The Man with the Golden Gun (film)
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''The Man with the Golden Gun'' is a 1974
spy film The spy film, also known as the spy thriller, is a genre of film that deals with the subject of fictional espionage, either in a realistic way (such as the adaptations of John le Carré) or as a basis for fantasy (such as many James Bond films) ...
and the ninth in the ''James Bond'' series produced by
Eon Productions Eon Productions Ltd. is a British film production company that primarily produces the ''James Bond'' film series. The company is based in London's Piccadilly and also operates from Pinewood Studios in the UK. ''Bond'' films Eon was started ...
, and the second to star Roger Moore as the fictional
MI6 The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), commonly known as MI6 ( Military Intelligence, Section 6), is the foreign intelligence service of the United Kingdom, tasked mainly with the covert overseas collection and analysis of human intelligenc ...
agent James Bond. A loose adaptation of Ian Fleming's posthumously published 1965 novel of the same name, the film has Bond sent after the Solex Agitator, a breakthrough technological solution to contemporary energy shortages, while facing the assassin
Francisco Scaramanga Francisco Scaramanga is a fictional character and one of the main antagonists in the James Bond novel and film version of '' The Man with the Golden Gun''. Scaramanga is an assassin who kills with his signature weapon, a pistol made of solid gold ...
, the "Man with the Golden Gun". The action culminates in a duel between them that settles the fate of the Solex. ''The Man with the Golden Gun'' was the fourth and final film in the series directed by Guy Hamilton. The script was written by
Richard Maibaum Richard Maibaum (May 26, 1909 – January 4, 1991) was an American film producer, playwright and screenwriter best known for his screenplay adaptations of Ian Fleming's James Bond novels. Among his works are the first anti-lynching play on Bro ...
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 in December 1974. The film also reflects the then-popular
martial arts film Martial arts films are a subgenre of action films that feature numerous martial arts combat between characters. These combats are usually the films' primary appeal and entertainment value, and often are a method of storytelling and character expres ...
craze, with several
kung fu Chinese martial arts, often called by the umbrella terms kung fu (; ), kuoshu () or wushu (), are multiple fighting styles that have developed over the centuries in Greater China. These fighting styles are often classified according to commo ...
scenes and a predominantly Asian location, being set and shot in
Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...
,
Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...
, and
Macau Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a p ...
. Part of the film is also set in Beirut,
Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...
, but it was not shot there. The film was met with mixed reviews, and some critics described it as the lowest point in the canon up to that time. Christopher Lee's portrayal of Scaramanga as a villain of similar skill and ability to Bond was praised, but reviewers criticised the film as a whole, particularly its comedic approach and the performances of Moore and
Britt Ekland Britt Ekland (; born Britt-Marie Eklund; 6 October 1942) is a Swedish actress, model and singer. She appeared in numerous films in her heyday throughout the 1960s and 1970s, including roles in '' The Double Man'' (1967), '' The Night They Raided ...
. Whilst profitable, the film is the fourth lowest-grossing in the series, and its relatively modest returns by comparison with those of '' Live and Let Die'' (1973) reportedly placed the continuation of the franchise in jeopardy. It was the last Bond film to be co-produced by Albert R. Broccoli and
Harry Saltzman Herschel Saltzman (; – ), known as Harry Saltzman, was a Canadian theatre and film producer. He is best remembered for co-producing the first nine of the ''James Bond'' film series with Albert R. Broccoli. He lived most of his life in Den ...
, with Saltzman selling his 50% stake in Danjaq, LLC, the parent company of Eon Productions, after the release of the film.


Plot

An American gangster, Rodney, visits famed crack shot hitman
Francisco Scaramanga Francisco Scaramanga is a fictional character and one of the main antagonists in the James Bond novel and film version of '' The Man with the Golden Gun''. Scaramanga is an assassin who kills with his signature weapon, a pistol made of solid gold ...
to kill him and collect a bounty, but he is directed into a funhouse section of the estate, where Scaramanga eventually retrieves his golden gun and kills him. In London, a golden bullet etched with '007' is received by
MI6 The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), commonly known as MI6 ( Military Intelligence, Section 6), is the foreign intelligence service of the United Kingdom, tasked mainly with the covert overseas collection and analysis of human intelligenc ...
; it is believed to have been sent by Scaramanga, but because no one knows of his appearance outside of having a
third nipple A supernumerary nipple is an additional instance of nipple occurring in mammals, including humans. They are often mistaken for moles. Studies variously report the prevalence of supernumerary nipples as approximately 1 in 18 and 1 in 40. https:/ ...
, M relieves Bond of his current mission involving tracking an energy scientist named Gibson. At a hint from Moneypenny, Bond sets out unofficially to locate Scaramanga, first by retrieving a spent golden bullet from a
belly dancer Belly dance (Egyptian Arabic: رقص بلدي, translated: Dance of the Country/Folk Dance, romanized: Raks/Raas Baladi) is a dance that originates in Egypt. It features movements of the hips and torso. It has evolved to take many different f ...
in Beirut. He traces the bullet to a gun maker in
Macau Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a p ...
, and forces him to reveal how he ships the bullets. Bond follows the shipment carried to Hong Kong by Andrea Anders, Scaramanga's mistress. At her Peninsula Hotel room, he coerces her to expose information about Scaramanga, his appearance and his plans. She directs Bond to the
Bottoms Up Club The Bottoms Up Club was a girlie bar in Hong Kong. The bar became notorious for its appearance in the 1974 James Bond film ''The Man with the Golden Gun''.
where Scaramanga snipes Gibson when he steps outside, and Scaramanga's
midget Midget (from ''midge'', a tiny biting insect) is a term for a person of unusually short stature that is considered by some to be pejorative due to its etymology. While not a medical term like "dwarfism", a medical condition with a number of ca ...
assistant Nick Nack steals a small device called the Solex Agitator off his body. Bond, who had pulled out his pistol outside the club, is arrested by Hong Kong police lieutenant Hip. But instead of going to the station, he is transported to the wreck of in the harbour where he meets M and Q, and is assigned to work with Hip to retrieve the Solex. Bond travels to
Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estimated populati ...
to meet Hai Fat, a wealthy Thai entrepreneur suspected of arranging Gibson's murder. Posing as Scaramanga by showing off his fake third nipple, Bond is invited to dinner, but his plan backfires because unbeknownst to him, Scaramanga himself is operating at Fat's estate. Bond is captured and placed inside Fat's martial arts academy, where the students duel to the death and then are instructed to kill him. Escaping with the aid of Hip and his nieces, Bond speeds away on a motorised sampan along the river, and reunites with his assistant, Mary Goodnight. Scaramanga subsequently kills Fat with his golden gun and assumes control of his empire and the Solex. Anders reveals to Bond that she sent the bullet to London. She wants him to kill Scaramanga, and promises to give him the Solex as they spent the night together. At a Muay Thai boxing event the next day, Bond finds Anders sitting and staring silently, dead from a bullet to the heart. Scaramanga arrives and introduces himself to Bond, but Bond is able to smuggle the Solex to Hip, who passes it to Goodnight. When Goodnight follows Nick Nack to place a homing device on Scaramanga's car, Scaramanga traps her in the car's boot. Bond discovers Scaramanga driving off and steals an
AMC Hornet The AMC Hornet is a compact automobile, manufactured and marketed by American Motors Corporation (AMC) and made from 1970 through 1977 — in two- and four-door sedan, station wagon, and hatchback coupe configurations. The Hornet replaced the c ...
from a showroom to give chase, coincidentally with the holidaying J.W. Pepper (the
Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...
n sheriff Bond encountered in '' Live and Let Die'') sitting inside. The chase concludes when Scaramanga's AMC Matador hides in a building and then transforms into a plane that flies off. Tracking Goodnight's homing beacon, Bond takes a seaplane and flies to Scaramanga's island in the Red Chinese waters. Scaramanga welcomes and shows Bond the solar power plant facility that he has taken over, the technology for which he intends to sell to the highest bidder. While demonstrating the equipment, Scaramanga uses the solar-powered energy beam to destroy Bond's plane, preventing him from escaping. During lunch, Scaramanga proposes a pistol duel with Bond on the beach. With Nick Nack officiating, the two men take twenty paces, but when Bond turns and fires, Scaramanga has vanished. Nick Nack leads Bond into Scaramanga's manor and funhouse section. Bond eventually outwits and kills Scaramanga by posing as his mannequin. Goodnight kills Scaramanga's security chief Kra, but the latter's fall into a
liquid helium Liquid helium is a physical state of helium at very low temperatures at standard atmospheric pressures. Liquid helium may show superfluidity. At standard pressure, the chemical element helium exists in a liquid form only at the extremely low temp ...
vat causes the plant's temperature to spiral out of control. Bond retrieves the Solex unit just before the plant is destroyed, and they escape unharmed in Scaramanga's
Chinese junk A junk (Chinese: 船, ''chuán'') is a type of Chinese sailing ship with fully battened sails. There are two types of junk in China: northern junk, which developed from Chinese river boats, and southern junk, which developed from Austronesian ...
. After Bond fends off a final attack by Nick Nack, he romances Goodnight.


Cast

* Roger Moore as James Bond – 007, an MI6 agent who receives a golden bullet, supposedly from Scaramanga, indicating that he is a target of Scaramanga. * Christopher Lee as
Francisco Scaramanga Francisco Scaramanga is a fictional character and one of the main antagonists in the James Bond novel and film version of '' The Man with the Golden Gun''. Scaramanga is an assassin who kills with his signature weapon, a pistol made of solid gold ...
, an assassin who is identified by his use of a golden gun; he also has a 'superfluous papilla', or supernumerary nipple. Scaramanga plans to misuse solar energy for destructive purposes. Lee was Ian Fleming's step-cousin and regular golf partner. Scaramanga has been called "the best-characterised Bond villain yet." *
Britt Ekland Britt Ekland (; born Britt-Marie Eklund; 6 October 1942) is a Swedish actress, model and singer. She appeared in numerous films in her heyday throughout the 1960s and 1970s, including roles in '' The Double Man'' (1967), '' The Night They Raided ...
as Mary Goodnight, Bond's assistant. Described by the critic of the '' Sunday Mirror'' as being "an astoundingly stupid blonde British agent". Ekland had previously been married to
Peter Sellers Peter Sellers (born Richard Henry Sellers; 8 September 1925 – 24 July 1980) was an English actor and comedian. He first came to prominence performing in the BBC Radio comedy series ''The Goon Show'', featured on a number of hit comic songs ...
, who appeared in the 1967 Bond film '' Casino Royale''. * Maud Adams as Andrea Anders, Scaramanga's mistress. Adams described the role as "a woman without a lot of choices: she's under the influence of this very rich, strong man, and is fearing for her life most of the time; and when she actually rebels against him and defects is a major step." ''The Man with the Golden Gun'' was the first of two Bond films in which Maud Adams appeared; she played a different character, Octopussy, in the 1983 film of the same name: rumours that she also had a cameo as an extra in Roger Moore's last Bond film, ''
A View to a Kill ''A View to a Kill'' is a 1985 spy film and the fourteenth in the ''James Bond'' series produced by Eon Productions, and is the seventh and final appearance of Roger Moore as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. Although the title is adapted ...
'' are untrue. *
Hervé Villechaize Hervé Jean-Pierre Villechaize (; April 23, 1943 – September 4, 1993) was a French actor and painter. He is best known for his role as the evil henchman Nick Nack in the 1974 James Bond film '' The Man with the Golden Gun'', and his role as Mr ...
as Nick Nack, Scaramanga's little person manservant and accomplice. Villechaize was later known to television audiences as Tattoo in the series '' Fantasy Island''. *
Clifton James George Clifton James (May 29, 1920 – April 15, 2017) was an American actor known for roles as a prison floorwalker in ''Cool Hand Luke'' (1967), Sheriff J.W. Pepper alongside Roger Moore in the James Bond films '' Live and Let Die'' (19 ...
as
Sheriff J.W. Pepper This is a list of allies of ''James Bond'' who appear throughout the film series and novels. MI6 M M is a Rear Admiral of the Royal Navy, and the head of the Secret Intelligence Service. Fleming based the character on a number of people ...
, a Louisiana sheriff who happens to be on holiday in Thailand. Hamilton liked Pepper in the previous film, ''Live and Let Die'', and asked Mankewicz to write him into ''The Man with the Golden Gun'' as well. *
Richard Loo Richard Loo (October 1, 1903 – November 20, 1983) was an American film actor who was one of the most familiar Asian character actors in American films of the 1930s and 1940s. He appeared in more than 120 films between 1931 and 1982. Early lif ...
as Hai Fat, a Thai millionaire industrialist who was employing Scaramanga to assassinate the inventor of the "Solex agitator" (a revolutionary solar energy device) and steal the device. He himself is later killed by Scaramanga. * Soon-Taik Oh as Lieutenant Hip, Bond's local contact in Hong Kong and Bangkok. Soon-Taik Oh trained in martial arts for the role, and his voice was partially dubbed over. * Marc Lawrence as Rodney, an American gangster who attempts to outshoot Scaramanga in his funhouse, and loses, being shot in the head by Scaramanga. Lawrence also appeared in '' Diamonds Are Forever''. *
Lois Maxwell Lois Ruth Maxwell (born Lois Ruth Hooker; 14 February 1927 – 29 September 2007) was a Canadian actress who portrayed Miss Moneypenny in the first fourteen Eon-produced ''James Bond'' films (1962–1985). She was the first actress to play the ...
as Miss Moneypenny, M's secretary. * Marne Maitland as Lazar, a Portuguese gunsmith based in Macau who manufactures golden bullets for Scaramanga. *
Desmond Llewelyn Desmond Wilkinson Llewelyn (; 12 September 1914GRO Register of Births: DEC 1914 11a 490 NEWPORT M. – Desmond W. Llewelyn, mmn = Wilkinson – 19 December 1999GRO Register of Deaths: JUN 2000 A70E 247 EASTBOURNE – Desmond Wilkinson Llewelyn, D ...
as Q, the head of MI6's technical department. *
James Cossins James Cossins (4 December 1933 – 12 February 1997) was an English character actor. Born in Beckenham, Kent, he became widely recognised as the abrupt, bewildered Mr Walt in the ''Fawlty Towers'' episode " The Hotel Inspectors" and as Mr Wats ...
as Colthorpe, an MI6 armaments expert who identifies the maker of Scaramanga's golden bullets. The first draft of the script originally called the role Boothroyd until it was realised that was also Q's name and it was subsequently changed. * Chan Yiu Lam as Chula, the black-belt student at Hai Fat's dojo *
Bernard Lee John Bernard Lee (10 January 190816 January 1981) was an English actor, best known for his role as M in the first eleven Eon-produced James Bond films. Lee's film career spanned the years 1934 to 1979, though he had appeared on stage from ...
as "M", the head of MI6. * Francoise Therry as Chew Mee, Hai Fat's mistress, whom Bond memorably finds swimming nude in a swimming pool. (Uncredited) * Sonny Caldinez as Kra, Scaramanga's security chief. (Uncredited)


Production

Albert R. Broccoli and
Harry Saltzman Herschel Saltzman (; – ), known as Harry Saltzman, was a Canadian theatre and film producer. He is best remembered for co-producing the first nine of the ''James Bond'' film series with Albert R. Broccoli. He lived most of his life in Den ...
intended to follow '' You Only Live Twice'' with ''The Man with the Golden Gun'', inviting Roger Moore to the Bond role. However, filming was planned in Cambodia, the Samlaut Uprising and also Moore's commitments in '' The Saint'', made filming impractical, leading to the production being canceled. '' On Her Majesty's Secret Service'' was produced instead with
George Lazenby George Robert Lazenby (; born 5 September 1939) is an Australian actor. He was the second actor to portray fictional British secret agent James Bond in the Eon Productions film series, playing the character in ''On Her Majesty's Secret Service' ...
as Bond. Lazenby's next Bond film, Saltzman told a reporter, would be either ''The Man with the Golden Gun'' or '' Diamonds Are Forever''. The producers chose the latter title, with Sean Connery returning as Bond after Lazenby's resignation. United Artists greenlit another James Bond film after viewing dailies of Moore's performance in ''Live and Let Die''. Broccoli and Saltzman then decided to start production on ''The Man with the Golden Gun'' after ''Live and Let Die''. This was the final Bond film to be co-produced by Saltzman as his partnership with Broccoli was dissolved after the film's release. Saltzman sold his 50% stake in Eon Productions's parent company, Danjaq, LLC, to
United Artists United Artists Corporation (UA), currently doing business as United Artists Digital Studios, is an American digital production company. Founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks, the stud ...
to alleviate his financial problems. The resulting legalities over the Bond property delayed production of the next Bond film, '' The Spy Who Loved Me'', for three years. The novel is mostly set in Jamaica, a location which had been already used in the earlier films, ''Dr. No'' and ''Live and Let Die''; ''The Man with the Golden Gun'' saw a change in location to put Bond in either the Far East or the
Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...
for the second time. After considering Beirut, where part of the film is set;
Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
;
Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
, where the
location scouting Location scouting is a vital process in the pre-production stage of filmmaking and commercial photography. Once scriptwriters, producers or directors have decided what general kind of scenery they require for the various parts of their work ...
was done but eventually discarded because of the Yom Kippur War; and the
Hạ Long Bay Hạ Long Bay or Halong Bay ( vi, Vịnh Hạ Long, ) is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and popular travel destination in Quảng Ninh Province, Vietnam. The name Hạ Long means "descending dragon". Administratively, the bay belongs to Hạ Lon ...
in
North Vietnam North Vietnam, officially the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV; vi, Việt Nam Dân chủ Cộng hòa), was a socialist state supported by the Soviet Union (USSR) and the People's Republic of China (PRC) in Southeast Asia that existed f ...
; the production team chose Thailand as a primary location, following a suggestion of production designer Peter Murton after he saw pictures of the Phuket bay in a magazine. Saltzman was happy with the choice of the Far East for the setting as he had always wanted to go on location in Thailand and Hong Kong. During the reconnaissance of locations in Hong Kong, Broccoli saw the wreckage of the former and came up with the idea of using it as the base for MI6's Far East operations.


Writing and themes

Tom Mankiewicz wrote the first draft for the script in 1973, delivering a script that was a battle of wills between Bond and Scaramanga, who he saw as Bond's alter ego, "a super-villain of the stature of Bond himself". Tensions between Mankiewicz and Guy Hamilton and Mankiewicz's growing sense that he was "feeling really tapped out on Bond" led to the re-introduction of
Richard Maibaum Richard Maibaum (May 26, 1909 – January 4, 1991) was an American film producer, playwright and screenwriter best known for his screenplay adaptations of Ian Fleming's James Bond novels. Among his works are the first anti-lynching play on Bro ...
as the Bond screenwriter. Maibaum, who had worked on six Bond films previously, delivered his own draft based on Mankiewicz's work. Much of the plot involving Scaramanga being Bond's equal was sidelined in later drafts. For one of the two main aspects of the plot, the screenwriters used the 1973 energy crisis as a backdrop to the film, allowing the
MacGuffin In fiction, a MacGuffin (sometimes McGuffin) is an object, device, or event that is necessary to the plot and the motivation of the characters, but insignificant, unimportant, or irrelevant in itself. The term was originated by Angus MacPhail for ...
of the "Solex agitator" to be introduced; Broccoli's stepson Michael G. Wilson researched solar power to create the Solex. While ''Live and Let Die'' had borrowed heavily from the blaxploitation genre, ''The Man with the Golden Gun'' borrowed from the martial arts genre that was popular in the 1970s through films such as ''
Fist of Fury ''Fist of Fury'' is a 1972 Hong Kong action martial arts film written and directed by Lo Wei, produced by Raymond Chow, and starring Bruce Lee in his second major role after ''The Big Boss'' (1971). Lee, who was also the film's action choreogra ...
'' (1972) and ''
Enter the Dragon ''Enter the Dragon'' ( zh, t=龍爭虎鬥) is a 1973 martial arts film directed by Robert Clouse and written by Michael Allin. The film stars Bruce Lee, John Saxon and Jim Kelly. It was Lee's final completed film appearance before his death o ...
'' (1973). However, the use of the martial arts for a fight scene in the film "lapses into incredibility" when Lt Hip and his two nieces defeat an entire ''dojo''.


Casting

Originally, the role of Scaramanga was offered to Jack Palance, but he turned the opportunity down. Christopher Lee, who was eventually chosen to portray Scaramanga, was Ian Fleming's step-cousin and Fleming had suggested Lee for the role of Dr. Julius No in the 1962 series opener ''Dr. No''. Lee noted that Fleming was a forgetful man and by the time he mentioned this to Broccoli and Saltzman they had cast
Joseph Wiseman Joseph Wiseman (May 15, 1918 – October 19, 2009) was a Canadian-American theatre, film, and television actor who starred as the villain Julius No in the first James Bond film, '' Dr. No'' in 1962. Wiseman was also known for his role as Manny We ...
in the part. Due to filming on location in
Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estimated populati ...
, 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 the 1975 film ''
Tommy Tommy may refer to: People * Tommy (given name) * Tommy Atkins, or just Tommy, a slang term for a common soldier in the British Army Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Tommy'' (1931 film), a Soviet drama film * ''Tommy'' (1975 fil ...
'', a part eventually given to
Jack Nicholson John Joseph Nicholson (born April 22, 1937) is an American retired actor and filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest actors of all time. In many of his films, he played rebels against the social structure. He received numerous ...
. Two Swedish models were cast as the
Bond girl A Bond girl is a character who is a love interest or female companion of James Bond in a novel, film or video game. Bond girls occasionally have names that are double entendres or puns, such as Pussy Galore, Plenty O'Toole, Xenia Onatopp, o ...
s,
Britt Ekland Britt Ekland (; born Britt-Marie Eklund; 6 October 1942) is a Swedish actress, model and singer. She appeared in numerous films in her heyday throughout the 1960s and 1970s, including roles in '' The Double Man'' (1967), '' The Night They Raided ...
and Maud Adams. Ekland had been interested in playing a Bond girl since she had seen ''Dr. No'', and contacted the producers about the main role of Mary Goodnight. Hamilton met Adams in New York, and cast her because "she was elegant and beautiful that it seemed to me she was the perfect Bond girl". When Ekland read the news that Adams had been cast for ''The Man with the Golden Gun'', she became upset, thinking Adams had been selected to play Goodnight. Broccoli then called Ekland to invite her for the main role, as after seeing her in a film, Broccoli thought Ekland's "generous looks" made her a good contrast to Adams. Hamilton decided to put Marc Lawrence, whom he had worked with on ''Diamonds Are Forever'', to play a gangster shot dead by Scaramanga at the start of the film because he found it an interesting idea to "put sort of a Chicago gangster in the middle of Thailand".


Filming

Filming commenced on 6 November 1973 at the partly submerged wreck of the RMS ''Queen Elizabeth'', which acted as a top-secret MI6 base grounded in Victoria Harbour in
Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...
. The crew was small, and a stunt double was used for James Bond. Other Hong Kong locations included the Hong Kong Dragon Garden as the estate of Hai Fat, which portrayed a location in
Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estimated populati ...
. The major part of
principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as a ...
started on 18 April 1974 in Thailand. Thai locations included
Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estimated populati ...
, Thonburi, Phuket and nearby Phang Nga Province, on the islands of Ko Khao Phing Kan ( th, เกาะเขาพิงกัน) and Ko Tapu ( th, เกาะตะปู). Scaramanga's hideout is on Ko Khao Phing Kan, and Ko Tapu is often now referred to as "James Bond Island" both by locals and in tourist guidebooks. The scene during the boxing match used an actual Muay Thai fixture at
Lumpinee Boxing Stadium Lumpinee Boxing Stadium ( th, สนามเวทีมวยลุมพินี) is a sporting arena in Bangkok, Thailand. The stadium is named after Lumbini, the birthplace of the Buddha. Opened more than a decade later than Rajadamner ...
. The car chase in Bangkok was filmed near the khlong on Krung Kasem Road. Production returned in late-April to Hong Kong, and also to Macau, for it is famous for its casinos, which Hong Kong lacks. Some scenes in Thailand had to be finished, and production had to move to studio work in Pinewood Studios; this included sets such as Scaramanga's solar energy plant and island interior.
Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
winner
Oswald Morris Oswald Norman Morris, (22 November 1915 – 17 March 2014) was a British cinematographer. Known to his colleagues by the nicknames "Os" or "Ossie", Morris's career in cinematography spanned six decades. Life and career Morris was raised in Mi ...
was hired to finish the job after cinematographer Ted Moore became ill. Morris was initially reluctant, as he did not like his previous experiences taking over other cinematographers' work, but accepted after dining with Broccoli. Production wrapped in Pinewood in August 1974. Bond's duel with Scaramanga, which Mankewicz said was inspired by the climactic faceoff in '' Shane'', was shortened as the producers felt it was causing pacing problems. The trailers featured some of the cut scenes. Hamilton adapted an idea of his involving Bond in Disneyland for Scaramanga's funhouse. The funhouse was designed to be a place where Scaramanga could get the upper hand by distracting the adversary with obstacles, and was described by Murton as a "melting pot of ideas" which made it "both a funhouse and a horror house". While an actual wax figure of Roger Moore was used, Moore's stunt double Les Crawford was the cowboy figure, and Ray Marione played the Al Capone figure. The canted sets such as the funhouse and the ''Queen Elizabeth'' had inspiration from
German Expressionist German Expressionism () consisted of several related creative movements in Germany before the First World War that reached a peak in Berlin during the 1920s. These developments were part of a larger Expressionist movement in north and central ...
films such as '' The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari''. For Scaramanga's solar power plant, Hamilton used both the Pinewood set and a miniature projected by
Derek Meddings Derek Meddings (15 January 1931 – 10 September 1995) was a British film and television special effects designer. He was initially noted for his work on the " Supermarionation" TV puppet series produced by Gerry Anderson, and later for the ...
, often cutting between each other to show there was no discernible difference. The destruction of the facility was a combination of practical effects on the set and destroying the miniature. Meddings based the island blowing up on footage of the Battle of Monte Cassino.


Golden Gun prop

Three Golden Gun props were made; a solid piece, one that could be fired with a cap and one that could be assembled and disassembled, although Christopher Lee said that the process "was extremely difficult". The gun was "one of the more memorable props in the Bond series" and consisted of an interlocking fountain pen (the barrel), cigarette lighter (the bullet chamber), cigarette case (the handle) and cufflink (the trigger) with the bullet secured in Scaramanga's belt buckle. In the film, the gun was designed to accept a single 4.2-millimetre, 23- carat gold bullet produced by Lazar, a gunsmith in Macau who specialized in custom weapons and ammunition. The Golden Gun ranked sixth in a 2008 20th Century Fox poll of the most popular film weapons, which surveyed approximately 2,000 film fans. On 10 October 2008, it was discovered that one of the golden guns used in the film, which is estimated to be worth around £80,000, was missing (suspected stolen) from Elstree Props, a company based at Hertfordshire studios.


Car stunts

The film became famous for two vehicle stunts, one which made the Guinness Book of Records. As part of a significant product placement strategy, a number of vehicles from American Motors Corporation were featured in the movie. The flying car was the newly introduced AMC Matador Brougham Coupe in the Oleg Cassini edition, used by Francisco Scaramanga, along with Nick Nack, to kidnap Mary Goodnight. With the wings, the stunt car was long, wide, and high. A stuntman drove the "car plane" to a runway. It was not airworthy, so a -long
remote control In electronics, a remote control (also known as a remote or clicker) is an electronic device used to operate another device from a distance, usually wirelessly. In consumer electronics, a remote control can be used to operate devices such a ...
led
model A model is an informative representation of an object, person or system. The term originally denoted the plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin ''modulus'', a measure. Models c ...
, built by John Stears, was used for the aerial sequences. The scene was shot at Bovington Camp. A 1974
AMC Hornet The AMC Hornet is a compact automobile, manufactured and marketed by American Motors Corporation (AMC) and made from 1970 through 1977 — in two- and four-door sedan, station wagon, and hatchback coupe configurations. The Hornet replaced the c ...
X was used for the "corkscrew" stunt which was first tested as a computer-simulation (the first of its kind) by Cornell Aeronautical Laboratory. It was then performed as a live-action stunt, successfully filmed in one take. The stunt was performed by Loren "Bumps" Willert (as James Bond) driving an
AMC Hornet The AMC Hornet is a compact automobile, manufactured and marketed by American Motors Corporation (AMC) and made from 1970 through 1977 — in two- and four-door sedan, station wagon, and hatchback coupe configurations. The Hornet replaced the c ...
leaping a broken bridge and spinning around 360 degrees in mid-air about the longitudinal axis, doing an "aerial twist"; Willert successfully completed the jump on the first take, and was given a $30,000 bonus on the spot. The stunt was shown in slow motion, for the scene was otherwise too fast. Composer John Barry added a slide whistle sound effect over the stunt, which Broccoli kept in despite thinking that it "undercouped the stunt". Barry later regretted his decision, thinking the whistle "broke the golden rule" as the stunt was "for what it was all worth, a truly dangerous moment, ... true James Bond style". The sound effect was described as "simply crass". The writer Jim Smith suggested that the stunt "brings into focus the lack of excitement in the rest of the film and is spoilt by the use of 'comedy' sound effects". Eon Productions had licensed the stunt, which had been designed by Raymond McHenry. It was initially conceived at Cornell Aeronautical Laboratory (CAL) in Buffalo, New York as a test for their vehicle simulation software. After development in simulation, ramps were built and the stunt was tested at CAL's proving ground. It toured as part of the All American Thrill Show as the Astro Spiral before it was picked up for the film. The television programme ''
Top Gear Top Gear may refer to: * "Top gear", the highest gear available in a vehicle's manual transmission Television * ''Top Gear'' (1977 TV series), a British motoring magazine programme * ''Top Gear'' (2002 TV series), a relaunched version of the or ...
'' attempted to repeat the stunt in June 2008, but failed. The corkscrew stunt made the Guinness Book of Records as the first "astro spiral" jump on film.


Music

The theme tune to ''The Man with the Golden Gun'', released in 1974, was performed by Scottish singer
Lulu Lulu may refer to: Companies * LuLu, an early automobile manufacturer * Lulu.com, an online e-books and print self-publishing platform, distributor, and retailer * Lulu Hypermarket, a retail chain in Asia * Lululemon Athletica or simply Lulu, ...
and composed by John Barry. Tony Bramwell, who worked for Harry Saltzman's music publishing company Hilary Music, wanted Elton John or Cat Stevens to sing the title song. However, by this time the producers were taking turns producing the films; Albert Broccoli—whose turn it was to produce—rejected Bramwell's suggestions. The lyrics to the Lulu song were written by Don Black and have been described variously as "ludicrous", "inane" and "one long stream of smut", because of their
sexual innuendo An innuendo is a hint, insinuation or intimation about a person or thing, especially of a denigrating or derogatory nature. It can also be a remark or question, typically disparaging (also called insinuation), that works obliquely by allusion ...
. Bramwell subsequently dismissed the Barry-Lulu tune as "mundane". Alice Cooper wrote a song titled "Man with the Golden Gun" to be used by the producers of the film, but they opted for Lulu's song instead. Cooper released his song in his album '' Muscle of Love''. Barry had only three weeks to score ''The Man with the Golden Gun'' and 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." ''The Man with the Golden Gun'' was also the first to drop the distinctive plucked guitar from the theme heard over the gun barrel opening. A sample from one of the songs, "Hip's Trip", was used by The Prodigy in the "Mindfields" track on the album ''
The Fat of the Land ''The Fat of the Land'' is the third studio album by English electronic music group the Prodigy, released on 30 June 1997 through XL Recordings. The album received critical acclaim and topped the UK Albums Chart and the US ''Billboard'' 200. I ...
''.


Release and reception

''The Man with the Golden Gun'' was premiered at the
Odeon Leicester Square The Odeon Luxe Leicester Square is a prominent cinema building in the West End of London. Built in the Art Deco style and completed in 1937, the building has been continually altered in response to developments in cinema technology, and was the ...
in London on , with general release in the United Kingdom the same day. The film was made with an estimated budget of $7 million; despite initial good returns from the box office, ''The Man with the Golden Gun'' grossed a total of $97.6 million at the worldwide box office, with $21 million earned in the US, making it the fourth lowest-grossing Bond film in the series. The promotion of the film had "one of the more anaemic advertising campaigns of the series" and there were few products available, apart from the soundtrack and paperback book, although
Lone Star Toys Lone Star Products Ltd. was the brand name used by the British company Die Cast Machine Tools Ltd (DCMT) for its toy products. DCMT was based in Welham Green, Hertfordshire, north of London. Company history Starting as early as 1939, DCMT manuf ...
produced a "James Bond 007 pistol" in gold; this differed from the weapon used by Scaramanga in the film as it was little more than a
Walther P38 The Walther P38 (originally written Walther P.38) is a 9 mm semi-automatic pistol that was developed by Carl Walther GmbH as the service pistol of the Wehrmacht at the beginning of World War II. It was intended to replace the costly Luger P08 ...
with a silencer fitted.


Contemporary reviews

''The Man with the Golden Gun'' met with mixed reviews upon its release. Derek Malcolm in ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' savaged the film, saying that "the script is the limpest of the lot and ... Roger Moore as 007 is the last man on earth to make it sound better than it is." There was some praise from Malcolm, although it was muted, saying that "Christopher Lee ... makes a goodish villain and Britt Ekland a passable Mary Goodnight ... Up to scratch in production values ... the film is otherwise merely a potboiler. Maybe enough's enough." Tom Milne, writing in ''
The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the ...
'', was even more caustic, writing that "This series, which has been scraping the bottom of the barrel for some time, is now through the bottom ... with depressing borrowings from Hong Kong kung fu movies, not to mention even more depressing echoes of the ' Carry On' smut." He summed up the film by saying it was "sadly lacking in wit or imagination".
David Robinson David Maurice Robinson (born August 6, 1965) is an American former professional basketball player who played for the San Antonio Spurs in the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1989 to 2003, and minority owner of the Spurs. Nicknamed ...
, the film critic at ''
The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...
'', dismissed the film and Moore's performance, saying that Moore was "substituting non-acting for Connery's throwaway", while Britt Ekland was "his beautiful, idiot side-kick ... the least appealing of the Bond heroines". Robinson was equally damning of the changes in the production crew, observing that Ken Adam, an "attraction of the early Bond films," had been "replaced by decorators of competence but little of his flair." The writers "get progressively more naive in their creation of a suburban dream of epicureanism and adventure". Writing for ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'', Nora Sayre considered the film to suffer from "poverty of invention and excitement", criticising the writing and Moore's performance and finding Villechaize and Lee as the only positive points for their "sinister vitality that cuts through the narrative dough." The '' Sunday Mirror'' critic observed that ''The Man with the Golden Gun'' "isn't the best Bond ever" but found it "remarkable that Messrs. Saltzman and Broccoli can still produce such slick and inventive entertainment". Arthur Thirkwell, writing in the ''Sunday Mirror''s sister paper, the ''
Daily Mirror The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily tabloid. Founded in 1903, it is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the title on its masthead was simply ''The Mirror''. It had an average daily print c ...
'', concentrated more on lead actor Roger Moore than the film itself: "What Sean Connery used to achieve with a touch of sardonic sadism, Roger Moore conveys with roguish schoolboy charm and the odd, dry quip." Thirkwell also said that Moore "manages to make even this reduced-voltage Bond a character with plenty of sparkle". Judith Crist of '' New York'' magazine gave a positive review, saying "the scenery's grand, the lines nice and the gadgetry entertaining", also describing the production as a film that "capture the free-wheeling, whooshing non-sense of early Fleming's fairy tale for grown-ups orientation". Jay Cocks, writing in ''
Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, ...
'', focused on the gadgets such as Scaramanga's flying car, as what was wrong with both ''The Man with the Golden Gun'' and the more recent films in the Bond series, calling them "Overtricky, uninspired, these exercises show the strain of stretching fantasy well past wit." Cocks also criticised the actors, saying that Moore "lacks all Connery's strengths and has several deep deficiencies", while Lee was "an unusually unimpressive villain".


Retrospective reviews

Opinion on ''The Man with the Golden Gun'' has for the most part remained the same as it was in 1974. On
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
39% out of 51 critical reviews about the film were positive, with an average rating of 5.3/10. The website's critical consensus states, "A middling Bond film, ''The Man With the Golden Gun'' suffers from double entendre-laden dialogue, a noteworthy lack of gadgets, and a villain that overshadows 007."
Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...
gave the film a weighted average score of 43 out of 100 based on 11 reviews from critics, which indicates "mixed or average reviews". Some critics saw the film as uninspired, tired and boring. Roger Moore was also criticised for playing Bond against type, in a style more reminiscent of Sean Connery, although Lee's performance received acclaim.
Danny Peary Dannis Peary (born August 8, 1949) is an American film critic and sports writer. He has written and edited many books on cinema and sports-related topics. Peary is most famous for his book '' Cult Movies'' (1980), which spawned two sequels, '' Cu ...
wrote that ''The Man with the Golden Gun'' "lacks invention ... is one of the least interesting Bond films" and "a very laboured movie, with Bond a stiff bore, Adams and Britt Ekland uninspired leading ladies". Peary believes that the shootout between Bond and Scaramanga in the funhouse "is the one good scene in the movie, and even it has an unsatisfying finish" and also bemoaned the presence of Clifton James, "unfortunately reprising his unfunny redneck sheriff from ''Live and Let Die.''" Chris Nashawaty of ''Entertainment Weekly'' argues that Scaramanga is the best villain of the Roger Moore James Bond films, while listing Mary Goodnight among the worst Bond girls, saying that "Ekland may have had one of the series' best bikinis, but her dopey, doltish portrayal was a turnoff as much to filmgoers as to fans of Ian Fleming's novels". ''The Times'' put Scaramanga as the fifth best Bond villain in their list, and Ekland was the third in their list of the top 10 most fashionable Bond girls. ''
Maxim Maxim or Maksim may refer to: Entertainment * ''Maxim'' (magazine), an international men's magazine ** ''Maxim'' (Australia), the Australian edition ** ''Maxim'' (India), the Indian edition *Maxim Radio, ''Maxim'' magazine's radio channel on Sir ...
'' listed Goodnight at fourth in their Top Bond Babes list, saying that "Agent Goodnight is the clumsiest spy alive. But who cares as long as she's using her perfect bikini bottom to muck things up?"


See also

* Outline of James Bond * ''
My Dinner with Hervé ''My Dinner with Hervé'' is an American television drama film written and directed by Sacha Gervasi, based on the later days of actor Hervé Villechaize. The film stars Peter Dinklage as Villechaize, Jamie Dornan as a struggling journalist, and ...
'', HBO movie which recreates several scenes from ''The Man with the Golden Gun''


References


Sources

* * * * * * * * * * * *


External links

*
''The Man with the Golden Gun''
at BFI Screenonline * * *
''The Man with the Golden Gun''
at the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer site {{DEFAULTSORT:Man With The Golden Gun, The 1970s action thriller films 1970s English-language films 1970s spy thriller films 1974 films British sequel films Films about contract killing Films directed by Guy Hamilton Films produced by Harry Saltzman Films produced by Albert R. Broccoli Films scored by John Barry (composer) Films set in China Films set in Hong Kong Films set in Beirut Films set in London Films set in Macau Films set in Thailand Films set on beaches Films set on islands Films shot at Pinewood Studios Films shot in England Films shot in Hong Kong Films shot in Macau Films shot in Thailand Flying cars in fiction James Bond films Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films Films with screenplays by Richard Maibaum Films with screenplays by Tom Mankiewicz United Artists films Eon Productions films Films set in Bangkok 1970s British films