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George Lazenby makes his one and only appearance as 007 in this underappreciated installment of the series. Lazenby was a model with little-to-no acting experience trying to take over a role that Sean Connery made iconic. With that said, the amazing thing about On Her Majesty’s Secret Service is how good it is in spite of Connery’s absence.

The story this time centers around old archvillain Blofeld (this time played by Telly Savalas) and his dastardly scheme to hypnotize a group of unwitting women into releasing deadly germs around the world. Most of the action takes place in the Swiss Alps at Blofeld’s base of operations, which is disguised as an ‘allergy research’ center where the women think their allergies are being cured. In reality, Blofeld is turning them all into ‘Manchurian Candidates’ through sleep hypnosis. Bond infiltrates the facility by imitating a gay genealogist sent to validate Blofeld’s family history. But of course, Blofeld eventually discovers Bond’s true identity and the race is on to stop him from triggering the women to launch germ warfare upon humanity.

The escape from the mountaintop base makes for a nice climactic ski chase, but oddly enough, it’s this movie’s heart that distinguishes it from every other Bond film. Bond actually falls in love and gets married. Unfortunately, the honeymoon is cut tragically short, giving On Her Majesty’s Secret Service the most poignant of all Bond finales. Diana Rigg (Game of Thrones) plays the love interest this time and has better chemistry with Lazenby than Connery ever had with any of his Bond girls. As for Lazenby — of course he’s no Sean Connery. But he’s not bad at all.

First-time director Peter Hunt (who previously edited and directed second unit in the franchise) grounds the film with a greater sense of realism than we’ve seen before, and one we wouldn’t see again for several decades. Composer John Barry ups his game yet again, especially with his cool new opening title theme. Louis Armstrong sings the film’s bittersweet “We Have All the Time in the World”. Bernard Lee, Lois Maxwell, and Desmond Llewelyn return as beloved regulars M, Moneypenny, and Q, and fans of Absolutely Fabulous will recognize Joanna Lumley as one of the twelve lovely ladies at Blofeld’s clinic.

With Gabriele Ferzetti, Ilsa Steppat, George Baker, Angela Scoular, Catherine Schell, and Virginia North.