Published via Ecency

(source: tmdb.org)

In the early 1970s, the United Kingdom was facing an economic and political crisis of such magnitude that many believed its days were numbered. The same fate was predicted for one of its most popular cultural exports – the James Bond film series. At least, such an impression was to be made after the relatively poor critical reception of the 1974 film The Man with the Golden Gun, directed by Guy Hamilton.

The script by Richard Maibaum and Tom Mankiewicz, although nominally based on Ian Fleming’s last novel, actually addressed Britain’s economic woes, exacerbated by the 1973 Oil Shock. At the beginning, British secret agent James Bond (played by Roger Moore) is tasked with locating a British scientist who developed the “solex” – a device that could provide a cheap and practical form of solar energy. The scientist has apparently defected and offered his discovery to the highest bidder, but Bond is taken off the case in the middle of the investigation due to a more pressing personal matter. His superiors were warned that James Bond had become the object of interest of Francisco Scaramanga (played by Christopher Lee), the world’s most dangerous and efficient professional assassin, known for killing his targets with a single shot from a specially manufactured golden pistol. Convinced that he is the next target, Bond begins an investigation and the trail leads to Hong Kong, where he receives some aid from his old assistant Mary Goodnight (played by Britt Ekland). Bond tracks the gun and ammo manufacturer and later identifies Andrea Sanders (played by Maud Adams) as Scaramanga’s courier and lover.

Production of The Man with the Golden Gun was marked by quarrels between Tom Mankiewicz and Guy Hamilton, as well as a widening chasm between the producers Cubby Broccoli and Harry Saltzman, with the latter leaving the franchise soon afterwards. In such circumstances, the franchise and the film began to lose focus, and an attempt to compensate for that was increased levels of fan service. Its most obvious form was in almost all female characters appearing nude or semi-nude. Younger audiences were lured with long scenes featuring extensive displays of various martial arts, in an obvious attempt to exploit the kung fu film craze. The lack of truly spectacular action was somewhat compensated by the “corkscrew” car jump over the river, one of the first stunts devised through computer simulation. Anti-establishment youths were again courted by the annoying appearance of Southern redneck Sheriff Potter (played by Clifton James), here conveniently appearing as a tourist in Thailand. An attempt to bring Roger Moore’s suave, aristocratic Bond closer to the rougher and meaner character of the Connery years resulted in a few scenes in which the protagonist indulged in morally questionable actions, like slapping women or cheating a Thai boy out of his money. Feminists were, on the other hand, enraged by Mary Goodnight being portrayed as an incredibly inept and stupid woman, whose clumsiness and lack of clue often brought more mortal danger to Bond than Scaramanga and his villainous hordes. The use of French actor Hervé Villechaize in the role of Scaramanga’s dwarf sidekick, Nick Nack, although providing comedy at times, might look unpleasantly exploitative. The title song, performed by Scottish singer Lulu, is one of the weakest in the history of the franchise, and even the composer John Barry was publicly dissatisfied with his score.

Yet, despite all these flaws, The Man with the Golden Gun is still a very solid film that could entertain even viewers who aren’t big fans of James Bond. This is mostly due to Christopher Lee, a prolific character actor and Fleming’s cousin, who probably understood the franchise better than any actor. His portrayal of Scaramanga results in what is arguably the best Bond villain ever. He very ingeniously plays that character as a sort of “anti-Bond”, a man whose suaveness, good taste, playboy lifestyle, taste for adventure, and superb killing skills in many ways mimic the protagonist. In Bond, he sees the only worthy opponent, and his motive for killing him is more personal than ever. Some of the later Bond films would also feature villains as a sort of reflection of Bond, but never as effectively as in The Man with the Golden Gun.

Moore is also very good in this film and relatively easily manages to navigate around some of the traps left by the subpar script. Swedish actress Maud Adams is also surprisingly good in the thankless role of Scaramanga’s ill-fated mistress and leaves a much better impression than her seemingly more stellar compatriot Britt Ekland; it is easy to see how she became one of the rare Bond girls to appear again as a Bond girl (as the title character in 1983’s Octopussy). The film still contains a lot of humour, and the lack of gadgets forces Bond to improvise more and use his ingenuity to get himself out of trouble. The critics didn’t like the film many decades ago, and they don’t like it now. But it made solid results at the box office, and justifiably so. Just like the United Kingdom, the James Bond franchise survived its ordeal.

RATING: 6/10 (++)