On Her Majesty's Secret Service

Secret agent James Bond (George Lazenby) falls for a mobster’s daughter while tracking down the elusive Blofeld (Telly Savalas) in the Swiss Alps.

On Her Majesty’s Secret Service is the sixth, and often overlooked, entry in the long-running James Bond franchise. It also marks the sole appearance by George Lazenby as Bond after the paparazzi harassment during the filming of You Only Live Twice led previous star Sean Connery to resign the role.

After deviating almost entirely from the source novel for the series’ prior installment, this film marked one of the closest adaptations of an Ian Fleming novel to date, so much so that it introduced a continuity problem as Bond and chief baddie Blofeld don’t recognize each other, despite having met face-to-face in the previous film.

Continuity problems aside, the adherence to the novel makes this the most adult Bond film to date, combining thriller, mystery, and even romance elements to tell a solid story topped off with a surprising ending, albeit one that’s followed by a very ill-fitting music cue.

As for Lazenby, he’s okay, but at only 29-years old, just a bit too young. Opposite Lazenby, Diana Rigg is great as his love interest, though Telly Savalas doesn’t quite work as Blofeld. Savalas straddles the line between menacing gangster and comic-book super-villain, and as a result comes off flat. He’s the right actor, but director Peter Hunt should have shaped his performance more toward straight gangster.

That said, On Her Majesty’s Secret service is still an easy film to recommend. While some fans will undoubtedly miss the comic-book adventure, the film’s adult approach to its story more than makes up for it.