Something of a Must With Me ~ OHMSS Appreciation

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  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    Posts: 23,449
    Interesting story, @echo! :)

    I truly think that the real reasons (note that I use the plural form) for Lazenby not returning to the Bond scene will never be fully known. In my opinion, there's more than one deciding factor involved.
  • echoecho 007 in New York
    Posts: 5,921
    It was never clear to me if the rooftop chase was filmed and lost, or never filmed in its entirety. I have seen stills.

    I wonder if Eon is withholding some deleted scenes for future DVD releases. Bond killing Mr. White in QoS is an obvious one. But why withhold scenes from much earlier releases?

  • In the book "The Making of On Her Majesty's Secret Service" it shows all the stills in order (the only place I've ever seen them) and I'm pretty sure I remember reading that they had never actually got to filming the scene, ie., it never left the planning phase.
  • 0BradyM0Bondfanatic70BradyM0Bondfanatic7 Quantum Floral Arrangements: "We Have Petals Everywhere"
    Posts: 28,694
    echo wrote:
    It was never clear to me if the rooftop chase was filmed and lost, or never filmed in its entirety. I have seen stills.

    I wonder if Eon is withholding some deleted scenes for future DVD releases. Bond killing Mr. White in QoS is an obvious one. But why withhold scenes from much earlier releases?

    How do we know Bond kills White? Or Haines, who is in with the prime minister? Bond would get slack for doing such a thing, as would MI6 by association for having him as a 00.
  • echoecho 007 in New York
    edited June 2012 Posts: 5,921
    This was a deleted scene.

    http://jamesbond.wikia.com/wiki/Mr._White
  • 0BradyM0Bondfanatic70BradyM0Bondfanatic7 Quantum Floral Arrangements: "We Have Petals Everywhere"
    Posts: 28,694
    echo wrote:

    Well, that's just stupid. White is such a great character who hasn't been used enough. They had better scrap it and give him a lot of scenes in future a Bond/s before killing him off.
  • edited June 2012 Posts: 12,837
    echo wrote:

    Well, that's just stupid. White is such a great character who hasn't been used enough. They had better scrap it and give him a lot of scenes in future a Bond/s before killing him off.

    Didn't the actor say he wouldn't be in anymore Bond films? I think he even called QOS sh*t.

    EDIT: Knew I'd heard it somewhere. http://www.movieweb.com/news/jesper-christensen-will-not-return-for-james-bond-23
  • 4EverBonded4EverBonded the Ballrooms of Mars
    edited June 2012 Posts: 12,459
    I remember reading the actor bad-mouthing the movie and his character; my impression was he for sure wouldn't want to come back as that character again. In the film he did not obviously kill White. They should bring that character back at some point even with a different actor; they could make something interesting I think.
  • 0BradyM0Bondfanatic70BradyM0Bondfanatic7 Quantum Floral Arrangements: "We Have Petals Everywhere"
    edited June 2012 Posts: 28,694
    Jesper cleared all that mess up:

    Jesper Christensen explains that he was misrepresented at the Berlin Film Festival, saying “I have great respect for the people who make Bond films. They have managed to create their very own meta-universe, almost a genre in itself and a series of 23 films now. It is unique.”
  • 4EverBonded4EverBonded the Ballrooms of Mars
    Posts: 12,459
    Jesper cleared all that mess up:

    Jesper Christensen explains that he was misrepresented at the Berlin Film Festival, saying “I have great respect for the people who make Bond films. They have managed to create their very own meta-universe, almost a genre in itself and a series of 23 films now. It is unique.”

    Thanks for that info. Well I hope he returns. But if not, I want the character back later.
  • Samuel001Samuel001 Moderator
    edited June 2012 Posts: 13,350
    In the book "The Making of On Her Majesty's Secret Service" it shows all the stills in order (the only place I've ever seen them) and I'm pretty sure I remember reading that they had never actually got to filming the scene, ie., it never left the planning phase.

    In the book "The Essential James Bond", which has a few stills from the scene's filming a caption says "While filming a chase sequence through the back streets and over the rooftops of London George Lazenby injured his arm scaling a wall. In the scene, Bond discovers one of Blofeld's men spying on his meeting with Hilary Bray at the College of Arms and gives chase. The whole sequence was deleted from the final cut."

    The scene was filmed but is said to be missing. Who knows what is in the archives, though.
  • I was watching the last scene on youtube and got geniunely sad when Tracey dies.
  • edited August 2013 Posts: 6,396
    This is an old thread topic I know, but I thought I'd revive it as not many comments made on here so far. Plus I wanted my two cents worth.

    I used to despise this film as a child. It was the only Bond film I would dismiss as "not proper". It used to disappoint me at Christmas or Bank Holidays if i saw OHMSS in the TV listings as opposed to GF or MR. Hell, I even preferred NSNA, but then I was only eleven. Ah, the sweet ignorance of youth.

    All of the things I hated about this film back then:

    - Brocolli & Saltzman's name interrupting the gun barrel sequence, just as it did in DN.
    - The absence of a song playing over the main titles.
    - The inclusion of a song during the montage of Bond dating Tracy
    - GT's inexperience (sorry it was either Sean or Rog. Not some Australian bloke who only did one film)
    - The love story dominating the first half of the film
    - John Barry's experimantal sound - lots of synthasized pieces
    - The downbeat ending

    And yet, these are now ALL of the very reasons I love this film. It is fascinating how you see things differently as you mature. I was 19 in 1995 and it was at that time MGM/UA released all sixteen Bond films on video to coincide with the cinematic release of GE and I went out and bought the lot, starting first with OHMSS as it was the one film I still didn't own and hadn't watched in a number of years. My first recollection of seeing it again in '95 was that it wasn't as bad as I once thought it to be.

    With every subsequent screening over the last eighteen years, my enjoyment and appreciation of it has increased each time. I used to often wonder that had Bond been played by SC rather than GT, it would have been declared by the majority of the press and the general movie loving public to be the greatest Bond film ever.

    In the last few years, my mind has changed significantly on this point. Whilst there is no doubt that SC is a far better actor and a far better Bond than GT, OHMSS could only have worked with a new actor in the role.

    Now, GT's inexperience as an actor is badly exposed at times in the film but credit where credit is due, there is no denying he looked the part and handled himself extremely well with regards to the action but the acting was mostly hit and miss. The biggest praise of all though goes to his performance in the climax of the picture - dealing with the aftermath of Tracy's death. He was quite simply brilliant and dare I say even SC may have found it hard to do a better job.
  • edited August 2013 Posts: 169
    duplicate- sorry
  • edited August 2013 Posts: 169
    Samuel001 wrote:
    In the book "The Making of On Her Majesty's Secret Service" it shows all the stills in order (the only place I've ever seen them) and I'm pretty sure I remember reading that they had never actually got to filming the scene, ie., it never left the planning phase.

    In the book "The Essential James Bond", which has a few stills from the scene's filming a caption says "While filming a chase sequence through the back streets and over the rooftops of London George Lazenby injured his arm scaling a wall. In the scene, Bond discovers one of Blofeld's men spying on his meeting with Hilary Bray at the College of Arms and gives chase. The whole sequence was deleted from the final cut."

    The scene was filmed but is said to be missing. Who knows what is in the archives, though.

    As far as I'm concerned, that scene can stay lost. Sounds like it was put in to add a little more action. It wasn't in the novel and strikes me as an unnecessary interruption to appease viewers impatient to see more violence.
  • Posts: 6,396
    Dr_Yes wrote:
    Samuel001 wrote:
    In the book "The Making of On Her Majesty's Secret Service" it shows all the stills in order (the only place I've ever seen them) and I'm pretty sure I remember reading that they had never actually got to filming the scene, ie., it never left the planning phase.

    In the book "The Essential James Bond", which has a few stills from the scene's filming a caption says "While filming a chase sequence through the back streets and over the rooftops of London George Lazenby injured his arm scaling a wall. In the scene, Bond discovers one of Blofeld's men spying on his meeting with Hilary Bray at the College of Arms and gives chase. The whole sequence was deleted from the final cut."

    The scene was filmed but is said to be missing. Who knows what is in the archives, though.

    As far as I'm concerned, that scene can stay lost. Sounds like it was put in to add a little more action. It wasn't in the novel and strikes me as an unnecessary interruption to appease viewers impatient to see more violence.

    There is a video on YouTube which has photo stills from the aforementioned deleted scene and inserts them into the scenes at The College Of Arms. I won't provide the link as I don't know whether it breaches copyright but it's easy enough to find.
  • Posts: 135
    OHMSS is classic- thus it is perfection. How could I not rate it highly; however, it is difficult to compare favorably to the modern Bonds. Many advancements in the state of cinema have subsequently been made. With the utilization of modern cinematography and scoring techniques, OHMSS would be perfection. Because of these reasons, I cannot support its touting as "perfect."
  • pachazopachazo Make Your Choice
    Posts: 7,314
    Richardo wrote:
    OHMSS is classic- thus it is perfection... With the utilization of modern cinematography and scoring techniques, OHMSS would be perfection.
    So which one is it then? Also, what exactly is wrong with the cinematography and especially the score of OHMSS?
  • Posts: 135
    @Pachazo Try this for size:


    To quote a YouTuber- "This is what's missing from the early Bond films." Truer words were never spoken.
  • the blood of fun Manchu is basically ohmss but with a better lead.

  • ThunderfingerThunderfinger Das Boot Hill
    Posts: 45,489
    Great review, Mr Lazenby!
    My favourite film and my favourite Blofeld. The bobsleigh chase scene is bliss.
    Everything is bliss when I think of it. The hypnosis scene has been criticized, but I love it!
    Walt Disney himself couldn t have come up with anything better.
  • Great review, Mr Lazenby!
    My favourite film and my favourite Blofeld. The bobsleigh chase scene is bliss.
    Everything is bliss when I think of it. The hypnosis scene has been criticized, but I love it!
    Walt Disney himself couldn t have come up with anything better.

    Cheers!
  • Posts: 232
    I was scanning some pics for another thread, when I came across my old copy of the OHMSS Press Book that I bought in the early 80s. So I figured I'd scan quite a bit of it, in case anyone was interested in how they marketed OHMSS upon it's release. What was interesting, is that I found this press book at an antique convention, and I distinctly remember that the seller had quite a few of the other Bond press books, but because OHMSS was hated and unpopular (in the 80s), the guy was selling this one the cheapest! Probably not the case anymore, with the newfound fan interest in the film. Even in the 80s, I loved this one the most, so I was very excited to get it at a cheaper price! Hope you enjoy:


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  • Very cool...thanks for sharing!
  • MayDayDiVicenzoMayDayDiVicenzo Here and there
    Posts: 5,080
    the blood of fun Manchu is basically ohmss but with a better lead.


    What on Earth did I just watch?!

    OHMSS is my favourite Bond of all time, ever since my first viewing. I'm going to do a full review of this particular release in the near future, as it warrants it...
  • Posts: 1,405
    In the book "The Making of On Her Majesty's Secret Service" it shows all the stills in order (the only place I've ever seen them) and I'm pretty sure I remember reading that they had never actually got to filming the scene, ie., it never left the planning phase.

    Bought the book you talked about. Great read, lots of fun. Although OHMSS is my favorite film ever, I now have a better understanding of the tremendous work that was behind the movie. I love OHMSS all the more if that's possible. There are also some very nice pics of Diana Riggs and Jenny Hanley, whose a very very lovely lady by the way.
  • RC7RC7
    Posts: 10,512
    Stumbled across this earlier. This guy calls himself a 'huge' Bond fan. Cue laughter...

    http://filmgeekcentral.com/2012/10/22/james-bond-retrospective-review-of-on-her-majestys-secret-service/
  • Posts: 19,339
    RC7 wrote:
    Stumbled across this earlier. This guy calls himself a 'huge' Bond fan. Cue laughter...

    http://filmgeekcentral.com/2012/10/22/james-bond-retrospective-review-of-on-her-majestys-secret-service/

    What a total pratt...hasn't got a clue.

  • Posts: 11,189
    One of my favourite scenes in OHMSS. Bond in the helicopter with Ima Bunt flying over the mountains. Truly classic film-making.
  • No Bond film will ever be this good again until they find a sufficient replacement for Barry.
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