Roger Moore, in his debut as MI6 superagent 007, is sent to New York to investigate the deaths of several British agents. LIVE AND LET DIE is the eighth official 007 movie in the franchise. Sean Connery was offered $5,500,000 for the part, but turned it down.
James Bond must stop the activities of Mr. Big, a.k.a. Dr. Kananga (Yaphet Kotto), who plans to take over the West by turning everyone into drug addicts. Kananga is the dictator of the Caribbean island of San Monique and his methods include voodoo. He says, "Tee Hee, on the first wrong answer from Miss Solitaire, you will snip the little finger of Mr. Bond's right hand. Starting with the second wrong answer, you will proceed to the more...vital...areas."
Mr. Big: (to his men) "Is this the stupid mother who tailed you uptown?"
Bond: "There seems to be some mistake. My name is..."
Mr. Big: "Names is for tombstones, baby. Y'all take this honkey out and waste him now!"
This movie was made during the "Blacksploitation" craze, so the exotic locales include Harlem, New Orleans and Jamaica, as well as London. The white "pimpmobile" is a Chevrolet Corvette fitted with the fibreglass molding of a Cadillac Eldorado--a "Corvorado". It appears in other films such as SUPERFLY (1972).
Cab driver: "You know where you're going?"
James Bond: "Uptown, I believe?"
Cab driver: "Uptown? You headed into Harlem, man!"
James Bond: "Well you just stay on the tail of that jukebox and there's an extra twenty in it for you."
Cab driver: "Hey man, for twenty bucks I'd take you to a Ku Klux Klan cookout."
007 is successful partly with the help of Solitaire (Jane Seymour in her film debut), who interprets tarot cards for Mr. Big. There are many spectacular chase scenes, including Bond in a motorboat that plows through an outdoor wedding. The speedboat jumping over the road scene set a new world record of 110 feet. A second boat collides with a police car. It was not in the script, but is seen in the film. During the boat chase, Bond slides over an island on which there is a wedding ceremony. One of the other boats following Bond slides into the wedding cake, destroying it. The bride grabs onto her husband and bursts out crying. You can notice that the groom begins to laugh just as the shot ends.
Another highlight is Bond's escape from the crocodile farm. This amazing and deadly dangerous stunt was done by Ross Kananga, owner of the farm and stunt coordinator for the film. He lost a shoe to a hungry crocodile during the filming of the stunt. Dr. Kananga was named after him.
Tee Hee: "There are two ways to disable a croc, you know."
Bond: "I don't suppose you'd care to tell me what they are."
Tee Hee: "One way is to take a pencil and stick it in the pressure area above its eye."
Bond: "And the other way?"
Tee Hee: "Oh, the other way is twice as simple. You just stick your hand in its mouth and pull its teeth out. Heh, heh."
Clifton James makes his first of several 007 appearances as the redneck sheriff J. W. Pepper. He asks, "Secret Agent? On whose side?" and says, "You picked the wrong parish to haul ass through boy. Nobody cuts and runs on Sheriff J. W. Pepper! And it's him who's speakin' by the by." Q does not appear in the film, because gadgetry is not emphasized, but he is mentioned at the beginning of the movie.
Also in the cast are: Julius Harris (Tee Hee), Geoffrey Holder (Baron Samedi), David Hedison (Felix Leiter), Gloria Hendry (Rosie Carver), Bernard Lee (M), Lois Maxwell (Miss Moneypenny), Tommy Lane (Adam), Earl Jolly Brown (Whisper), Roy Stewart (Quarrel Jr.), Lon Satton (Harold Strutter), Ruth Kempf (Mrs. Bell), Joie Chitwood (Charlie), Maeline Smith (Miss Caruso), Michael Ebbin (Dambala), Robert Dix (Hamilton), Dennis Edwards (Baines), Lance Gordon (Eddie), Stephen Hendrickson (Mr. Bleeker), Arnold Williams (cab driver), and many others. Tom Mankiewicz wrote the screenplay. The music score is by George Martin. Guy Hamilton directed.
Film critics generally don't like this film, but it is my favorite Roger Moore 007 movie. It has great production values, flashy cinematography, suspense, tongue-in-cheek humour, and lots of action. With a budget of $7 million it raked in $514 million, so it is obviously a popular success despite what the critics believe.
Roger Moore is very good as James Bond: suave, charming, confident, witty, light-hearted, and he has a sense of humour. He's not as great as Sean Connery, but is better than George Lazenby, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan, and Daniel Craig.
However, Moore's 007 is probably the least like the character created by writer Ian Fleming. His interpretation is more like the spy Simon Templar he played in THE SAINT (1962-1969) TV series. 118 episodes were made, 71 in black and white, 47 in colour. Two theatrical films were made from 4 of the episdes. Moore is the son of a cop, was an officer in the military, and for seven years acted in a TV spy role. He is more qualified than the others to play 007.
Paul and Linda McCartney wrote and recorded the title song for LIVE AND LET DIE. It was nominated for an Academy Award and reached 2 on the Billboard Top Ten.
