starring George Lazenby, Diana Rigg, Telly Savalas
directed by Peter R. Hunt
142 minutes
James Bond (George Lazenby) rescues Tracy Di Vicenzo (Diana Rigg) from men whom he thinks are trying to harm her only to later learn that they are bodyguards supplied by Draco, her father. Tracy is a bit wild. Draco, who is also the head of a large crime family, thinks that what she needs is to get married. He suggests that James would make a good husband for her.
Tracy and James spend some time together, getting to know one another, things seem good between them but then he takes off to look for Blofeld (Telly Savalas). Bond's search leads him to a remote mountain research center high in the Swiss Alps. Posing as a genealogist he gains admittance to Blofeld's mountain stronghold. There he learns that Blofeld has brainwashed twelve women. They and more like them are Blofeld's key to unleashing a virus on the whole world.
Bond escapes from the mountain stronghold on skis. He is pursued by Blofeld and his men down the mountain. James miraculously runs into Tracy in the first village where he stops. Together, in her car, they lose Blofeld and his men for a time. They spend a night together in a barn, after her car runs out of gas. The next day they ski down through the mountains. Blofeld and his men get close enough to cause an avalanche that envelops the happy couple.
Blofeld captures Tracy and assumes that James is dead, buried in the snow. He takes her back to his mountain stronghold. James survives and returns to London. M refuses to mount a rescue mission to recover Tracy. Bond turns to Draco for support. Draco uses his resources to mount the mission that Bond wanted MI6 to undertake.
The rescue Tracy. She and James get married but Blofeld shows up on their wedding day and, with some help from one of his lieutenants, kills Tracy.
Thoughts
I've seen this movie once before, probably during the mid to late 1980s. I probably wouldn't have bothered to watch it again but it was showing for free at the AFI Silver for Silver Cinema Club members. I believe this is the first time that I have seen one of the early James Bond films on the big screen. The earliest Bond film that I saw in the theater prior to this was For Your Eyes Only (1981). The first Bond film I ever saw was Thunderball (1965).
This movie felt long. It's not awful but I didn't think it was very good. The special effects, especially skiing scenes aren't very good by today's standards.
Notes
Diana Rigg is great in this movie. She is much more than just a Bond Girl. Her four-year run (1965-68) as Emma Peel on The Avengers immediately preceded this movie.
George Lazenby does a decent job as James Bond. It was his one and only Bond film. The only other thing I have seen him in was a James Bond documentary, Becoming Bond (2017).
Telly Savalas does a decent in the role of Blofeld. This was a few years before Kojak, the role for which he is best known. I believe this film is the only thing in which I have seen him in recent years.
Bernard Horsfall played British agent who provided support to James Bond until he pushed his luck and got killed. Horsfall was also in a classic Doctor Who story that I like very much, 14.03 The Deadly Assassin.
This is the only movie I have seen that Peter R. Hunt directed. This is the only movie that Peter R. Hunt directed whose title sounds remotely familiar to me.
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