Spending Christmas Eve morning with a cup of coffee, a stack of Christmas cookies and On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969). This remains my favorite Bond film, for all sorts of reasons. Of course, I think Lazenby makes an excellent Bond and wish he’d make more.
But this morning, it was John Barry’s music and John Glen’s editing that got my attention. The way the action scenes are put together is unlike other Bond pictures. With Peter Hunt, a former Bond editor, making his directorial debut, I’m sure he had all sorts of things he wanted to try. He and Glen (who also worked as a 2nd unit director) were close friends and must’ve had a blast. It’s weird to me that the Bond movies Glen directed didn’t have the snap this one does, and it’s a shame Hunt didn’t do another Bond.
The Blu-Ray of OHMSS is quite nice. If you decide to put yours on as you wrap those last few presents or dig into the eggnog, my recommendation is to select the mono mix, which is what played theaters, and darken your TV a bit — the 35mm prints were not this bright.
By the way, the image up top is the cover of the program from the picture’s London premiere in December of 1969.