Live and Let Die (1973) is
the eighth spy film in the James Bond series to be produced by Eon
Productions, and the first to star Roger Moore as the fictional MI6
agent James Bond. Produced by Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman,
it was the third of four Bond films to be directed by Guy Hamilton.
Although the producers had wanted Sean Connery to return after his
role in the previous Bond film Diamonds Are Forever, he declined,
sparking a search for a new actor to play James Bond. Moore was
signed for the lead role.
The
film is based loosely on the novel of the same name by Ian Fleming.
It was the second novel in Fleming's James Bond series, and was first
published in the UK by Jonathan Cape in 1954. Major plot elements
from the novel were also incorporated into two other Bond films: For
Your Eyes Only, released in 1981 and Licence to Kill, released in
1989. Live and Let Die was also adapated in a comic strip format in
1958–59 by John McLusky for the Daily Express.
In the film, a Harlem drug
lord known as Mr. Big plans to distribute two tons of heroin free to
put rival drug barons out of business. Mr. Big, however, is revealed
to be the disguised alter ego of Dr. Kananga, a corrupt Caribbean
dictator, who rules San Monique, the fictional island where the
heroin poppies are secretly farmed. Bond is investigating the death
of three British agents, leading him to Kananga, where he is soon
trapped in a world of gangsters and voodoo as he fights to put a stop
to the drug baron's scheme.
Live and Let Die was
released during the height of the blaxploitation era, and many
blaxploitation archetypes and clichés are depicted in the
film, including derogatory racial epithets ("honky"), black
gangsters, and "pimpmobiles". It departs from the former
plots of the James Bond films about megalomaniac super-villains, and
instead focuses on drug trafficking, depicted primarily in
blaxploitation films. It is set in African American cultural centres
such as Harlem and New Orleans, as well as the Caribbean Islands. It
was also the first James Bond film featuring an African American Bond
girl to be romantically involved with 007, Rosie Carver, who was
played by Gloria Hendry. Despite mixed reviews, the film was a box
office success and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best
Original Song for "Live and Let Die", written by Paul
McCartney and performed by his band Wings.
While filming Diamonds Are
Forever, Live and Let Die was chosen as the next Ian Fleming novel to
be adapted because screenwriter Tom Mankiewicz thought it would be
daring to use black villains, as the Black Panthers and other racial
movements were active at this time. Guy Hamilton was again chosen to
direct, and since he was a jazz fan, Mankiewicz suggested him to film
in New Orleans. Hamilton didn't want to use Mardi Gras since
Thunderball featured Junkanoo, a similar festivity, so after more
discussions with the writer and location scouting with helicopters,
he decided to use two well-known features of the city, the jazz
funerals and the canals.
While searching for
locations in Jamaica, the crew discovered a crocodile farm owned by
Ross Kananga, after passing a sign warning that "trespassers
will be eaten." The farm was put into the script and also
inspired Mankiewicz to name the film's villain after Kananga.
Broccoli
and Saltzman tried to convince Sean Connery to return as 007, but he
declined. The two producers then approached Clint Eastwood, who was
fresh from his success as Dirty Harry, but although flattered he also
turned down the offer, stating that 007 should be played by an
Englishman. Among the actors to test for the part of Bond were Julian
Glover, John Gavin, Jeremy Brett, Simon Oates, John Ronane, and
William Gaunt. The main frontrunner for the role was Michael
Billington (right). United Artists wanted an American to play Bond;
Burt Reynolds, Paul Newman and Robert Redford were all considered.
Producer Albert R. Broccoli, however, insisted that the part should
be played by a British actor and put forward Roger Moore. After Moore
was chosen, Billington remained on the top of the list in the event
that Moore would decline to come back for the next film. Billington
ultimately played a brief villainous role in the pre-credit sequence
of The Spy Who Loved Me (1977). Moore, who had been considered by the
producers before both Dr. No and On Her Majesty's Secret Service, was
ultimately cast. He tried not to imitate either Sean Connery or his
performance as Simon Templar in The Saint, and Mankiewicz fitted the
screenplay into Moore's persona by giving more comedy scenes and a
light-hearted approach to Bond.
Mankiewicz had thought of
turning Solitaire into a black woman, with Diana Ross as his primary
choice. However, Broccoli and Saltzman decided to stick to Fleming's
description of a white woman, and after thinking of Catherine
Deneuve, Jane Seymour (pictured below), who was in the TV series The
Onedin Line, was cast for the role. Yaphet Kotto was cast while doing
another movie for United Artists, Across 110th Street. Kotto reported
one of the things he liked in role was Kananga's interest in the
occult, "feeling like he can control past, present and future".
Mankiewicz created Sheriff
J.W. Pepper to add a comic relief character. Portrayed by Clifton
James, Pepper appeared again in The Man with the Golden Gun. It is
also the first of two films featuring David Hedison as Felix Leiter,
who reprised the role in Licence to Kill. Hedison had said "I
was sure that would be my first and last", before being cast again.
Madeline
Smith, who played Miss Caruso, sharing Bond's bed in the film's
opening, was recommended for the part by Roger Moore after he had
appeared with her on TV. Smith said that Moore was extremely polite
to work with, but she felt very uncomfortable being clad in only blue
bikini panties while Moore's wife was on set overseeing the scene.
This was the only Bond film
until 2002 not to feature 'Q', played at this stage by Desmond
Llewellyn. Llewellyn was currently appearing in the TV series
Follyfoot, but was written out of three episodes to appear in the
film. The producers however had already decided not to include the
character, much to Llewellyn's annoyance.
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Live and Let Die (1973) is
the eighth spy film in the James Bond series, and the first to star
Roger Moore as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. The film was
produced by Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman. Although the
producers had wanted Sean Connery to return after his role in the
previous Bond film Diamonds Are Forever, he declined, sparking a
search for a new actor to play James Bond. Roger Moore was signed for
the lead role. Buy
Live and Let Die here.
Principal
photography began in October 1972, in Louisiana. For a while only
the second unit was shot after Moore was diagnosed with kidney
stones. In November production moved to Jamaica, which doubled for
the fictional San Monique. In December, production was divided
between interiors in Pinewood Studios and location shooting in
Harlem. The producers were reportedly required to pay protection
money to a local Harlem gang to ensure the crew's safety. When the
cash ran out, they were "encouraged" to leave.
Ross Kananga suggested the
jump on crocodiles, and was enlisted by the producers to do the
stunt. The scene took five takes to be completed, including one in
which the last crocodile snapped at Kananga's heel, tearing his
trousers. The production also had trouble with snakes. The script
supervisor was so afraid that she refused to be on set with them; an
actor fainted while filming a scene where he is killed by a snake;
Jane Seymour became terrified as a reptile got closer, and Geoffrey
Holder only agreed to fall into the snake-filled casket because
Princess Alexandra was visiting the set.
The boat chase was filmed
in Louisiana around the Irish Bayou area, with some interruption
caused by flooding. Twenty-six boats were built by the Glastron boat
company for the film. Seventeen were destroyed during rehearsals. The
speedboat jump scene over the bayou, filmed with the assistance of a
specially-constructed ramp, unintentionally set a Guinness World
Record at the time with 110 feet (34 m) cleared. Unfortunately, the
waves created by the impact caused the following boat to flip over.
The chase involving the
double-decker bus was filmed with a second-hand London bus adapted by
having a top section removed, and then placed back in situ running on
ball bearings to allow to slide off on impact. The stunts involving
the bus were performed by Maurice Patchett, a London Transport bus
driving instructor.
John
Barry, who had worked on the previous five themes and orchestrated
the "James Bond Theme", was unavailable during production.
Broccoli and Saltzman instead asked Paul McCartney to write the theme
song. Since McCartney's salary was high and another composer could
not be hired with the remainder of the music budget, George Martin,
who had been McCartney's producer while with The Beatles, was chosen
to write the score for the film. "Live and Let Die",
written by McCartney along with his wife Linda and performed by their
group Wings, was the first true rock and roll song used to open a
Bond film, and became a major success in the UK (where it reached
number nine in the charts) and the US (where it reached number 2, for
three weeks).
The Olympia Brass Band has
a notable part in "Live and Let Die", where they lead a
funeral march for a (soon to be) assassination victim. Trumpeter
Alvin Alcorn plays the killer. The piece of music the band plays at
the beginning of the funeral march is "Just a Closer Walk with
Thee". After the agent is stabbed, the band starts playing the
more lively "Joe Avery's Piece".
The film was released in
the United States on June 27th 1973. The world premiere was at Odeon
Leicester Square in London on July 6th 1973, with general release in
the United Kingdom on the same day. From a budget of around $7
million, the film grossed $161.8 million worldwide. Despite poor
reaction to the racial overtones, reviews were mostly positive, with
praise for the action scenes.
Roger Ebert of Chicago
Sun-Times stated that Moore "has the superficial attributes for
the job: The urbanity, the quizzically raised eyebrow, the calm under
fire and in bed". However, he felt that Moore wasn't
satisfactory in living up to the legacy left by Sean Connery in the
preceding films. He rated the villains "a little banal",
adding that the film "doesn't have a Bond villain worthy of the
Goldfingers, Dr. Nos and Oddjobs of the past." BBC Films
reviewer William Mager praised the use of locations, but said that
the plot was "convoluted". He stated that "Connery and
Lazenby had an air of concealed thuggishness, clenched fists at the
ready, but in Moore's case a sardonic quip and a raised eyebrow are
his deadliest weapons". Reviewer Leonard Maltin rated the film
two and a half stars out of four, describing it as a "barely
memorable, overlong James Bond movie" that "seems merely an
excuse to film wild chase sequences". Danny Peary noted that
Jane Seymour portrays "one of the Bond series's most beautiful
heroines" but had little praise for Moore, whom he described as
making "an unimpressive debut as James Bond."
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Broccoli
and Saltzman tried to convince Sean Connery to return as 007, but he
declined. The two producers then approached Clint Eastwood, who was
fresh from his success as Dirty Harry, but although flattered he also
turned down the offer, stating that 007 should be played by an
Englishman. Among the actors to test for the part of Bond were Julian
Glover, John Gavin, Jeremy Brett, Simon Oates, John Ronane, and
William Gaunt. The main frontrunner for the role was Michael
Billington (right). United Artists wanted an American to play Bond;
Burt Reynolds, Paul Newman and Robert Redford were all considered.
Producer Albert R. Broccoli, however, insisted that the part should
be played by a British actor and put forward Roger Moore. After Moore
was chosen, Billington remained on the top of the list in the event
that Moore would decline to come back for the next film. Billington
ultimately played a brief villainous role in the pre-credit sequence
of The Spy Who Loved Me (1977). Moore, who had been considered by the
producers before both Dr. No and On Her Majesty's Secret Service, was
ultimately cast. He tried not to imitate either Sean Connery or his
performance as Simon Templar in The Saint, and Mankiewicz fitted the
screenplay into Moore's persona by giving more comedy scenes and a
light-hearted approach to Bond.
Madeline
Smith, who played Miss Caruso, sharing Bond's bed in the film's
opening, was recommended for the part by Roger Moore after he had
appeared with her on TV. Smith said that Moore was extremely polite
to work with, but she felt very uncomfortable being clad in only blue
bikini panties while Moore's wife was on set overseeing the scene.
Principal
photography began in October 1972, in Louisiana. For a while only
the second unit was shot after Moore was diagnosed with kidney
stones. In November production moved to Jamaica, which doubled for
the fictional San Monique. In December, production was divided
between interiors in Pinewood Studios and location shooting in
Harlem. The producers were reportedly required to pay protection
money to a local Harlem gang to ensure the crew's safety. When the
cash ran out, they were "encouraged" to leave.
