On Her Majesty’s Secret Service Wouldn’t Have Worked With Connery As 007

Sean Connery as James Bond in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, rather than George Lazenby, would have hurt the film rather than enhanced it.

On Her Majesty’s Secret Service starred George Lazenby for the one and only time as 007, and it was a good thing that this wasn’t Sean Connery’s sixth outing as James Bond. Bond 6 was a breakaway Bond movie in many ways, taking a different direction from its predecessors. It’s often a misunderstanding that George Lazenby was a casting mistake because he was the better pick over Connery for this particular entry for many reasons.

On Her Majesty’s was a very different kind of Bond film, arguably more mature than those that came before. This is especially true in relation to the movie immediately preceding it, You Only Live Twice, which, for the first time in the series, decided to physically reveal Blofeld’s identity, who was maniacally and somewhat eccentrically portrayed by Donald Pleasance. Fans also relished in a bombastic, larger-than-life climactic action scene in a hollowed-out volcano. George Lazenby’s one time as James Bond was much more grounded, realistic, and emotionally charged than any of Connery’s adventures, and followed the Fleming material closer than ever.

Related: George Lazenby’s Unofficial Second James Bond Movie

Sean Connery’s James Bond Was Not The Romantic Type

One of the defining qualities of On Her Majesty’s is its romance story, which carries most of the film’s tone throughout. A strong argument can be made that Sean Connery was not the conduit for this fresh take on Bond, who hadn’t really yet been seen as the truly romantic type, certainly not the kind of character capable of falling in love. Dr. No sees Connery physically threaten a woman to glean information, in From Russia With Love he hits a woman to get to the truth, and in Thunderball he appears entirely unemotional to hear his female colleague has been murdered.

Although Connery influenced every James Bond that followed him in one way or another, he was undoubtedly the cold Bond, and as such wouldn’t have been able to convey the romantic scenes in On Her Majesty’s effectively. The dramatic juxtaposition in characterization would have been too alienating for audiences. George Lazenby, no matter what else may be said of his portrayal of Bond, was able to project that sense of naivety and sensitivity in falling for Teresa di Vicenzo, and show audiences that Bond can have the depth to empathize with a woman’s emotions and psychological struggles, as well as demonstrate magnificent chemistry on screen with his leading lady.

Why Sean Connery Was Getting Tired Of Playing James Bond

Long before Sean Connery returned in Diamonds Are Forever, his enthusiasm for the role was beginning to fizzle out. It was while filming the fifth Bond film, You Only Live Twice, that Connery became significantly disillusioned with playing the role of 007. By this point, Connery was bored with the part and didn’t feel he was being paid enough money to compensate for the loss of privacy he was experiencing. He was heavily harassed by Japanese photographers throughout the filming of You Only Live Twice, and when Connery wasn’t given his requested salary increase for the next prospective outing, he left the role, paving the way for George Lazenby.

Bond’s secret disguise in You Only Live Twice wasn’t the only secret Sean Connery was keeping from audiences. In this film and Diamonds Are Forever it’s visible to the trained eye how tired Connery was with the role. Bond 6 was perhaps intended as a kind of soft reboot for the franchise. It took the series in a fresh direction, with a whole new kind of love dynamic audiences had not yet experienced, and therefore it is almost certainly for the best that Sean Connery did not return as 007 for On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. Consequently, it was a film that arguably changed James Bond forever.

Next: Why James Bond Fans Hated (But Now Love) On Her Majesty’s Secret Service