun barrel sequence to the bullet-shattered windshield in the haunting final image."
Regardless, after the movie was released, the powers that be conducted a re-evaluation. Things were about to change yet again.
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