On Her Majesty's Secret Service Reviews

This might have been the best of the James Bond series if it had starred Sean Connery instead of Australian model George Lazenby, whom the producers grabbed after a frantic talent search when Connery turned down the role. When Bond is ordered to cease his pursuit of old nemesis Blofeld (played by Savalas this time), 007 turns in his license to kill and returns to Portugal to pick up the trail. There he falls for Tracy (Rigg), the ravishing daughter of Draco (Ferzetti), an organized crime kingpin. Draco helps Bond locate the Swiss mountaintop stronghold from which Blofeld plans to engineer universal sterilization unless he is granted a title of nobility and amnesty for his past crimes. After rescuing Tracy from Blofeld's clutches and seemingly doing away with him once and for all, Bond marries her and they almost live happily ever after. Based on one of the best of Ian Fleming's Bond novels, ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE benefited from an extremely well-written script that finally revealed a bit more of Bond's character. Lazenby, however, had no previous acting experience, and his lackadaisical performance limits the whole production, yet it still manages to remain one of the more entertaining Bond films.