Francisco Scaramanga is a fictional character and the main antagonist in the James Bondnovel and film version of The Man with the Golden Gun. Scaramanga is a hitman who kills with his signature weapon, a pistol plated with a thin layer of gold. In the novel, the character is nicknamed "Pistols", Scaramanga is also called "Paco" (a Spanishdiminutive of Francisco).[1] In the film, the character was played by Christopher Lee (the real-life step-cousin of James Bond creator Ian Fleming).[2]
As with another of James Bond's nemeses, Ernst Stavro Blofeld, in 2007 the Daily Mail reported that the inspiration for this fictional character was a classmate of Fleming's, at Eton College in the 1920s, George Ambrosios (Ambrose) Scaramanga.[3]
Novel biography
Francisco Scaramanga, of Spanish (Catalonia) origin, became a perfect shooter as a boy, and he performed in a circus owned by his father Enrico. Francisco also cared for one of the circus elephants, which he stated was his only real friend. When the elephant went on a rampage during the circus visit to Trieste, Scaramanga witnessed a policeman kill it. The enraged boy, who was 16 at the time, retaliated by shooting the policeman through the eye. He then made his way to the United States from Naples, where he found employment as an enforcer for the Spangled Mob, an outfit that plays a role in two other Bond novels: Diamonds Are Forever (where they were the main foe of Agent 007) and Goldfinger as an accomplice to Auric Goldfinger's Operation Grandslam. He posed as a pitboy at the casino of Tiara Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada, while in fact he was executioner of cheats and other transgressors within and outside the gang.
In 1958, he was forced to emigrate from the US because of his gun duel with Ramon "The Rod" Rodriguez, his opposite from the Purple Gang of Detroit (also featured in the novel Goldfinger), in which he killed Ramon, earning $100,000. He spent some time travelling the Caribbean as a representative of Las Vegas interests in real estate and plantation dealing, later switching to Rafael Trujillo of the Dominican Republic and Fulgencio Batista of Cuba where he settled in 1959, in Havana. While remaining a Batista supporter, he started an undercover work for Fidel Castro's party, becoming an "enforcer" for DSS after the Cuban Revolution.
By the time 007 finally encounters him in The Man with the Golden Gun, Scaramanga works as a freelance gunman, often working for Castro's secret police, in addition to being engaged in other criminal enterprises such as drug-running into the United States in partnership with the KGB. MI6 has evaluated Scaramanga as one of the finest shots in the world (The other being Bond), and M authorizes 007 to kill the gunman.
007 catches up with Scaramanga in Jamaica, where 007 pretends to be a freelance security officer named Mark Hazard and Scaramanga hires him to guard an upcoming meeting of gangsters. During the meeting, a Dutch-born KGB officer named Hendriks reveals 007's identity, resulting in a shootout between Scaramanga and 007. 007 wounds him, but before he can kill Scaramanaga, Scaramanga shoots 007 with a poisoned bullet from his backup weapon, a golden derringer. 007 returns fire with his .32 Walther PPK pistol, killing Scaramanga instantly; soon thereafter, a policeman finds the nearly dead 007 in time to save him.
In the 1965 novel, British intelligence also has an in-depth psychological profile of Scaramanga, which is printed in the book before the mission begins. He is 6ft 3in (1.91m) tall, slim and fit. He is about 35 years old and has light brown eyes. His hair is reddish in a crew-cut with long sideburns. The profile (read by M) also delves into his background and psyche. Among other things, the profile claims that Scaramanga might be a latent homosexual, since he cannot whistle—based on the popular (but unfounded) theory that a man who cannot whistle has homosexual tendencies.
Film biography
In the 1974 film The Man with the Golden Gun, Scaramanga (Christopher Lee) is a high-priced gunman, supposedly the best in the world, charging $5 million per kill.[4] He is best known as "The Man with the Golden Gun", for using only bullets made of gold in a custom 4.2mm cartridge with a disassemblable handgun made of a gold cigarette case, lighter, fountain pen and cufflink[5][6] All of Scaramanga's jobs are arranged through his henchman Nick Nack (Hervé Villechaize), which allows Scaramanga to be anonymous. His specialized ammunition is made by a custom gunsmith in Macau, who provides for its delivery to Scaramanga's girlfriend, Andrea Anders (Maud Adams), at a casino in Hong Kong. He also speaks in a British accent as opposed to his American one from the novel.
Francisco Scaramanga was a British national born in a travelling circus. His father was the ringmaster, a former Cuban national and his mother was the snake charmer. By age 10, Francisco was part of the circus as a perfect trick-shot. At age 15, he became an international gun-for-hire. He was recruited some years later by the KGB while living in Ipanema, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; and trained in Eastern Europe where for many years he was basically just another "overworked and underpaid gunman" for the KGB. He left the KGB in the late 1950s, becoming an independent hitman-for hire. No photographs of him exist, but he has a known unusual anatomy: a third nipple. This information later comes in handy to 007 (Roger Moore), who uses Scaramanga's anonymity and only known physical feature to get into contact with Scaramanga's current employer, the crime lord Hai Fat (Richard Loo), though Scaramanga is already at Hai Fat's estate, and Hai Fat quickly guesses who 007 really is.
Later in the film, Scaramanga admits to 007 that as a boy living in the travelling circus, he shot and killed an abusive animal trainer for killing an elephant that he had befriended and discovered that he enjoyed killing people. Scaramanga also demonstrates his marksmanship to 007 by using a Colt Single Action Army to shoot the cork off a bottle of champagne from long range (Scaramanga's Golden Gun in the novel is a gold-plated single action army)
Scaramanga lives very well, drawing from the exorbitant sums of money he charges to carry out his assassinations. His own personal island somewhere off the coast of southeastern China is his home, the lease of the island is paid through "favours" for the Chinese. Despite his assertion that science was never his strong point, the island utilizes many aspects of modern technology, including its own self-sufficient solar power plant. In addition to the power plant, Scaramanga's home also includes a section which is something between a labyrinth and a funhouse, where Scaramanga and his foes duel to the death. Nick Nack hires assassins to kill Scaramanga as a test to keep him sharp; moreover Nick Nack will also inherit Scaramanga's entire legacy should one of the assassins succeed. Scaramanga is aware of and approves of Nick Nack's efforts, yet wishes him better luck next time when his hired guns fail. In addition, Scaramanga also has a private junk, which 007 later steals to exit the exploding island.
Scaramanga also uses some of his wealth to finance research and development of technologies that rival those developed by MI6's Q Branch. Such technologies include a car that transforms into an aircraft and a solar-powered laser cannon.
Scaramanga was hired by Hai-Fat to assassinate a British scientist named Dan Gibson (Gordon Everett), thought to be in possession of solar energy information and technology crucial to solving the energy crisis. Gibson is assassinated and his invention, the solex agitator, is stolen from the crime scene by Nick Nack. The solex agitator is a critical component of Gibson's solar energy device. However, instead of turning the device over to Hai Fat, Scaramanga instead kills Hai Fat with his Golden Gun and takes the device and Hai Fat's company for himself. With it in his possession, it allows for him to sell the device to the highest criminal bidder or use it to power his personal solar energy cannon.
Scaramanga also seeks to test his skills against 007, who is considered the only worthy rival. Besides the profit and/or power the solex agitator can give him, Scaramanga's scheme in acquiring the device is also intended to lure 007 to Scaramanga's private island so that the two of them can engage in one final duel. Although 007 is using his six-bullet .380 Walther PPK pistol while Scaramanga uses the Golden Gun, Scaramanga states that "[He] only need[s] one"—007's superior number of bullets being offset by Scaramanga's advantage of fighting on his own ground.
After taking fellow MI6 agent Mary Goodnight (Britt Eklund) hostage, Scaramanga lures 007 to his private island, where he reveals his plan and challenges 007 to a duel in his funhouse, after a tense discussion where Scaramanga tells 007 we were "the same", angering 007 to the point where he admitted to Scaramanga that "killing you would be a pleasure". Once in the funhouse, 007 takes the place of a mannequin "James Bond" and tricks Scaramanga into revealing his position to look for 007 with his pistol drawn. 007 shoots Scaramanga in the heart, killing him, while Goodnight inadvertently sabotages the solar power plant which causes the destruction of the island.
In Ian Fleming's novel, the Golden Gun is a long-barrelled, gold plated, single-action Colt Peacemaker .45 calibre revolver that fired a gold plated bullet with a cross-cut tip for additional wounding due to the dum-dum effect. However in the film, it is a gold plated single-shot pistol that fired a 4.2mm gold plated bullet. The gun could be disassembled and its components becoming a fountain pen (the barrel), a cigarette lighter (breech), cuff-link (trigger), and a cigarette case (the grip). Scaramanga also uses a gun similar to the novel's counterpart when he meets with 007 at the island, He uses it to shoot a champagne cork off the bottle.
Scaramanga uses the Golden Gun in numerous assassinations of officials, political enemies, gangsters, and MI6 Agent 002. Scaramanga later used the Golden Gun to kill British scientist Gibson and his own employer, Hai Fat. But, when Scaramanga was killed and his island destroyed, the Golden Gun was never recovered.
The Golden Gun ranked sixth in a 2008 20th Century Fox poll of the most popular film weapons, which surveyed approximately two thousand film fans.[7]
In October 2008, the Golden Gun was stolen[8] from the company Elstree Props which is based in Elstree Studios in Hertfordshire. At the time, the prop was estimated to be worth £80,000.
Video games
Due to its popularity it was also added into subsequent 007 games The World is Not Enough, James Bond 007: Agent Under Fire, 007: Nightfire, James Bond 007: Everything or Nothing, GoldenEye: Rogue Agent, From Russia With Love, 007: Quantum of Solace, GoldenEye 007 (2010 video game) and 007: Legends. In each of the games using the Golden Gun would count for a real time kill, which reflected that Scaramanga never missed, although in the games the player can miss and because of this, the Golden Gun is not available in mission mode but golden versions of the game's standard weapons are available in multiplayer (such as a golden Walther PPK, Walther P99, and a golden rocket launcher). In GoldenEye 007 (1997 video game), the Golden Gun appears in an extra mission. In it, the Golden Gun is stolen by Baron Samedi, and Bond needs to recover the Golden Gun and defeat Samedi. Although Samedi doesn't die (referencing Live and Let Die), Bond leaves with the Golden Gun. Other variants of the Golden Gun also exist, such as the Gold and the Silver PP7. The Golden Gun also appears in the 007: Quantum of Solace video game, in a notable deviation from its typical depiction, this Golden Gun is a gold plated revolver like the gun from the novel, but based on a Smith & Wesson 686 instead of a Colt Peacemaker. Perfect Dark, also featured a Golden Gun which when used would count for an real time kill, this time a gold plated Colt Python revolver belonging to NSA boss Trent Easton
In James Bond 007: Everything or Nothing, the Golden Gun is not available in Mission Mode and lacks it's real time kill power.
Francisco Scaramanga is a playable character in the multiplayer mode of the 2003 game 007: Nightfire and the 2010 game GoldenEye 007, also, the multiplayer-only fan remake GoldenEye: Source features the weapon as well.
Francisco Scaramanga returned for the game GoldenEye: Rogue Agent voiced by Christopher Lee.[9] In the game, he is an ally of Auric Goldfinger (voiced by Enn Reitel.[9] He is the manufacturer of the synthetic eye given to the player (GoldenEye) and makes a virus used against Goldfinger's O.M.E.N. device.[10] The game also features a Multiplayer Funhouse level, including the decoys that caused 007 to use most of his bullets like Al Capone and cowboy mannequins and an image of Scaramanga.[11] In addition, the level includes a 007 mannequin, whose gun the player can take and use.[12]
Reception
Francisco Scaramanga was listed at number five in UGO's list of the Top 11 Classy Assassins.[13]
Chris Nashawaty of Entertainment Weekly argues that Scaramanga is the best villain of the Roger Moore James Bond films.[14]
In genetics
A gene linked to the cause of supernumerary nipples in animals is named the "Scaramanga gene".[15]
References
↑ Zelger, Henry A. (1965). Ian Fleming: The Spy Who Came in with the Gold. New York City: Duell, Sloan and Pearce. ASINB0007G5PR0.
↑ Nashawaty, Chris (December 12, 2008). "Moore...And Sometimes Less: A look at the most–and least–memorable bad guys, babes, and Bonds in Roger Moore's 007 oeuvre". Entertainment Weekly. No.1025. New York City: Time, Inc. p.37.
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