Background:
Daughter of Draco and a romantic Englishwoman who traveled to Corsica in search of a bandit. Her mother died when she was young, leaving Draco to spoil her and send her abroad to boarding school, not a proper home where she was without supervision. She became rebellious, joined the "fast international set" (whatever that is), committing one scandal after the next. Married young, to an Italian count who killed himself in a Maserati with one of his mistresses. Her relationship to her father is strained, but she always visits him on his birthday.
What She Did To Help Bond:
Demands that her father give Bond the information he wants free of charge; drives him out of danger upon his escape from Blofeld's clinic; defeats a few of Blofeld's goons; marries Bond.
What Happened To Her:
Irma murders her in a drive-by-shooting as the newlyweds are stopped by side of the road on their way to their honeymoon.
Comments:
One of the most complex characters of the franchise with the most extensive backstory, but also one of the most overrated, in what's become one of the most overrated Bond films.
It's not exactly clear why Bond is drawn to her in the first place. She's annoying, suicidal, attention-seeking, high-maintenance -- not exactly his cup of tea, but maybe that's what attracted her to him. It works better if Bond sees her as a mystery to solve, a problem to overcome -- a mission manifest in a woman.
His attraction to her becomes more believable when she reveals her intelligence, by shrewdly surmising that Draco and Bond are up to something, and when she reveals her strength and intelligence, by forcing her father to play a good host and provide Bond the information he wants, gratis -- "Tell him, Papa, or you'll never see me again."
But we never see Bond and Tracy actually fall in love. We see them already in love, through a montage played to Armstrong's "We Have All the Time in the World." It's delightful, visually and musically, but it doesn't suffice for the scenes, or at least the scene, where they fall in love, which is necessary for us to suspend disbelief and accept their marriage. For a Bond movie that approaches two and a half hours, it's puzzling why they don't spend more time on the evolution of their relationship.
Tracy is absent for the middle of the film, but then she suddenly, inexplicably, conveniently, and thankfully (as we couldn't take any more of the allergy girls) reappears at the ice rink where Bond is taking refuge from Blofeld and Co. Now she's completely matured, without any traces of annoyance or weakness, or her unflattering late-60's wardrobe and hairstyle. The camera pans from her legs -- almost turning us into leg men (why would we be? -- we have legs) -- to her adorable skating outfit, and rests on her smiling face, her hair let down, with no banana hat or macabre curls to obscure it. Aside from looking and behaving better, Tracy also becomes an ally to Bond. She provides the typical Bond girl assistance -- driving Bond away from danger -- but also takes the initiative and fights Blofeld's goons on her own.
An interesting character who becomes a better person by the end, Tracy nonetheless doesn't work all that well as a Bond girl, and it's difficult to understand why he marries her.
Beauty Verdict:
3.0/4.0
Overall Verdict:
2.5/4.0
