On Her Majesty's Secret Service Title Sequence
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Title sequence created by Maurice Binder
'On Her Majesty's Secret Service' performed by The John Barry Orchestra, written by John Barry. 'We Have All The Time In The World' performed by Louis Armstrong, written by John Barry.
Featured in On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969)
Visuals
With the departure of Sean Connery, George Lazenby was now playing the role of Bond. To confirm to audiences that they were still watching a Bond film, the line 'Harry Saltzman and Albert R. Broccoli Present' appeared during the gunbarrel sequence of On Her Majesty's Secret Service, the first time it had been shown since the Dr No titles.
Similarly, after a great introduction to the theme with Bond slowly running timed perfectly to the opening beats, we get further reinforcement that while a new actor now plays Bond, this is still a Bond film. Afterwards an hourglass forms, which initially shows the Union Jack flag, before cleverly morphing a number of scenes from previous films slipping through the glass, indicating the passage of time. The hourglass then splits into two girls, who are then joined by further nude silhouette girls striking bold poses.
Theme
While the tradition was to incorporate the name of the Bond film into the name of the title theme, John Barry came to the conclusion that this would be very difficult for On Her Majesty's secret service. So for the first time since the From Russia With Love titles, Barry produced an action instrumental theme », one that would go on to become one of the most famous, iconic, Bond sounds.
Accompanying the electronic synth sounds from the opening gunbarrel and theme, Barry also wrote 'We Have All The Time In The World' sung by Louis Armstrong ». In complete contrast to the heart-pumping title theme, this was a warm, positive, feel-good song that excellently allows the scenes of Bond and Tracy falling in love to play out later in the film, completing an all-around excellent package.
At the time of release, 'We Have All The Time In The World' barely made an impact on the charts. It would not be until many years later in 1995 that the song featured in a Guinness advert, giving it's highest UK position at number three. §
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