Au service secret de Sa Majesté (On Her Majesty's Secret Service) est un film britannique réalisé par Peter Hunt et sorti en 1969. C'est le 6e opus de la série des films de James Bond produite par Harry Saltzman et Albert R. Broccoli, par l'intermédiaire de leur société EON Productions. C'est le seul film où l'agent secret est interprété par l'acteur australien George Lazenby. Dans le film suivant, Les diamants sont éternels, Sean Connery revient dans le rôle de James Bond.
Synopsis
James Bond (George Lazenby) est à la recherche du patron du SPECTRE, Ernst Stavro Blofeld (Telly Savalas). Mécontent des résultats obtenus, M, le chef du MI6, décide de le relever de sa mission. Excédé par cette décision, James Bond démissionne et part tout seul retrouver Blofeld. Miss Moneypenny (Lois Maxwell) l'enregistre comme « en vacances » au lieu de « démissionnaire ». Il reçoit ainsi des informations fournies par Marc-Ange Draco (Gabriele Ferzetti), chef de l'Union corse, et père de la comtesse Teresa di Vincenzo (Diana Rigg), veuve rencontrée au Portugal. Tombé amoureux de cette dernière, Bond va se marier.
Fiche technique
Distribution
- Sources et légendes : Version française (VF) sur AlloDoublage4
Lieux de l'action
Production
Genèse du projet
Après le film Opération Tonnerre, c'est à l'origine le roman Au service secret de Sa Majesté qui devait être le prochain film de la saga. Mais il nécessitait de nombreux repérages en vue des scènes avec de la neige5. Le roman On ne vit que deux fois avait été donc choisi.
Au service secret de Sa Majesté est le premier roman de James Bond sorti depuis le début de la saga cinématographique. Il contient plusieurs détails liés aux films, comme les nombreux gadgets et les origines écossaises de Bond, en références à celles de Sean Connery6. Ce roman était vraiment important pour les producteurs Harry Saltzman et Albert R. Broccoli.
Peter Hunt, qui avait travaillé à divers postes sur James Bond 007 contre Dr. No et Bons baisers de Russie et On ne vit que deux fois, est cette fois engagé comme réalisateur, bien qu'il n'ait réalisé aucun film.
Richard Maibaum revient comme scénariste après avoir été absent de On ne vit que deux fois. Les producteurs veulent revenir à la base de la saga, en délaissant tous les gadgets parfois trop science-fiction présents dans les précédents films. Ils voulaient faire une adaptation le plus proche possible du roman original. Peter Hunt déclara même qu'il entrait rarement sur le plateau sans une version du roman avec plein d'annotation7. Cela entraine cependant quelques erreurs dans la continuité des précédents films, notamment quand Blofeld ne reconnait pas Bond, alors qu'ils se sont croisés dans On ne vit que deux fois. Cependant, les producteurs avaient la volonté de faire le lien avec ces films, malgré le changement d'acteur principal. De nombreuses allusions ont été alors insérées, ainsi que certains objets présents dans le bureau de Bond et issus des films James Bond 007 contre Dr. No (1962), Bons baisers de Russie (1963) et Opération Tonnerre (1965)8.
Casting
Durant le tournage de On ne vit que deux fois, Sean Connery avait fait part de son départ de la saga9.
Avant d'avoir été choisi, George Lazenby s'était fait couper les cheveux dans le style de Sean Connery. Assis derrière lui chez le coiffeur, le producteur Albert R. Broccoli déclara : « Ce type ferait un bon James Bond, mais il ressemble à un homme d'affaires. » Pour compenser le déficit de notoriété de George Lazenby, les producteurs avaient décidé d'engager une James Bond Girl déjà célèbre. Après avoir approché Brigitte Bardot (indisponible), ils se sont finalement tournés vers Diana Rigg, rendue fameuse pour son interprétation d'Emma Peel dans la série Chapeau melon et bottes de cuir.
Outre Diana Rigg, une autre actrice de la série Chapeau melon et bottes de cuir apparaît : Joanna Lumley (qui incarnera Purdey en 1976 et 1977), dans un rôle de figuration cependant crédité au générique. C'est la troisième actrice de la même série qui participe à un James Bond, puisque Honor Blackman, qui joua dans Goldfinger, avait elle aussi le rôle féminin principal de la série durant les saisons 2 et 3, celui de Catherine "Cathy" Gale. D'ailleurs, le nom du personnage d'Honor Blackman dans Goldfinger, Pussy Galore, rappelle quelque peu le nom de son personnage dans Chapeau melon et bottes de cuir.
Réception critique
Cette section est vide, insuffisamment détaillée ou incomplète. Votre aide est la bienvenue ! Tournage
Le tournage s'est déroulé du 21 octobre 1968 au 23 juin 1969. C'est le seul film de la saga entièrement tourné en Europe.
- Le repaire montagneux de Blofeld a été filmé dans un restaurant suisse en construction. En échange de l'autorisation leur permettant de tourner sur le site, les producteurs ont accepté de construire une piste d'atterrissage pour hélicoptère, d'aménager l'intérieur du restaurant et de mettre en place un mécanisme permettant à la structure de tourner sur elle-même (le coût final s'élevant à 125 000 $). L'équipe de tournage a même pu utiliser le site pour la grande attaque avec les hélicoptères et les scènes de bataille, ajoutant ainsi une pointe de réalisme à un scénario plutôt fantastique.
- Lors de l'évasion nocturne de James Bond de la base de Blofeld a lieu une poursuite à ski. Deux techniques de vues sont en particulier utilisées : nuit américaine et incrustation. Cependant la première technique (nuit américaine) rend assez mal sur les paysages enneigés, et l'on s'aperçoit rapidement que la séquence a été tournée de jour (notamment quand par erreur un plan montre le soleil à travers le filtre de la caméra, ou que les personnages portent tous des lunettes de ski). La séquence, assez longue, et par ce mauvais rendu de la nuit américaine peut donner l'impression que l'histoire se déroule à l'aube ; cependant la suite de l'histoire a bien lieu en pleine nuit. De même, on peut noter de nombreuses incohérences avec l'incrustation (James Bond en position de "schuss" ou de quelque chose d'approchant, en parfait équilibre sur ses deux jambes, alors qu'il est censé n'avoir plus qu'un seul ski, le gauche).
- Pour filmer la séquence dans laquelle Bond, au volant de l'Aston Martin, se porte au secours de Tracy sur la plage (dans le pré-générique), le décorateur Syd Cain installa des traverses de chemin de fer sous le sable.
- La Suisse connut son hiver le plus doux en quarante ans lors du tournage. Pour les scènes filmées dans les villages de Mürren et Lauterbrunnen, il fallut acheminer des camions entiers de neige.
- Lieux de tournage10
- Une grande partie d'Au service secret de Sa Majesté a été tournée au sommet du Mont Schilthorn dans la région suisse du Jungfrau culminant à une altitude de plus de 3 000 mètres. Ce complexe comportant un restaurant panoramique tournant sera rebaptisé par les propriétaire du site sous le nom de Piz Gloria comme dans le roman de Ian Fleming.
- Les scénaristes avaient pensé faire figurer la séquence finale du film dans le pré-générique de l'épisode suivant. Mais l'annonce en cours de tournage par George Lazenby de son intention de ne pas prolonger son contrat (et donc la perspective de devoir changer d'acteur) les obligea à renoncer à cette idée.
Doublage
Au chapitre des voix françaises, tout comme George Lazenby succède à Sean Connery, Jean-Claude Michel succède à Jean-Pierre Duclos. Ironiquement, Jean-Claude Michel deviendra par la suite le doubleur attitré de Sean Connery, mais ne le doublera dans le rôle de Bond qu'une seule fois, dans Jamais plus jamais (1983).
Bande originale
John Barry compose sa 5e bande originale d'un film James Bond. Cette B.O. est notamment portée par la chanson du générique de fin, We Have All the Time in the World, chantée par Louis Armstrong, composée par John Barry et écrite par Hal David. Une fois n'est pas coutume, ce n'est donc pas une chanson inédite qui est utilisée comme générique d'entrée. Dans ce film, John Barry a composé un thème instrumental intitulé On Her Majesty's Secret Service.
Au début du film, on peut entendre Savez-vous ce qu'il faut au sapin de Noël, interprétée par Isabelle Aubret et les Petits Chanteurs d'Asnières12. C'est la version française de Do You Know How Christmas Trees Are Grown'. C'est la deuxième et dernière fois de toute la série des James Bond qu'une chanson est traduite en français après Bob Asklöf et la chanson de Bons Baisers de Russie (1963).
- Liste des titres
- "We Have All the Time in the World" – Louis Armstrong
- "This Never Happened to the Other Feller"
- "Try"
- "Ski Chase"
- "Do You Know How Christmas Trees Are Grown?" – Nina
- "On Her Majesty's Secret Service (Main Title)"
- "Journey to Blofeld's Hideaway"
- "We Have All the Time in the World (Instrumental)"
- "Over and Out"
- "Battle at Piz Gloria"
- "We Have All the Time in the World/James Bond Theme"
- Titres bonus ajoutés pour la remasterisation en CD en 2003
- "Journey to Draco's Hideaway"
- "Bond and Draco"
- "Gumbold's Safe"
- "Bond Settles In"
- "Bond Meets the Girls"
- "Dusk at Piz Gloria"
- "Sir Hilary's Night Out (Who Will Buy My Yesterdays?)"
- "Blofeld's Plot"
- "Escape from Piz Gloria"
- "Bobsled Chase"
Autour du film
- Au service secret de Sa Majesté fut le premier roman de Bond écrit par Ian Fleming après le début de la série de films. Il intégra dans son livre un petit rôle pour Ursula Andress : Honey Ryder.
- Timothy Dalton, acteur de 24 ans à l'époque, fut pressenti pour interpréter Bond dans Au service secret de Sa Majesté, mais il s'estima trop jeune pour pouvoir donner assez de poids au rôle.
- George Lazenby quitta l'Australie pour s'établir en Angleterre en 1964. Arrivé sans le sou (il avait tout perdu au jeu lors de la traversée), il se fit vendeur de voitures ; puis un photographe l'incita à devenir mannequin. Il fut bientôt l'un des mannequins hommes les mieux payés d'Europe.
- George Lazenby, pressenti pour tourner des publicités télévisées vantant les chocolats Big Fry, exigea un cachet de 3 000 livres sterling, dix fois plus qu'on ne lui en proposait. Cette demande ayant été acceptée, Lazenby utilisa cet argent pour s'acheter une Aston Martin.
- Avant le tournage, Lazenby se soumit à un intense coaching afin de perdre son fort accent australien. Il se souvient que Harry Saltzman se plaignait : « Bon sang, personne ne va le comprendre ! Moi, en tout cas, je n'y arrive pas ! »
- Ilse Steppat (la tueuse du SPECTRE Irma Bunt) était une célèbre actrice allemande. Ce fut son unique film en langue anglaise, malheureusement, elle ne put en savourer le succès : elle mourut moins d'une semaine après la première.
- Lorsque le Bond australien George Lazenby se fait passer pour Sir Hilary Bray, sa voix est doublée en V.O. par George Baker, l'acteur qui joue le véritable Sir Hilary dans le film.
- Un lanceur de couteaux fut engagé pour la scène dans laquelle James Bond fit irruption dans le bureau de Marc-Ange Draco, mais il ne cessait de manquer sa cible. Le responsable des effets spéciaux John Stears prit les choses en main et tapa dans le mille du premier coup !
- L’assassinat de Tracy fut tourné en deux prises seulement. À la première, Lazenby avait fondu en larmes. Le réalisateur Peter Hunt insista pour tourner à nouveau la scène, déclarant : « James Bond ne pleure pas. »
- George Lazenby se cassa le bras au ski en cours de tournage. Lorsqu'il visite le laboratoire de Blofeld, un manteau posé sur son bras dissimule le plâtre.
- Les « Anges de la Mort » de Blofeld adoptèrent un passe-temps original lors de leur séjour à Piz Gloria : sur une suggestion de l'actrice Joanna Lumley, les jeunes femmes se mirent au crochet.
- L'équipe masculine pratiqua un hobby plus coûteux, le poker. Savalas, joueur expérimenté, rafla la majeure partie du cachet en espèces quotidiennement perçu par Lazenby. Le producteur Harry Saltzman parvint à regagner l'argent pour le compte de Lazenby, à qui il conseilla d'abandonner définitivement les cartes.
- Pour les plans rapprochés de Diana Rigg en train de skier, l'actrice s’agenouillait sur une luge en bois tirée par un skieur professionnel.
- Des blocs de glace furent acheminés de Berne (soit plus de 70 km) afin de dresser les parois de la piste de bob de Mürren. Cette piste de plus de 3 km, fermée de longue date à la suite d'accidents mortels, fut reconstruite pour le film.
- Le violet est une couleur récurrente dans le film. On pourrait croire que cette couleur, associée à la royauté, fut utilisée pour traduire le caractère majestueux de Bond, alors qu’en fait, de l'aveu du chef décorateur Syd Cain, il s'agissait tout simplement de la couleur préférée de ce dernier !
- Dans le cadre de leur accord avec Piz Gloria, les producteurs contribuèrent à l’achèvement du restaurant pivotant, qui s'appelle toujours Piz Gloria et demeure en service : l'on y propose un buffet de petit déjeuner « James Bond » ainsi qu'une expo 007 liée au film.
- La photo de la mère de Tracy dans le bureau de Draco est en fait celle de la propre mère de l'actrice Diana Rigg.
- Pour la première fois dans un film de Bond, nous avons l'occasion de pénétrer au domicile de « M ». Dans le film, cette résidence est baptisée Quarterdeck, mais en réalité il s'agit de Thames Lawn à Marlow dans le Buckinghamshire.
- Il s'agit du premier film de James Bond à recourir au flashback. Par la fenêtre du bureau de « M », Bond « voit » Tracy sans connaissance extirpée de la neige par les hommes de Blofeld.
- Il s'agit du seul film de Bond qui se déroule et a été tournée entièrement en Europe. Pour la première et la dernière fois, James Bond ne va pas plus loin que la Suisse.
- Le réalisateur effectue une apparition (caméo) dans le film. Dans la première scène, le passant qui se reflète dans la plaque de cuivre poli de la firme Universal Exports n'est autre que Peter Hunt lui-même.
Clins d’œil
- Lorsque Tracy lui échappe à l'issue du pré-générique, 007 dit à la caméra : « Ça, ce n'est jamais arrivé à l'autre », en référence à Sean Connery. C'est la seule fois où l'on s'adresse directement au public dans un film de James Bond.
- En attendant que s'ouvre le coffre-fort de l'avocat de Blofeld, Bond feuillette Playboy : un clin d’œil au fait que Au service secret de Sa Majesté fut le premier roman de James Bond à paraître en feuilleton, dans Playboy précisément, en 1963.
- On aperçoit aussi le fusil démontable de Bons baisers de Russie (1963) dans l'Aston Martin dans le pré-générique lorsque Bond en prend la lunette pour observer Tracy tentant de se noyer.
- Le générique offre des brefs passages des films précédents, on peut voir le Dr No, Auric Goldfinger, Pussy Galore, Honey Ryder, Tatiana Romanova…
Distinction
On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969) is the sixth spy film in the James Bond series, based on the 1963 novel of the same name by Ian Fleming. Following the decision of Sean Connery 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 decided that he would play the role of Bond only once.
In the film, Bond faces Blofeld (Telly Savalas), who is planning to sterilise the world's food supply through a group of brainwashed "angels of death" (which included early appearances by Joanna Lumley and Catherina von Schell) unless his demands are met for an international amnesty, for recognition of his title as the Count De Bleuchamp (the French form of Blofeld) and to be allowed to retire into private life. Along the way, Bond meets, falls in love with, and eventually marries Contessa Teresa di Vicenzo (Diana Rigg).
This is the only Bond film to be 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 over time, though reviews of Lazenby's performance continue to vary.
Plot
In Portugal, James Bond – agent 007, sometimes referred to simply as '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. The next morning, Bond is kidnapped by several men while leaving the hotel, 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 a personal dowry of one million pounds if he will marry her. Bond refuses, but agrees to continue romancing Tracy under the agreement that Draco reveals the whereabouts of Ernst Stavro Blofeld, the head of SPECTRE.
Bond returns to London, and after a brief argument with M at MI6 headquarters, 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. In Bern, 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 'Comte 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. There Bond meets ten 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, for a romantic encounter. At midnight Bond sees that Ruby, apparently along with each of the other ladies, goes into a sleep-induced trance while Blofeld gives them audio instructions for when they are discharged and return home. In fact, the women are being brainwashed to distribute bacteriological warfare agents throughout various parts of the world.
Bond tries to trick Blofeld into leaving Switzerland, so the British Secret Service 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 many of 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 accepts. The next morning, Blofeld attempts to kill Bond by causing an avalanche and captures Tracy.
Back in London at M's office, Bond is informed that Blofeld intends to hold the world at ransom by threatening to destroy its agriculture using his brainwashed women, demanding amnesty for all past crimes, and that he be recognised as the current Count de Bleuchamp. M tells 007 that the ransom will be paid and forbids him to mount a rescue mission. Bond then enlists Draco and his forces to attack Blofeld's headquarters, while also rescuing Tracy from Blofeld's captivity. The facility is destroyed, and Blofeld escapes the destruction alone in a bobsled, with Bond pursuing him. The chase ends when Blofeld becomes snared in a tree branch and injures his neck.
Bond and Tracy marry in Portugal, then drive away in Bond's Aston Martin. When Bond pulls over to the roadside to remove flowers from the car, Blofeld (wearing a neck brace) and Bunt commit a drive-by shooting of the couple's car that kills Tracy. A police officer pulls over to inspect the bullet-riddled car, prompting a tearful Bond to mutter that there is no need to hurry to call for help by saying, "We have all the time in the world", as he cradles Tracy's lifeless body.
Cast
- George Lazenby as James Bond – MI6 agent, codename 007.
- Diana Rigg as Countess Tracy di Vicenzo – A vulnerable countess and Marc-Ange Draco's daughter, who captures Bond's heart. Like Honor Blackman in Goldfinger before her, Rigg had come to the notice of Eon Productions through her work on The Avengers,[2] where she played Emma Peel from 1965–68.[3]
- Telly Savalas as Ernst Stavro Blofeld aka Comte Balthazar de Bleuchamp – Bond's nemesis, leader of SPECTRE and in hiding. Savalas had appeared in The Dirty Dozen in 1967, leading to Broccoli suggesting him to director Peter Hunt, for the role, in place of Donald Pleasence, who had appeared in You Only Live Twice. Both Broccoli and Hunt felt Pleasence was unsuited to the more physical side of the Blofeld role in On Her Majesty's Secret Service.[4]
- Gabriele Ferzetti as Marc-Ange Draco – Head of the Union Corse, a major crime syndicate and Tracy's father (uncredited voice by David de Keyser).[1] A year before he appeared as Draco, Ferzetti played the railroad baron Morton in Sergio Leone's celebrated Once Upon a Time in the West.
- Ilse Steppat as Irma Bunt – Blofeld's henchwoman who assists in the attempts to eliminate Bond, and although they fail to finish him off Bunt eventually manages to kill Tracy. Said to be the most successful piece of casting in the film, the Bunt character did not appear in the film You Only Live Twice, although she did appear in the novel.[5] On Her Majesty's Secret Service was Steppat's last role: she died on 22 December 1969, four days after the film premiered.[6]
- Bernard Lee as M – Head of the British Secret Service. This was the sixth of eleven Eon-produced Bond films in which Lee played the role of Admiral Sir Miles Messervy, from Dr. No in 1962 to Moonraker in 1979.
- Lois Maxwell as Miss Moneypenny – M's secretary. Maxwell played Moneypenny in fourteen Eon-produced Bond films from Dr. No in 1962 to A View to a Kill in 1985; On Her Majesty's Secret Service was her sixth appearance.
- George Baker as Sir Hilary Bray – Professor in the London College of Arms, whom Bond impersonates in Piz Gloria. Baker also provided the voice of Bray whilst Bond was imitating him.[7]
- Yuri Borienko as Grunther – Blofeld's brutish chief of security at Piz Gloria. In his role as a stuntman, Borienko was one of the people assisting with Lazenby's audition: Lazenby accidentally broke his nose, which helped him get the part of Bond.[8]
- Bernard Horsfall as Shaun Campbell – 007's colleague who tries to aid Bond in Switzerland as part of Operation Bedlam. Campbell has been called the film's "Official Sacrificial Lamb".[5]
- Desmond Llewelyn as Q – This was the fifth of seventeen Eon-produced Bond films in which Llewelyn played the role of Q, starting with From Russia with Love in 1963 until The World Is Not Enough in 1999.
- Virginia North as Olympe – Draco's female assistant. Nikki van der Zyl provided the uncredited voice for Olympe,[1] making On Her Majesty's Secret Service her sixth Bond film in succession.[9]
Blofeld's Angels of Death
The Angels of Death are twelve beautiful women from all over the world being brainwashed by Blofeld under the guise of allergy or phobia treatment in order to spread the Virus Omega.[10] A number appeared in the representative styles of dress of their particular nation. Their mission is to help Blofeld contaminate and ultimately sterilise the world's food supply.
Production
The novel On Her Majesty's Secret Service was the first published after the film series started and contains "a gentle dig at the cinematic Bond's gadgets, as well as having Bond mention that he comes from Scotland."[14] Broccoli and Saltzman had originally intended to make On Her Majesty's Secret Service after Goldfinger and Richard Maibaum worked on a script at that time.[15] However, Thunderball was filmed instead after the ongoing rights dispute over the novel were settled between Fleming and Kevin McClory.[16] On Her Majesty's Secret Service was due to follow that,[15] but problems with a warm Swiss winter and inadequate snow cover led to Saltzman and Broccoli postponing the film again, favouring production of You Only Live Twice.[17]
Between the resignation of Sean Connery at the beginning of filming You Only Live Twice and its release, Saltzman had planned to adapt The Man with the Golden Gun in Cambodia and use Roger Moore as the next Bond, but political instability meant the location was ruled out and Moore signed up for another series of The Saint.[18] After You Only Live Twice was released in 1967, the producers once again picked up with On Her Majesty's Secret Service.[15]
Peter Hunt, who had worked on the five preceding films had impressed Broccoli and Saltzman enough to earn his directorial debut as they believed his quick cutting had set the style for the series;[19] it was also the result of a long-standing promise from Broccoli and Saltzman for a directorial position.[20] Hunt also asked for the position during the production of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, and he brought along with him many crew members, including cinematographer Michael Reed.[7] Hunt was focused on putting his mark – "I wanted it to be different than any other Bond film would be. It was my film, not anyone else's."[21] On Her Majesty's Secret Service was the last film on which Hunt worked in the series.[22]
Writing
Screenwriter Richard Maibaum, who worked on all the Bond films bar You Only Live Twice, was responsible for On Her Majesty's Secret Service's script.[23] Saltzman and Broccoli decided to drop the science fiction gadgets from the earlier films and focus more on plot as in From Russia With Love.[24] Peter Hunt asked Simon Raven to write some of the dialogue between Tracy and Blofeld in Piz Gloria, which was to be "sharper, better and more intellectual";[25] one of Raven's additions was having Tracy quoting James Elroy Flecker.[7] When writing the script, the producers decided to make the closest adaptation of the book possible: virtually everything in the novel occurs in the film[7] and Hunt was reported to always enter the set carrying an annotated copy of the novel.[21]
With the script following the novel more closely than the other film adaptations of the eponymous source novels, there are several continuity errors due to the film taking place in a different order, such as Blofeld not recognising Bond, despite having met him face-to-face in the previous film You Only Live Twice.[26] In the original script, Bond undergoes plastic surgery to disguise him from his enemies; the intention was to allow an unrecognisable Bond to infiltrate Blofeld's hideout and help the audience accept the new actor in the role. However, this was dropped in favour of ignoring the change in actor.[20] To make audiences not forget it was the same James Bond, just played by another actor, the producers inserted many references to the previous films, some as in-jokes. These include Bond breaking the fourth wall by stating "This never happened to the other fellow" directly to the camera, the credits sequence with images from the previous instalments, Bond visiting his office and finding objects from Dr. No, From Russia with Love and Thunderball, and a caretaker whistling the theme from Goldfinger.[27]
Casting
In 1967, after five James Bond films, Sean Connery retired from the role of James Bond and—during the filming of You Only Live Twice—was not on speaking terms with Albert Broccoli.[28] The confirmed front runners were Englishman John Richardson, Dutchman Hans De Vries, American Robert Campbell, Englishman Anthony Rogers and Australian George Lazenby.[18]
Broccoli and Hunt eventually chose Lazenby after seeing him in a Fry's Chocolate Cream advertisement.[7] Lazenby dressed the part by sporting several sartorial Bond elements such as a Rolex Submariner wristwatch and a Savile Row suit (ordered, but uncollected, by Connery), and going to Connery's barber at the Dorchester Hotel.[21] Broccoli noticed Lazenby as a Bond-type man based on his physique and character elements, and offered him an audition. The position was consolidated when Lazenby accidentally punched a professional wrestler, who was acting as stunt coordinator, in the face, impressing Broccoli with his ability to display aggression.[18] Lazenby was offered a contract for seven films; however, he was convinced by his agent Ronan O'Rahilly that the secret agent would be archaic in the liberated 1970s, and as a result he left the series after the release of On Her Majesty's Secret Service in 1969.[7]
For Tracy Draco, the producers wanted an established actress opposite neophyte Lazenby.[5] Brigitte Bardot was invited, but after she signed to appear in Shalako opposite Sean Connery the deal fell through,[20] and Diana Rigg—who had already been the popular heroine Emma Peel in The Avengers—was cast instead.[11] Rigg said one of the reasons for accepting the role was that she always wanted to be in an epic film.[7] Telly Savalas was cast following a suggestion from Broccoli, and Hunt's neighbour George Baker was offered the part of Sir Hilary Bray. Baker's voice was also used when Lazenby was impersonating Bray,[7] as Hunt considered Lazenby's imitation not convincing enough.[29] Gabriele Ferzetti was cast as Draco after the producers saw him in an Italian mafia film, but Ferzetti's heavy accent also led to his voice being dubbed over.[27]
Filming
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.[7] The scenes were shot atop the now famous 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.[21] The restaurant was still under construction, but the producers found the location interesting,[27] and had to finance providing electricity and the aerial lift to make filming there possible.[7] 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.[30] Production was hampered by weak snowfall which was unfavourable to the skiing action scenes. The producers even considered moving to another location in Switzerland, but it was taken by the production of Downhill Racer.[27] The Swiss filming ended up running 56 days over schedule.[21] In March 1969, production moved to England, with London's Pinewood Studios being used for interior shooting, and M's house being shot in Marlow, Buckinghamshire. In April, the filmmakers went to Portugal, where principal photography wrapped in May.[7][27] The pre-credit coastal and hotel scenes were filmed at Hotel Estoril Palacio in Estoril and Guincho Beach, Cascais,[31] while Lisbon was used for the reunion of Bond and Tracy, and the ending employed a mountain road in the Arrábida National Park near Setúbal.[30] Harry Saltzman wanted the Portuguese scenes to be in France, but after searching there, Peter Hunt considered that not only were the locations not photogenic, but were already "overexposed".[32]
The slopes in the Saas Fee area in which the ski sequences were shot.
While the first unit shot at Piz Gloria, the second unit, led by John Glen, started filming the ski chases.[33] The downhill skiing involved professional skiers, and various camera tricks. Some cameras were handheld, with the operators holding them as they were going downhill with the stuntmen, and others were aerial, with cameramen Johnny Jordan – who had previously worked in the helicopter battle of You Only Live Twice — developing a system where he was dangled by an 18 feet (5.5 m) long parachute harness rig below a helicopter, allowing scenes to be shot on the move from any angle.[7] The bobsledding chase was also filmed with the help of Swiss Olympic athletes,[27] and was rewritten to incorporate the accidents the stuntmen suffered during shooting, such as the scene where Bond falls from the sled. Blofeld getting snared with a tree was performed at the studio by Savalas himself, after the attempt to do this by the stuntman on location came out wrong.[7] Glen was also the editor of the film, employing a style similar to the one used by Hunt in the previous Bond films, with fast motion in the action scenes and exaggerated sound effects.[27]
The avalanche scenes were due to be filmed in co-operation with the Swiss army who annually used explosions to prevent snow build-up by causing avalanches, but the area chosen naturally avalanched just before filming.[32] The final result was a combination of a man-made avalanche at an isolated Swiss location shot by the second unit,[7] stock footage, and images created by the special effects crew with salt.[32] The stuntmen were filmed later, added by optical effects.[34] For the scene where Bond and Tracy crash into a car race while being pursued, an ice rink was constructed over an unused aeroplane track,[27] with water and snow sprayed on it constantly. Lazenby and Rigg did most of the driving due to the high number of close-ups.[7]
"One time, we were on location at an ice rink and Diana and Peter were drinking champagne inside. Of course I wasn't invited as Peter was there. I could see them through the window, but the crew were all outside stomping around on the ice trying to keep warm. So, when she got in the car, I went for her. She couldn't drive the car properly and I got in to her about her drinking and things like that. Then she jumped out and started shouting 'he's attacking me in the car!' I called her a so-and-so for not considering the crew who were freezing their butts off outside. And it wasn't that at all in the end, as she was sick that night, and I was at fault for getting in to her about it. I think everyone gets upset at one time."
For the cinematography, Hunt aimed for a "simple, but glamorous like the 1950s Hollywood films I grew up with",[32] as well as something realistic, "where the sets don't look like sets".[32] Cinematographer Michael Reed added he had difficulties with lighting, as every set built for the film had a ceiling, preventing spotlights from being hung from above.[35] While shooting, Hunt wanted "the most interesting framings possible", which would also look good after being cropped for television.[32]
Lazenby said he experienced difficulties during shooting, not receiving any coaching despite his lack of acting experience, and with director Hunt never addressing him directly, only through his assistant. Lazenby also declared that Hunt also asked the rest of the crew to keep a distance from him, as "Peter thought the more I was alone, the better I would be as James Bond."[21] Allegedly, there also were personality conflicts with Rigg, who was already an established star. However, according to director Hunt, these rumours are untrue and there were no such difficulties—or else they were minor—and may have started with Rigg joking to Lazenby before filming a love scene "Hey George, I'm having garlic for lunch. I hope you are!"[11] Hunt also declared that he usually had long talks with Lazenby before and during shooting. For instance, to shoot Tracy's death scene, Hunt brought Lazenby to the set at 8 o'clock in the morning and made him rehearse all day long, "and I broke him down until he was absolutely exhausted, and by the time we shot it at five o'clock, he was exhausted, and that's how I got the performance."[36] Hunt said that if Lazenby had remained in the role, he would also have directed the successor film, Diamonds Are Forever and that his original intentions were concluding the film with Bond and Tracy driving off following their wedding, saving Tracy's murder for the pre-credit sequence of Diamonds Are Forever. The idea was discarded after Lazenby quit the role.[7]
On Her Majesty's Secret Service was the longest Bond film until Casino Royale was released in 2006.[37] Despite that, two scenes were deleted from the final print: Irma Bunt spying on Bond as he buys a wedding ring for Tracy,[38] and a chase over London rooftops and into the Royal Mail underground rail system[39] after Bond's conversation with Sir Hilary Bray was overheard.[37]
Music
The soundtrack for "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" has been called "perhaps the best score of the series."[33] It was composed, arranged and conducted by John Barry;[40] it was his fifth successive Bond film. Barry opted to use more electrical instruments and a more aggressive sound in the music – "I have to stick my oar in the musical area double strong to make the audience try and forget they don't have Sean ... to be Bondian beyond Bondian."[41]
Barry felt it would be difficult to compose a theme song containing the title "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" unless it were written operatically, in the style of Gilbert and Sullivan.[42] Leslie Bricusse had considered lyrics for the title song[43] but director Peter R. Hunt allowed an instrumental title theme in the tradition of the first two Bond films. The theme was described as "one of the best title cuts, a wordless Moog-driven monster, suitable for skiing at breakneck speed or dancing with equal abandon."[44]
Barry also composed the love song "We Have All the Time in the World", with lyrics by Burt Bacharach's regular lyricist Hal David, sung by Louis Armstrong.[40] It is heard during the Bond–Tracy courtship montage, bridging Draco's birthday party in Portugal and Bond's burglary of the Gebrüder Gumbold law office in Bern, Switzerland. It was Louis Armstrong's last recorded song as he died of a heart attack two years later.[45] Barry recalled Armstrong was very ill, but recorded the song in one take.[46] The song was re-released in 1994, achieving the number three position during a 13-week spell in the UK charts.[47] A Hal David song entitled "Do You Know How Christmas Trees Are Grown?" performed by Danish singer Nina also featured in the film in several scenes.[48]
The theme, "On Her Majesty's Secret Service", is used in the film as an action theme alternative to Monty Norman's "James Bond Theme", as with Barry's previous "007" themes. "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" was covered in 1997 by the British big beat group, the Propellerheads for the Shaken and Stirred album.[49] Barry-orchestrator Nic Raine recorded an arrangement of the escape from Piz Gloria sequence and it was featured as a theme in the trailers for the 2004 Pixar animated film The Incredibles.[50]
Release and reception
On Her Majesty's Secret Service was released on 18 December 1969[51] with its premiere at the Odeon Leicester Square in London.[52] Lazenby appeared at the premiere with a beard, looking "very un-Bond-like",[53] according to the Daily Mirror. Lazenby claimed the producers had tried to persuade him to shave it off to appear like Bond, but at that stage he had already decided not to make another Bond film and rejected the idea.[54] The beard and accompanying shoulder-length hair "strained his already fragile relationship with Saltzman and Broccoli".[55] As On Her Majesty's Secret Service had been filmed in stereo, the first Bond film to use the technology, the Odeon had a new speaker system installed to benefit the new sounds.[56] It topped the North American box office when it opened with a gross of $1.2 million.[57] The film closed its box office run with £750,000 in the United Kingdom (the highest-grossing film of the year),[58] $64.6 million worldwide,[59] half of You Only Live Twice's total gross,[58] but still one of the highest-grossing films of 1969.[60] After re-releases, the total box office was $82,000,000 worldwide.[61]
Because Lazenby had informed the producers that On Her Majesty's Secret Service was to be his only outing as Bond and because of the lack of 'gadgets' used by Bond in the film, few items of merchandise were produced for the film, apart from the obvious soundtrack album and a film edition of the book. Those that were produced included a number from Corgi Toys, including Tracey's Cougar, Campbell's Volkswagen and two versions of the bobsleigh—one with the 007 logo and one with the Piz Gloria logo.[62] On Her Majesty's Secret Service was nominated for only one award: George Lazenby was nominated in the New Star of the Year – Actor category at the 1970 Golden Globe Award ceremony, losing out to Jon Voight.[63]
Contemporary reviews
The majority of reviews were critical of either the film, Lazenby, or both, whilst most of the contemporary reviews in the British press referred to George Lazenby at some point as "The Big Fry", a reference to his previous acting in Fry's Chocolate advertisements.[6] Derek Malcolm of The Guardian was dismissive of Lazenby's performance, saying that he "is not a good actor and though I never thought Sean Connery was all that stylish either, there are moments when one yearns for a little of his louche panache."[64] For all the criticism of Lazenby, however, Malcolm says that the film was "quite a jolly frolic in the familiar money-spinning fashion".[64] Tom Milne, writing in The Guardian's sister paper, The Observer was even more scathing, saying that "I ... fervently trust (OHMSS) will be the last of the James Bond films. All the pleasing oddities and eccentricities and gadgets of the earlier films have somehow been lost, leaving a routine trail through which the new James Bond strides without noticeable signs of animation."[65]
Donald Zec in the Daily Mirror was equally damning of Lazenby's acting abilities, comparing him unfavourably to Connery: "He looks uncomfortably in the part like a size four foot in a size ten gumboot."[66] Zec was kinder to Lazenby's co-star, saying that "there is style to Diana Rigg's performance and I suspect that the last scene which draws something of a performance out of Lazenby owes much to her silken expertise."[66] The New York Times critic AH Weiler also weighed in against Lazenby, saying that "Lazenby, if not a spurious Bond, is merely a casual, pleasant, satisfactory replacement."[67]
One of the few supporters of Lazenby amongst the critics was Alexander Walker in the London Evening Standard who said that "The truth is that George Lazenby is almost as good a James Bond as the man referred to in his film as 'the other fellow'. Lazenby's voice is more suave than sexy-sinister and he could pass for the other fellow's twin on the shady side of the casino. Bond is now definitely all set for the Seventies."[68] Judith Crist of New York Magazine also found the actor a strong point of the movie, stating that "This time around there's less suavity and a no-nonsense muscularity and maleness to the role via the handsome Mr. Lazenby".[69]
Feminist film critic Molly Haskell also wrote an approving review of the film in the Village Voice: "In a world, an industry, and particularly a genre which values the new and improved product above all, it is nothing short of miraculous to see a movie which dares to go backward, a technological artefact which has nobly deteriorated into a human being. I speak of the new and obsolete James Bond, played by a man named George Lazenby, who seems more comfortable in a wet tuxedo than a dry martini, more at ease as a donnish genealogist than reading (or playing) Playboy, and who actually dares to think that one woman who is his equal is better than a thousand part-time playmates."[70] Haskell was also affected by the film's emotional ending: "The love between Bond and his Tracy begins as a payment and ends as a sacrament. After ostensibly getting rid of the bad guys, they are married. They drive off to a shocking, stunning ending. Their love, being too real, is killed by the conventions it defied. But they win the final victory by calling, unexpectedly, upon feeling. Some of the audience hissed, I was shattered. If you like your Bonds with happy endings, don't go."[70]
Reflective reviews
Critical response to On Her Majesty's Secret Service remains sharply divided. Film critic James Berardinelli summed this up in his review of the movie: "with the exception of one production aspect, [it] is by far the best entry of the long-running James Bond series. The film contains some of the most exhilarating action sequences ever to reach the screen, a touching love story, and a nice subplot that has agent 007 crossing (and even threatening to resign from) Her Majesty's Secret Service. The problem is with Bond himself ... George Lazenby is boring, and his ineffectualness lowers the picture's quality. Lazenby can handle the action sequences, but that's about all he masters."[71]
American film reviewer Leonard Maltin has suggested that if it had been Connery in the leading role instead of Lazenby, On Her Majesty's Secret Service would have epitomised the series.[72] On the other hand, Danny Peary wrote, "I'm not sure I agree with those who insist that if Connery had played Bond it would definitely be the best of the entire Bond series ... Connery's Bond, with his boundless humor and sense of fun and self-confidence, would be out of place in this picture. It actually works better with Lazenby because he is incapable of playing Bond as a bigger-than-life hero; for one thing he hasn't the looks ... Lazenby's Bond also hasn't the assurance of Connery's Bond and that is appropriate in the crumbling, depressing world he finds himself. He seems vulnerable and jittery at times. At the skating rink, he is actually scared. We worry about him ... On Her Majesty's Secret Service doesn't have Connery and it's impossible to ever fully adjust to Lazenby, but I think that it still might be the best Bond film, as many Bond cultists claim."[73] Peary also described On Her Majesty's Secret Service as "the most serious", "the most cynical" and "the most tragic" of the Bond films.[73]
Brian Fairbanks differed in his opinion of Lazenby, saying that "OHMSS gives us a James Bond capable of vulnerability, a man who can show fear and is not immune to heartbreak. Lazenby is that man, and his performance is superb."[74] Fairbanks also thought On Her Majesty's Secret Service to be "not only the best Bond, it is also the last truly great film in the series. In fact, had the decision been made to end the series, this would have been the perfect final chapter."[74]
Rotten Tomatoes gives the film an 81% rating based on 43 reviews.[75] IGN ranked On Her Majesty's Secret Service as the eighth best Bond film,[76] Entertainment Weekly as the sixth,[77] and Norman Wilner of MSN, as the fifth best.[78] The film also became a fan favourite, seeing "ultimate success in the home video market".[79] In September 2012 it was announced that On Her Majesty's Secret Service had topped a poll of Bond fans run by 007 Magazine to determine the greatest ever Bond film. Goldfinger came second in the poll and From Russia With Love was third.[80]
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| •Création: 4 janvier 2014 |
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| •Creation: January 4 2014 |
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•Total duration: 142 minutes |
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