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Live and Let Die became the biggest financial success and also critical success since Thunderball. There was no question that the series would continue, and the producers found themselves in an enviable position.. they knew for the first time in 7 years (since OHMSS) who would play Bond – Moore had been signed for a 3 year contract, and was keen to return), and Tom Mankiewicz the screenwriter and Guy Hamilton the director of the previous two movies, were set to return.. the winning formula could continue, this time surely a safer bet.
For its origins, Makiewicz looked to Fleming’s last novel – The Man With The Golden Gun, published in 1965. However, as in previous Hamilton outings, the plot of that novel was mostly junked in favour of more topical plot lines. In 1973, the Arab invasion of Israel meant that the location scouting for MWTGG in Iran was brought to an abrupt end.. however the subsequent oil embargo imposed by the Arab states on the Western world provided a direct impetus for the plot of MWTGG – the solex, the solar power answer to the worlds energy needs. For tone, the previous movie had benefitted from public interest in Blaxploitation movies – now in 1973 “Enter the Dragon” brought Bruce Lee’s star to a peak, only enhanced by his untimely demise, and martial arts movies were ‘the thing’. However, Makiewicz felt played out of ideas, and stood down from script duties, and Bond stalwart Richard Maibaum was brought in to finish the story. Ironically, Mankiewicz was brought in later to polish the script which was itself a rewrite of his own script. It is Mankiewicz that added the bon mots and one liners – “speak now or forever hold your piece” etc. With the martial arts theme in mind, Vietnam being out of the question, Thailand, Hong Kong and Macau became the locations for the new James Bond movie. In fact, the producers found an incredibly remote island on a relatively unknown area called Phuket. It was basic, and when the crew arrived they found the only hotel of any size was so rough that the producers had to invest in it to bring it up to bearable standards. Only years later did they confess to the cast and crew that there was no hotel – they had taken over the town brothel, and sent all the ladies on vacation for the two weeks they were filming there. The subsequent exposure to a world wide audience, and the timely building of a bridge to the area, meant that the area quickly developed into one of the primary tourist destinations in Thailand.
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Guy Hamilton wanted Jack Palance for the role of Scaramanga, but when he turned him down, it was Moore that suggested Christopher Lee – not only was he a well established actor who benefitted from being even taller than Moore – he had worked in Intelligence during the war, and was a good friend of Moore. And to bring him even closer to Bond, his cousin and oft-times golf partner was none other than Ian Fleming. Lee was attracted to the fact that unlike the book where Scaramanga is not much more than a thug, in the movie he is more like an opposite of Bond – who sees himself as a kindred spirit. Britt Eckland was so keen for the role she asked for the role of Mary Goodnight even before the script was written, and another Swede, Maud Adams, was hired to play Scaramanga’s mistress.
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Shooting started in April 1974, with cast and crew enjoying a 90 minute truck ride followed by longboats to the island, there and back each day. Subsequently, the production moved to Bangkok where an old favourite returned – Sheriff Pepper.
The setpiece stunt of the movie was the barrel roll car jump – a unique stunt that was so complex it was designed by computer at Cornell University. When the stunt was done, cranes, divers, ambulances and a team of medical specialists were on standby – however it was done in one take. It was so successful the director thought it looked too easy and asked for a second take – but the stuntman declined to do so, having never before done the stunt.
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The movie had exotic locations, beautiful Bond girls, a Fleming title, John Barry returning to the music (mostly because no-one else could do it in the short time required) and another set of Maurice Binder titles for the title music – and yet, on release, it was the least successful Bond movie to that point. Brocolli put it down to the intense time pressure they had attempted to make the movie to, saying that with the changes in screenwriters they really hadn’t had time to properly develop the story. Others criticised the humour – Sheriff Pepper was now supposed to be a cuddly buffoon, rather than the more reprehensibly racist character from the previous movie, and the martial arts schoolgirls were criticised as being in bad taste.
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There were distractions for the producers too meaning they were never as focussed as they usually were, on getting the details right. It was the last movie Saltzman and Broccoli produced together. Moore himself said he was never comfortable with the violence in the movie – he looks particularly uncomfortable in the scene where he hurts Maud Adams to get information.
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Trivia
This is the last Bond film to be shot/shown in a 1.85:1 aspect ratio.
Long-time DP Ted Moore quit halfway through the production, either through illness or disagreements with the producers depending on who you ask. Ernest Day acted as DP for about a week before Oswald Morris came on board (though none of the footage shot by Day made it into the final film).
In the fight in the dancer's dressing-room, Roger Moore sprays one of the villains in the face with an aerosol can of what is clearly Brut-33, a nod to the Fabergé company with which Moore was associated.
"The Man with the Golden Gun" was the last novel Ian Fleming wrote. The film bears virtually no relation to the book, other than the name of Scaramanga, his third nipple, his golden gun, his occupation as an assassin, and a brief monologue about the shooting of an elephant when Scaramanga was younger. Even the locale was shifted from Jamaica, as that location had already been used for Dr. No and Live and Let Die. Scaramanga was changed from an American hood into a more urbane methodical assassin, more akin to Bond himself.
Travelling to Los Angeles for the Johnny Carson show to promote the film, Christopher Lee had his golden gun confiscated by US customs.
Eight years earlier, Britt Ekland's then husband Peter Sellers played James Bond's double in Casino Royale.
Hervé Villechaize lamented to Roger Moore that whenever he stayed at a hotel, he could never get a room above the first floor. When Moore asked him why, he said it was because he couldn't reach the buttons in the lift.
Director Guy Hamilton has stated that the Nick Nack was intended as being a miniature version of the Oddjob character (they both wear black bowler-style hats)from Goldfinger, a film he also directed. Nick Nack was the first villain (but a henchman) in the EON Production official series whose fate was to be captured and not killed.
The secret headquarters for MI6 in Hong Kong Harbour was the wreck of the real life ship RMS Queen Elizabeth. The vessel had actually however been renamed before the time of filming and was known as the Seawise University.
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