directed by Guy Hamilton
written by Richar Maibaum and Tom Mankiewicz
based on the novel by Ian Fleming
starring Roger Moore, Britt Ekland, Christopher Lee, Maud Adams, Hervé Villechaize, Clifton James, Richard Loo, Soon-Tek Oh, Bernard Lee, Lois Maxwell, Desmond Llewelyn
Bond faces a man with whom he shares many faculties in the ninth installment of the James Bond franchise. Technology and solar power play a definitive role in this story which is scattered from Beirut to Hong Kong and Bangkok.
The enemy in this story is the well-dressed, elegant expert marksman Francisco Scaramanga (Lee) who runs his operations from his own Island. He is the “Man with the Golden Gun” named for the gun he uses to dispatch of his targets for whose death he is payed one million dollars. He’s got massive plans for solar energy and none of them are particularly beneficial to the public at large. His assistant is the malevolent dwarf Nick Nack (Villechaize) who seems to be ubiquitous throughout the film. The film is a race to discover Scaramanga’s lair and all of the glorious technological wonders he has implanted there. It rivals the MI6 for its ingenuity and usefulness and Bond seems duly impressed.
The sexy Bond Girls in this film comes in the exquisite shape of Mary Goodnight (Ekland) who is sent to become Bond’s assistant and ultimately his lover and Scaramanga’s girl Andrea Anders (Adams) who also sleeps with Bond as all of them eventually do. Goodnight is supposed to be conducting official business and actually proclaims she doesn’t want to be one of his casual, throwaway flings but a few hours later she shows up in his room unable to resist his charms.
There are several sequences that seem sluggish and drag on a bit too long. There isn’t a tremendous amount of energy in this film and nothing seems particularly necessary in the rush to stop the madman Scaramanga. The locales are certainly lovely and possess their own peculiar charms but the story itself lacks tenacity or urgency which has been the hallmark of the series thus far. It looks like a pedestrian thriller without any clear definable features to set it apart from similarly themed films.
This film lacks the one on one physical confrontation between the two key players that always add a percolating thrill to Bond films. Also, once Bond actually meets Scaramanga whatever bit of magic this film possesses is sucked into the void. Still, Scaramanga ranks right up there with Goldfinger, Blofeld and No as formidable adversaries in this franchise that never seems to run out of nefarious characters to pit Bond against. Scaramanga is refined, cultured and utterly hellbent on actualizing his vision and commanding complete control of the world’s solar energy supplies. He’s a man of means who possesses a definitive genius for acquiring the technology he requires to see everything come off as it should. Of course he is not allowed to see his ideas come into fruition as Bond naturally comes to the rescue as he always does–with whatever piece of ass is left lying about and with most of his dignity intact.
Bond leads yet another group of angry young men on a long, drawn out boat chase which seems to lack the hifalutin danger quotient that has been injected into other such sequences. There is also a car chase scene which features a maneuver that is as spectacular as anything ever put on screen. It’s simply magical and awe-inspiring and most definitely worth the price of admission just on its own terms.
Despite the obvious comeliness of the two central females in this film and a rather sexy belly dancing scene there isn’t a whole lot of sex appeal outside of the charms of Mr. Lee and Mr. Moore. Bond also isn’t as playful here although he is certainly up to every challenge when it comes to leaving his mark on his women. One always is left to wonder what all the other women he has nailed in the series end up feeling about him. After all he’s nothing but a glorified cad who disposes of women like the wrapper on a Debauve & Gallais Antilles Rum. Certainly he affords all of the finer things including suits, Dom Pérignon, women, cars, and other implementations that cure the souls of the affluent and easily bored. He’s got a gift for purring in the ear of whatever kitty he wants to tantalize and he truly fills out his suits and tuxes with a heady, masculine readiness. He is a symbol for how life could be if only one could grasp elusive truths that separate those who have from those who do not. One is allowed to live through Bond and imagine one possesses all of his myriad skills for getting the most out of life while being able to kill people whenever they need to be killed.
Christopher Lee makes for a sublime criminal mind in this film. Of the early Bond arch-fiends Scaramanga possesses the most bewitchery and there is something positively lethal about the way he maneuvers about. Much of this comes with his ease of movement which translates into a grace that is second to none. Lee presents a man whose tastes rival Bond’s and it’s enjoyable to watch them attempt to outwit one another. The film has a nice symmetry to it as both the opening and penultimate sequences mirror each other in a way that gives the film a sort of uniformity which works well in the end.
The performances in this film all seem to work well within the limits of the material. Roger Moore is effective as 007 and commands the screen as one requires of his character. Christopher Lee is impressive and fully engaged in conveying a character that is mercurial and divisive. His charm expresses itself in many different ways and it is an equal match for that of Bond. Britt Ekland does what every Bond girl must do which is to look good in a bikini and swoon whenever Bond comes any where near her. She also manages to come off as tough, decisive and intelligent which is always a bonus for these characters. Hervé Villechaize plays it up as a deliriously effective thorn in James Bond’s side. His character is everywhere in this film like a gnat that just can’t be swatted and his presence adds an unsavory aspect to the film. Villechaize comes to us several years before his smashingly popular stint on TV’s “Fantasy Island”; subsequently its impossible to watch him without thinking first of his iconic character on that program.
Overall, this film doesn’t quite live up to some of the other great films that have proceeded it in the series. Still, it’s got a brilliant turn from Christopher Lee and exotic locales which are well exploited throughout. It’s all just a bit dodgy and doesn’t come together with any satisfaction by the end. The enemies don’t come off as particularly dangerous in this film and it seems too fundamentally easy to quash their plans and shatter their dreams. Still, there are moments when everything works effectively and these increase the film’s overall watchability. Bond does what he’s supposed to do but it’s just not as meaningful as it ought to be. In the end it doesn’t much matter who emerges from the inevitable fracas that engages both men to the death. Ultimately, the film lacks the pristine appreciation for style in the face of extreme danger that defines the series and the character of James Bond. No matter what terrible scratch he finds himself in he always looks like he just stepped out of a tailor on Savile Row. In this installment Bond seems a bit too haggard at times although for the most part he hits the right notes and gives his audience precisely what they are always desperate for in a hero. He’s still the man all men want to be all women want to be had by.
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