10 Hated Movie Performances That Were Secretly Genius

George Lazenby will perhaps forever be fated to be the butt of a joke. The Australian model turned-actor had the unenviable task of following Sean Connery in the role of James Bond for 1969's On Her Majesty's Secret Service, making him only the second person to play the character in the Broccoli-produced franchise at that point. Lazenby lasted for just that one picture, with Connery being enticed back to the role in Diamonds Are Forever, before making way for Roger Moore with Live and Let Die. Lazenby's Bond legacy is thus easy to characterise as a blip - a brief, unremarkable excursion where the "real" Bond was unavailable, before normal programming resumed.

While this impression is likely to persist for a long time coming, we are in the fortunate position where Peter R. Hunt's sole Bond film has been reappraised as one of the series' best - if not its technical high point. Even so, despite On Her Majesty's Secret Service seeing plenty of praise for its iconic theme, frenetic editing and action sequences, a common refrain is that it would've been better with Connery. We'll never know if that would've been the case, but Connery was growing disinterested in Bond by the time You Only Live Twice released in 1967 and it was reflected in his performance.

Was Lazenby the answer? Maybe not, given the moves to cast future Bond actor Timothy Dalton in the part at the time, but he is still far better than consensus would imply.

On Her Majesty's Secret Service is a multifaceted, swinging sixties beast, that oscillates violently between cooky hijinks and genuine pathos and grit. This would've been a tough task for any Bond to navigate, but Lazenby accomplishes it remarkably well, asserting himself as a believable action presence while at the same time embracing the seductive, tongue-in-cheek and romantic parts of the character. All of this culminates in an emotional crescendo where Tracy, newly married to 007, dies in Bond's arms. It's perhaps the most heartbreaking moment in the character's six-decade screen history, and Lazenby - famously directed to the point of exhaustion by Hunt for the scene - matches its rhythm with aplomb.

It's a truly multifaceted turn - one that deserves to be seen not as a weird blip, but as a colourful, lasting explosion.