Bernard Horsfall as Shaun Campbell in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969)
Vitals
Bernard Horsfall as Shaun Campbell, doomed MI6 agent
Bernese Oberland, Switzerland, December 1969
Film: On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
Release Date: December 18, 1969
Director: Peter R. Hunt
Costume Designer: Marjory Cornelius
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
On the 00-7th of December, let’s return to the Alps in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, the 1969 James Bond movie that distinguishes itself both as 007’s only adventure to date that’s decidedly set during the Christmas holidays and the only time Australian actor George Lazenby starred as the sophisticated secret agent.
Lazenby’s Bond arrives by train in Bern, where he’s observed from behind the latest issue of the Daily Express by a mysterious fellow agent, listed in the credits as “Campbell” though I don’t believe he’s ever referred to by name on screen.
Campbell closely surveils 007’s movements, to the point where he’s turned away by the gruff SPECTRE henchman Grunther (Yuri Borienko) when he hopes to ride the ski-lift up to Piz Gloria, stating that he’s seen a restaurant advertised up there. Campbell must be quite hungry as he thus takes it upon himself to climb “the whole bloody Alp!”, a feat which I can’t imagine any meal would be worth even if Nathan Fielder had arranged for a substantial rebate by the end.
Campbell’s attempt to climb the mountain on Christmas Eve results in his unfortunate capture, when it’s implied that he blew Bond’s cover as geneologist “Sir Hilary Bray” and subsequently ended up dead. As Telly Savalas’ urbane Blofeld smoothly observes to Bond:
Your colleague! Such a keen climber, and a brilliant conversationalist… before he left us.
What’d He Wear?
Campbell dresses in smart, understated layers appropriate for the snowy Alpine winter. His outer layer is a thigh-length lightweight ski parka, made from a microfiber-finished nylon or polyester in a military-like shade of sage-green.
The front closes with a straight-zip as well as an additional flap with six silver-toned snaps, spaced from the top of the funnel-neck down to the bottom edge of the hem. A voluminous hood extends from the back of the neck, cinched with a white drawstring. The jacket also cinches around the waist through a hidden draw-cord that runs around the inside of the waist. The bellows-style pockets over the hips each close with a single-snap flap.
Grunther foils Campbell’s plans for a simple passage up to Piz Gloria.
Campbell layers his jacket and sweater over a brown-and-tan-on-white shadow-plaid cotton flannel shirt, worn on both days but with the sporty spread collar pulled out and over the sweater’s crew neck on Christmas Eve.
Campbell’s creamy white wool sweater follows the design of a traditional Norwegian fisherman sweater, as identified by @thelandlessgentry on Instagram. The sweater is patterned with short dark-navy “lice” lines, each angled diagonally (down toward the left) across four rows of the shaker-stitched body. These lines are echoed by the double dark-navy bands around the reinforced ribbed crew-neck and around the ribbed waist hem. The set-in sleeves continue the pattern present on the body of the sweater, except for the ribbed cuffs that are only cream.
Blofeld: “You perverse British, how you love your exercise. Every year, dozens of amateur climbers—they wind up in the same predicament. A kind of waxworks show for morbid tourists.”
Campbell’s charcoal-gray ski breeches may be made from a stretchy wool blend that was popular on elevated skiwear through the 1960s. Some ski trousers are designed to extend the entire length of the legs, with stirrups under each foot holding them in place (as both Bond and Blofeld would later wear), but Campbell’s ski pants have sliding buckles to secure the bottoms just below his knees. These flat-front breeches appear to have squared patch-style side pockets, possibly covered with flaps.
EINTRITT VERBOTEN means EINTRITT VERBOTEN, but you can’t blame Campbell for trying.
Campbell trudges through the snow in hardy brown leather winter boots, with a heavy-duty oxford-style lacing system and black soft leather collars around the ankle-high openings. The black lugged rubbed outsoles inform us that they’re likely not ski boots, which typically feature stiff soles specifically designed to latch into ski bindings.
Visible between the knee-length ski breeches and his ankle-high boots, Campbell wears mottled light-taupe ribbed wool-blended knee socks.
Campbell spies Bond—er, Sir Hilary Bray—arriving in Bern, instantly met by Irma Bunt (Ilse Steppat) and grumpy Grunther.
When Campbell takes it upon himself to climb the Alp in an attempt to contact Bond at Piz Gloria, he adds a pair of hefty black rubber galoshes and dons a set of black leather gloves with quilted backs.
The Car
MI6 evidently reserves the bulk of its automotive budget for double-o agents, as Campbell motors through the Alps in a plain white 1969 Volkswagen Beetle, technically a Type 1 model.
The “1300” badging spied under his skis (appropriately with only the “00” visible) on the rear-mounted engine lid informs us that Campbell’s Type 1 is powered by the 50-horsepower 1300cc flat-four engine that was introduced in 1966 as a slightly more powerful alternative to the 36-horsepower 1200cc which had been the only available engine since 1954.
If only Campbell’s Type 1 had a mind of its own, it may have been able to save its owner like a certain other white VW Bug that appeared on big screens in ’69.
How to Get the Look
Bernard Horsfall as Shaun Campbell in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969)
If only Campbell had been patient, he could have easily blended in among the Christmas tourists in the Bernese Oberland with his ski-ready layers of a water-resistant lightweight parka over an acrylic sweater, sport shirt, and ski breeches, a timeless combination that would still work for hitting the slopes today—and warming up with an après-ski toddy.
- Sage-green microfiber polyester thigh-length ski parka with drawstring-corded hood, straight-zip/snap-up front, bellows hip pockets (with snap-down flaps), and drawstring-corded waist
- Brown-and-tan-on-white shadow-plaid cotton flannel collared button-up sport shirt
- Cream-white wool Norwegian fisherman’s sweater with dark-navy diagonal-stripe rows and dark-navy double-banded crew-neck and hem
- Charcoal-gray stretch wool ski breeches with flapped patch-style hip pockets and sliding-buckle straps below the knees
- Brown leather ankle-high winter boots with oxford-style lacing, black soft leather collar, and black lugged rubber outsoles
- Light-taupe mottled wool-blend knee socks
- Black leather winter gloves with quilted backs
Do Yourself a Favor and…
Check out the movie.
The post On Her Majesty’s Secret Service: Bernard Horsfall as Shaun Campbell appeared first on BAMF Style.