Cristopher Lee as Francisco Scaramanga.	Christopher Lee enjoying the benefits of being The Man With The Golden Gun: two Maud Adams and Britt Ekland look-alikes.

But the one that also made the population to be delighted that year was James Bond. Roger Moore starred as James Bond for the second time in The Man With The Golden Gun, based in Ian Fleming's penultimate book, published in 1965, a year after his death. The film was directed by Guy Hamilton, who helmed Goldfinger ten years before, and the screenplay was written by the regular screenwriter Richard Maibaum in association with the screenwriter of the two previous films, British writer Tom Mankiewicz.

Roger Moore's co-stars were Swedish-born actress Britt Ekland, wife of Peter Sellers, as MI6 agent Mary Goodnight, and Maud Adams, who would later reappear in Octopussy, portraying Andrea Anders, lover of Francisco Scaramanga, the film's villain.

The actor who plays Francisco Scaramanga has been famous before and after appearing in the film. Before 1974 he was known as Hammer's Dracula. After 1974, young moviegoers recognised him as Count Dukoo from the Star Wars saga and as Saruman from the Lord of The Rings trilogy. We're talking of British actor Christopher Lee, who shared another relationship with James Bond: he was cousin and occasional golf partner of Ian Fleming. He was even considered to became the first onscreen 007 in Dr No, role that ultimately went to Sean Connery.

In1965's novel, Scaramanga, known as "Paco Pistolas", is a typical far west outlaw, brute and not-so debonair, responsable for the death of numerous MI6 operatives. However, Tom Mankiewicz, Guy Hamilton and Christopher Lee opted to make the film version a refined gentleman, but not less ruthless as the literary version. Christopher Lee recalls: "Scaramanga is not one of (Fleming's) most impressive murderers. Ian was already ill when he wrote The Man With The Golden Gun and I think he knew that the wells of his imagination were beggining to run a bit dry. So Guy and I, after a lot of talk, decided to make Scaramanga a little like Bond himself, a counter-Bond if you like." (1)

Every one of his accuarate shots worth a million dollars. Right at the beggining of the film we see him doing his daily routine: loving and killing. It's very much the own Bond's routine, with the difference Francisco Scaramanga is pleased to do his job, unlike Bond, wo, as we read in the novels, thinks it's a filthy bussines.

"When I kill it's on the specific orders of my government, and those I kill are themselves killers" - is James' awnser to The Man With The Golden Gun's provocations, when both men have lunch right before their duel à la mort.

Bond is leaded to the hitman when a golden bullet with the "007" number engraved on it is left at the MI6 Headquarters. Scaramanga's trademark for a warning: "Psychological. He counts on his reputation to terrify his intended victim" -explains the Chief of Staff, of a dangerous man only known by some biographycal facts and a physical flaw: a third nipple, considered by the oriental religions as a symbol of virility, annatomical characteristic also shared with the literary Scaramanga.

Scaramanga has fun with his toys, as an impressed Bond watches.	The Man With The Golden Gun about to give someone a glittering end.

Even tough M relevates Bond of his actual mission, finding solar energy expert Gibson, to evitate Scaramanga "pop up and put a bullet in his (Bond's) head", the agent visits a nightclub in Beirut, where Bill Fairbanks, agent 002, spent the last minutes of his life, embracing a Lebanese belly dancer named Saida. James visits her and discovers the golden bullet that killed 002, courtesy of Scaramanga, is now the "lucky charm" used by the girl to make her belly dance.

Bond succeeds in taking the bullet out of her navel and examinates it, concluding that it was made by a Portugese living in Macau, named Lazar. After a little persuation, the man leads 007 to Andrea Anders, Scaramanga's lover. Bond seduces the girl, much to agent Goodnight's annoyance, and finally discovers that it was she, tired of her lover domination, the one who sent the bullet to MI6, to put Bond behind Scaramanga's trail so that Bond could kill him.

So we see, Francisco Scaramanga has never been behind Bond. He admires Bond, whom he consideres as killer as him. At the beggining of the film he gets rid of one of the much hitmans who come to challenge him, and there we see he has a statue of agent 007, which he ultimately uses to have fun with it by blowing his fingers using his accuarate marksmanship.

Christopher Lee shows an impressed Britt Ekland the Golden Gun.	Lee asists to the film's press conference in Hong Kong, with (L to R) Hervé Villechaize, Britt Ekland, Maud Adams and Roger Moore.

"I've got nothing against you, Mr. Bond, so let us hope our paths never cross again" - warns Scaramanga to Bond, when both finally meet in a kickboxing stadium at Bangkok, where 007 wanted to contact Andrea, now killed by The Man With The Golden Gun because of her betrayal.

Nevertheless, Scaramanga owns the Solex agitator, a gadget capable of almacenate solar energy and use it as a dangerous weapon. The Solex was property of the missing scientist Gibson, murdered by Scaramanga by request of Hai Fat, a powerful Thai industrialist, whom Scaramanga also killed in order to apropiate the late's energy plant at Phang Na Island. 007 must not only confront Scaramanga for a matter of honor, he also has to do it to recover the Solex.

We have previously talked of the pleasure of killing for the villain. Even tough, he's not precisely a violent assasin. Everything he needs to do the dirty job is his unfolding gun, made of various pieces of gold: a cigarette case (the butt), a lighter (the chamber), a cuff link (the trigger) and a fountain pen (the barrel). All his victims end with a dum-dum bullet made by Lazar. This kind of bullets flatten when they impact on a surface to produce a bigger impact.

What other luxuries does Scaramanga own? An AMC Matador car that can be converted into an airplane, a midget butler named Nick Nack, the energy plant he "inherit" from Hai Fat, and a mirror-laden maze with different western set up, used by the villain and his helper to distract and to make the rivals to spent their bullets just to make sure they won't be back alive. "You live well, Scaramanga" -notices Bond. "At a million dollars a contract, I can afford to, Mr. Bond" -awnsers The Man With The Golden Gun, proud of his "job". He soon starts to mock Bond: "You work for peanuts, a hearty well-done for Her Majesty The Queen and a pittance of a pension, apart for that, we're the same".

Of course, none of both are the same: they have the same penchant for the luxurious clothes, the beautiful women, exotic locations, but, definetively, Bond despises killing, while Scaramanga took his first blood at the age of ten, by killing a taimer who was being agressive with an Elephant. "I always tought I liked animals. Then I discovered I liked killing people even more."

"There's a useful four letter word. And you're full of it" - Bond provokes Scaramanga.	Bond and Scaramanga challenge for their honor.

"I could have shot you when you landed, but that'd have been ridiculously easy" -Scaramanga tells Bond, pointing him with his gun. Then, the hitman challenges 007 to a duel, "the only true test for gentlemen", according to him. James Bond, defying, awnsers: "I doubt you quallify on that score. However, I accept".
With that words, James hit Scaramanga strongly: the hitman considers himself a gentleman, a titan, and his nemesis says he "doesn't qualify on that score".

In the original script can be found an alternative exchange, where Scaramanga says "the world isn't big enough for us both", and Bond replies: "I have no intention of leaving it". In the same script, 007 also mocks the villain by saying: "you can kill me with clichés" (2). In both the original version of the script as in the finished onscreen result, we see a duel of honours between Bond and his enemy. There is also a deleted scene in which, once fighting the duel, the agent calls Scaramanga "a chicken", and the assasin says Bond is a "limey punk", while both are hiding behind a rock confronting each other (3).

The Sir With The Golden Gun - Prince Charles knights Christopher Lee.	Finally, Bond beats Scaramanga using his wits: Disguised with the clothes of his statue, he applies him an accuarate shot right in his heart. "He's flat on his coup de grace", comments James to Goodnight. Christopher Lee's performance was acclaimed by many moviegoers, especialy by the newspaper Times: "Lee plays the role lightly, urbanely, with a smile on the killer's face... he and the camera crew carry off the major honours of the movie." (4).

Roger Moore and Christopher Lee were friends since both appeared in 1949's The Gay Lady. During the shooting they joked with Lee's Dracula image, particluary when a flock of bats came out of a cave in Phang Na Island. "Master, they are yours to command" -said jockingly Roger. (5). The distended climate in the set deserves the credit to the very good sense of humour of director Hamilton, as Lee recalls: "Guy kept on saying to Roger Moore and myself: 'Enjoy it, enjoy it, lightly, lightly!'. Enjoy it I did". (6).

Some months ago, Christopher Lee was knighted by the British Royalty to honour his trajectory in the film industry.
He is, undeniably, "The Sir with the Golden Gun".