Focus Of The Week: Mary Goodnight

In The Man With The Golden Gun (1974), Mary Goodnight (Britt Ekland) is a Hong Kong based field operative who hinders Bond (Roger Moore) as much as she helps him in his mission to kill assassin Francisco Scaramanga (Christopher Lee). Enthusiastic, courageous and with a crush on 007, Goodnight often finds herself in over her head in her attempts to be taken seriously in Bond’s eyes.

She helps 007 to track down Scaramanga’s girlfriend Andrea Anders (Maud Adams) but fails to inform Lt. Hip (Soon-Taik Oh) of Bond’s presence, a mistake that gives Scaramanga a chance to steal the Solex Agitator (a small device that harnesses solar energy) from its designer Gibson (Gordon Everett). Lt. Hip is played by Soon-Taik Oh.

Bond finally responds to Goodnight’s advances only to suffer the indignity of being shoved into the closet by 007 when Andrea Anders arrives. She has to keep hidden while the pair make love, eventually falling asleep.

Later, at the meeting point with Anders, Goodnight takes control of the Solex. Placing a tracking device in Scaramanga’s AMC Matador, she is discovered by the killer, pushed into the boot and taken to his island. She awaits Bond’s arrival and is present during dinner when Scaramanga proposes to Bond the idea of a duel.

During the showdown, Goodnight is guarded by technician Kra (Sonny Caldinez). He makes a crude pass at her so Goodnight hits him over the head with a spanner, sending him into the temperature-sensitive vat of liquid helium in Scaramanga’s solar energy plant. After 007 kills Scaramanga, Mary helps him retrieve the Solex, accidentally triggering a lethal solar-powered laser cannon.

When the island explodes due to Kra’s body in the cooling vats, she escapes with Bond in Scaramanga’s personal junk. Following a final battle with Nick Nack (Hervé Villechaize), Goodnight finds herself alone with Bond — just where she always wanted to be.