Film Finances and Golden Rendezvous (1977): Financial Mismanagement, Personal Tensions and Political Scandal

This article explores the problematic production history of Golden Rendezvous (1977), an action-adventure film based on a novel by Alistair MacLean. It draws upon the archive of the completion guarantor Film Finances to document the complex international financing arrangements that exemplified the practice of distribution pre-sales in the 1970s. Golden Rendezvous is a highly revealing case study of financial mismanagement and political controversy. The film overran its schedule due to troubles on location, the financing arrangements fell apart, and the subsequent revelation that the South African government had secretly invested in the film made it a toxic product that struggled to find a distributor for the all-important US market.