Half a century after my first Bond on the big screen, I look back at The Man With The Golden Gun.
Fifty years ago I had my first ever experience of James Bond on the big screen when, one afternoon in March 1975, my dad took me to see Roger Moore’s second outing as 007. It was, in fact, my first experience of Bond on any screen at all.
The Man With The Golden Gun had premiered at the Odeon Leicester Square on 19th December 1974, opening in Britain and the United States simultaneously. The film marked a turning point in the series. The relationship between Cubby Broccoli and Harry Saltzman was at rock bottom and ultimately spelled the end of Harry Saltzman’s involvement with 007. Almost a year to the day after the film’s release, Saltzman sold his interest in Danjaq SA – Eon’s holding company – to United Artists. After a string of disastrous financial investments, he had little choice.
Nominally the budget for The Man With The Golden Gun was similar to Live And Let Die, almost certainly a disappointment for the filmmakers. The film was rushed into production too, with United Artists pressuring Eon to move fast. Owned by Transamerica Corporation since 1967, United Artists had posted losses in 1970. Many of the decisions made in the years that followed were likely the result of Transamerica’s interference while attempting to turn UA’s fortunes around. Filmed during a period of historically high inflation and coinciding with the 1973 oil crisis, in real terms Eon had to make do with less.
The rush to start combined with budgetary constraints resulted in a film that wasn’t as fully developed as its predecessors. Tensions between the producers probably didn’t help but there is almost unanimous agreement from those involved that the script wasn’t quite there. After completing the first draft, Tom Mankiewicz left the production. Among the factors influencing his decision to quit was the breakdown of his previously warm relationship with director Guy Hamilton. He was replaced by long-time Bond scribe Richard Maibaum who further developed Mankiewicz’s draft but remained dissatisfied with the final result.
On top of this came a difficult location shoot in Thailand. Conditions were uncomfortable for scenes shot on Scaramanga’s island thanks to a combination of the remote location, climate, equipment breakdowns and lack of facilities. The unit also lost petrol generators to pirates operating in the area. Back in the United Kingdom cinematographer Ted Moore departed the production due to illness, resulting in Broccoli convincing a reluctant Oswald Morris to replace him at short notice. And the marketing campaign was lacklustre compared with previous films. All this contributed towards The Man With The Golden Gun underperforming at the box office.
Golden reflections
As a kid though I remember its release very differently. I was already a Bond fan by the time I saw it thanks to being the proud owner of a Corgi Aston Martin DB5, bought at a local supermarket for 99p, and my dad’s battered paperback copy of Casino Royale. I was an avid reader and excitedly read the first Bond book after buying the Aston Martin.
I distinctly remember two particular occasions when the marketing for The Man With The Golden Gun reached me. One was on the London underground, when my dad pointed out the poster. “Look, he even has ‘007’ engraved on his bullets”, he mistakenly told me. The other was when the entire family was away from home for a weekend. In the Sunday paper my dad showed me an article on the golden gun and how it was made up of various, more innocent items. Probably it was the Sunday Times, and probably I kept the article, although it’s long gone now. So, by the time The Man With The Golden Gun finally hit the provinces, I could barely contain my excitement.
Those were the days before the Bond films were on British TV and you could expect to wait months until the projectionist at your local fleapit got his hands on the film canister and spooled up the celluloid. I finally saw the film in March 1975 when my dad took me to the Odeon in St Albans one Saturday afternoon. My school buddy had seen it, my next door neighbours had seen it and finally I got to see my very first James Bond film. Needless to say I loved it although, much like reading Casino Royale, much of it went over my head. I can still remember my dad laughing heartily at one point near the end and decided to join in, although I didn’t think what Bond had said was in the slightest bit funny. Although I don’t remember, I imagine it was the “She’s just coming, sir” line.
The Gold in Gun
One thing most Bond fans are in agreement on is that The Man With The Golden Gun is one of the weakest entries in the series. But while it may not be the best in the series, it remains one of the Bond films I love the most. A large part of that is clearly nostalgia.
It is certainly a shame that the female characters were not more fully developed. Maud Adams as Andrea Anders is woefully underused. And the return of Sheriff JW Pepper saw the film slip too far into outright comedy. But when the usually know-it-all Bond instructs Mary Goodnight to track down a green Rolls Royce, she gets one up on him. “Everyone knows all the green Rolls-Royces belong to The Peninsula”, she tells him.
Roger Moore’s suave charm is on full display and how can you not like Christopher Lee’s portrayal of Scaramanga, or diminutive henchman Nick Nack? The film has gadgets, but it’s the villain who has them, not Bond. The golden gun, for example, and the flying car.
I’ve always enjoyed the funhouse scenes too, which lend a slightly surreal feel to the film. And after sitting Live And Let Die out, John Barry is back. While generally considered to be one of Barry’s weakest scores, the music is still recognisably John Barry, although – and he did later regret it – he was responsible for that slide whistle. It’s a shame that it undermines the car corkscrew stunt. Yes, the lyrics for Lulu’s theme song, penned by Don Black, could have been written by a bunch of schoolboys. But The Man With The Golden Gun feels like a Bond film much more than some entries in the series simply by virtue of having Barry on board. Remarkably he composed the score in just three weeks, squeezing it between his other commitments.
The film’s locations are another big plus. Guy Hamilton was keen to shoot in the Far East and made good use of Thailand in particular. Borrowing from the martial arts films popularised by Bruce Lee, Bond faces an entire karate dojo in Bangkok. Luckily Lieutenant Hip and his two nieces turn up to help him out. There follows a longtail-speed boat chase along the klongs and, later on, a car chase as Bond pursues Scaramanga in an AMC Hornet he takes from a showroom – complete with our old friend JW Pepper – after Mary Goodnight is bundled into the boot of his AMC Matador.
It’s in this sequence that Bond corkscrews his car as he jumps a river using the broken remains of a rickety wooden bridge as a ramp. Performed by Lauren “Bumps” Willert in a modified Hornet, the stunt is credited as being the first computer-designed stunt in a major film. A computer simulation of the stunt by Cornell Aeronautical Laboratory showed it was feasible to do but it would require a very precise jump. In the end Willert performed the jump perfectly and it was filmed in a single take. Bond finally catches up with Scaramanaga’s car only to watch the Matador, with the addition of wings and a jet engine, take off – with Goodnight still locked in the boot.
And then, as Bond flies a RC-3 Seabee to Scaramanga’s island lair, we are treated to stunning aerial shots of Phang Nga Bay. Even in a series that consistently provides spectacle after spectacle, this footage ranks among the best. It’s little wonder that Khao Phing Kan – now usually known simply as James Bond island – has become such a popular tourist destination.
With its theme of solar energy influenced by the oil crisis, The Man With The Golden Gun is very much a film of its time. But it also resonates today as we wean ourselves off oil and transition to cleaner energy. Perhaps it is time, fifty-one years after its release – and fifty years after I first saw Bond on the big screen – for The Man With The Golden Gun to be re-evaluated.
A version of this article originally appeared in MI6 Confidential #72 as ‘Gun’s Golden Anniversary’.
