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The Man with the Golden Gun is the thirteenth and final James Bond novel written by Ian Fleming and published posthumously in the United Kingdom and the United States by Glidrose Productions, in 1965. It was followed a year later by Fleming's short story collection, Octopussy and The Living Daylights.

It is also the ninth official James Bond movie and the second to star Roger Moore as British Secret Service agent Commander James Bond. The Man with the Golden Gun was made by EON Productions and released in 1974. The film was produced by Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman and was the final Bond film to be co-produced by Saltzman as his partnership with Broccoli dissolved after the film's release. Saltzman's 50% stake in EON Productions parent company, Danjaq, LLC was then purchased by United Artists. The resulting legalities over the Bond property delayed production of the next Bond film, The Spy Who Loved Me for three years. The interval would be the longest break in the series until the six-year hiatus between Licence to Kill in 1989 and GoldenEye in 1995.

The novel

Plot summary

It has been nearly a year since James Bond disappeared, and was presumed dead during his mission to Japan. Then, a man claiming to be Bond appears in London and demands to see M. After much scrutinising and interrogation, the man's identity is confirmed, but during his debriefing interview with M, Bond tries to kill him with a cyanide pistol; the attempt fails.

Meanwhile, the British Secret Service have learned that after attacking Blofeld's castle in Japan (chronicled in You Only Live Twice), Bond suffered a head injury and subsequent amnesia. After living as a Japanese fisherman for several months, Bond headed north, into the Soviet Union, to learn his true identity. While there, he was brainwashed and programmed to kill M on returning to England.

Now deprogrammed, Bond is eager to prove himself worthy of again being a 00 agent. M assigns him to Jamaica, to locate and gain the confidence of one Francisco (Paco) "Pistols" Scaramanga, an assassin, known as "the man with the golden gun", because of his golden .45 calibre revolver; Bond is assigned to kill him, because he killed several SIS agents.

In mid-assignment, Bond, who has managed to become Scaramanga's temporary personal assistant under the name of Mark Hazard, learns that Scaramanga is involved with a syndicate of American gangsters and the KGB, who are working several schemes, including the destabilisation of Western interests in the Caribbean's sugar industry, running drugs into America, smuggling women from Mexico into America and launching casinos in Jamaica. Initially unaware of Bond's presence in Jamaica, Felix Leiter has also been recalled to duty by the CIA and assigned to Scaramanga's hotel staff.

Bond kills Scaramanga during a train journey, with the assistance of Felix Leiter and his former secretary, Mary Goodnight, now assigned to the Kingston station of the Service. Leiter goes one step further and liquidates Scaramanga's gangster allies. In the process of all this, both Bond and Leiter are badly wounded, but they survive. Bond is offered a knighthood (KCMG — Bond already has CMG) for services past and present to Britain — but he turns it down because of his love for anonymity.

Trivia

  • The novel makes reference to events in the short story "The Property of a Lady", which had been published in a special Sotheby's Auction House publication the previous year. This reference would have been lost on the general public, however, who would not get to read the story until it appeared in the paperback edition of Octopussy and The Living Daylights in 1967.
  • Being the last James Bond novel by Ian Fleming, this is actually the first time M's full name, Admiral Sir Miles Messervy, is ever said. In previous novels, any reference to M's name had been censored by 'dashes'.

The controversy over the novel

The Man with the Golden Gun novel has been a controversial and speculative subject since its publication in 1965, the year after Ian Fleming died. Supposedly, since Fleming died before completing the final draft manuscript, speculation is that the novel was edited and finished by other writers before publication. Kingsley Amis often has received credit for either completing or editing The Man with the Golden Gun, but this has been denied by several sources, including Andrew Lycett in the biography Ian Fleming: The Man Behind James Bond, claiming Fleming had finished it and was subsequently read and edited only by Fleming's editor William Plomer. John Cork, co-author of James Bond, The Legacy (and producer of the documentaries included to the Special Edition DVD releases of the James Bond films) also claims that Fleming had finished it and that he, Cork, actually had seen the original un-edited typescript * — although he admits Amis had read it and had offered ideas that were not implemented. The introduction to the Titan Books reprint edition of the Colonel Sun comic strip explicitly describes the Golden Gun manuscript as "unfinished" at Fleming's death, and credits Plomer with polishing it for publication; the book also supports Cork's account that Amis's involvement was restricted to unimplemented suggestions for the manuscript.

The fact that Fleming was reportedly writing another Bond novel or short story at the time of his death (excerpts from which can be found in John Pearson's The Life of Ian Fleming and the 007forever.com website) adds credence to the idea that Fleming felt the novel was finished before he died, however, these fragments may pre-date his writing of The Man with the Golden Gun.

In the New Statesman, after the novel's release, Amis called it "a sadly empty tale, empty of the interests and effects that for better or worse, Ian Fleming made his own."

Perhaps, due to the rumours of ghostwriters and revisions, some sources have suggested that the novel was some sort of "lost" manuscript; this is untrue.

Comic strip adaptation

Fleming's original novel was adapted as a daily comic strip which was published in the British Daily Express newspaper and syndicated around the world. The adaptation ran from January 10 to September 10, 1966. The adaptation was written by Jim Lawrence and illustrated by Yaroslav Horak, both of whom were starting long tenures with the comic strip. The strip was reprinted by Titan Books in the early 1990s and again in 2004 as part of The Man with the Golden Gun anthology that also includes The Living Daylights.

The film

Plot summary

The film version's title character is Francisco Scaramanga, a high-priced assassin who charges *]1 million per hit. He's known for using a golden gun and only needs one golden bullet per hit. Nothing is really known about Scaramanga in the beginning of the film except that he has a third nipple (information which Bond later uses to get in touch with Scaramanga's financier, Hai Fat); no pictures or physical descriptions of him exist.

The movie begins with a golden bullet, with "007" — Bond's codename — etched into its surface, being received by Her Majesty's Secret Service, the Secret Intelligence Service (MI-6). It is believed by Military Intelligence that Scaramanga has been hired to assassinate James Bond and has sent the bullet to intimidate his new target.

Bond's mission at this time revolves around the work of a scientist named Gibson, thought to be in possession of information crucial to solving the energy crisis by creating a virtually unlimited amount of energy using a new technique of harnessing the Sun's power. Because of the perceived threat to the agent's life, M (Bond's 'control' officer in MI-6) removes James from his current mission, and forces 007 to go on leave until the matter is resolved.

Though officially "on leave" from his duties, Bond sets out to find Scaramanga before Scaramanga finds him. By retrieving a golden bullet used to assassinate another 'Double-0 agent' sometime previously, Agent 007 is led to the man responsible for supplying Scaramanga with his unusual golden ammunition. This leads Bond to Andrea Anders, Scaramanga's mistress. She confesses that it was she who sent the golden bullet to MI6 — to lure Bond to kill Scaramanga for her. Anders informs Bond as to where Scaramanga's plans will require him to be.

Unbeknownst to Bond, that location is that of Scaramanga's next 'hit', the target of which is Gibson, the solar energy scientist from Bond's previous mission. The hit takes place in order to steal the "solex agitator" — a critical component of Gibson's solar energy device. It is now Bond's mission to retrieve the solex agitator and duel it out with Scaramanga before Scaramanga can sell the device to the highest criminal bidder or use it for his own nefarious plans.

Cast & characters

This is the first of three movies to either star or have a cameo by Maud Adams. In 1983 she plays a different character, Octopussy, in the film of the same name. She would later have a cameo in the Bond movie A View to a Kill. This is also the second movie with Clifton James playing the role of Sheriff J.W. Pepper. He first appeared in Live and Let Die.

Crew

Soundtrack

The theme tune, "The Man with the Golden Gun", was performed by Lulu and the lyrics to the song were written by Don Black. Alice Cooper claims his song The Man With The Golden Gun was to be used by the producers of the film until it was dropped for Lulu's song instead. Cooper's song appears on his album Muscle of Love.

The soundtrack was composed by Bond veteran John Barry. At the time, it was Barry's seventh Bond movie.

Track listing
  1. Main Title - The Man With The Golden Gun
  2. Scaramanga's Fun House
  3. Chew Me In Grisly Land
  4. The Man With The Golden Gun
  5. Getting The Bullet
  6. Goodnight Goodnight
  7. Let's Go Get Them
  8. Hip's Trip
  9. Kung Fu Fight
  10. In Search Of Scaramanga's
  11. Return To Scaramanga's
  12. End Title - The Man With The Golden Gun

Vehicles & gadgets

  • AMC Hornet Sportabout 'hatchback' — Bond steals this car from an AMC dealership in Bangkok, Thailand, unknowing that Sheriff J.W. Pepper is in it, planning to test drive it (a full-on example of product placement, as AMC cars were actually never sold in Thailand, which drives on the left). LHD AMC cars were also used for the cop's cars, and by Scaramanga. A great stunt in the film takes place using the UNIVAC computer-calculated 'Calspan Spiral', permitting a fantastic feat of automotive acrobatics, until that time considered physically impossible.
  • Car Plane — During a car chase, Scaramanga's AMC Matador 'X' disappears in a shed for some time. When it emerges it has wings attached, allowing it to fly away. The vehicle is an extrapolation of the last of the Taylor Aerocars, then undergoing experimentation in the USA.
  • The Golden Gun — Scaramanga's weapon of choice, it could fire a .17 calibre golden bullet specially made for the gun. The gun contained only a single round, which was sufficient for Scaramanga given his legendary marksmanship. The gun also separated into a gold cigarette lighter, a gold cigarette case, a gold cuff link, and a gold pen so as to avoid detection.
  • Fake Nipple - James Bond uses a fake, synthetic nipple provided by Q to make it look like he has three nipples so that he might impersonate Scaramanga (who was known for said physical trait).

Locations

Film Locations

One of the more interesting locations is the use of a derelict former Atlantic Ocean liner, the RMS Queen Elizabeth, as a top-secret MI6 base in Hong Kong harbour.

Shooting locations

See also

Trivia

  • The film references the then-recent 1973 energy crisis. Britain had not yet fully overcome the crisis when the film was released.
  • The Announcer on the Hong Kong-Macau Hydrofoil ferry announces, when passing the wreck of the Queen Elizabeth, mentions that it sunk in 1971. Actually it was January 1972.
  • Christopher Lee is Ian Fleming's cousin and according to some sources was one of Fleming's choice for the role of Dr. Julius No in the film Dr. No (1962).
  • In the video game GoldenEye 007, and subsequent James Bond games (including Agent Under Fire, Nightfire, and Rogue Agent), the Golden Gun counts as an instant kill, reflecting that the villain Francisco Scaramanga never missed.
  • The idea of a 'golden gun' was also referenced in the video game Total Overdose, where the player can use a special move that equips the character with a golden revolver, which automatically hits whoever you are targeting and is also an instant kill.
  • This film was criticised that, in addition to production faults, it is the most sexist story in the series, with James Bond's assistant, Mary Goodnight, a stereotypical blonde buffoon who is nearly useless to him. On the other hand, when Bond is fleeing an enemy dojo, chased by martial artists, he offers to protect two girls who were being menaced by them, only to have them demonstrate their superior fighting skill by easily thrashing Bond's pursuers.
  • Although her performance in the film is undistinguished, Mary Goodnight is a recurring character in several Fleming Bond novels, even appearing in lieu of Miss Moneypenny; in the novels, Goodnight is Bond's secretary.
  • Broccoli and Saltzman originally intended The Man with the Golden Gun as the film to follow You Only Live Twice, in 1969, but production was cancelled, because it was to have been filmed in Cambodia, and the outbreak of war in the region made filming impractical. Roger Moore was invited to be Bond in the 1969 version.
  • The cork-screwing car jump was proposed several years before. The producers took out copyrights and patents on the stunt in order to prevent it being used before they could integrate to a James Bond film; the jump was planned using computer modelling.
  • The scenes featuring the island hideout of Scaramanga were filmed in Phang Nga Province in Thailand, northeast of Phuket. One of the islands seen in the film is known as the "Nail" island (or Ko Khao Tapoo) — in the film, this island houses the solar panels. Scaramanga's hideout is actually Ko Kow-Phing-Khan — both islands are now tourists attractions. The "nail" island seen in the film is known by locals as James Bond Island in all tourist literature. The site was extremely hard hit by a tsunami following the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake.
  • Marc Lawrence, who plays the gangster shot dead by Scaramanga at the start of the film, played a similar character in Diamonds Are Forever, although this film does not indicate whether Lawrence is playing the same character.
  • When Bond appears on Scaramanga's island, Scaramanga doesn't use his deluxe golden gun--made from a cigarette case, lighter, and other components--to shoot the cork off the bottle of Dom Perignon. Instead, he employs a gold-plated Colt.45. This could be a nod to the weapon that Scaramanga uses in the original novel, or a reference to the golden gun brandished by Auric Goldfinger during the climax of Goldfinger. It may even be the same prop.
  • In the book, Scaramanga fires a gold plated Colt 45 that shoots silver jacketed, solid gold bullets. In the film, the bullet is a 17 caliber slug without a silver jacket. Scaramanga would have to be an incredible shot in order to make a one shot - one kill with such a small caliber bullet.
  • The canal scenes where Bond disables the dojo's boat was filmed in Thon Buri, Thailand.

External links

1965 novels | 1974 films | James Bond books | James Bond films | British novels | Der Mann mit dem goldenen Colt | El hombre de la pistola de oro | L'Homme au pistolet d'or | האיש בעל אקדח הזהב | 007 黄金銃を持つ男 | The Man with the Golden Gun | The Man with the Golden Gun | Mannen med den gyllene pistolen (bok) | Mannen med den gyllene pistolen

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "The Man with the Golden Gun".

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