THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN (1974, UK, 125m, PG) ***
Action, Adventure, Thriller
dist. United Artists; pr co. Eon Productions; d. Guy Hamilton; w. Richard Maibaum, Tom Mankiewicz (based on the novel by Ian Fleming); pr. Albert R. Broccoli, Harry Saltzman; ph. Ted Moore, Oswald Morris (Technicolor | 1.85:1); m. John Barry; ed. Raymond Poulton, John Shirley; pd. Peter Murton; ad. John Graysmark, Peter Lamont.
cast: Roger Moore (James Bond), Christopher Lee (Scaramanga), Britt Ekland (Goodnight), Maud Adams (Andrea Anders), Hervé Villechaize (Nick Nack), Clifton James (J.W. Pepper), Richard Loo (Hai Fat), Soon-Tek Oh (Hip), Marc Lawrence (Rodney), Bernard Lee (‘M’), Lois Maxwell (Moneypenny), Marne Maitland (Lazar), Desmond Llewelyn (‘Q’), James Cossins (Colthorpe), Yao Lin Chen (Chula), Carmen Du Sautoy (Saida), Gerald James (Frazier), Michael Osborne (Naval Lieutenant), Michael Fleming (Communications Officer).
James Bond (Moore) searches for a stolen invention that can turn the sun’s heat into a destructive weapon. He soon crosses paths with the menacing Francisco Scaramanga (Lee), a hit man so skilled he has a seven-figure working fee. Bond then joins forces with the swimsuit-clad Mary Goodnight (Ekland), and together they track Scaramanga to a tropical isle hideout where the killer-for-hire lures the slick spy into a deadly maze for a final duel. Moore’s second outing as 007 starts well, with little reliance on gadgets, but later descends into increasingly outlandish set-pieces – Lee’s flying car being a particular low point. Lee makes for a strong villain and Villechaize a memorable henchman. Still, the plot is lacking any broader threat than that to Bond himself – the climate crisis theme of the subplot may be even more topical today but is treated here in a tokenistic way. Again, cashing in on cinematic trends of the day the film shifts the locale from Fleming’s novel (Jamaica) to the Far East – introducing elements of martial arts to cash in on the then-recent glut of movies inspired by Bruce Lee. The fun-house scenes that bookend the film are well shot and tense and it’s nice to see Barry return to score the movie – even if the theme song (sung by Lulu) is one of the series’ poorest. There are elements of the vintage Bond classics here but too often they are undermined by an increasing desire to be cute – witness the impressive car jump stunt which is totally weakened by a supposedly humorous sound effect – worse was to follow in later entries. Followed by THE SPY WHO LOVED ME (1977).
