20 Things You Didn’t Know About On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969)
11. “You’re Likely To Be With Us For Some Time, Mr Bond...”
James Bond’s escape from Piz Gloria by scaling the facility's overhead cable car wires was every bit as dangerous as it looked onscreen.
Originally, stunt arranger George Leech performed it by clinging to the cable at the Schilthornbahn above Mürren. However, when one of his hands slipped off of the greasy cable, his other arm dislocated, causing him to fall onto some cardboard boxes stacked below. His colleagues, Chris Webb and Richard Graydon (who also portrayed Draco’s driver) completed the stunt on location.
Syd Cain built the cable car wheelhouse on E Stage at Pinewood Studios to John Stears's precise specifications, whilst the chasm that Bond dangled over was a matte painting by artist, Cliff Culley.
However, it was difficult to keep the cable strung across the set taut for George Lazenby and camera operator, Alec Mills, who was following him in a harness, using a handheld camera; ultimately, Stears used a weight of 300 tons to counterbalance the pressure being placed on the cable. Lazenby also fell from the cable...onto a bed of mattresses!