On Her Majesty’s Secret Service movie storyline. The most emotional adventure of his career begins for James Bond (George Lazenby) on a deserted beach where a young woman tries to drown herself. He rescues the girl and for his trouble, is attacked by two toughs, the women’s bodyguards. It soon becomes much bigger for 007. The woman is Teresa “Tracy” Draco (Dame Diana Rigg); daughter of crime boss Marc-Ange Draco (Gabriele Ferzetti), who wants James to marry his wayward daughter.
And in return, he can provide 007 with information on an even more dangerous criminal leader, Ernst Stavro Blofeld (Telly Savalas) of S.P.E.C.T.R.E. But James and Tracy find more than they bargained for when their paths collide in a vicious pursuit in the snow-capped mountains of Switzerland, an enormous avalanche, and a smuggling ring for germ warfare against the West by Blofeld, who proves to be most difficult to kill, and who exacts a revenge on Bond which he can never forget, nor forgive.
On Her Majesty’s Secret Service is a 1969 spy film and the sixth in the James Bond series produced by Eon Productions. It is based on the 1963 novel by Ian Fleming. Following Sean Connery’s decision to retire from the role after You Only Live Twice, Eon Productions selected an unknown actor and model, George Lazenby, to play the part of James Bond. During the making of the film, Lazenby announced that he would play the role of Bond only once.
In the film, Bond faces Blofeld (Telly Savalas), who is planning to hold the world ransom by the threat of sterilising the world’s food supply through a group of brainwashed “angels of death”. Along the way Bond meets, falls in love with, and eventually marries Contessa Teresa di Vicenzo (Diana Rigg).
It is the only Bond film to have been directed by Peter R. Hunt, who had served as a film editor and second unit director on previous films in the series. Hunt, along with producers Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman, decided to produce a more realistic film that would follow the novel closely. It was shot in Switzerland, England, and Portugal from October 1968 to May 1969. Although its cinema release was not as lucrative as its predecessor You Only Live Twice, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service was still one of the top performing films of the year. Critical reviews upon release were mixed, but the film’s reputation has improved greatly over time and is now regarded as one of the strongest entries in the series.
Principal photography began in the Canton of Bern, Switzerland, on 21 October 1968, with the first scene shot being an aerial view of Bond climbing the stairs of Blofeld’s mountain retreat to meet the girls. The scenes were shot at the revolving restaurant Piz Gloria, located atop the Schilthorn near the village of Mürren. The location was found by production manager Hubert Fröhlich after three weeks of location scouting in France and Switzerland. The restaurant was still under construction, but the producers found the location interesting,[23] and had to finance the provision of electricity and the aerial lift to make filming there possible. Various chase scenes in the Alps were shot at Lauterbrunnen and Saas-Fee, while the Christmas celebrations were filmed in Grindelwald, and some scenes were shot on location in Bern.
About the Story
James Bond—agent 007—saves a woman on the beach from committing suicide by drowning, and later meets her again in a casino. The woman, Contessa Teresa “Tracy” di Vicenzo, invites Bond to her hotel room to thank him, but when Bond arrives he is attacked by an unidentified man. After subduing the man, Bond returns to his own room and finds Tracy there, who claims she did not know the attacker was there.
The next morning, Bond is kidnapped by several men, including the one he fought, who take him to meet Marc-Ange Draco, the head of the European crime syndicate Unione Corse. Draco reveals that Tracy is his only daughter and tells Bond of her troubled past, offering Bond one million pounds if he will marry her. Bond refuses, but agrees to continue romancing Tracy if Draco reveals the whereabouts of Ernst Stavro Blofeld, the head of SPECTRE.
Bond returns to London, and after a brief argument with M at the British Secret Service headquarters, where Bond tries to resign, heads for Draco’s birthday party in Portugal. There, Bond and Tracy begin a whirlwind romance, and Draco directs the agent to a law firm in Bern, Switzerland. Bond investigates the office of Swiss lawyer Gumbold, and learns that Blofeld is corresponding with London College of Arms genealogist Sir Hilary Bray, attempting to claim the title ‘Count Balthazar de Bleuchamp’.
Posing as Bray, Bond goes to meet Blofeld, who has established a clinical allergy-research institute atop Piz Gloria in the Swiss Alps. Bond meets twelve young women, the “Angels of Death”, who are patients at the institute’s clinic, apparently cured of their allergies. At night Bond goes to the room of one patient, Ruby, to seduce her. At midnight Bond sees that the 12 ladies go into a sleep-induced hypnotic state while Blofeld gives them audio instructions for when they return home. In fact, the women are being brainwashed to distribute bacteriological warfare agents throughout the world.
Bond tries to trick Blofeld into leaving Switzerland so that MI6 can arrest him without violating Swiss sovereignty. Blofeld refuses and Bond is eventually caught by henchwoman Irma Bunt. Blofeld reveals that he identified Bond after his attempt to lure him out of Switzerland, and tells his henchmen to take the agent away. Bond eventually makes his escape by skiing down Piz Gloria while Blofeld and his men give chase. Arriving at the village of Lauterbrunnen, Bond finds Tracy and they escape Bunt and her men after a car chase. A blizzard forces them to a remote barn, where Bond professes his love to Tracy and proposes marriage to her, which she happily accepts. The next morning, as the chase continues, Blofeld sets off an avalanche; Tracy is captured, while Bond is buried but manages to escape.
On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969)
Directed by: Peter R. Hunt
Starring: George Lazenby, Diana Rigg, Telly Savalas, Bernard Lee, Gabriele Ferzetti, Ilse Steppat, Lois Maxwell, George Baker, Bernard Horsfall, Virginia North, Geoffrey Cheshire, Irvin Allen, Terence Mountain
Screenplay by: Richard Maibaum
Production Design by: Syd Cain
Cinematography by: Michael Reed
Film Editing by: John Glen
Costume Design by: Marjory Cornelius
Set Decoration by: Peter Lamont
Art Direction by: Robert W. Laing
Music by: John Barry
MPAA Rating: None.
Distributed by: United Artists
Release Date: December 18, 1969 (London Premiere)
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