Yesterday’s movie: On Her Majesty’s Secret Service

To some, this is the ultimate James Bond film but to others a complete throwaway. I tend more to the former view. Australian actor George Lazenby makes his only appearance as 007 after a less than ecstatic public reaction to his replacing Sean Connery; Connery returned one more time in Bond 8, Diamonds are Forever. I thought he did quite well, certainly a better Bond than Timothy Dalton and probably as good as Roger Moore. Diana Riggs as the main Bond Girl was terrific and the plot joining Bond with her underworld boss dad against SMERSH and Telly Savalas’ Blofeld surprising and creative. Savalas, of course, has no problem playing the nasty bad guy. The DVD also has a couple of interesting short pieces including one that explains how the crew captured the exciting ski chase scene by suspending a cameraman from a helicopter. For unknown reasons ABC is not showing this movie as part of The Bond Show, even though they have the rights for it. So do as we did and go out and rent it.