Deliberate mistake: Blofeld doesn't recognize James Bond in this film, even though they met face-to-face in the previous movie, "You Only Live Twice." There is a production-related reason for this. Ian Fleming wrote "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" in 1963 (in which Bond and Blofeld met for the first time), and he wrote "You Only Live Twice" in 1964. However, "You Only Live Twice" was adapted for film first (in 1967), and "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" was adapted afterward (in 1969). Because the 1969 film was so faithful to its source material, Blofeld and Bond are basically meeting for the first time... again. The producers were aware of this continuity problem and intended to have James Bond undergo plastic surgery for "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" (which would conveniently explain Blofeld not recognizing him, as well as the fact that Sean Connery had been replaced by George Lazenby in the lead role). But the plastic surgery idea was discarded in faithfulness to the novel, resulting in a glaring continuity problem between the 1967 and 1969 films.
On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969)
1 deliberate mistake - chronological order
Directed by: Peter R. Hunt
Starring: Desmond Llewelyn, Bernard Lee, Lois Maxwell, Telly Savalas, George Lazenby, Diana Rigg, Gabriele Ferzetti
Audio problem: In the opening scene, Bond sees Tracy in the ocean and drives his Aston Martin onto the beach to rescue her. When he stops, we hear screeching tyres, but he is driving on sand.
Sir Hilary Bray: Our methods are very exacting. We never like to speak until we're absolutely certain that there can be no possibility of error on our side or... forgery on anyone else's.
James Bond: I hope I can live up to your high standards.
Trivia: In the scene where Draco is talking to Bond in Draco's office, look closely at the picture in the portrait frame on the bookcase in the background. The lady in the picture is Diana Rigg's mother. (Possibly an "in-joke" by the Bond production team?)
Question: When Bond saves Tracey in the beginning and she drives off he comments "This never happened to the other fellow". I know this is a joking reference to Sean Connery, but what is Bond supposed to mean within the context of the film? Connery references aside, why would he be saying this?
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Answer: It's an entirely intentional aside to the audience, the one occasion in the entire Bond series where the so-called 'fourth wall' (i.e. the cinema screen itself) is broken. As such, within the context of the film itself, it doesn't really have much of a meaning.
Tailkinker ★