20 Things You Didn’t Know About On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969)

5. Far Up! Far Out! Far More!

Cameraman, Johnny Jordan returned for OHMSS, undeterred by losing his foot whilst filming the Little Nellie aerial dogfight on You Only Live Twice.

Jordan developed a special camera platform from a parachute rig attached to a helicopter piloted by John Crewdson to capture the breath-taking scenery and icy action sequences from overhead, whilst Willy Bogner, Jr. used a handheld camera to capture closer shots of the action on the slopes below (often by skiing backwards).

Tragically, Jordan died on the set of his next film, Catch-22 (1970) after declining to wear a safety harness onboard an aircraft at 4,000 feet. The cast and crew of OHMSS heard the news whilst filming Bond's drive to Draco’s offices across the Salazar Bridge (now named 25 de Abril Bridge) in Lisbon, Portugal on 18th May 1969, placing them in a somber mood when filming Tracy Bond’s murder the following day.

Bogner later returned as a cameraman for the ski sequences in The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) and For Your Eyes Only (1981), and directed the pre-credits ski scenes for A View to a Kill (1985).

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I started writing for WhatCulture in July 2020. I have always enjoyed reading and writing. I have contributed to several short story competitions and I have occasionally been fortunate enough to have my work published. During the COVID-19 lockdown, I also started reviewing films on my Facebook page. Numerous friends and contacts suggested that I should start my own website for reviewing films, but I wanted something a bit more diverse - and so here I am! My interests focus on film and television mainly, but I also occasionally produce articles that venture into other areas as well. In particular, I am a fan of the under appreciated sequel (of which there are many), but I also like the classics and the mainstream too.