- The Irma Bunt scene does not exist and never did. In no version. A renowned expert claims he saw it and mentioned this in a book from the 70s (sorry, can't remember who it was, right now) and that's where this urban legend has its origins. There is a scene like that in the novel, may be he just thought he saw it. Wishful thinking can be tricky. In DAD, after Jinx arrives in Iceland, I swear I saw a shot where you can see her from behind in that leather dress, walking up the stairs to the ice palace. I never saw it again, and no one else remembers it.
- about that discussion on the German board: they did see the ABC cut. I know exactly, because I took part in that discussion, and I saw it (reading that old thread now, I notice that I got a bit worked up about it, back then 
).
- about the different German versions: the regular German version for years did not have the Gumboldt scene. Bond leaves Sir Hillary, and the next scene was the train entering Lauterbrunnen station. Also, the scene with Campbell and the guards at the cable car station was missing. I have no idea why this was done. They must have been missing from the cinema version as well, because they had to re-dub them for the Ultimate Edition. Those scenes are also missing from the Special Edition, hence the German SE DVD has no English version on it. Had to buy an English DVD separately.
There was a German TV version which had the safe cracking scene (could be done because it had no dialogue), but omits the discussion between Draco and Tracy in the car and the cable car station scene. From some TV version, the snow plough scene is cut, and sometimes, tiny bits are missing (ice race missing a few seconds, for example). Guess that (apart from the snow plough) was done to match a certain broadcast length. The German UE version now finally has the complete version. Interesting tidbit: in the scene in which Bond tries to escape from his room for he first time, but stops because he hears Irma Bunt and Grunter walking by and talking, the dialogue between them used to be different in the German and the English version. I have no idea why it was. The UE now has the original version.
- The simple reason why the rooftop chase wasn't shot is because they realized early enough that the movie would become too long, anyway, and that it would cost to much time, effort and money just to kill off a minor character.
Thanks Heiko.
The origin of the "Irma Bunt in the window" scene is this:
Bond author/expert John Griswold claimed he saw it, and mentioned it to Lee Pfeiffer, who put it in "The Incredible World of 007."
The material that I went through for The Making of On Her Majesty's Secret Service included:
1) All kinds of drafts from 1964 up through 1969 including Maibaum's original scripts, crew scripts, director Peter Hunt's script, and the editing script (which listed what take #s to use). No mention anywhere among any of that material of such a scene.
2) All 20,000 contact sheet photographs taken by set photographers George Whitear and Bob Penn. No photographic evidence of such a scene. Thousands upon thousands of photographs by visiting journalists from archives around the world. Again, no photographic evidence of such a scene.
3) All Call Sheets for the film, which listed what was to filmed on what day, what props were to be used, who was to be on set, when they were required on set, what journalists would be there that day, etc. The scene is not on any OHMSS call sheet.
4) Interview with Director Peter Hunt. Answer: Scene wasn't shot. Interview with Cinematographer Michael Reed. Answer: Scene wasn't shot. Interview with Cameraman Alec Mills. Answer: Scene wasn't shot.
Would I love for the scene to exist? Of course. But the "evidence" that it exists comes from the word of one person, while the photographic, call sheet, script, and interview evidence says otherwise.
As for the Phidian rooftop chase - there are over 30 photographs and 11 storyboards, and a significant part of the England chapter in The Making of On Her Majesty's Secret Service that give the reader a complete informational and visual understanding of the scene.
Re: Lazenby hurting his arm was the cause for the scene being cut. Peter Hunt laughed about this story in a Dutch interview. He said George was always claiming he was hurt.
Photographic evidence proves Peter was right and Lazenby was feigning injury, if it indeed happened. Because the very next day (After the rooftop chase) there are dozens of photographs of him practicing the Che Che fight and he has full use of both arms.
Please stop spreading these Bond myths. I went to considerable effort and expense to document what really happened.
Thanks for making things clear.
I was not trying to spread any myths around, just asking about scenes claimed to be missing!
Maybe the information on sites like imdb.com should be changed then?
Edited by Lektor, 09 January 2013 - 11:48 PM.
