The Man With The Golden Gun
IN ALL THE heinous evildoings ever faced by James Bond, 007 has never faced anything so unspeakably wrong as the penny whistle that accompanies the corkscrew car stunt in The Man With The Golden Gun. Driving a red AMC Hornet, Bond (a svelte Roger Moore) and Sheriff J.W. Pepper (Clifton James) are in hot pursuit of three-nippled villain Scaramanga (Christopher Lee) along a Bangkok river. Realising Scaramanga has sneakily crossed to the other side, Bond reverses, revs the engine (Pepper: “You’re not thinking that…” Bond: “I sure am, boy!”) and pulls off a spectacular jump across the water, spinning 360 degrees before landing safely on the other side. And it is here that the offending comedy woodwind instrument added by composer John Barry can be heard.
“Cubby didn’t like that,” Barry said of Bond producer Albert R. ‘Cubby’ Broccoli.
“I think I was wrong and Cubby was right stylistically. Earlier I would have played it for all it was worth as a really dangerous moment in true James Bond style. I took this liberty of poking fun and made a mockery out of Bond. I broke the golden rule.”
Yet Barry’s misjudgement shouldn’t detract from what a pure and beautiful image the stunt produces. The idea started when stunt driver Joie Chitwood sent director Guy Hamilton a photograph of a car undertaking a corkscrew jump. The stunt was designed by scientist and engineer Raymond Mchenry on a computer (alt+ctrl+corkscrew) as part of action extravaganza American Thrill Show. The so-called Astro Spiral Jump had amazed audiences around the world and Broccoli thought it was perfect to bring to the 007verse. But for the stunt to work, certain specifications needed to be met. The AMC
Hornet had to be perfectly balanced so the driver and steering wheel are exactly in the middle. It also had to hit a curved ramp at precisely 48 miles per hour — two tachometers were on board to check this — meaning a long run-up was essential. Doc Brown and Marty had it easy compared to this.
On 1 June 1974, the crew, led by stunt co-ordinator W.J. Milligan Jr, set up at the canal at Khlong Rangsit, Thailand. With the ramp doctored to look like a broken bridge, the spiral jump was performed by Loren ‘Bumps’ Willert. Two dummies of Bond and Sheriff Pepper were placed either side of the driver, who was dressed in black so he wouldn’t show up on camera. “The guy who did the roll had never driven the car before or ever done it,” recalled Guy Hamilton. “He wasn’t concerned because as long as it had the run-up, so long as it’s 48 miles per hour, the rest is automatic. You hang on, cross your fingers, and bingo, he did it in one take.” One take of exhilarating movie magic. Something even a penny whistle can’t ruin.
THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN IS OUT NOW ON DVD, BLU-RAY AND DOWNLOAD