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The Man with the Golden Gun |
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The Man with the Golden Gunpaperback editionThe Man with the Golden Gun is a James Bond novel by Ian Fleming that was first published in 1965. It is also the ninth official James Bond movie and the second to star Roger Moore as Commander James Bond, British Secret Service agent 007. 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. The novelpaperback edition. Plot summaryIt has been nearly a year since James Bond disappeared, and was presumed dead during his mission to Japan. Suddenly, a man claiming to be Bond appears at headquarters, and after much scrutinizing and interrogation, the man is confirmed to be James Bond, but the moment 007 is taken to M's office, Bond tries to kill him, but fails. MI6 learns that, after the attack on 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 secret service agent. M assigns him to Jamaica, to gain the confidence of one Paco "Pistols" Scaramanga, a Soviet 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 learns that Scaramanga is working a scheme to destabilize Western interests in the Caribbean's sugar industry. The Man with the Golden Gun was released to mixed reviews, and is generally considered by critics to be one of the lesser of Fleming's Bond novels.
The controversy over the novelThe novel, The Man with the Golden Gun, has been subject to controversy and speculation since it was published in 1965, the year after Ian Fleming passed away. Since Fleming supposedly died before a final draft of his manuscript was completed, it has been speculated that the novel was edited and finished by others before its publication. Kingsley Amis has often received credit for completing or editing The Man with the Golden Gun, but this has been denied by numerous sources including biographer Andrew Lycett in his biography Ian Fleming: The Man Behind James Bond who claims Fleming had indeed finished it and was subsequently read and only edited by Fleming's editor William Plomer. John Cork, co-author of James Bond, The Legacy (and producer of the literally dozens of documentaries produced for the Special Edition DVD releases of the Bond films a few years ago) also claims that Fleming had finished it and that he had actually seen the original non-edited typescript [1], although he also admits that Amis had read it and had offered ideas that were apparently not implemented. The fact that Fleming reportedly was working on 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) add credence to the idea that Fleming felt the novel was finished before he died. 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 rumors of ghostwriters and revisions, some sources have suggested that the novel was some sort of "lost" manuscript. This is not true. Comic strip adaptationFleming'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. TriviaThe filmPlot summaryThe film version's title character is Francisco Scaramanga, a high-priced assassin who charges US$1 million per hit. Not surprisingly, 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 financer, 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. CrewSoundtrackThe 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 listingVehicles & gadgetsLocationsFilm Locations One of the more interesting locations is the use of a derelict cruise liner, the RMS Queen Elizabeth, as a top-secret MI6 base in Hong Kong harbor. Shooting locationsSee alsoTriviaExternal links
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