TMWTGG possible twist

crawfordboon

I always thought it was too much of a convenience for Bond to be giving up his mission of huting for Gibson and the Solex in order to track down Scaramanga, only to find that Scaramanga is initially oblivious that Bond is trying to kill him but is seeking Gibson himself.

I thought it would have been a nice twist for Scaramanga to reveal to Bond that he secretly knew that Andrea was trying to convince MI6 that he was trying to hunt down Bond, and even assisted her in doing this by letting her use his fingerprints. That way not only would he lure his cheating mistress to her death, but she would be unwittingly doing all the hard work of luring James Bond towards him, with the added bonus of acquiring the precious Solex into the bargain.

It would be even more fuel to the fire of Scaramanga's calculating, vicious character, that he could sleep with Andrea, pretending nothing was up, when really he was using her to get to Bond and was planning to kill her. What do you think? It would certainly make the plot seem more plausible, in that there would be an element of design in that Scaramanga would be seen as a kind of puppet master, treating people as pawns in his plans, using them and disposing of them at will. Certainly it would mean that the plot would be more structed and have an element of design about it, rather than accident.

The Cat

I'm not exactly sure where this twist would lead. The problem with the original story is that Andrea and Bond are already weakly linked with the plot, and even if Andrea did absolutely nothing, we'd be still roughly at the same position where we are at now. Bond was hunting after Gibson, so Scaramanga would have crossed paths with 007 no matter who or what happens in the background. Also, Scaramanga's method is strange in obtaining the Solex.

He is hired by Hai Fat to kill Gibson - he kills Gibson - Nick Nack takes the Solex - Scaramanga gives the Solex to Hai Fat - Scaramanga kills Hai Fat - Scaramanga takes the Solex - Andrea takes the Solex from Scaramanga - Bond takes the Solex from Andrea - Goodnight takes the Solex from Lt. Hip, who received it from Bond (I'm getting dizzy here) - Goodnight is captured (because she's sneaking around and NOT because she has the Solex) - Scaramanga takes the Solex and uses it for his own purposes.

Now if we look at this "logically" Scaramanga could just shoot Gibson and take the Solex. The involvement of Hai Fat would only be necessary, if Scaramanga had no access to the Solex without him. But he does - Nick Nack has it for quite some time. He could have aquired the Solex at any random point in the movie, with or without Bond.
The Solex isn't the Lektor kept hidden in a Soviet Embassy, it's with a drunken scientist and anybody could swap it if she (or he) would give Gibson a well-coreographed lapdance.

hegottheboot

Well, you could just ask the bar girl at the Bottoms Up.....where Scaramanga happens to be performing tonight.

Firemass

1. If Bond had succeeded in obtaining the Solex from Andrea, would he still have gone after Scaramanga? Afterall, Bond discovered the threat was a phony.

2. Likewise, if the Solex sub-plot had been completely dropped from the film, would Bond still go after Scaramanga?

3. Would the un-proven death of agent Bill Fairbanks be reason enough to try and eliminate Scaramanga? Bond did manage to locate the golden bullet. Obviously, Bond isn't going to kill the man just because Maud Adams wants him dead.

Firemass

crawfordboon wrote:

I thought it would have been a nice twist for Scaramanga to reveal to Bond that he secretly knew that Andrea was trying to convince MI6 that he was trying to hunt down Bond, and even assisted her in doing this by letting her use his fingerprints. That way not only would he lure his cheating mistress to her death, but she would be unwittingly doing all the hard work of luring James Bond towards him, with the added bonus of acquiring the precious Solex into the bargain.

I appreciate your idea, but I'm not a fan of the twist that you suggest. That sounds even more dizzyingly complex than the existing version.

How would you feel about making threat from Scaramanga genuine and removing the sub-plot with the Solex? Perhaps that would be TOO simple.

AlphaOmegaSin

I doubt you will get a Reply from the OP )

Firemass

AlphaOmegaSin wrote:

I doubt you will get a Reply from the OP )

Good point.

Virgil37

crawfordboon wrote:

I always thought it was too much of a convenience for Bond to be giving up his mission of huting for Gibson and the Solex in order to track down Scaramanga, only to find that Scaramanga is initially oblivious that Bond is trying to kill him but is seeking Gibson himself.

I thought it would have been a nice twist for Scaramanga to reveal to Bond that he secretly knew that Andrea was trying to convince MI6 that he was trying to hunt down Bond, and even assisted her in doing this by letting her use his fingerprints. That way not only would he lure his cheating mistress to her death, but she would be unwittingly doing all the hard work of luring James Bond towards him, with the added bonus of acquiring the precious Solex into the bargain.

It would be even more fuel to the fire of Scaramanga's calculating, vicious character, that he could sleep with Andrea, pretending nothing was up, when really he was using her to get to Bond and was planning to kill her. What do you think? It would certainly make the plot seem more plausible, in that there would be an element of design in that Scaramanga would be seen as a kind of puppet master, treating people as pawns in his plans, using them and disposing of them at will. Certainly it would mean that the plot would be more structed and have an element of design about it, rather than accident.

It could actually be that way, even if Scaramanga didn't admit it in the film. He's obviously obsessed with Bond. That's established in the PTS when we see he has the wax figure.

AlphaOmegaSin

Well in the Book, Scaramanga is described as being a possible Homosexual.

Thunderpussy

I wonder if people still try and do the whistle test ? )