[6]

The stakes are lower than usual and the action in short supply, but Roger Moore’s second outing as James Bond makes up for it in character. This time around, Bond has been targeted by a mysterious, reclusive assassin named Scaramanga (Christopher Lee). MI6 tells Bond to go into hiding, but he decides instead to hunt down Scaramanga and deal with the threat head-on. This takes him to Bangkok, where he works with a fellow spy named Goodnight (Britt Ekland) and Scaramanga’s own mistress (Maud Adams) to discern who Scaramanga is and where he can be found.

The Man with the Golden Gun is perhaps most notable for its casting of Dracula actor Christopher Lee as Scaramanga, an eccentric baddie (aren’t they all?) who turns out to have not two, but three nipples and an island hideout that puts all other villain’s lairs to shame. We also get diminutive Hervé Villechaize (TV’s Fantasy Island) as his devoted, lethal handy-man, Nick Nack. Britt Ekland and Maud Adams are both more than adequate as Bond girls. (Adams would return in Octopussy.) We also get a silly but welcome return for actor Clifton James, who played the hick bayou cop in the previous film, Live and Let Die.

After so many of the previous James Bond films contained the threat of mass destruction and death, it’s easy to understand why some viewers would find The Man with the Golden Gun a bit disappointing for its more intimate storyline. But I would argue high stakes get boring after a while and that an occasional lighter episode is necessary to the health of the series. I guess on some level, as long as James Bond takes me around the world, shows me things and introduces me to interesting characters, I’ll always buy a ticket.

Lulu opens and closes the show with one of the franchise’s less memorable title songs, but it’s great to have John Barry back in charge of the score. It’s also nice to see MI6’s familiar faces, with Bernard Lee as M, Lois Maxwell as Moneypenny, and Desmond Llewelyn as Q.

Directed by Guy Hamilton. With Richard Loo and Soon-Tek Oh.