The Man With The Golden
Gun
The Man With The Golden
Gun
Director: Guy Hamilton
Producers: Albert R. Broccoli, Harry Saltzman; Charles Orme (associate)
Writers: Ian Fleming (novel); Richard Maibaum, Tom Mankiewicz
Title Song: Lyrics by Don Black and Sung by Lulu
Opening Action Sequence: Francisco Scaramanga's faithful servant, Nick Nack, supposedly pays off a man to kill his master, but his real motives are quite different: the visiting killer is used merely for Scaramanga's shooting practice in his private fun house. However, it is soon made obvious that Scaramanga has bigger fish to fry, namely, James Bond.
Bond Visits: Macau; Bangkok, Thailand; Hong Kong, China
Film Gross: $20,972,000--United States; $97,600,00--Worldwide
During his investigation, Bond finds himself the target of Francisco Scaramanga (Christopher Lee), a trained assassin-for-hire who is famous for his beautiful golden gun. Bond teams with fellow secret agent Mary Goodnight (Britt Ekland) for assistance in finding the killer, but she usually ends up doing more harm than good.
Soon the pair discover that Scaramanga is behind the recent theft of the Solex Agitator, a device which has the capability of harnessing the sun's rays and generating an enormous amount of solar power. Helping the villain in his plot is Nick Nack (Herve Villechaize), Francisco's diminutive henchman.
Roger Moore is in good form here, charming and yet surprisingly intimidating.
His wit balances the weird plot, which mainly involves the monopolization
of solar power (those environmentalists can be so wicked sometimes).
Roger also seems a bit more at ease here than in his first 007
outing.
Christopher Lee is eerily off-kilter as Scaramanga. For the first time 007 meets a villain that greatly seems to admire him, yet would kill him in an instant. This scenario makes for a fascinating battle of wits and intimidation between our hero and the killer. The dinner scene at Scaramanga's island wonderfully plays out like a restrained battle of jibes between the two.
Maud Adams (who makes another appearance in 1983's Octopussy) is wonderfully manipulative and alluring, as she plans to have her lover killed by the one man capable of such an act: James Bond. Adams is not given enough screentime here, whereas Britt Ekland is given way too much. More on that later.
The film struggles with its forced comic relief, which absolutely never works and is almost painful to endure. Britt Ekland as Mary Goodnight is the personification of every sexist aspect of 007 movies. She's slim, blonde, scantily clad, horny, and hopelessly stupid. Obviously, she's meant to add humor to the film, but she fails miserably, and is more irritating than comical.
The "hilarious" return of Louisiana sheriff J.W. Pepper (previously seen in Live and Let Die) deteriorates into a transparent attempt to cash in on a character that was popular in the previous 007 adventure. He starts out mildly humorous, then (like Britt Ekland) becomes more than mildly annoying.
I'm still not quite sure what to make of Nick Nack, Scaramanga's faithful midget. His character is not much of a thug at all. But maybe he wasn't meant to be. Maybe that's just another sad attempt at comic relief. In any case, Nick Nack should have stuck to masterminding the fun house.
There are some memorable moments in the movie, however, which deserve watching: the impossible (and deliciously corny) "bridge jump", Bond's visit with Lazar, and the final showdown between Bond and Scaramanga, to name a few. Also, the "professional verses professional" storyline is fresh and entertaining and the interaction between 007 and his nemesis is absolutely great.
It's in this film that Roger finds his own niche in the character of Bond, and it seems to work very well, even though he still has to grow into the role a little more. Thankfully, one of his best 007 films is just around the corner.
Grade: C+
The Man With The Golden Gun Women
The Man With The Golden Gun Villains