Live and Let Die
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| Live and Let Die | |
|---|---|
| Bond: | Roger Moore |
| Writer: | Ian Fleming |
| Screenplay: | Tom Mankiewicz |
| Director: | Guy Hamilton |
| Music: | George Martin |
| Composer: | Paul McCartney, Linda McCartney |
| Performer: | Paul McCartney, Wings |
| Distributor: | United Artists |
| Released: | June 27, 1973 |
| Runtime: | 121 min. |
| Preceded by: | Diamonds Are Forever |
| Followed by: | The Man with the Golden Gun |
| Budget: | $7,000,000 |
| World gross: | $161,800,000 |
| Admissions: | 91.6 million |
Live and Let Die is the eighth official film in the EON Productions Bond franchise and the first to star Roger Moore as British Secret Service agent, Commander James Bond. The film was released in 1973 and was produced by Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman.
Sean Connery's return as James Bond in Diamonds Are Forever was only ever seen as a temporary one, so after the film was released, Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman got to work trying to find the next actor to portray James Bond. At one point, the producers decided they would not hire another actor and instead hire someone from the Armed Services. Acting upon this EON Productions advertised in various army magazines with the line: "Are you 007?" This idea was later thrown out after Equity objected and demanded they stop. By 1972, Broccoli and Saltzman had auditioned or considered a number of actors for the role, most notably Julian Glover (later the villain in the 1981 Bond film For Your Eyes Only), Jeremy Brett, and frontrunner Michael Billington, who ultimately lost the role to Roger Moore. Thereafter Billington was always a constant frontrunner to replace Moore if Moore did not return to the role, notably for Moonraker, For Your Eyes Only, and Octopussy; he also starred in the 1977 film, The Spy Who Loved Me as a villain who is killed in the pre-title sequence.
Moore, for sure, had previously been considered for the role of Bond after You Only Live Twice, but was quickly dismissed due to his popularity as Simon Templar in the television series The Saint. There are also some reports that Moore was considered in 1962 for Dr. No, however, these are seen by some fans and researchers as apocryphal given that most of the evidence used to support these reports are false or misleading (see: the search for James Bond).
The film, Live and Let Die, was released during the height of the 1970s blaxploitation era, and the influence of those films is quite evident. For instance, the film departs from conventional Bond plots (which entailed villainous plots to disrupt world power structures) and instead places its emphasis on drug trafficking, a common hallmark of the blaxploitation genre. The film further deviates from most Bond films, in that it takes place in the African American cultural centres of Harlem, New Orleans, and the Caribbean Islands. Furthermore, the film contains several blaxploitation archetypes, most notably afro hairstyles, derogatory racial epithets (i.e "honky"), black gangsters, and "pimpmobiles". In addition, the white police officers, especially Sheriff J.W. Pepper, are poorly displayed with several negative stereotypes.
Live and Let Die marked several milestones for Bond films. It was the first time a fictional country would be used as a setting (this would happen again in Licence to Kill), and it was also the only occasion in which 007 commits what amounts to a political assassination, since Kananga is the leader of a nation. Live and Let Die is also the first James Bond film in which the character Q was absent. (Q does appear in Dr. No, though not played by Desmond Llewelyn and not addressed as Q but rather by his real name, Major Boothroyd.) Furthermore, Live and Let Die marked the appearance of the first romantically-involved African American Bond girl, Rosie Carver (played by Gloria Hendry, an actress who starred in several blaxploitation films, including Black Caesar and its sequel Hell Up in Harlem). When the film was first released in South Africa, the love scenes between Gloria Hendry and Roger Moore were removed because interracial affairs were prohibited by the apartheid government.
Plot summary
Several British agents monitoring the operations of Dr. Kananga, the dictator of a small Caribbean island called San Monique, are murdered in mysterious circumstances. James Bond is sent to New York City, where the first agent was killed and where Kananga is currently visiting the UN, to investigate. As soon as Bond arrives in New York City, his driver is killed while taking him to meet Felix Leiter of the CIA.
The driver's killer leads Bond to Mr. Big, a gangster who runs a chain of Filet of Soul restaurants throughout the United States. It is during his confrontation with Mr. Big that Bond first meets Solitaire, a beautiful tarot expert who has the uncanny ability to see both the future and remote events in the present. Bond follows Kananga back to San Monique where he seduces Solitaire. Their love had been foretold in the cards, but was actually set up by Bond, having created a deck entirely of "The Lovers" cards, which by "compelling to earthly love" takes away her power.
It transpires that Kananga is producing two metric tonnes of heroin and is protecting the poppy fields using locals' fear of voodoo and the occult. Through his alter ego Mr. Big (Kananga in disguise), he would then distribute the heroin free through his chain of Fillet Of Soul restaurants until the number of drug addicts doubles, putting his rival drug lords around the world out of business and leaving Kananga with a monopoly. In the closing scene of the film, the central voodoo character, Baron Samedi, is seen perched on the front of the speeding train in which Bond and Solitaire are travelling, in his voodoo outfit and laughing mysteriously, despite having been supposedly killed by Bond during the film's climax.
Cast & characters
- James Bond — Roger Moore
- M — Bernard Lee
- Miss Moneypenny — Lois Maxwell
- Felix Leiter — David Hedison
- Dr. Kananga/Mr. Big — Yaphet Kotto
- Solitaire — Jane Seymour
- Sheriff J.W. Pepper — Clifton James
- Tee Hee Johnson — Julius Harris
- Baron Samedi — Geoffrey Holder
- Rosie Carver — Gloria Hendry
- Quarrel Jr. — Roy Stewart
- Miss Caruso — Madeline Smith
- Whisper — Earl Jolly Brown
The Women of Live and Let Die
| Picture | Name | Actress | |
| 100px | Solitaire | Jane Seymour | The lead Bond girl of Live and Let Die, Solitaire is the mystical mistress of the Tarot. Represented by the High Priestess in the deck, she supposedly has the power of the Obeah and hence is treated with the utmost respect by everyone who works for Kananga. Solitaire describes her role as the wife to "the Prince no longer of this world", but more straightforwardly, she tells Kananga the future and what course to take in his schemes through of a set of specially designed Tarot cards. Solitaire's powers is a heavenly gift that will be taken away if she is violated by earthly love, something that Bond is blissfully unaware of. Actress Jane Seymour thought that Solitaire had a lot of potential story-wise, which she felt went unexplored in the film. Furthermore, she didn't like the way Bond "cheated" Solitaire of her powers ("I didn't think he (Bond) was such a nice guy!"). In any case, Solitaire is unique among Bond girls that she was a virgin and Bond was her first. |
| 100px | Rosie Carver | Gloria Hendry | Rosie Carver made history as the first Black Bond girl that is romantically involved with 007. In the film, Rosie is represented by the Queen of Cups (in a reversed position), and she is a double agent in every sense of the word. She claims to be working for the CIA and her previous assignment was with the murdererd British agent Baines. But she is really working for Kananga, and thus it is suggested she helped lure Baines to his death, and is about to do the same with Bond. Hendry, on the Special Edition DvD commentary track, confessed that she was nervous about her kissing scene with Roger Moore, as his wife was on the set. She was relieved when Mrs. Moore gave her the thumbs up: "Go for it!" |
| 100px | Miss Caruso | Madeline Smith | Madeline Smith's Miss Caruso is the very first woman that Roger Moore's Bond dallied with onscreen. An Italian agent who assisted Bond in a previous assignment, she apparently neglected to inform her superiors where she would be afterwards. |
Crew
- Directed by: Guy Hamilton
- Written by: Ian Fleming
- Screenplay by: Tom Mankiewicz
- Produced by: Albert R. Broccoli, Harry Saltzman
- Composed by: George Martin
- Cinematography by: Ted Moore
- Production design by: Syd Cain
- Art direction by: Peter Lamont
Soundtrack
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| Live and Let Die | |
|---|---|
| Type | Soundtrack |
| Artist | George Martin |
| Background | gainsboro |
| Released | 1973 |
| Recorded | April 1973 |
| Genre | |
| Length | 31:14 |
| Label | |
| Producer | Frank Collura (Reissue) |
| Reviews | *All Music Guide 
|
| Last album | London By George (1967) |
| This album | Live and Let Die (1971) |
| Next album | In My Life (1998) |
| Artist | James Bond soundtrack |
| Background | gainsboro |
| Last album | Diamonds Are Forever (1971) |
| This album | Live and Let Die (1971) |
| Next album | The Man with the Golden Gun (1974) |
Taking a temporary hiatus from scoring Bond films, John Barry subsequently passed the baton over George Martin. This was the first James Bond film that Barry was, in at least some aspect, not a part of.
For the theme song, Martin teamed with former-Beatle Paul McCartney, who had previously been considered for Diamonds Are Forever in 1971. This was the first time the pair worked together since Abbey Road in 1969. The theme was written by Paul and his wife Linda McCartney and performed by Paul and his group, Wings. The tune, the first true rock and roll song used to open a Bond film, was a major success in the U.S. (#9) and the UK (#2), Paul's best showings in over a year. For many years "Live and Let Die" was a highlight of his live shows, complete with fireworks and lasers and in 2005 was performed live by McCartney during the halftime show at Super Bowl XXXIX. In 1991 the song was covered by the rock band Guns N' Roses.
Track listing
- "Live and Let Die (Main Title)" — Paul McCartney & Wings
- "Just a Closer Walk With Thee / New Second Line"
- "Bond Meets Solitaire"
- "Whisper Who Dares"
- "Snakes Alive"
- "Baron Samedi's Dance Of Death"
- "San Monique"
- "Fillet Of Soul-New Orleans / Live and Let Die"
- "Bond Drops In"
- "If He Finds It, Kill Him"
- "Trespassers Will Be Eaten"
- "Solitaire Gets Her Cards"
- "Sacrifice"
- "James Bond Theme"
- "Gunbarrel / Snakebit"
- "Bond To New York"
- "San Monique (Alternate)"
- "Bond And Rosie"
- "The Lovers"
- "New Orleans"
- "Boat Chase"
- "Underground Lair"
Vehicles & gadgets
- Magnetic watch — Given to Bond by M. When turned on, it could snag any light weight metallic item. In theory, Bond claims it can even deflect a bullet even though the typical bullet is non-magnetic! It also has a saw built into it.
- Bug sweeper — Bond uses a handheld device that can sweep a room for electronic microphones.
- Although not an official gadget, Bond improvises a small flamethrower using a can of after-shave lotion and a lit cigar.
- Bond has an espresso machine at his home. In 1973, such devices were uncommon for home use (much as Bond in From Russia with Love had a pager and car-based telephone years before cell phones were invented). M: "Is that all it does?"
- Similarly, early on in the film, Bond is seen using a Pulsar digital watch, which only entered distribution as recently as 1972. Bond's has an LED display which was activated by pushing a button on the side.
Locations
Film locations
- London, England
- New Orleans, Louisiana
- San Monique (Fictional country)
- New York City, New York
Shooting locations
Awards
| Year | Result | Award | Recipients |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1974 | Nominated | Academy Award for Best Original Song | Paul & Linda McCartney |
| 1974 | Nominated | Grammy Award for Best Song Written for a Motion Picture | Paul & Linda McCartney |
| 1975 | Won | Evening Standard Best Picture | Guy Hamilton |
Trivia
- The producers made a conscious effort to distance the new James Bond from the character made famous by Sean Connery, perhaps an effort to avoid comparisons to George Lazenby. For example: Roger Moore's Bond never orders a vodka martini (neither shaken, nor stirred), he drinks bourbon whiskey; the mission briefing occurs in Bond's flat (not seen since Dr. No in '62); Roger Moore's James Bond does not wear a hat; he smokes cigars, not cigarettes. In time, as Moore grew in to the role, many old Bond-isms returned, and some new elements were dropped.
- Live and Let Die is the first of two films featuring Louisiana Sheriff J.W. Pepper portrayed by Clifton James, who later reprised the role in The Man with the Golden Gun. It is also the first of two films featuring David Hedison as Felix Leiter, who later reprised the role in Licence to Kill; no other actor has played Leiter more than once.
- The Jamaican agent, Quarrel Jr., is the son of Quarrel from Dr. No. In the novel series, Live and Let Die was the first appearance of Quarrel Jr., followed by his death in Dr. No.
- This is the first James Bond film to use extensive adult language. The old woman whose flying lesson is hijacked by Bond utters the word "shit" (US network-television viewers never hear this), Sheriff Pepper begins uttering the F-word when he first sees Bond's powerboat but doesn't get beyond "fu-", and the partial expletive "mother" is also heard numerous times. Even in 1973, that was not enough to have the film rated past PG; viewers would have to wait until 1989, for Licence to Kill (coincidentally also partly based on the novel Live and Let Die) until such language was heard again.
- This was the first and, to date, only James Bond film to acknowledge the supernatural. Although there are indications that Baron Samedi is simply a magician and showman, and that his "resurrection" after falling into a coffin of snakes could be explained as a trick, Solitaire's psychic abilities are more difficult to rationalise.
- In a zoom-in shot of what is (supposedly) the CIA headquarters in New York the then-under construction World Trade Center can be seen briefly in the background.
- Coachbuilder Les Dunham provided a Chevrolet Corvette conversion (the Corvorado) which uses components from a 1971 or 1972 Cadillac Eldorado; this car was briefly seen in the blaxploitation film Superfly. He kept the vehicle for several years as a show car. One of the vehicles 007 is pursuing in the film (as a passenger in a taxicab) is a Cadillac Fleetwood Pimpmobile, along with an Eldorado coupe.
- Solitaire's Tarot cards have '007' printed on the backs of them. The High Priestess card was deliberately designed to resemble Jane Seymour. The deck was released as the "James Bond 007 Tarot Deck" and, along with an instruction book and layout mat as the "James Bond 007 Tarot Game." This deck is still available, with a different back pattern, as the "Tarot of the Witches Deck". The deck faces were designed by Fergus Hall.
- Director Guy Hamilton liked the running over alligators stunt so much he named the villain after the stuntman who performed it, Ross Kananga, the owner of the alligator farm where the scene was filmed. The filmmakers discovered the farm while scouting for locations when they saw a sign warning that "TRESPASSERS WILL BE EATEN." This sign is also seen in the film. The sequence of Bond running over the alligators was a real stunt performed by Kananga. In one take of the stunt, the last gator snapped at Kananga's heel, tearing his trousers. This is detailed on the Special Edition DVD, complete with slow-motion replay.
- Bond's boat in the speedboat jump scene over the bayou unintentionally set a Guinness World Record at the time, and a villain's boat that made the jump later unintentionally destroyed Sheriff Pepper's patrol car. Due to Clifton James's spontaneous character acting in that scene, it was kept.
- Bond evades several police officers when commandeering a double-decker bus — two Chevrolet Novas were seen as police vehicles. Although the Chevrolet vehicles were on loan from GM, this was a few years before the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department experimented with a similar Nova for police duty to which law enforcement agencies ordered them in bulk.
- Madeline Smith, who played the beautiful young Italian agent Miss Caruso who is in bed with Bond in the film's opening, was recommended for the part by Roger Moore after working with her on TV. Smith said Moore was very polite to work with, but she felt very uncomfortable being clad in only blue bikini panties since Moore's overprotective wife was on the set overseeing the scene.
- Roger Moore toned down his famous mannerisms, cultivated in the role of Simon Templar, The Saint, in particular, the cocking eyebrow.
External links
- MGM Official Site: Live and Let Die
- Blaxploitation and Live and Let Die - from the article Cleopatra Jones, 007: Blaxploitation, James Bond, and Reciprocal Co-optation
| The James Bond films |
|---|
| Official films Dr. No | From Russia with Love | Goldfinger | Thunderball | You Only Live Twice | On Her Majesty's Secret Service | Diamonds Are Forever | Live and Let Die | The Man with the Golden Gun | The Spy Who Loved Me | Moonraker | For Your Eyes Only | Octopussy | A View to a Kill | The Living Daylights | Licence to Kill | GoldenEye | Tomorrow Never Dies | The World Is Not Enough | Die Another Day | Casino Royale | Quantum of Solace |
| Unofficial films Casino Royale (1954 TV) | Casino Royale (1967 spoof) | Never Say Never Again |