On Her Majesty's Secret Service - James Bond 007
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On Her Majesty's Secret Service - James Bond 007 〰️
In this week's edition of Film and soundtrack talk we will be taken through a journey of one of the best films in the James Bond catalogue by me, Jacob Price. As a lifelong fan of the series, I have always had my top five Bond films in the back of my mind always knowing that they are subject to change and usually do. However, there's always been that one film that I could not get my head around why everyone in the Bond community held this film to such a high authority. Until one Sunday evening while I was on one of my weekly Bond marathons, I decided to watch On Her Majesty's Secret Service. I thought to myself “Why not give it one more go? This must be the one where I finally fall in love with this film?” And I don’t know whether it was the fatigue of having been watching films all day or the vodka martini I was drinking but I watched the entire film in one sitting and as the credits rolled...the penny finally dropped. I could now see that this was one of the best films in the entire series. I had always respected the film due to its impact and fantastic soundtrack it possessed but there were certain elements I had never fully connected with until now.
I am a strong believer that films should be watched with little to no interruptions. Of course, there are benefits to being able to stop a film halfway through to get a drink or a snack however, there's a reason that films being played in the cinema do not come with a pause button. To fully engage with the story, characters, music and outcomes of a film it must be watched and enjoyed as a 2-and-a-half-hour journey where one allows themselves to become lost in the story. James Bond films do this perfectly as we are transported to different locations often exotic and magical which makes it easier to become lost in the world of a film. However, it is not just the locations, the story or characters journeys that we must lose ourselves in. It is the soundtrack. In many films (especially the Bond films) the main score will be sprinkled throughout the film at various moments often highlighting a significant moment within the story. A film that does this perfectly is On Her Majesty's Secret Service.
I was always aware of the impact that On Her Majesty's Secret Service had to the franchise as we must only turn to the most recent film in the series ‘No time To Die’ and notice the influence that On Her Majesty's Secret Service has on the film. From the score itself borrowing Louis Armstrong’s ‘We Have All the Time in The World’, the On Her Majesty's Secret Service theme tune and even seeing one of the film’s main characters meet a similar end to one of the characters in On Her Majesty's Secret Service.
On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
John Barry is one of the most influential and most notable figures in the James Bond franchise. Providing the music to countless Bond movies, he has left his mark on the film's legacy through his legendary soundtracks and scores including On Her Majesty's Secret Service. I have a few favourite bond soundtracks with Casino Royale being No.1 (scored by David Arnold). However, On Her Majesty's Secret Service has always been in my top 3. The film is essentially a love story between James Bond (George Lazenby) and Tracy (Diana Rigg). The score that accompanies it is an absolute triumph. For example, the love scenes between Bond and Tracy are paired with a very soft and melancholic score that follows the two falling in love. From riding horses together through the forest and taking long walks through beautiful gardens while the score (We have all the time in the world) plays over the top of the scene. However, it must be said that the romantic elements to the score are not just what makes this soundtrack great. The skiing scenes in Austria where Bond is being chased by our infamous main villain (Ernst Stavro Blofeld) and his henchmen from the top of Piz Gloria all the way to the bottom of the mountain has intense bellowing baritone horns, trumpets and saxophones which adds a real suspense to the scene.
At the climax of the film Bond and Tracy are finally wedded. Now, if you’ve seen the film, you will know that Tracy meets a tragic demise by the hands of Blofeld and his henchwoman Irma Bunt an assassination carried out on the happiest days of Bond’s and Tracy’s lives. When it is revealed that Tracy has been shot and killed an instrumental theme of, We Have All the Time in The World plays in the background which makes this gut retching tragedy all the more devastating and without this we (as an audience) wouldn’t feel the pain for these characters as much as we already do.
A good soundtrack can really make a movie. When I watch a film, I often listen out for how good the soundtrack is and I attribute this to watching the James Bond films as a boy and now a young man, teaching me what good cinema soundtracks should sound like. On Her Majesty's Secret Service is one of the best Bond scores in the entire franchise and is still relevant today as it was 50 years ago.
Jacob Price