LIVE AND LET DIE
US/UK, 1973, 121 minutes, Colour.
Roger Moore, Yaphet Kotto, Jane Seymour, Clifton James, Julius Harris, Geoffrey Holder, David Hedison, Gloria Hendry, Bernard Lee, Lois Maxwell.
Directed by Guy Hamilton.
Live and Let Die is the first of the Roger Moore James Bond films. It was made at the time of the popular blacksploitation series of films featuring African American heroes and villains in the US. Yaphet Kotto appeared in some of these films and appears here as the character of Mr Big as well as President Kananga of the Caribbean island of Saint Monique.
However, the film is famous for being the first of the Roger Moore films, his being forty-six at the time, his suave manner and deadpan lines, his being very different from Sean Connery. Roger Moore was to be James Bond in six more films.
Jane Seymour was introduced in this film and plays Solitaire, the tarot-reading companion of Mr Big. There are humourous supporting performances by Clifton James as a redneck sheriff in Lousiana, Julius Harris as a sinister henchman with a claw hand, Geoffrey Holder as Baron Samedi, exploiting people’s fears of voodoo.
There are some regulars, David Hedison as Felix Leiter, Bernard Lee, looking rather older, as M and Lois Maxwell as Miss Moneypenny.
The film was written by Tom Mankiewicz who wrote The Eagle Has Landed, Cassandra Crossing and also Diamonds are Forever and The Man with the Golden Gun. The direction was by Guy Hamilton who directed Goldfinger and Diamonds are Forever as well as The Man with the Golden Gun.
The title song was written by Paul and Linda Mc Cartney, sung by Wings, and the film features characteristic credits by Maurice Binder.
The film looks of its time, the special effects are rather limited compared with the later films as are the gadgets. However, they work quite well and this is a rather tongue-in-cheek James Bond film.
1. The entertainment value of the film? The first Roger Moore James Bond film? The tradition from Sean Connery? The transition?
2. The adaptation of Ian Fleming’s novel, characters, plots, MI6, gadgets and weaponry, espionage? The licence to kill?
3. The title, the song, the performance, the credits?
4. James Bond’s style in the 1970s, the figures in the credits, the musical score and the famous theme? Locations, action, tongue-in-cheek jokes, Bond’s relationship with women, M and Miss Moneypenny, the US and Felix Leiter?
5. The introduction to James Bond, with the Italian girl, M’s arrival, her hiding in the closet, his reputation being saved, his mission, Miss Moneypenny saving the day? The watch and its magnetic field – and its later use?
6. The death of the agent: in the UN, the sound engineering? New Orleans, the funeral procession, the agent watching, his death, his being carried away, the lively dancing? This later being repeated? The voodoo killing in the Caribbean? The snake?
7. The background of voodoo, superstition, the Broadway choreography style of some of the ceremonies? The shop: the Oh Cult?
8. President Kananga, at the UN, his speech, his going back to Saint Monique, the poppies and the heroin trade? The island, Tee Hee as his henchmen? Baron Samedi and the voodoo? Rosie as the seductive spy? His enterprise and protection?
9. Mr Big, in Harlem, the taxi driver taking Bond, the thugs, the Fillet of Soul? The cover? For distributing heroin?
10. Solitaire, the background of her mother and grandmother, reading the cards? Her dress, the predictions, her fears? The relationship with Kananga? His hold over her?
11. Bond and his mission, the contact with Felix, New York, the taxi, his being taken to Harlem, the escape, the agent helping him? His going to Saint Monique? His meeting Mr Big and Solitaire? Rosie at the hotel, the sexual encounter, her performance, deceit? The site of the death, the voodoo fear, her death? Bond and his watching the ceremonies and Baron Samedi? His being taken, the encounters with Solitaire, the cards, the lovers, death?
12. The theme of the cards, Solitaire and her background, her falling in love with Bond, the escape? The recapture?
13. Bond and New Orleans, the death of the agent and the funeral? Tee Hee and the heroin plant? The alligators and crocodiles? Bond and his being stranded, using the magnet, getting the boat, escaping?
14. The escape and the chase, the boat, the sheriff and his being upset, the pursuit? The humorous character of the sheriff? His assistants?
15. Mr Big, the disguise of President Kananga, the preoccupation with Solitaire, the trap, tying Bond and Solitaire together, the shark? The magnet, the bullet, the demonstration of its power, putting it in Kananga’s mouth, splatter?
16. The escape, the end, Solitaire as a character, on the train with Bond?
17. The transition to a new kind of Bond for the 70s and 80s? The success of the film as action, espionage, comic touches?
