Tagged: Portugal

Bond Style: Lazenby’s Cream Suit and Aston Martin

George Lazenby as James Bond in On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969)

George Lazenby as James Bond in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969)

Vitals

George Lazenby as James Bond, smooth British secret agent

Estoril, Portugal, September 1969

Film: On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
Release Date: December 18, 1969
Director: Peter R. Hunt
Tailor: Dimi Major
Costume Designer: Marjory Cornelius

Background

This year commemorates the 50th anniversary of On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, often considered among the best of the James Bond canon. George Lazenby, the Australian actor who batted 1000 with OHMSS as his sole outing as 007, has also activated his Instagram presence this year, sharing photos of himself in many of the same locations he had made famous a half-century ago as the world’s most famous secret agent.

George’s #OHMSS50 tour included calling on the celebrated Palácio Estoril, the Portuguese hotel where his James Bond spent the early scenes of OHMSS chasing and seducing Diana Rigg’s character, Teresa “Tracy” di Vincenzo. During the visit, he even interacted with many of the hotel’s staff who were still in the Palácio Estoril’s employ 50 years after their on-screen cameos.

Today, on the 00-7th of July, let’s take a look at the timeless summer-friendly style that Lazenby’s James Bond wore when he pulled his Aston Martin into the parking lot at Palácio Estoril some fifty years ago. Continue reading

Bond Style: Lazenby’s Black Tie and Aston Martin

George Lazenby as James Bond in On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969)

George Lazenby as James Bond in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969)

Vitals

George Lazenby as James Bond, smooth British secret agent

Estoril, Portugal, September 1969

Film: On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
Release Date: December 18, 1969
Director: Peter R. Hunt
Tailor: Dimi Major
Costume Designer: Marjory Cornelius

Background

On the 00-7th of December, this Car Week post is focused on James Bond’s sole Christmastime adventure, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service starring George Lazenby as the suave secret agent.

The film opens with a scene straight out of the source novel as a competitive Bond engages in a playful “race” against a beautiful young woman speeding toward the beach in her convertible. Continue reading

The Last Run: Harry’s Navy Flannel Jacket

George C. Scott as Harry Garmes in The Last Run (1971).

George C. Scott as Harry Garmes in The Last Run (1971).

Vitals

George C. Scott as Harry Garmes, washed-up expatriate getaway driver

Portugal, Spring 1971

Film: The Last Run
Release Date: July 7, 1971
Director: Richard Fleischer
Wardrobe Supervisor: Annalisa Nasalli-Rocca

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

The Last Run is a relatively obscure crime flick from the early ’70s that starred George C. Scott, fresh off of his Oscar-winning turn in Patton, as a retired Bogart-esque criminal living the easy expatriate life in Europe à la Hemingway when he is called back for the proverbial “one last job”. Of course, anyone who’s ever seen any movie ever knows that “one last job” is never quite as easy as it sounds, and our aging protagonist finds himself facing more than he bargained for when driving escaped killer Paul Rickard (Tony Musante) and his girlfriend Claudie Scherrer (Trish Van Devere) across Portugal and Spain into France. Continue reading

The Last Run: Harry’s Leather Jacket and BMW 503

George C. Scott as Harry Garmes, next to a BMW 503 convertible in The Last Run (1971).

George C. Scott as Harry Garmes, next to a BMW 503 convertible in The Last Run (1971).

Vitals

George C. Scott as Harry Garmes, washed-up expatriate getaway driver

Portugal, Spring 1971

Film: The Last Run
Release Date: July 7, 1971
Director: Richard Fleischer
Wardrobe Supervisor: Annalisa Nasalli-Rocca

Background

Car Week continues today with a recommendation from Craig, a great BAMF Style commenter who also was kind enough to send a DVD copy my way this year!

The Last Run finds George C. Scott, freshly awarded for his Oscar-winning performance as General George S. Patton, playing an aging ex-mob driver living in seclusion in Portugal. He is tapped for “one last job” – as so many retired movie criminals are – to drive a fugitive and his young girlfriend into France. What follows is an underrated action piece that was accurately tagged “In the spirit of Hemingway and Bogart”. Continue reading

James Bond’s Wedding

Yes, anyone unfamiliar with the James Bond series, you read that correctly – James Bond does get married. It goes about as well as you’d expect.

George Lazenby as James Bond, with new wife Tracy (Diana Rigg), in On Her Majesty's Secret Service.

George Lazenby as James Bond, with new wife Tracy (Diana Rigg), in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969).

Vitals

George Lazenby as James Bond, British secret agent now deciding to “settle down”

Portugal, Winter 1969

Film: On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
Release Date: December 18, 1969
Director: Peter R. Hunt
Costume Designer: Marjory Cornelius

Background

Despite being the first film appearance of wet-behind-the-ears Australian mechanic and model George Lazenby, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service is often considered one of the finer Bond films due to its down-to-earth story, realistic but fantastic villains and situations, Bond as a character rather than an instrument, and strict adherence to the source material, which was one of Ian Fleming’s best Bond novels.

Some argue that, had Sean Connery stayed on the role for the film, it may have been the best in the series. Given Connery’s brief return two years later as a paunchy Bond in Diamonds are Forever, establishing the series’ era of over-reliance on humor, this may or may not be true. Continue reading