The Bad Bond is Good Actually - OHMSS (1969) || From Rewatch with Love Ep07 

For some reason, the charismatic, suave, debonair James Bond *deliberately boring a table to sleep* by rambling about genealogy forever makes me extremely happy.

Regarding the first conversation between Bond and Draco: On one of the two occasions Bond has interacted with Tracy at that time, he foiled her suicide attempt. Saying that “she needs a therapist, not a husband”, while crass, is not entirely without merit.

My favorite Lazenby fact: He’s the only James Bond that had a black belt in martial arts.

Fun fact: One of Mr. Lazenby's grandchildren works at an LGS near me and plays Magic!

Finally someone who says the truth: Lazenby is great

Reasons OHMSS is great: Dianna Rigg Stuck to a great story Fantastic locations Soundtrack

Lazenby does get to play Bond once more (kinda). In the early moments of one of the Man From Uncle movies Napoleon Solo is being harassed/tailed by THRUSH agents, and Lazenby pops up out of nowhere in a very familiar-seeming Aston Martin to save the day. Lazenby's tagline: "Always ready to help a colleague." Of course they never refer to the character by name, but the inference is very clear.

The smartest thing they could have done, was to cast Diana Rigg in this film. She is by far the best female actress ever in a Bond movie, and her character the most interesting as a girl who has nothing to live for until she meets Bond, and then ironically meets her death

Graham’s analysis of the filmmaking and editing of this one was absolutely fascinating and I love hearing him so these deep dives. Honestly when this podcast is over I would love to just have him do a Podcast where he discusses movies in general in this way.

For me this is the best James Bond Movie

Kojak used to smoke but Telly actually listened to the early health warnings about smoking so quit and so he had something to fiddle with other than a cigarette, he replaced it with a lollipop.

The end is such a gut-punch (then the credits kinda steamroll it). Watching it for the first time a few months ago, I already knew it was coming, but then Lazenby's portrayal of it caught me *completely* off-guard and made me want to watch him in the role again. It's just the way Bond kind of... _breaks_ in that moment and becomes suddenly very calm & distant, is both shocking and deeply tragic. Underrated, for sure.

I’m sure I’ve read some where that Lazenby is Daniel Craig’s favourite Bond and also the favourite of one of the more recent Bond directors. Has anyone else seen this as well?

Diana Rigg is so good because you're falling for her just as much as he is.. the shot of her sliding in on skates, the camera slowly pans up to her beautiful smile, saving Bond in his most scared and lost moment, is my favorite shot of any Bond film. Rip Diana Rigg

There's a good documentary from 2017 about George Lazenby called "Becoming Bond". Worth a watch.

Rewatching this movie two years ago made me realize how much Diana Rigg used to look like Natalie Dorner. Casting them as grandmother and granddaughter on Game of Thrones was brilliant.

In defense of bond and the father: it isnt "tracy runs around like a wild party animal she needs help" its about "my daughter is so depressed i have men follow her to save her from her many suicide attempts after the death of her husband" and bond says "she doesnt need a man she needs a psychiatrist" is about her deep rooted depression and obvious death wish (she races around in her car and pulls bonds gun on him for that reason) The idea is that her rash decisions(betting at the casino without any money) and party lifestyle are a sign of the problem. It isnt the problem. I have a cousin who after years in the army serving in iraq and afghanistan became way more of a party animal than ever, doing everything and anything in sight, and we are 99% sure hes running from his PTSD. Hes slowed down and sought help thankfully but thats what he was like for a few years. Same applies to tracy

In one of the bajillion Bond retrospectives, I saw someone (Roger Moore?) comment, "Poor George. He only got one movie and had to play the only Bond that cried."

Tracy is mentioned in For Your Eyes Only, Spy Who Loved Me, Licence to Kill and Bonds family motto is mentioned in the movie names after it (The World is Not Enough)

Props where props due! Feels good to not to have to feel bad about a single woman or sex scene in the movie.

My favorite James Bond Movie. Lazenby would have settled in as Bond and been very good. He got very bad career advice.

Hello: I actually viewed OHMSS on its initial run. I agree that it was unsettling the switch from Connery to Lazenby. In addition, the downbeat ending that happened in the novel. At the time, editing aside, ski scenes were new. I felt that OHMSS was a great James Bond film.

Poor guy, after a weird "diversion" and being a nobody in the business Lazenby was an easy mark for blame. I do like how proactive he was on getting the role. He saw the signs and said "It's time to make... my move."

Not only my favorite Bond movie, but one of my all time favorites as well.... My favorite scene is when Tracy skates up to James in the Swiss village.... Thank you for this excellent analysis of the film....

I appreciate the cheeky Editor Matt cut-in.

"Some sort of allergy meltdown" sounds like exactly the sort of disaster Nsburg would have to deal with.

Holy cow. Graham was not kidding. The Propellerheads cover of the OHMSS theme is a straight up BANGER!

I'm so glad I feel vindicated in my appreciation of this movie. It rocks and I can watch it all the time.

As a nod to the people who read the Fleming books, the cigarette Lazenby smokes at the start is a Morland of Grosvenor Street adorned with three gold bands.

These podcasts are so amazing. I love all the trivia and history that gets put into each one.. But what I love even more is... At the start of this series, I was like "This will be interesting to listen to, but I'm not that invested because I've never seen any of the Bond movies". And then, every single episode so far, you show a still of some part of the movie, and I suddenly recognize it, and have this crisis of faith of.. wait.. did I actually see this movie sometime? Why do I remember this? Why do I remember *what happens next*?!?

OHMSS is a great film, up there with Goldfinger, From Russia with Love, The Spy Who Loved Me from the classic Bond era.

Having decided to watch this one before the episode dropped after not doing so for the prior episodes I'm incredibly happy with my choice to start watching along with this one. This is a very good gem of a movie, and I agree with every flaw discussed.

I feel sorry for Lazenby. This was his first major role and he had to follow in the footsteps of Sean Connery. So not only did he land his first gig in the biggest role in cinematic history, but he also landed the biggest burden in cinematic history. I think if he stayed on for one more film, he would've fared better maybe.

The snowplough scene was absolutely brutal, holy moly

01:07:00-ish: They mention that Tracy is never mentioned in any of the other films, as if to suggest an episodic aspect of the bond films. This isn't exactly true. The most blatent reference is For Your Eyes Only, pre-title. Bond is standing over her grave before being picked up by helicopter that is remotely commandeered by a bald, wheelchair-bound villain bent on revenge. Though not specifically mentioned but strongly inferred, it is likely Blofeld exacting revenge on Bond for the foiling of his Virus Omega plans and having been "branched off" in OHMSS. The second, more subtle reference came just two films earlier in The Spy Who Loved Me when Anya Amasova and Bond meet at the Mojaba Club in pursuit of Max Kalba and the microfilm of Stromberg's Atlantis. Each ordered the other's drink, and Anya begins to recite her dossier of Bond to him, getting to the part where he was "married once..." and Bond cuts her off, "You've made your point."

Those metal strips in rulers were to allow you to use a fountain pen as there needs to be an air gap between the ruler and where the nib touches the paper to prevent smudging and bleed through.

Thank you for coming to the defence of this film, because I found it just as underrated when I came back to it myself years later. If I had criticisms that still linger, they're mostly to do with the really weird camera work/editing, and I also got the impression that a few of Lazenby's one-liners were written with a much more suave Bond in mind. George Lazenby comes off much more mild-mannered than suave, an impression which isn't helped at all by his disguise as Sir Hillary for a not insignificant chunk of the movie.

It was only ever the casual viewer who thought this was a bad Bond film and only because of Lazenby. Most of us Bond fans have always considered this one of the best.

Thank goodness we're out of the "underwater fight scene" age and into the "skiing chase scene" age.

Fun fact: that "weird grappling hook thing" is an anchor.

On Her Majesty's Secret Service has always been one of my Favorites.

I'd just like to say points to Editor Matt for all the little gags he put in the visuals; I saw them and I loved them.

The end redeems and resurrects it from any faults it may have and makes it one of the most moving films of all time - just for that Dianna Rigg short bit with him that touches everybody to the depths of the heart in a few small moments - and if you know the end and watch the film a second time the whole film becomes much more, which is the art - of Art.

i like to believe the janitor in draco's office is actually whistling moon river :D. the blofeld not recognising bond problem can possibly be explained two ways. either, its a result of the films not being made in the same order as the books (im under the assumption you only live twice was written after OHMSS) and thus OHMSS being a very accurate adaptation creates the continuity error OR its a result of the recasting of bond in-film- blofeld doesnt recognise bond because he doesn't look like sean connery. i think i read somewhere that there was an idea (it might have been in the book) that bond undergoes plastic surgery so blofeld wont recognise him. best thing about savalas' blofeld is that he will threaten you with a cigarette. man holds his cigarette like no other man and, as you say, he's a different kind of threatening than don pleasance. plus he actually accompanies his men during the ski chases. sure he sends several to his death, but he seems a much more hands on blofeld than a cat stroking, peon using blofeld but yeah, those "interesting" wall details. lotta foreshadowing of whenever a baddie is gonna either get thrown into or onto an interesting set piece- happens in the fistfight in tracy's hotel room and twice in quick succession when tracy is fighting off one of blofeld's grunts. chekov's wall sculpture indeed! im a little biased because my dad adores this one, but it very muchly deserves top or near top spot in any list of bond films and it sure is a shame lazenby didnt do another. much like christopher eccelstones doctor, the light that shines brightest, shines half as long

"On Her Majesty's Secret Service" was a great movie and, along with "From Russia With Love," one of the best grounded and coherent plots in any of the installments. The parallel story of his and Traci's romance was so good, it could not be considered just a subplot. The masterful weaving of their personal story, from the connection to Draco that got Bond on the trail for Blofeld to Traci's timely appearance on skates at the village Weihnachtsmarkt saving Bond's keister, the plot was masterfully written to invest the viewer in saving the world and in cheering the romance. Lazenby brought just enough to the character to let the story do the work (the screenwriters could have cut down on some of the cheesy repartee, but everything could not be perfect). The ski chases have never been surpassed in any Bond action sequence-ever. The way Traci saved herself in hand-to-hand during her dad's final attack on Piz Gloria was an Easter Egg for any Emma Peel fan who could not bear to see Diana Rigg be totally helpless on screen. And, of course, there is the heartbreak ending. A few "minor things" to point out: if Operation Bedlam had been suspended, how did Bond get that other agent to meet him in Bern let alone hook up the safecracking equipment and delivery to the lawyer's office? And if Bond and Blofeld had met in Japan in the previous movie, how did Blofeld not recognize him the moment he arrived at Piz Gloria? And then the one thing that Bond would NEVER EVER do: scoop caviar from a dish with a metal knife like he did leaving Traci's room after the fight with Draco's guy. . . c'mon! He'd sooner use his fingers if he could not find a mother-of-pearl spoon! 🤣 On the technical issues with the movie, agree 100% that the hand-to-hand fight scenes were tedious and discordant. In addition to the problems you cite, the other was the sound effects for every hand-to-hand encounter with Bond starting on the pre-title beach scene with punches sounding like jackhammers in an echo chamber. Again, interestingly enough, the best hand-to-hand fight scene is Traci's against the goon in the Piz Gloria mezzanine and lobby. Great video, gents. Just found it and glad I did!!!

Best Bond movie ever. Must have watched it over a million times.

I love this film, criminally underrated. Lazenby's physicality & vulnerability make him the most interesting Bond, imo. The film also has the best villain base, ever and the ski chase & snow rally driving scene (that Diana Rigg actually drove) are really realistic and really nuts.

What an amazing movie. Recently rewatched it with my best friend and it has become our personal favorite.

"He had a lotta guts!" is my absolute favorite Bond quip. So good!

It's worth noting that one of the potential reasons for the massive crossover between the Eon Bond films and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is due to them having both been written by Ian Fleming 😀

This one for me ranks as my favorite bond film period. That ending still destroys me every time.

Lazenby in my opinion is the second best Bond in this series . He did not reinterpret this character but continued the journey . He made one of the best Bond films in the series. One day i hope most will change their opinion about him. I was not into a Sean Connery replacement so i was not open to any take over . How surprised i was at the overall quality of this story ,it's action scenes ,locals but the strong confidence of George Lazenby. Excellent fight scenes and sky scenes. He also had real sex appeal. Looking forward to him getting the full credit he deserves.

Guy who lives in the subtropics “Oh so that is what wiper fluid is for”.

About the misuse of the Red Cross, The version of OHMSS I saw started with a disclaimer that this was extremely illegal and that the film makers in no way condoned this behaviour in real life.

So wait, this movie takes place at Christmas? Die Hard's got some competition for best Christmas movie.

I disagree on the editing in the fight scenes. I feel like Peter Hunt expertly walked the tightrope between fast cutting intensity and still being able to see the fights.

This whole series was utterly fantastic. You may wonder, 'why would I watch 3 hours of a rewatch of a 2 hour movie?' but after a few minutes you're hooked. This series should be promoted and preserved. Please someone rescue this series and give it the love and promotion it deserved.

It should be noted that the films were made out of order. On Her Majesty's Secret Service was supposed to be the first time Bond and Blofeld meet face to face, while You Only Live Twice would follow afterward. Its also a factor as the safe-cracking technology seems to have gotten more primitive between the two films, for the same reason. As Calvin Dyson would say many times "Thats what you get for filming the books out of order" In addition, if they had a little more guts, they would have had "We Have All The Time in the World" playing over the end credits, with the bullet hole in the windshield still on screen

I don’t really have the biggest Bond understanding, however, these episodes are fantastic.

Also, I must have repressed this memory, because when you described the last scene of this movie, in particular the “We have all the time in the world” line, I legit started crying. I have not cried at a movie, rewatch or otherwise, in almost three years. This was such an underrated movie. (Funish fact: this moment is referenced in License to Kill and is one of the only bits of continuity in all Bond films.)

This has been my fave Bond film since i saw it at the cinema in the early 80s. A close second is From Russia With Love.. 😎

Great episode guys 👏🏻👍🏻 The more I watch Lazenby in the role, the more he seems to grow into it, he brought a very younger physical Bond to the role, definitely one of the most violent Bonds before Craig ( the change in fight style between Lazenby and Roger Moore’s Bond couldn’t be starker )

Personally I thought Shawn Campbell was a Draco agent considering there's no interaction and the Geneva construction site was a Draco construction. Further, it would explain why Bond would need Draco's help in Geneva. Also, since he is supposed to be in vacation and off the case, why would he be helped by MI6. Also also, he is the reason why Draco has information to give to Tracy later.

I keep forgetting what day these drop so every time it's a real pleasant surprise.

I like the "speed ramping" haha. It's an iconic part of the first 5 movies' fight scenes, in particular.

Sitting in the middle of heatwave Europe dehydrating myself crying over the crushing scene at the end of the movie. Thank you for reminding me that this movie is very worth watching

I love this series. Glad they've come back. I was only checking last week to see if they had done one yet for No Time to Die when they all disappeared!

thank you for doing justice to this widely underrated film. That we only got one film from Lazenby when we got fifteen from Moore (or at least that's how it seems) is horrifying.

I genuinely love this movie. The cast is amazing. Lazenby is a very good Bond, he earned another shot at a role. Diana Rigg is a treasure. Everyone else was just on point. That final set of action scenes set high bar that not many Bond movies surpassed. The ending gets me every time.

My favorite Bond movie, my favorite opening theme music. "This never happened to the other fellow." Meta reference, boom!

Re: 4:07 - 5:37 I mean... Mimicking your target's clothes and style and social-engineering your way into a meeting with your mark with a confident I'm-your-man swagger... That sounds like an extremely Bond/spy move to me.

Tracy deserved better, she was such a badass

Running a quick linear regression on the play times of every entry in this podcast so far, I am fully prepared for your episode on "Specter" to run roughly 5 hours and twenty minutes.

Wow, even just you two describing that ending gave me chills. Shame on me for, with no evidence, assigning Lazenby as a terrible Bond and OHMSS as 'the bad one'.

Favorite of the pre-Craig Bond films. He actually went under cover, and MacGuivered the door.

You guys should do a "From Replay with Love" podcast where you guys talk about all the James Bond games.

Fun fact while watching from russia with love, kerim asks if they should do the embassy heist on the 13th and bond instinctively answer the 14th, that lens credence to that he didn't miss and meant to hit the 14 cause it was already established that he doesn't like the number 13.

All of these have been fantastic. This one in particular feels very insightful. Cheers you guys!

2:38:32 "He gets out to sort of deflower the car" That sounds a bit lewd.

OHMSS has been uprated more and more over the years.

This is my second favourite Bond film, it's actually really good and I've loved it from when I first saw it as a kid. That ending though, George Lazenby did a great job.

Speaking of editing; I really enjoy the editing in this show where it can help punctuate the hosts' humour without becoming a comic strip that distracts. Also "...this is a trend I'm just going to have to choke on." seems like a quote that could see a lot of reuse.

Overall Movie Rankings G: - OHMSS (Lazenby) - From Russia with Love (Connery) - Goldfinger (Connery) - Dr. No (Connery) - You Only Live Twice (Connery) - Thunderball (Connery) - Casino Royale 1967 (Many People) Matt: - From Russia with Love (Connery) - OHMSS (Lazenby) - Dr. No (Connery) - You Only Live Twice (Connery) - Goldfinger (Connery) - Thunderball (Connery) - Casino Royale 1967 (Many People)

Thanks for the review. I bought this on DVD AGES ago, dirt cheap, and found the movie to be much better than the price tag would have indicated.

Snerking every time Graham says, "Grunther" 🤭

While it's not required for most wear, full highland dress does include a lace jabot and cuffs.

Watched this for the first time based on the episode title, and I was not disappointed! I think this is one of my favorite bond movies now.

Just finished listening and I really, really enjoyed your review. It is the first of your podcasts that I've listened to but I will surely be listening to more (starting with Dr No) in the future. -Tyler

I watched the documentary becoming bond, before watching ohmss, I recomend anyone who hasn't watched it to do so, it ads so much to the movie. It's my second favourite bond movie after casino royale, I love it so much, it was also filmed in my country portugal :D

The girl who Tracey talks to at her father's birthday celebrations is her father's girlfriend.

1:01:20 In "Skyfall" Bond's Family Motto is not explicitly mentioned. However, there's a fun BTS detail. Bond has "Orbis Non Suffisit" insignia on his Tom Ford cufflinks. Saw that at "JamesBondLifestyle" website.

Keep in mind, getting concrete that high up means helicopters with reduced lift capacity, so it took A LOT of flying hours with some very skilled pilots in some very specific helicopters.

This is still one of my favorite Bond films. If you liked it too, check out "Becoming Bond" (I think it's on Hulu in the US?). I'm in Canada and got it on Kanopy. Awesome doc with Lazenby being interviewed, intercut with poignant and hilarious recreations of his life story before and during his Bond time.

I would recommend reading the book as well as seeing the film. It explains the backstory on Tracy, locations (France, not Portugal) appearance of the mystery climber from station Z etc.

OHMS is one of my favorite Bond films and it's really unfair to say it's bad when drek like man with the golden gun and view to a kill exist Although at least those movies have great villains

Great episode! Have always loved OHMSS, glad to hear you give it such respectful treatment.

I've been waiting for this episode! When my wife and I watched through all the movies and ranked them five years ago we both ranked this as our number one. I don't know if it will stay there; I think it may get displaced later by Goldeneye and/or Casino Royale. It's still number one on our current rewatch, though. My thoughts are near identical to Graham's- the weird fight editing is super annoyingly distracting, but there is just so much great (and unique, for a Bond movie) stuff in this film. Also fun fact, my wife and I used "We Have All the Time in the World" as our first dance at our wedding. We were, luckily, not ambushed by villains on the drive home afterwards.

Diana Rigg 20 July 1938 - 10 September 2020 Goodbye. We don't have all the time in the world.

I need to rewatch this one. It’s been ages since I’ve seen it.

This was an *excellent* film. George Lazenby had a fantastic Bond, and I agree that it's a real shame he never did any more, I think he'd be really good in a sequel. Alas. Also, Diana Rigg as Tracy is FANTASTIC, and she's going to easily end up the best Bond girl for a long time, I think. I thought the skiing was really well done, and the call backs to the old movies was really charming. Even using the old scope on his rifle in the beginning was cool. Easily one of the best in the series. My rankings... OHMSS From Russia With Love Dr No Thunderball Goldfinger Casino Royale '67 You Only Live Twice