Tuesday, 21 October 2025

The Man with the Golden Gun MEETS Thunderbolt and Lightfoot


The Man with the Golden Gun MEETS Thunderbolt and Lightfoot

We like a classic pairing here on the Archive – and we’ve seen a great deal over the years, including Mr 007 himself – James Bond who has been paired up with the Dollar films as a result of them both emerging from the United Artists camp.

Thunderbolt and Lightfoot has been paired up with another iconic character in the past, most notably Bruce Lee in the classic Kung Fu movie The Way of the Dragon.

However, it was nice to discover (Thanks to Davy Triumph) this rare piece of evidence to show that Clint was again paired up in the 70’s (alongside Bond) for a Big Gun feast including The Man with the Golden Gun / Thunderbolt and Lightfoot.

This rare ad, believed to be from November 14th 1975 shows the films running together at the Woods movie theatre on the corner of Randolph and Dearborn Streets in Chicago. 

The Woods live theatre venue converted to show movies in 1932. It later became the flagship venue for Essaness Theatres, which moved its headquarters into the building. Starting in the 1950s, the building featured an unusually large marquee facing Dearborn Street. The facade and its marquee can be seen in the parade scene of the 1986 film Ferris Bueller's Day Off.

(Left, The Woods Theatre in 1970)


In its later years the quality of the venue declined. In 1982, the management had to pay for medical treatments when a patron was bitten by a rat during a show! By 1988, the Woods had become the last of the Chicago Loop movie houses. It closed on January 8, 1989, after a screening of Hellbound: Hellraiser II. 


After being considered for entry in the National Register of Historic Places, it was demolished in 1990.


Rats or no rats – I think I would have paid a couple of bucks to watch these two men of action back together on the Big Screen! God Bless the 70’s!

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