We have finally reached the Roger Moore era of James Bond and to ease the actor into the role the producers took the safe route with a wholesome plot that lacks any controversy.
Nah, just kidding. They went full Blaxploitation.
Live and Let Die is littered with black stereotypes from ghetto hoods to Voodoo priests that it has to own. Films like these really did no favours for the black community.
Not that it is much of an excuse, but I am sure the racism came from a place of ignorance and a desire to cash on the popularity of blaxploitation films like Shaft or Super Fly. The white folk who made Live and Let Die nearly 50 years ago probably thought they were being progressive by having a cast that was mostly black actors.
Sure, the leads are white. Moore as Bond and Jane Seymore as the Bond Girl, Solitaire. But the main villain, Dr. Kananga played by Yophet Kotto, the heavy (Julius W. Harris as Tee Hee Johnson), another bond girl (Gloria Hendry as Rosie Carver), the ally (Roy Stewart as Quarrel Jr.), and many other roles are portrayed by black actors.
Regardless, a diverse cast (who admittedly are mostly playing bad guys) probably doesn’t forgive the films… let’s say lack of foresight. But at least it is not as blatantly racist as You Only Live Twice was to East Asians. Thankfully Roger Moore doesn’t attempt to “become black” while sporting some black face.
With the full understanding that Live and Let Die doesn’t fully make up for this shortcoming, the sum of its other parts does make for one good Bond film. Well, despite a plot that is bat shit crazy at times.
Live And Let Die opens with three MI6 agents murdered within 24 hours while monitoring the operations of Dr. Kananga, the dictator of the small Caribbean island named San Monique. Dr. Kananga is being investigated for heroin smuggling from his island into the USA. “M” (Bernard Lee) sends Bond to New York to find out what has happened to his agents. Bond traces the heroin to the Harlem mob boss known as “Mr. Big” who runs a chain of restaurants throughout the United States.
During Bond’s first run in with Mr. Big, he meets the mob boss’ advisor, the beautiful Solitaire. Both she and Mr. Big believe in her powers to predict the future by reading tarot cards, an ability she will continue to have as long as she remains a virgin.
After narrowly escaping Mr. Big’s first attempt to have him killed, Bond next heads to San Monique to investigate Kananga himself. There, he runs into Solitarie again, but this time he brings a stacked deck to fool her into giving away her virginity to him. Now, believing that she will be no use to her employer, she agrees to help Bond take down the herion ring as a double agent. Like I said, bat shit crazy.
I think this is one of the most divisive Bond films ever made. People seem to either love it or hate it. And I admit, my over simplification of the plot is a little facetious to help me make my point, but Live and Let Die is more grounded in reality than most Bond films. As long as you are able to buy into eccentric Bond villains doing an eccentric thing like putting a lot of faith into tarot cards.
Roger Moore’s take on the Bond character also greatly helps to set the tone. His slight tongue-in-cheek approach to every scene makes the film’s more absurd moments palatable. Bond hopping on a neatly lined up row of crocodiles to escape a trap would come off as even more unbelievable with Connery’s more serious take.
But, as Roger Ebert once pointed out, a James Bond film is only as good as its villain and I really like Yaphet Kotto. The film did not give him much to work with as Dr. Kananga is oddly motivated, has a bizarre relationship with Solitaire, and an outright insane plan. But, bad guys need to have it all and stuff. His henchmen range from a legit threat like Tee Hee Johnson to a complete buffoon like Whisper (Earl Jolly Brown). Still, Kotto delivers like a complete badass.
With this being a Guy Hamilton film (Goldfinger, Diamonds Are Forever), there is plenty of action and humour to makes Live and Let Die fun. There is a solid speed boat chase in the shallow water bayous of Louisiana with boats hopping over small chunks of land and ramming into police cars. It is amazing to see how much action scenes in films had improved within a short window of time. While the ski sequence in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service or even simple car chases from previous Bond films heavily relied on green-screen effects, Live And Let Die uses that crutch a total of zero times.
The speed boat chase also introduces the character of the Louisiana Sheriff, J.W. Pepper played by Clifton James. Again, the Bond series seems to have set a trend. This time with an uncouth southern sheriff who has an irrational desire to catch the film’s hero. I think Jackie Gleason’s Sheriff Buford T. Justice from the “Smokey and The Bandit” films and James Best’s Sherrif Rosco P. Coltrane from the TV program The Dukes of Hazzard owe him some royalties.
Now, for the continuing competition with my wife Sarah to correctly guess how long it would take Bond to first get laid during each of these films. Since Bond in Diamonds Are Forever and took an unheard of 42 minutes to bed a lady, Sarah went with a radical strategy of picking 35 minutes. For myself, Roger Moore is my guy. I had a strong sense he would not waste any time and went with 15 minutes. I began to sweat a bit after seeing Moore’s first scene open to him already in bed with a lady. It was questionable if this counted because it was after the fact. But all controversy was erased after he sealed the deal for a 2nd round at the 12 minute and 42 second mark. A comeback for The Mars Man is still questionable, but we can say for certain that he will not be shutout for this competition:
Sarah – 5
Mars – 1
I grew up with Roger Moore as my Bond. I didn’t know who Sean Connery was until The Untouchables came out and my Mom told me that they old guy was the original Bond. I then hadn’t seen any of his Bond movies until the ’90s during a marathon on TBS. Connery then became my new favourite. Watching the series this time around, I think I’m heading back to camp Roger.
Eon Productions apparently really wanted him for the role the first time Connery left the series, but he was tied up with a commitment to the TV program The Saint. I can see why. His style is better suited for the character’s campiness. The result is, Live and Let Die‘s glaring problems aside, this is the most fun I have had with a Bond film since Goldfinger.
4/5
Way 2 seal the deal! lol
Moore was the first 007 movies I had seen. So this will be a great review.
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It is about time I got on board! That is a pretty good introduction to the series for ya.
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I have not seen this one in years. We used to get our channels back in the early to late 80s from the Duluth.
Everyday M-F at 430 they would show a film and a lot of them were Bond movies as well as Plant of the Apes!
Good times
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I saw this one in the cinema and as a 12 year old, I loved it. If I’m not mistaken, Rosie was the first woman of Afro-Carribean origin Bond got wi.
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Yes, there have been black Bond girls before, but this was his first he shared a bed with.
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Nice! It was TBS marathons in the ’90s for me.
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Right off the bat… it’s my favorite Bond theme song hands down. The boat chase was great. One of my top Bond films.
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The theme is excellent. I think this might end up being one of mine as well. It is up there for now!
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Really enjoyed that 👍
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Finally!! You won!! She probably let you win and won’t admit it. Roger is my bond as well. I didn’t remember most of the Sean films, but Roger yes. Roger was corny, campy and brought a little humor that i enjoyed a lot. Now I do like Daniel’s more serious take, but back then I liked the comedy aspect. I saw a bunch of Roger’s in the theatre, not this one thought, it would be a little later before I was old enough to go on my own.
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“She probably let you win and won’t admit it.”
Believe me, the thought NEVER entered her mind! She gets really competitive with this stuff. Get her on the opposite side of a Monopoly board and you’ll be bankrupt in no time.
That is awesome that you got to see some of the Moore ones in the theater. I have only seen the Pierce Bronson ones in the theaters.
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I would love to play Monopoly with you guys, sounds like fun.
For Your Eyes Only was my first Bon film in a theater so that was around 1981 I believe.
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Yup, For Your Eyes Only was ’81. That’s cool. My parent were not big movie buffs so we rarely went to the theater. I can count the number of times I went in the ’80s on my hands.
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That was my teen years so we went a bunch.
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It was sort of creepy for a Bond film of that era. But a great movie. I rewatched it a fair bit in the 90s as well and thought the movie didn’t age well. Will revisit it again to see.
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It was a tricky one to write about since I do like it in spite of its flaws.
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I really enjoyed this film, and so far it might be my favourite (so far). Great theme song too. What other song could get me singing along over a plate o nachos?? 😉
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And like you pointed out the other night, the first time the song was written and performed by the same people!
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Great write up, man. I thing Moore was perfect for Bond and the tone of the films – like I said previously, I found Bond and the whole thing pretty outrageous and I think Moore embraces that.
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He sure does! I know a few of the later films get really silly but this was is balanced just right.
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Ah, Jane Seymour… oh yeah, the rest of the film too. Yep, right on. I do like this one for other reasons, many of which you list here!
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She certainly was easy on the eyes!
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Truly!
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I had to see what Roger brought. Hard to explain why I liked these films. I rewatched a while ago and it was more a nostalgia thing . Shake up my viewing. I would hang in for a few more. It’s like I had made a commitment.
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Yeah, I remember Roger getting very campy towards the end but he was spot on out of the gate!
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There was a vibe I liked about this one. Roger was still carrying a bit of The Saint with him.
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Yeah, your right. He did bring a lot of The Saint to the Bond sets.
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Congrats on the Bond-Laid win, finally! really been enjoying these 007 reviews. seen them all alot in the 2000s, but been awhile now except for the Daniel Craig ones. I enjoyed all the Roger Moore ones, (yes even View To A Kill. one of the 1st i’d seen on those holiday Bond-athons, so i didnt know better)
Really need to give them all a rewatch as i now have them on shiny Blu-Rays, AND knowing there could be a good Fandango in the near future. . . .
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Oh yeah, that is part of the reason why I’m revisiting them. I want to have 3 solid Bond films to recommend to Richard.
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