Gold

One year after Roger Moore's debut as James Bond, his next feature film saw him work alongside James Bond director Peter Hunt in the thriller, Gold, from 1974. I hardly knew this film existed until I recently came across it on Prime and the premise had potential or was this just a studio effort to cash in on the latest 007?

Adapted from the novel, Gold Mine, which was based around real events, the story follows a British gold mine foreman who is quickly finds himself promoted into the position following the death of his predecessor but starts to suspect there is something foul at play behind all this. The foreman is played by a more grizzled Moore who still gets to utilise some of 007's charm as he becomes romantically entangled with the mine owner's daughter.

Set in Johannesburg during the apartheid regime, Hunt takes a very matter of fact approach to the film and its moment in history. We see the luxury of the financiers who have control over the whole operation and the grim reality of the workers who toil away in the dark while risking their lives. It's very interesting seeing the film 50 years on from its release and Hunt's direction and pacing all hold up well enough today making for an intriguing if not entirely memorable thriller. 

Moore makes for a fine lead as the man caught in the middle of something greater than he knows and we also get a devilishly great turn from John Gielgud, the head of shady syndicate. Gold is also appropriately very good looking film, benefitting from a lot of real locations and what action there is is very tense. However, I can't lie there are some rather slow parts which will test audiences and some bits towards the end don't quite land as well as Hunt might've hoped for. 

For Bond fans curious to see the work of the stars and crew outside of that franchise, then this is one I can just about recommend and it is an interesting window into the past. But for anyone else, this will be a bit of a slog to get through and will not find much to stay engaged with over the two hour running time.