With No Time To Die now in the rearview mirror, it's interesting to see how much DNA Daniel Craig's final turn as James Bond shares with On Her Majesty's Secret Service. While it calls back to the iconic Bond film, it also uses much of Ian Fleming's material that wasn't used in prior movies.
On Her Majesty's Secret Service is very faithful to the novel of the same name, with the movie maintaining the book's narrative structure and emotional climax. With that being said, much like the rest of the Bond movies, Peter Hunt's movie made some rather peculiar changes.
Its Placement
The movie was released right after You Only Live Twice, which introduced the villain Blofeld, making George Lazenby's sole Bond film a true follow-up to Sean Connery's era. This actually creates some strange continuity issues that weren't present in the novel.
On Her Majesty's Secret Service is the tenth Bond novel, published just after the controversial The Spy Who Loved Me, making this story something of a comeback for Bond. It's also the middle chapter of a trilogy of books that tell the story of 007's war with Blofeld.
Bond's Reason For Resigning
At the beginning of the novel, Bond has been looking for Blofeld for a while. Having become bored of the case, Bond begins considering resigning from MI6, something that feels somewhat jarring in the novel. This is an oddity that is corrected in the movie.
After taking a trip to Corsica where he meets Teresa "Tracy" di Vicenzo (Diana Rigg), Bond goes to see M, who removes Bond from the Blofeld case due to him taking so long, thus Bond begins planning on resigning out of spite. Though neither resignation ends up happening, Bond's reasoning in the movie feels more justified.
Tracy Attempts To Take Her Own Life After Meeting Bond
Tracy is an amazing Bond Girl, one of the best in fact, but her novel counterpart's arc is a lot less traditional than her film counterpart. In the novel, Bond meets Tracy when he pays her debts at The Casino Royale, but after they sleep together, Tracy attempts to drown in the sea.
The placement of these events is slightly different in the movie as Bond first meets Tracy by stopping her from taking her own life, then pays her debts at a casino. It makes it feel more like encountering Bond has changed Tracy's life, thus making their love story all the more poignant.
Bond Never Met Bray
Sir Hillary Bray, a herald at the London College of Arms, plays a small but vital role in the movie. In the novel, however, Bray isn't present and never has a conversation with Bond, as he is living a solitary life in Scotland, making Bond disguising himself as Bray to investigate Blofeld an easier job.
The movie features Bray in the flesh, who actually brings up the idea of Bond impersonating him. In fact, George Baker, the actor who plays Bray, dubs Lazenby as Bond is impersonating Bray in Piz Gloria.
Blofeld's Appearance
Telly Savalas' Blofeld is quite the quote-hound, but his appearance differs quite drastically from the source material. Whereas the film's Blofeld is a bald brute with a sophisticated dialect, the novel's look is more in line with Christoph Waltz's appearance, save for an infected nose and a lack of earlobes.
The novel's interpretation of Blofeld is a master of disguise, which is why this Blofeld looks nothing like he does in Thunderball, the book he debuted in. That version of Blofeld was massive and imposing, much like Savalas is in the film.
Why Doesn't Blofeld Recognize Bond?
Blofeld had encountered Bond in You Only Live Twice, making the fact that SPECTRE's leader doesn't immediately notice his foe is standing right in front of him quite peculiar. It's an oddity that all boils down to the film's placement versus the movie's.
In the novel, Bond has never met Blofeld, with this being their first personal clash. In the next novel, Bond's vendetta against Blofeld follows from OHMSS, a plotline that the creative team behind Diamonds Are Forever was not interested in following up.
Bond Is Forced To Doom His Colleague
During Bond's trip to Piz Gloria in the novel, an MI6 colleague is caught on the premises and immediately recognizes him. Bond chooses to maintain his cover and claims that he doesn't know him, guaranteeing that his colleague was going to die.
This scene is present in the film, but with initially lesser stakes as Bond's colleague is seemingly escorted off the premises. Granted, it's later revealed that the colleague was brutally murdered off-screen, but it feels more like a surprise.
Tracy Is Never Kidnapped
In one of On Her Majesty's Secret Service's best scenes, Bond and Tracy evade the Blofeld's henchmen during a perilous ski chase. The scene ends with the movie utilizing a tired trope as Tracy is kidnapped by Blofeld's men and held captive in Piz Gloria.
Granted, this addition to the narrative is much more tension-laden than how it goes in the novel. The book sees Bond and Tracy successfully escape from Blofeld's forces before Bond goes to M's house, grinding the plot's momentum to a halt.
Blofeld And Bunt Attend Bond And Tracy's Wedding
Bond and Tracy's wedding at the end of the story is a brief moment of joy before the tragedy that is the ending. The movie focuses on the joy and emotion of the moment, with Q and Moneypenny's moments in the scene warming the viewer's heart before breaking it with Tracy's death.
The novel adds a nice bit of foreshadowing, as it is mentioned that a strange duo is present at the wedding, which is later revealed to be Blofeld and his sidekick Irma Bunt. In both cases, the duo then kills Tracy in a drive-by shooting, ending the story on a sad note.
The Story Was Given A Proper Follow-Up
George Lazenby is an underrated James Bond, as he only got one movie and never truly got to prove himself before his tenure came to an abrupt end. On Her Majesty's Secret Service was followed by Diamonds Are Forever, which brought Sean Connery back and had hardly anything to do with the prior film.
That isn't the case with the novels, as OHMSS was followed by, surprisingly, You Only Live Twice. In that book, Bond tracks Blofeld and Bunt down to Japan and brutally murders both of them, properly avenging Tracy.