Bond’s awkward compliment in The Man with the Golden Gun shows just how forced and uncomfortable he feels as he attempts to seduce the dancer, Saida. He immediately identifies her belly charm as the golden bullet linked to the murder of Bill Fairbanks (002), but extracting it requires a level of contrived flirtation that feels unusually desperate for Bond.

The attempt is luckily (or unluckily?) salvaged only by a surprise attack that interrupts his ruse. Bond swallows the bullet by accident and accomplishes the task at hand and the scene veers into one of Bond’s rare and undignified bodily-humor references, capped by his frantic dash to a pharmacy. It’s a moment that only Moore’s Bond could make work, thanks to his distinctive blend of charm and lighthearted humor. I simply cannot imagine Sean Connery making such a crude reference…