The Man With The Golden Gun
The Man With The Golden Gun film poster
James Bond	Roger Moore
Also starring	Christopher Lee Britt Ekland Maud Adams Hervé Villechaize
Directed by	Guy Hamilton
Produced by	Harry Saltzman, Albert R. Broccoli
Novel/Story by	Ian Fleming
Screenplay	Richard Maibaum, Tom Mankiewicz
Cinematography by	Ted Moore, Oswald Morris
Music by	John Barry
Main theme	The Man With The Golden Gun
Composer	John Barry Don Black
Performer	Lulu
Distributed by	United Artists
Released	December 19, 1974 (UK / USA)
Running time	120 min.
Budget	$7,000,000
Worldwide gross	$97,600,000
Admissions (world)	51.6 million
Preceded by	Live And Let Die (1973)
Followed by	The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)
IMDb profile

The Man with the Golden Gun, released in 1974, is the ninth film in the James Bond series, and the second to star Roger Moore as the fictional British secret agent James Bond. In the film, Bond is sent after the Solex Agitator - a device which can harness the power of the sun. He teams up with agent Mary Goodnight against Francisco Scaramanga - The Man with the Golden Gun. The action finally culminates in a duel between the two men.

The Man with the Golden Gun was the fourth and final film in the series to be directed by Guy Hamilton. The script was written by Richard Maibaum and Tom Mankiewicz. The film was set in the face of the 1973 energy crisis, a dominant theme in the script — Britain had still not yet fully overcome the crisis when the film was released on December 14 1974.

Plot

In the pre-credit sequence, a midget servant named Nick Nack plans an assassination attempt on his master Francisco Scaramanga with a gangster visiting their secret island. Scaramanga eventually kills the enemy in his hall of mirrors and says that Nick-Nack will have to try harder to inherit his fortune. He then fires the fingers off a life-size replica of Bond.

In London, a golden bullet with Bond's code "007" etched into its surface is received by MI-6. It is believed by Military Intelligence that Scaramanga has been hired to assassinate Bond and has sent the bullet to intimidate him. Bond's mission at this time revolves around the work of a scientist named Gibson, thought to be in possession of information crucial to solving the energy crisis by inventing a new technique of harnessing the sun's power. But because of the perceived threat to the agent's life, his boss, M, removes forces him to go on a leave. Bond sets out unofficially to find Scaramanga.

In a casino, Bond sees Andrea Anders, Scaramanga's mistress, collecting golden bullets in a cigarette packet. Bond follows her from Macau to her hotel suite Hong Kong and pressurises her to tell him about Scaramanga, his appearance and what his plans are. He is led to a strip club but unbeknownst to him, this is the location of Scaramanga's next 'hit'. The target is Gibson who is shot while leaving the club. However before Bond can express his innocence, Lieutenant Hip whisks him away from the scene as the police arrive. Nick Nack gets the chance to steal the "Solex Agitator" needed for operating a solar power plant from Gibson's pocket. Bond is ferried out of Hong Kong; inside a shipwreck, he meets M and Q and also learns that Hip is their ally.

It is now Bond's mission to retrieve the solex agitator in the face of the energy crisis and duel it out with Scaramanga. He meets an entrepreneur, Hai Fat, who is suspected of hiring Scaramanga without meeting him personally to murder Gibson. Bond uses a fake, synthetic nipple to make him look like having three nipples (since Scaramanga was known for this trait) and meets Hai Fat at his estate. However, Hai Fat had already met Scaramanga and captures and places Bond in his personally owned dojo, hoping that his fighters would kill the secret agent. Bond is able to escape at a moment when Lieutant Hip and his trained nieces arrive to fight the entire dojo Bond leaves the scene by boat on a Bangkok canal. Bond reunites with his British assistant Mary Goodnight during dinner. Later, Anders enters his room, revealing that she had sent the bullet to London and wants to get rid of Scaramanga. Anders promises to hand over the solex to him and at a boxing venue the next day. There, Bond discovers that the mistress has been quietly shot and meets Scaramanga for the first time. Bond is able to smuggle the solex hidden from Anders's purse away to Hip who passes it over to Goodnight waiting outside. However before she can act, she is locked into Scaramanga's car as he drives away. Bond follows him in an AMC Hornet 'X' and a car chase across Bangkok ensues, concluding with Scaramanga's car transforming into a plane and flying away to his island.

On arriving at the island, Bond is welcomed by Scaramanga and enjoys a brief meal prepared by Nick Nack after visiting the solar power plant that Scaramanga has taken over by killing Hai Fat. He is shown the solar gun operated by the Solex which is powered by a receptor hidden in a mushroom-shaped rock nearby. During the meal Scaramanga proposes a pistol duel with Bond on the beach but runs away when Bond turns back. Then, Nick Nack leads Bond into the Hall of Mirrors where Scaramanga meets his ultimate demise, but not before Mary Goodnight in way-laying a henchman into a pool of liquid helium upsets the balance of the solar plant as it gradually goes out of control. The island explodes as Bond and Goodnight escape unharmed in Scaramanga's Chinese junk ship, containing the surprisingly aggessive Nick Nack by strapping him to the mast as the ship sails away.

See also:  and

Cast

Main articles: List of James Bond henchmen in The Man with the Golden Gun and List of James Bond allies in The Man with the Golden Gun

• Roger Moore as James Bond: An MI6 agent.
• Christopher Lee as Francisco Scaramanga: An assassin who plans to misuse solar energy for destructive purposes
• Britt Ekland as Mary Goodnight: Bond's secretary.
• Maud Adams as Andrea Anders: Scaramanga's mistress. Dissatisfied with him, she invites Bond in order to kill him.
• Hervé Villechaize as Nick Nack: Scaramanga's servant who fights Bond till his capture.
• Bernard Lee as M: The strict head of MI6.
• Lois Maxwell as Miss Moneypenny: M's secretary
• Desmond Llewelyn as Q
• Clifton James as Sheriff J.W. Pepper
• Richard Loo as Hai Fat
• Soon-Tek Oh as Lieutenant Hip

This is the first of three movies in which Maud Adams appears. In 1983 she plays a different character, Octopussy, in the film of the same name. She would later have a cameo in the Bond movie A View to a Kill. This is also the second movie with Clifton James playing the role of Sheriff J.W. Pepper who returns coincidentally on vacation with his wife in Bangkok and in the car that Bond chases Scaramanga in. He first appeared in Live and Let Die.

Production

The film was produced by Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman and was the final Bond film to be co-produced by Saltzman as his partnership with Broccoli dissolved after the film's release. Saltzman's 50% stake in EON Productions parent company, Danjaq, LLC was then purchased by United Artists. The resulting legalities over the Bond property delayed production of the next Bond film, The Spy Who Loved Me for three years. The interval was the longest break in the series until the six-year gap between Licence to Kill (1989) and GoldenEye (1995).

Broccoli and Saltzman originally intended The Man with the Golden Gun as the film to follow You Only Live Twice, in 1969, but production was cancelled, because it would to have been filmed in Cambodia, and the outbreak of war in the region made filming impractical. Roger Moore was originally invited to play Bond in the 1969 version.

Casting

Christopher Lee chosen to portray Scaramanga is the cousin of Ian Fleming and according to some sources was one of Fleming's choices for the role of Dr. Julius No in the film Dr. No (1962). Due to filming on location in Bangkok, his role in the film affected Lee's work the following year as director Ken Russell was unable to sign Lee to play The Specialist in Tommy (1975). The part was eventually given to Jack Nicholson.

Although her performance in the film is undistinguished, Mary Goodnight played by 1970s sex-symbol Britt Ekland is a recurring character in several Fleming Bond novels, even appearing in lieu of Miss Moneypenny; in the novels, Goodnight is Bond's secretary.

Marc Lawrence, who plays the gangster shot dead by Scaramanga at the start of the film, played a similar character in Diamonds Are Forever, although this film does not indicate whether Lawrence is playing the same character.

Yuen Qiu cast as one of the young girls Bond meets at the dojo, would showcase her remarkable martial art skills 30 years later as the chain smoking Landlady in Stephen Chow's blockbuster Kung Fu Hustle (2004).

Filming

The film was shot on location in Hong Kong, Macau, Bangkok, and Phuket. Studio work including Scaramaga's solar energy plant and island interior were filmed at Pinewood Studios. The canal scene where Bond disables the dojo's boat was filmed in Thon Buri, Thailand.

The scenes featuring the island hideout of Scaramanga were filmed in Phang Nga Province in Thailand, northeast of Phuket named Ko Tapu but now referred to often as James Bond Island both by locals as well as in tourist guidebooks. Scaramanga's hideout is actually Ko Khao Phing Kan. Both islands are now tourists attractions. The site was extremely hard hit by a tsunami following the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake.

One of the more interesting locations is the use of a derelict former Atlantic Ocean liner, the RMS Queen Elizabeth, as a top-secret MI6 base in Hong Kong harbour. In the film the announcer on the Hong Kong-Macau hydrofoil ferry announces, when passing the wreck of the Queen Elizabeth, mentions that it sank in 1971. Actually it was January 1972.

Music

Main article: The Man with the Golden Gun (soundtrack)

The theme tune to "The Man with the Golden Gun", released in 1974, was performed by Scottish singer Lulu, and composed by John Barry. The lyrics to the song were written by Don Black. Rock star Alice Cooper claims his song "The Man With The Golden Gun" was to be used by the producers of the film until it was dropped for Lulu's song instead. Cooper's song appears on his album Muscle of Love.

The theme tune and score are generally considered by critics to be among the weakest of Barry's contributions to the series - an opinion shared by Barry himself "It's the one I hate most... it just never happened for me." ^[1]

The film was also the first to drop the distinctive plucked guitar from the Bond theme heard over the Gun Barrel sequence - in all subsequent John Barry Bond scores, this theme would be heard on strings and trumpet.

Release and reception

The Man with the Golden Gun was released on December 18, 1974.^[2] Made with an estimated budget of $13 million, the film earned a total of $97,600,000 worldwide at the box office. Out of this the film earned $21 million in the USA. The film took SEK 8,011,000 in Sweden.

"The Man with the Golden Gun" gets good reviews every now and then from critics and maintains a Fresh rating from Rotten Tomatoes.^[3] Luke Y Thompson of the New Times said, "Bond versus Herve and Dracula. How can such a thing possibly be disliked?"^[3]

There were however some harsh critics who bashed the film for the overuse of comedy. Some see it as uninspired and a tired or boring film. Roger Moore's performance was bashed because of his temper that did not suit his style of playing Bond. Christopher Lee's performence has been said to be the best Bond villian to date. Even quoted "we almost cheer him on."

Legacy

Scaramanga has featured as a villain in various video games. his golden gun, was initially added to the Egyptian level and multiplayer portion of the video game GoldenEye 007. Due to its popularity it was also added into subsequent James Bond games The World is Not Enough, Agent Under Fire, Nightfire, Everything or Nothing, , and From Russia With Love. In The World is Not Enough for the Nintendo 64, the gun must be assembled from the pen, lighter, and case before it could be used. In most of the games the gun would count for an instant kill, which reflected that Scaramanga never missed, although in the games the player can, and because of this the golden gun is not available in single player mode.^[4]

Scaramanga can be a playable character in the multiplayer portion of Nightfire.

In 2004, Scaramanga returned the third time for the game as an ally of Auric Goldfinger. He is the manufacturer of the synthetic eye given to the player (GoldenEye) and makes a virus used against Goldfinger's O.M.E.N. device. Once again, Scaramanga was voiced by Christopher Lee. The game also features a Multiplayer "Funhouse" level, including the traps that caused Bond to lose most of his bullets, such as Al Capone and Cowboy mannequins, and an image of Scaramanga. In addition, the level includes a Bond mannequin, whose gun the player can take and use.^[5]

In many other video games, a weapon capable of killing an opponent in a single shot is referred to as a golden gun. In Killer 7, the main character, Garcian Smith, having just lost his team of assassins to an enemy, must use a Golden Gun to complete the team's mission.^[6] This gun is capable of killing all the enemies he comes across in one shot.

References

External links

• The Man with the Golden Gun at Rotten Tomatoes
• The Man with the Golden Gun at Box Office Mojo
• MGM Official website
• Trailer at Youtube

•  • [ e] The James Bond Films

"Official" (EON Productions) films Dr. No • From Russia with Love • Goldfinger • Thunderball • You Only Live Twice • On Her Majesty's Secret Service • Diamonds Are Forever • Live and Let Die • The Man with the Golden Gun • The Spy Who Loved Me • Moonraker • For Your Eyes Only • Octopussy • A View to a Kill • The Living Daylights • Licence to Kill • GoldenEye • Tomorrow Never Dies • The World Is Not Enough • Die Another Day • Casino Royale • Bond 22 "Unofficial" (licensed, non-EON) films Casino Royale (1954 TV) • Casino Royale (1967 satire) • Never Say Never Again