Man with the Golden Gun Question

Snake65 · June 2006

Help me! I saw this film as a young boy with my father and clearly remember at the end Bond gets Nic Nac in the suit case and throws it overboard. Then because it was deemed to violent it was later changed and on every VHS/TV version I see the film sort of cuts after he catches him and then you see him on the mast. Did they cut the sceen and can you get the original?

Napoleon Plural · June 2006

I've never heard of this version, Snake65, are you sure it really existed? It's what you're supposed to imagine was Nik Nak's fate, but it wouldn't have been reshot after its release - the producers never do that...

Anyone else?

Hardyboy · June 2006

Two words: didn't happen. The film on VHS and DVD is the way it's always been--Bond scoops up Nick Nack in the suitcase, takes him out, leaves Goodnight thinking Bond might have tossed Nick Nack in the drink, and the movie closes with Nick Nack in a cage at the top of the mast. I think your memory is playing tricks on you, Snake65--I've often sworn certain things were in movies I saw as a kid, and when I saw those movies years later I realized I was wrong.

Willie Garvin · June 2006

Hardyboy's right.Nick Nack was never thrown overboard in any version of this movie.

Pierce_Brosnan · June 2006

Maybe that was what you thought would happen.

Barry Nelson · June 2006

What I remember about that scene is that when Bond comes back from disposing of Nick Nack, Goodnight is standing on the bed shaking out the sheets and then she drops them, unfortunately we see she is wrapped in a towel. I was a very disppointed young man at the time.

Pierce_Brosnan · June 2006

Barry Nelson wrote:

What I remember about that scene is that when Bond comes back from disposing of Nick Nack, Goodnight is standing on the bed shaking out the sheets and then she drops them, unfortunately we see she is wrapped in a towel. I was a very disppointed young man at the time.

I bet you were!

PoorMansJB · June 2006

Snake65 wrote:

Help me! I saw this film as a young boy with my father and clearly remember at the end Bond gets Nic Nac in the suit case and throws it overboard. Then because it was deemed to violent it was later changed and on every VHS/TV version I see the film sort of cuts after he catches him and then you see him on the mast. Did they cut the sceen and can you get the original?

Possibly you're merging one or more of the films in your memory? Bond does indeed cast henchmen overboard in FRWL and DAF to name but two.

Gassy Man · June 2006

It's probably a false memory on the part of the poster, but I wonder if a TV broadcast cut out early or something, and the scene in question did not appear. I say this because if the broadcast were in some way truncated, the film could have appeared to have ended simply with Bond tossing Nick Nack overboard.

JennyFlexFan · June 2006

When I was younger I thought Mr. Howe in AVTAK was George Costanza.

scrmpb007 · July 2006

Its been I while since I last saw it but I think Bond put him in a cage on top of the mast.

Bondonian · October 2008

Yes. Thank god. I saw that too. Cannot find the evidence though but why would Goodnight say "oh James you didn't did you?" and Bond replies "I bloody well did!" after he takes him out side in the suitcase?What, are we to assume her natural suspicions were that Bond was going to carry a midget on to the deck of a sailing ship in a suitcase and PUT HIM IN THE CROWS NEST IN A NET!!. Never. I saw the same ending as you mate and let me guess. The film ends with the suitcase bobbing in the sea as the boat floats off. Trust me . That version is out there somewhere.

jetsetwilly · October 2008

No chance. If the ending of the film was meant to be a suitcase bobbing off into the distance, why did Guy Hamilton go to the expense of putting Herve Villechaize into a basket, hoisting him to the top of the mast, then hiring a helicopter to perform a long, elegant pull back under the end credits? The reason Bond says what he does is to provide double the hilarity* when it's revealed that Nick Nack is on the mast.

Bond films have changed their end credits; Goldfinger originally announced the next film as being OHMSS, as did Thunderball (which is why it fades out so quickly after Monty Norman's credit). In both cases, it's been widely reported in Bond literature and, in the case of GF, the footage showed up on the DVD. If TMWTGG had been altered, this would have at the very least been mentioned somewhere. Lee Pfeiffer and Phillip Lisa's excellent The Incredible World of 007 gives a massive rundown of all the footage cut out of Bond films - including an extensive run down of the footage cut out of TMWTGG's final duel - and there's not one single mention of this. Sorry.

To my knowledge the only time a scene has (reportedly) been cut after being shown to an audience was Dr No, where some reviewers reported seeing Honey being covered in crabs. Even then, this is in doubt, as Peter Hunt and Terence Young denied the scene ever made it to the final cut as they couldn't make it work - it may have been the overactive imagination of a reviewer who'd read the book.

*actual hilarity not guaranteed.

Seahawk · October 2008

It is as jetsetwilly says. I first saw this film within days of its premiere & the ending was as it is on the DVD.
Our memories can play tricks on us though, I do remember believing that the audience was given a momentary glimpse of Ursula Andress's naked form during the decontamination scene in Dr No.
A fusion of very clever costuming, editing and wishful thinking on my part.

The Cat · October 2008

You can find some reading on the cut scenes here with several images. And no, this one doesn't exist.

http://thecat.uw.hu/Missing%20Bits.html

Napoleon Plural · October 2008

I mean, a midget getting tossed off in Bond film? It's hard to visualise.

Hardyboy · October 2008

Seahawk wrote:

Our memories can play tricks on us though, I do remember believing that the audience was given a momentary glimpse of Ursula Andress's naked form during the decontamination scene in Dr No.

Absolutely right--in his autobiography, Roman Polanski mentions all the people who've sworn they see the devil child in the cradle at the end of Rosemary's Mary, and he says no such footage was ever in the film--much less shot. He cites this as an example of people seeing what they want to see.

Say, Cat, that's a mighty fine section on your website! {[]

Sir Miles · October 2008

Napoleon Plural wrote:

I mean, a midget getting tossed off in Bond film? It's hard to visualise.

Well, thank heaven for small mercies

Napoleon Plural · October 2008

Good stuff, Cat. Always intrigued by the missing footage on NSNA (which you haven't got around to), in particular the death of Blofeld which isn't even covered in The Battle for Bond. Not saying the cut footage would be that great, mind.

Never knew about the cardsharp in TND!

Man with the Golden Gun Question

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