George Lazenby took on the mantle from Sean Connery for this "007" outing and I think he did quite a decent job with this, more convoluted story. He takes on the guise of an heraldry expert sent to Switzerland to investigate and validate the claims of lineage of Telly Savalas, purporting to be the "Count de Beauchamps" - defined by lack of ear lobes, don't you know - but who really has plans to use a form of hypnosis to achieve world domination. This film has a bit more class and less innuendo that it's earlier iterations - and Diana Rigg adds a bit of mischief and panache as the boisterous, independently-minded "Tracy" with whom poor old "James" has a pretty torrid time. This story isn't so good, but that isn't Lazenby's fault - indeed I felt that he, Rigg and Savalas tried hard to create a sense of suspense and menace; as did Ilse Steppat as the no-nonsense "Irma Bunt" (is that an anagram?). A great Louis Armstrong song, too - what's not to like - it's a shame that Messrs Broccoli and Saltzman didn't give George another kick at the ball with a better screenplay.
