THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN (1974) When the inevitable conversations over the best Bond villains come, Christopher Lee's name is never normally far from the top of the list. Whilst having fun as a larger than life villain, Lee also manages to rein it in in certain scenes to offer a more ominous glimpse of the hit man. When Scaramangas servant Nick Nack (Hervé Villechaize) challenges him to a dual in his funhouse with a gangster, Lee becomes extremely sinister performance and also exhibits a disregard for human life when it becomes apparent that he has shot lover Andrea Anders (Maud Adams) for her infidelity and disloyalty and the actor does so with a menacing charm that implies he thinks nothing of his actions. As Lulus irritating title tune screeches, Love is required, whenever hes hired, it comes just before a kill and Lee certainly convinces that Scaramanga equates murder with a perverse sexual pleasure, hinting at a deviant sexual orientation. Unlike other villains Lee has played, with Scaramanga he blends a mix of humour, malevolence and charm to create a uniquely engaging character. Interestingly, Lee was Bond author Ian Flemings cousin. Fleming had previously offered Lee the title role in Dr. No (1965), but the actor turned it down and it eventually went to Joseph Wiseman. Its hard to imagine anybody else playing Scaramanga, but had Lee accepted Dr. No it's unlikely he would have been able to return to the series in the later role.
When the inevitable conversations over the best Bond villains come, Christopher Lee's name is never normally far from the top of the list. Whilst having fun as a larger than life villain, Lee also manages to rein it in in certain scenes to offer a more ominous glimpse of the hit man. When Scaramangas servant Nick Nack (Hervé Villechaize) challenges him to a dual in his funhouse with a gangster, Lee becomes extremely sinister performance and also exhibits a disregard for human life when it becomes apparent that he has shot lover Andrea Anders (Maud Adams) for her infidelity and disloyalty and the actor does so with a menacing charm that implies he thinks nothing of his actions. As Lulus irritating title tune screeches, Love is required, whenever hes hired, it comes just before a kill and Lee certainly convinces that Scaramanga equates murder with a perverse sexual pleasure, hinting at a deviant sexual orientation. Unlike other villains Lee has played, with Scaramanga he blends a mix of humour, malevolence and charm to create a uniquely engaging character. Interestingly, Lee was Bond author Ian Flemings cousin. Fleming had previously offered Lee the title role in Dr. No (1965), but the actor turned it down and it eventually went to Joseph Wiseman. Its hard to imagine anybody else playing Scaramanga, but had Lee accepted Dr. No it's unlikely he would have been able to return to the series in the later role.