Live And Let Die
Cast & Credits
Actor Character
Roger Moore James Bond
Yaphet Kotto Doctor Kananga
Jane Seymour Solitaire
Clifton James Sheriff Pepper
Original Running Time 2 hours and 1 minute
Directed by Guy Hamilton
Sean Connery departed the role of secret agent James Bond immediately after the filming of Diamonds Are Forever concluded. Immediately there was a worldwide search for the next 007. One of the top candidates was Roger Moore who was originally approached about being Bond for On Her Majesty's Secret Service. The filmmakers couldn't manage to get Moore for the role because he couldn't get out of his television contract for the Saint in which he played spy, Simor Templar. It looked as though Moore once again would'nt get the role when producers Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman weren't sure if they wanted to cast him because of the public's association with him already playing a spy. Also, it looked like his current television show, the Persuaders, would be renewed. One last plea was made to Connery who refused. In the end, the Persuaders was cancelled due to low ratings and Moore was chosen to be Bond because it was thought to be a safe option to cast a "known" actor. How would he fair?
The film opens up with a meeting of the United Nations in New York. The British representative is murdered through high frequency sound waves being sent to his ear piece. Next, we see a man watching a funeral procession in the streets of New Orleans. After asking whose funeral it was, the man is told that it was his and is promptly stabbed. The old magic coffin trick is used where the coffin is lowered down onto him and when it's lifted up, he is gone. Immediately afterwards, we are transported to the small island of San Monique in the Carribean. We see a voodoo ritual going on with a man being tied to a post. His life is cut brutally short by the bite of a venomous snake. This leads into the extremely well done credits sequence. We see images of a black widow, skulls, and dancers in flames. In the background, the theme song by Paul and Linda McCartney is playing. I wouldn't be exaggerating by saying that an argument could be made for this being the best Bond theme song of all time. Unfortuantely though, this is the first Bond soundtrack not to be done by John Barry. It is done by former Beatles producer George Martin. While the music that is based around the theme is excellent, some of the other stuff is not. Much of the incindental music sounds like typical funk music from a 70's blaxplotation movie. While it would be good in something like Shaft, I do not feel that it is appropriate for a Bond film. But I digress...
After the credits, Bond is woken up in the middle of the night while sleeping in bed with a beautiful woman. Surprise! Surprise! It turns out to be M and Moneypenny at the door. This is the only time in the series that we actually are allowed inside Bond's place. It features the most expensive coffee maker that you've ever seen and a beautiful Italian (Ms. Caruso) agent hiding in the closet. M gives Bond a new watch that was made for him by Q. It has a high powered magnet in it which 007 demonstrates to M who reacts with simultaneous disdain and awe. M tells James of the murders of the UN representative and two British agents (one in New Orleans and one in San Monique). He is asked to find out if they are all somehow related and booked on a flight to New York to meet CIA agent Felix Leiter. After M and Moneypenny leave, James tests the watch on Ms. Caruso's zipper. It works! Q comes through again.
After arriving at the airport, Bond is picked up by driver sent by the CIA. Shortly the driver is killed by a dart from a pimp mobile that is running parallel to the car carrying our hero. Bond quickly takes the wheel from the back seat and navigates the car well enough to crash safely. Leiter meets up with Bond and tells them that they have a possible lead on Harlem gangster named Mr. Big. It seems that he has a voodoo shop as a cover. Soon Bond sees the car that tried to kill him in front and follows it in a cab into the heart of Harlem to a place called the Fillet of Soul. After having a "nasty turn in a booth", James is brought face to face with Mr. Big, but not before hitting on a card reading beauty named Solitaire (Jane Seymour). She has two wonderful qualities. She is drop dead gorgeous and also clairvoyant. You thought that I was going somewhere else with that, didn't you? Anywho, Jane Seymour is still very attractive to this very day and she's in her 60's. She's not that bad of an actress either. Where was I? Oh yeah... Mr. Big orders a couple of his men to take James out back and kill him. Why don't they just kill him right there? Who knows? Maybe he doesn't want blood on his carpet or something. Needless to say, Bond gets out of this predicament with a little help.
Bond flies to San Monique to investigate San Monique dictator Dr. Kananga who happened to be at the UN meeting in the beginning of the film. Shortly after arriving at the hotel, James is attacked by a snake and meets up with Rosie Carver, the most inept CIA agent in history. They soon meet up with Quarrel Jr. who agrees to take Bond to Kananga's island palace. Soon we find out that Rosie is not just the worst CIA agent in the world, but also the worst double agent in the world. Sooner still, we find out that she won't be in the movie any more to our delight. Before you know it, Bond's hang-gliding down on Kananga's place. He meets up with Solitaire and tricks her into making love to him by "stacking the deck". She explains that her powers have now left her since she was a virgin up until that point. I don't know exactly how that works, but I guess that I'll accept it for the sake of accepting it. As they escape, Bond finds a gigantic heroin field. Did I mention the chase where Bond is in a stolen bus? That happens on the island as well. Next stop New Orleans!
After arriving in New Orleans, James hops into a cab. Uh-oh! The cab driver is the same guy that took him to Harlem earlier in the movie and works for Mr. Big. 007 is taken to a flying school where several of Big's men are waiting for him. With a little ingenuity, fisticuffs, and the hijacking of a plane Bond gets away. Ironically, the plane loses it's wings and never leaves the ground. Bond gets a hold of Leiter and asks him if there are any Fillet of Soul restaraunts in the area. It turns out that there are. Why Bond wasn't this smart an hour earlier is anyone's guess. Anyhow, they both go to the Fillet and get a table in front of the stage. After Leiter is called away for a telephone call, the table sinks into the floor. Bond is once again face to face with Mr. Big who has his henchman Tee-Hee and Baron Samedi with him. He also has Solitaire now in his custody. Big is irate and asks 007 if he messed with Solitaire (you know, given her the old in out in out) . After James says that he will tell only Kananga, we find out that Mr. Big is actually just Dr. Kananga wearing bad make up. They are one in the same. Kananga explains that he has two metric tons of heroin and that he currently is giving it away. After running certain families out of business and creating more addicts, he plans on selling it at a very expensive rate. Bond refuses to tell Kananga if he had sex with Solitaire so Kananga decides to test Solitaire's gift of sight. He tells Bond that if she gets the number on the back of his watch wrong that his finger will be snipped off by Tee-Hee (who has an all metal arm with a hand that can bend guns in half). After answering the question, Bond is given back his watch *rolls eyes* and cracked over the back of the noggin by Tee-Hee. Kanaga is upset that Solitaire was wrong and hits her violently. What a bad guy...
James wakes up on a crocodile farm. Tee-Hee explains that he lost his arm there and leaves Bond on an island to be eaten. After failing to escape by using his watch, he feed the crocs some food in order to get them in a straight line. Next, 007 runs across their backs, gets a can of gasoline, sets the place on fire, and steals a boat. This leads into the J.W. Pepper sequence. Sheriff J.W. Pepper is a foul mouthed, tobacco chewing, stereotype of Southern America. He gets involved when Bond is chased by several of Kananga's men,also in boats. Many will tell you that this sequence was a ripoff of Smokey and the Bandit or the Dukes of Hazzard. Actually, they have this backwards. You see, Live and Let DIe came out in 1973. Smokey and the Bandit came out in '77 and the Dukes of Hazzard in '79. Moonrunner, the movie that the Dukes of Hazzard was based on came out in '75. The characters Buford T. Justice, Roscoe P. Coltrane, and J.D. Hogg all were inspired by J.W. Pepper, believe it or not. Anyway, the speedboat chase is well done. The problem is that there's too much of it. It goes on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on. In the end Bond remains unscathed, Leiter meets up with Pepper and the rest of the Louisiana police, and we watch Pepper's head nearly explode.
Bond then goes back to the island of San Monique with Quarrel Jr. Bond instructs him to blow up the heroin field while he himself takes care of Kananga. Next, we witness a voodoo ritual identical to he one in the beginning of the movie. Only this time Solitaire is tied to the post. Bond takes care of the guy with the snake, but Baron "the man who cannot die" Samedi intervenes. After Bond resolves this situation, he quickly infiltrates Kananga's underground lair. Bond and Solitaire are quickly captured and soon to be fed to sharks. I won't give away the ending, but I will say that the main villain has the worst death of any in the series. He would have lived if he just opened his mouth like the rest of the movie.
Live and Let Die has achieved a cult status over the years and many will tell you that it is one of the best Bond movies. I am not one of them. The story is relatively weak, many of the scenes are action scenes just for the sake of action scenes, and while there are several cool baddies (Baron Samedi, Tee-Hee, Whisper, etc...) we hardly get to know any of them. While I am not the biggest fan of Roger Moore's interpretation of Bond (he plays Bond more like a British gentleman and less like a bad ass), I can't blame him. He succeeds in making the character more light-hearted and tongue in cheek. If this is what you like, than you'll probably prefer him to Connery. I actually do like some of his movies, but this isn't one of them. I am not going to get into the great debate about whether or not this movie is racist. One could write an entire term paper on the subject and come up with a convincing argument either way, so I can't tell you if it was intended to be or not.
2 out of 5 - Below average for a Bond movie. Roger Moore makes Bond his own (like it or not), but the film is not that well written and Yaphet Kotto, while a good actor, is not used to his full poetential.
Cool thing to know: The book Live And Let Die came before Dr. No and since Quarrel died in the movie Dr. No, they turned his character into Quarrel Jr. in the movie Live And Let Die.
James Bond will return next Monday in The Man WIth The Golden Gun.
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