Live and Let Die (film)

Last updated

Live and Let Die
Live and Let Die- UK cinema poster.jpg
Theatrical release poster by Robert McGinnis
Directed by Guy Hamilton
Screenplay by Tom Mankiewicz
Based on Live and Let Die
by Ian Fleming
Produced by Harry Saltzman
Albert R. Broccoli
Starring
Cinematography Ted Moore
Edited by
Music by George Martin
Production
company
Distributed by United Artists
Release dates
  • 27 June 1973 (1973-06-27)(United States)
  • 12 July 1973 (1973-07-12)(United Kingdom)
Running time
121 minutes
CountriesUnited Kingdom [1]
United States [2]
LanguageEnglish
Budget$7 million
Box office$161.8 million

Live and Let Die is a 1973 spy film. It is the eighth film in the James Bond series produced by Eon Productions, and the first to star Roger Moore as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. It was directed by Guy Hamilton and produced by Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman, while Tom Mankiewicz wrote the script. Although the producers had approached Sean Connery to return after Diamonds Are Forever (1971), he declined and a search for a new actor led to Moore being signed.

Contents

The film is based on Ian Fleming's 1954 novel of the same name. The storyline involves a Harlem drug lord known as Mr. Big who plans to distribute two tons of heroin for free to put rival drug barons out of business and then become a monopoly supplier. Mr. Big is revealed to be the alter ego of Dr. Kananga, a corrupt Caribbean dictator, who rules San Monique, a fictional island where opium poppies are secretly farmed. Bond is investigating the deaths of three British agents, leading him to Kananga, and 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. [3] It departs from the former plots of the James Bond films about megalomaniac super-villains, and instead focuses on drug trafficking, a common theme of blaxploitation films of the period. 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 romantically involved with 007, Rosie Carver, who was played by Gloria Hendry.

The film was a box-office success and received generally positive reviews from critics. Its title song, written by Paul and Linda McCartney and performed by their band Wings, was also nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song.

Plot

Three MI6 agents are killed under mysterious circumstances within 24 hours in the United Nations headquarters in New York City, in New Orleans, and the small Caribbean nation of San Monique, while monitoring the operations of the island's dictator, Dr. Kananga. James Bond, Agent 007, is sent to New York to investigate. Kananga is also in New York, visiting the United Nations. After Bond arrives, his driver is shot dead by Whisper, one of Kananga's men, while taking Bond to Felix Leiter of the CIA. Bond is nearly killed in the ensuing car crash.

Glastron speedboats in the Louisiana boat chase. The boat chase scene was filmed in the Bayou Des Allemands. 007Glastonspeedboats.jpg
Glastron speedboats in the Louisiana boat chase. The boat chase scene was filmed in the Bayou Des Allemands.

The killer's licence plate leads Bond to Harlem where he meets Mr. Big, a mob boss who runs a chain of restaurants throughout the United States, but Bond and the CIA do not understand why the most powerful black gangster in New York works with an unimportant island's leader. Bond meets Solitaire, a beautiful tarot reader who has the power of the Obeah and can see both the future and remote events in the present. Mr. Big demands that his henchmen kill Bond, but Bond overpowers them and escapes with the help of CIA agent Strutter. Bond flies to San Monique, where he meets Rosie Carver, a local CIA agent. They meet up with Bond's ally, Quarrel Jr., who takes them by boat near Solitaire's home. When Bond suspects Rosie of being a double agent for Kananga, Rosie tries to escape but is killed remotely by Kananga. Bond then uses a stacked deck of tarot cards that show only "The Lovers" to trick Solitaire into thinking that fate is meant for them; Bond then seduces her. Having lost her virginity and thus her ability to foretell the future, Solitaire realizes she would be killed by Kananga, so she agrees to cooperate with Bond.

Bond and Solitaire escape by boat and fly to New Orleans. There, Bond is captured by Mr. Big, who removes his prosthetic face and reveals himself to be Kananga. He has been producing heroin and is protecting the poppy fields by exploiting the San Monique locals' fear of voodoo priest Baron Samedi, as well as the occult. As Mr. Big, Kananga plans to distribute the heroin free of charge at his restaurants, which will increase the number of addicts. He intends to bankrupt other drug dealers with his giveaway, then charge high prices for his heroin later in order to capitalise on the huge drug dependencies he has cultivated.

Angry at Solitaire for having sex with Bond and losing her ability to read tarot cards, Kananga turns her over to Baron Samedi to be sacrificed. Kananga's henchmen, one-armed Tee Hee and tweed-jacketed Adam, leave Bond to be eaten by crocodilians at his farm in the Deep South backwoods. Bond escapes by running along the animals' backs to safety. After setting the drug laboratory on fire, he steals a speedboat and escapes, pursued by Kananga's men under Adam's order, as well as Sheriff J.W. Pepper and the Louisiana State Police. Most pursuers get wrecked or left behind, and Adam is killed in a boat crash by Bond.

Bond travels to San Monique and with the help of Quarrel Jr. sets timed explosives throughout the poppy fields. He rescues Solitaire from the voodoo sacrifice and throws Samedi into a coffin of venomous snakes. Bond and Solitaire escape below ground into Kananga's lair. Kananga captures them both and proceeds to lower them into a shark tank. However, Bond escapes and forces Kananga to swallow a compressed-gas pellet used in shark guns, causing his body to inflate and explode.

Leiter puts Bond and Solitaire on a train leaving the country. Tee Hee sneaks aboard and attempts to kill Bond, but Bond cuts the wires of his prosthetic arm and throws him out the window. As the film ends, a laughing Samedi is revealed to be perching at the front of the train.

Cast

Promotional image of the cast of Live and Let Die. From left: Julius Harris, Jane Seymour, Geoffrey Holder, Roger Moore, Yaphet Kotto and Earl Jolly Brown LALDcast.jpg
Promotional image of the cast of Live and Let Die. From left: Julius Harris, Jane Seymour, Geoffrey Holder, Roger Moore, Yaphet Kotto and Earl Jolly Brown

Production

Writing

While filming Diamonds Are Forever, Live and Let Die was chosen as the next Ian Fleming novel to be adapted because screenwriter Tom Mankiewicz had thought it would be daring to use black villains, as the Black Panthers and other racial movements were active at this time. [5]

Guy Hamilton was again chosen to direct and, since he was a jazz fan, Mankiewicz suggested he film in New Orleans. Hamilton did not want to use Mardi Gras since Thunderball (1965) 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. [5] [6]

To develop a better feel of how Voodoo was practised, Saltzman and Broccoli escorted Hamilton, Mankiewicz, and production designer Syd Cain to scout New Orleans further and then the islands of the West Indies. Haiti was an important destination of the tour [7] and not only did Fleming connect it with the religion, [8] there were many practitioners available to witness. Despite viewing actual demonstrations, due to political unrest in the country at the time, it was decided not to film in Haiti. Instead, they chose to film in Jamaica. [7]

"Trespassers Will Be Eaten" - Gate to Jamaica Safari Village in Falmouth, Jamaica, film location of the crocodile farm/drug lab (photo taken in 1974) Trespassers Will Be Eaten-1407.jpg
"Trespassers Will Be Eaten" – Gate to Jamaica Safari Village in Falmouth, Jamaica, film location of the crocodile farm/drug lab (photo taken in 1974)

While searching for locations in Jamaica, the crew discovered a crocodile farm in Falmouth owned by Ross Kananga, after passing a sign warning that "trespassers will be eaten". The crocodile farm was put into the script and also inspired Mankiewicz to name the film's villain after Kananga. [5]

Richard Maibaum later claimed he was asked to write the film, but declined, because he was too busy. He disliked the completed film, saying, "to process drugs in the middle of the jungle is not a Bond caper." [9]

Casting

Broccoli and Saltzman tried to convince Sean Connery to return as James Bond, but he declined. [5] At the same time, United Artists considered Steve McQueen and Paul Newman for the role. According to Reynolds, Broccoli subsequently approached him for the role, but Reynolds felt Bond should be played by a British actor and turned the offer down. [10] Among the actors to test for the part of Bond were Julian Glover (who would portray Aristotle Kristatos in For Your Eyes Only (1981)), John Gavin, Jeremy Brett, Simon Oates, John Ronane, and William Gaunt. The main frontrunner for the role was Michael Billington. Broccoli met with Anthony Hopkins about playing the role, but Hopkins did not think that he was right for the part. [11]

Meanwhile, United Artists was still pushing to cast an American to play Bond, but Broccoli insisted that the part should be played by a British actor and put forward Roger Moore. Moore, who had been considered for the role in Dr. No (1962) and On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969), was ultimately hired. [6] After Moore was chosen, Billington remained on the top of the list in the event that Moore declined to come back for the next film. Billington played a brief role in the pre-credit sequence of The Spy Who Loved Me (1977). Moore tried not to imitate either Connery's or his own prior performance as Simon Templar in The Saint , and Mankiewicz fitted the screenplay into Moore's persona by giving more comedic scenes and a light-hearted approach to Bond. [5]

Mankiewicz had thought of turning Solitaire into a Black woman, and Diana Ross was his first choice. [3] [12] Broccoli and Saltzman decided to stick to Fleming's description of a white woman and, after considering Catherine Deneuve, cast Jane Seymour, who was in the television series The Onedin Line . [5] After Solitaire was cast with a white actress, the character of Rosie Carver was switched to be a Black woman and cast with Gloria Hendry. [13] Yaphet Kotto was cast while doing another movie for United Artists, Across 110th Street (1972). [5] Kotto reported one of the things he liked in the role was Kananga's interest in the occult, "feeling like he can control past, present and future". [6]

Mankiewicz created the character Sheriff J. W. Pepper to add comic relief. Clifton James reprised the role in The Man with the Golden Gun the following year. [5] Live and Let Die is also the first of two films featuring David Hedison as Felix Leiter, who reprised the role in Licence to Kill (1989). Hedison had said, "I was sure that would be my first and last" appearance as the character, before being cast again. [14]

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 television. Smith said that Moore was polite and pleasant 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. [15]

Live and Let Die was the only Bond film until Casino Royale (2006) not to feature the character Q, portrayed by Desmond Llewelyn. He was then appearing in the television series Follyfoot , but was written out of three episodes to appear in the film. [16] By then, Saltzman and Broccoli decided not to include the character, feeling that "too much was being made of the films' gadgets", and decided to downplay this aspect of the series, [17] much to Llewelyn's annoyance. [16]

Bernard Lee considered not reprising his role as M due to the death of his wife Gladys Merredew, and was nearly recast with Kenneth More. However, he ultimately returned to the role. [18]

Lois Maxwell had only been included in Diamonds Are Forever (1971) during filming as a late addition, as she had asked for a pay increase. [19] [20] For Live and Let Die, she returned for the same fee, but due to a technical error, the filming of her scenes in Bond's home at the start of the movie extended to two days, costing the production more than if they had paid the increase she requested. Moore later wrote that Maxwell celebrated the double-pay-day by purchasing a fur coat. [21]

Filming

Principal photography began on 13 October 1972 in New Orleans, Louisiana. [22] For a while, only the second unit was shooting after Moore was diagnosed with kidney stones. Hamilton initially wanted to film in Haiti, which the fictional San Monique was modeled after, but could not because of the political instability under the regime of François "Papa Doc" Duvalier. [7] In November, the production moved to Jamaica, which represented San Monique. In December, production was divided between interiors in Pinewood Studios in the UK and location shooting in Harlem in New York City. [5] [23] [24] The producers were reportedly required to pay protection money to a local Harlem gang to ensure the crew's safety. When the money ran out, they were forced to leave. [15] Some exteriors were in fact shot in Manhattan's Upper East Side as a result of the difficulties of using real Harlem locations. The street chase was shot at FDR Drive. [25]

Ross Kananga suggested the stunt of Bond jumping on crocodiles, and was enlisted by the producers to perform it. [3] The scene took five takes to be completed, including one in which the last crocodile snapped at Kananga's heel, tearing his trousers. [5] The production also had trouble with snakes during the voodoo ceremony scene in Jamaica. 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 snake was held up to her face, and Geoffrey Holder only agreed to fall into the snake-filled casket because Princess Alexandra was visiting the set. [26] Despite being told by the prop supervisor that the snakes had all been defanged, Holder told Moore that it did not feel like they had. [26] Another notable incident was when during filming of this scene a dancer who held a snake was bitten, and he dropped the snake, and this grabbed everyone's attention. Meanwhile Seymour was tied up to a stake for this scene, and the loose snake then set its sights on Seymour, who was saved by the film's snake handler, who grabbed it when it was mere inches from Seymour's feet. [5]

The boat chase was filmed in Louisiana around the Irish Bayou area, with some interruption caused by flooding. [6] 26 boats were built by the Glastron boat company for the film. 17 were destroyed during rehearsals. [27] 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. [28] The waves created by the impact caused the following boat to flip over. [5]

The chase involving the double-decker bus was filmed with a former London bus adapted by having a top section removed, and then placed back in situ running on ball bearings to allow it to slide off on impact. The stunts involving the bus were performed by Maurice Patchett, a London Transport bus driving instructor. [3]

Salvador Dalí was approached in 1973 to design a Surrealist tarot deck for the film. However, his fee was too expensive for the film budget. [29] At the end, the deck used in the film was designed by Fergus Hall. [30] Dalí kept working at the deck and released it in 1984.

Music

Dejan's Olympia Brass Band 007FilletofSoul.jpg
Dejan's Olympia Brass Band

John Barry, who had worked on the previous seven films, was unavailable during production as he was working on the stage musical Billy . [31] Broccoli and Saltzman instead asked Paul McCartney to write the theme song. Saltzman, mindful of his decision not to produce A Hard Day's Night (1964), was especially eager to work with McCartney. [32] 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. [33]

"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 United Kingdom (where it reached number nine in the charts) and the US (where it reached number 2, for three weeks). It was nominated for an Academy Award, but lost to "The Way We Were". Saltzman and Broccoli hired B. J. Arnau to record and perform the title song, not realising McCartney intended to perform it. Arnau's version was featured in the film, when the singer performs it in a night club that Bond visits. [34]

In the pre-titles sequence, the Olympia Brass Band performed a funeral march observed by a MI6 agent. The first musical piece at the beginning of the funeral march is "Just a Closer Walk with Thee". Trumpeter Alvin Alcorn portrayed the knife-wielding assassin. After the agent is fatally stabbed, the band starts playing the more lively "New Second Line" (also known as "Joe Avery's Piece") penned by Milton Batiste. [35]

Release and reception

The film was released in the United States on 27 June 1973. The world premiere was at Odeon Leicester Square in London on 6 July 1973, with general release in the United Kingdom on the same day. [36] From a budget of around $7 million [37] ($48 million in 2023 dollars [38] ), the film grossed $161.8 million ($1,111 million in 2023 dollars [38] ) worldwide. [37]

The film holds the record for the most viewed broadcast film on television in the United Kingdom by attracting 23.5 million viewers when premiered on ITV on 20 January 1980. [39]

Contemporary reviews

Roger Ebert of the 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." [40] Richard Schickel, reviewing for Time magazine, described the film as "the most vulgar addition to a series that has long since outlived its brief historical moment — if not, alas, its profitability." He also criticized the action sequences as excessive, but noted that "aside an allright speedboat spectacular over land and water, the film is both perfunctory and predictable—leaving the mind free to wander into the question of its overall taste. Or lack of it." [41]

Roger Greenspun of The New York Times praised Moore as "a handsome, suave, somewhat phlegmatic James Bond—with a tendency to throw away his throwaway quips as the minor embarrassments that, alas, they usually are." He was critical of Jane Seymour and Yaphet Kotto, the latter of whom he felt "does not project evil." In summary, he remarked the film was "especially well photographed and edited, and it makes clever and extensive use of its good title song, by Paul and Linda McCartney." [42] Charles Champlin of the Los Angeles Times likened Moore as "a handsome and smoothly likable successor to Sean Connery as James Bond." He further noted that the script "uses only the bare bones of Fleming's story about evil doings which link Harlem with a mysterious Caribbean island. The level of invention is high, but now and again you do sense the strain of always having to try harder because you're No. 1. If one menacing viper is good, three or a coffinful full are not inevitably better. But the action never slumps, and the series never seemed more like a real cartoon." [43]

Arthur D. Murphy of Variety wrote that Moore was "an okay replacement for Sean Connery. The Tom Mankiewicz script, faced with a real-world crisis in the villain sector, reveals that plot lines have descended further to the level of the old Saturday afternoon serial, and the treatment is more than ever like a cartoon. Unchanged are the always-dubious moral values and the action set pieces. Guy Hamilton's direction is good." [44]

Retrospective reviews

Chris Nashawaty, reviewing for the BBC, argues that Dr. Kananga/Mr. Big is the worst villain of the Roger Moore James Bond films. [45] Also from the BBC, 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". [46]

Danny Peary, in his book Guide for the Film Fanatic, noted that Jane Seymour portrays "one of the Bond series' most beautiful heroines", but had little praise for Moore, whom he described as making "an unimpressive debut as James Bond in Tom Mankiewicz's unimaginative adaptation of Ian Fleming's second novel ... The movie stumbles along most of the way. It's hard to remember Moore is playing Bond at times — in fact, if he and Seymour were black, the picture could pass as one of the black exploitation films of the day. There are few interesting action sequences — a motorboat chase is trite enough to begin with, but the filmmakers make it worse by throwing in some stupid Louisiana cops, including pot-bellied Sheriff Pepper." [47]

Ian Nathan of Empire wrote "This is good quality Bond, managing to reinterpret the classic moves — action, deduction, seduction — for a more modern idiom without breaking the mould. On one side we get the use of alligators as stepping stones and the pompous pitbull of rootin' tootin' Sheriff Pepper caught up in the thrilling boat chase. On the other, the genuine aura of threat through weird voodoo henchman Tee Hee and the leaning toward — what's this? — realism in Mr Big's plot to take over the drug trade from the Mafia." He concluded that "Moore had got his feet under the table." [48]

In November 2006, Entertainment Weekly listed Live and Let Die as the third-best Bond film. [49] MSN chose it as the thirteenth best Bond film [50] and IGN listed it as twelfth-best. [51] IGN ranked Solitaire as 10th in a Top 10 Bond Babes list. [52]

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 65% from 51 reviews, with an average rating of 5.7/10. The website's critical consensus reads: "While not one of the highest-rated Bond films, Live and Let Die finds Roger Moore adding his stamp to the series with flashes of style and an improved sense of humor." [53] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 55 based on 9 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews". [54]

Accolades

AwardCategoryRecipientsResult
Academy Awards [55] Best Original Song "Live and Let Die"
Music and Lyrics by Paul McCartney and Linda McCartney
Nominated
Evening Standard British Film Awards Best Film Guy Hamilton Won
Grammy Awards [56] Album of Best Original Score Written for a Motion Picture or a Television Special Live and Let Die – Paul McCartney, Linda McCartney and George Martin Nominated
Satellite Awards [57] Best Classic DVD Release The James Bond DVD Collection(Volumes: 2 and 3)Nominated
Saturn Awards [58] Best DVD Collection James Bond Ultimate EditionWon

In 2004, the American Film Institute nominated the title song for AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs. [59]

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>Diamonds Are Forever</i> (film) 1971 James Bond film by Guy Hamilton

Diamonds Are Forever is a 1971 spy film, the seventh in the James Bond series produced by Eon Productions. It is the sixth and final Eon film to star Sean Connery, who returned to the role as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond, having declined to reprise the role in On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969).

<i>The Living Daylights</i> 1987 James Bond film

The Living Daylights is a 1987 spy film, the fifteenth entry in the James Bond series produced by Eon Productions, and the first of two to star Timothy Dalton as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. Directed by John Glen, the film's title is taken from Ian Fleming's short story "The Living Daylights", the plot of which also forms the basis of the first act of the film. It was the last film to use the title of an Ian Fleming story until the 2006 instalment Casino Royale. It is also the first film to have Caroline Bliss as Miss Moneypenny, replacing Lois Maxwell. The film was produced by Albert R. Broccoli, his stepson Michael G. Wilson, and co-produced by his daughter, Barbara Broccoli. The Living Daylights grossed $191.2 million worldwide, and received mixed reviews from critics.

<i>A View to a Kill</i> 1985 James Bond film directed by John Glen

A View to a Kill is a 1985 spy film, the fourteenth in the James Bond series produced by Eon Productions, and the seventh and final appearance of Roger Moore as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. Although the title is adapted from Ian Fleming's 1960 short story "From a View to a Kill", the film has an entirely original screenplay. In A View to a Kill, Bond is pitted against Max Zorin, who plans to destroy California's Silicon Valley.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eon Productions</span> British film production company known for producing the James Bond film series

Eon Productions Limited is a British film production company that primarily produces the James Bond film series. The company is based in London's Piccadilly and also operates from Pinewood Studios in the UK.

Peter Roger Hunt was a British director, editor and producer of film and television, best known for his work on the James Bond film series, first as an editor and then as a second unit director. He finally served as director for On Her Majesty's Secret Service. His work on the series helped pioneer an innovative, fast-cutting editing style.

Solitaire (<i>James Bond</i>) Fictional character

Solitaire is a fictional character in the James Bond novel and film Live and Let Die. In the film, she was portrayed by Jane Seymour.

<i>You Only Live Twice</i> (film) 1967 James Bond film by Lewis Gilbert

You Only Live Twice is a 1967 spy film and the fifth in the James Bond series produced by Eon Productions, starring Sean Connery as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. It is the first Bond film to be directed by Lewis Gilbert, who later directed the 1977 film The Spy Who Loved Me and the 1979 film Moonraker, both starring Roger Moore. The screenplay of You Only Live Twice was written by Roald Dahl, and loosely based on Ian Fleming's 1964 novel of the same name. It is the first James Bond film to discard most of Fleming's plot, using only a few characters and locations from the book as the background for an entirely new story.

<i>The Man with the Golden Gun</i> (film) 1974 James Bond film by Guy Hamilton

The Man with the Golden Gun is a 1974 spy film and the ninth in the James Bond series produced by Eon Productions, and the second to star Roger Moore as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. A loose adaptation of Ian Fleming's posthumously published 1965 novel of the same name, the film has Bond sent after the Solex Agitator, a breakthrough technological solution to contemporary energy shortages, while facing the assassin Francisco Scaramanga, the "Man with the Golden Gun". The action culminates in a duel between them that settles the fate of the Solex.

<i>On Her Majestys Secret Service</i> (film) 1969 James Bond film by Peter R. Hunt

On Her Majesty's Secret Service is a 1969 spy film and the sixth in the James Bond series produced by Eon Productions. It is based on the 1963 novel by Ian Fleming. Following Sean Connery's decision to retire from the role after You Only Live Twice, Eon selected George Lazenby, a model with no prior acting credits, to play the part of James Bond. During filming, Lazenby announced that he would play the role of Bond only once. Connery returned to portray Bond in 1971's Diamonds Are Forever.

<i>The Spy Who Loved Me</i> (film) 1977 James Bond spy film by Lewis Gilbert

The Spy Who Loved Me is a 1977 spy film, the tenth in the James Bond series produced by Eon Productions. It is the third to star Roger Moore as the fictional secret agent James Bond. The film co-stars Barbara Bach and Curt Jürgens and was directed by Lewis Gilbert. The screenplay was by Christopher Wood and Richard Maibaum, with an uncredited rewrite by Tom Mankiewicz.

<i>For Your Eyes Only</i> (film) 1981 James Bond film directed by John Glen

For Your Eyes Only is a 1981 spy film directed by John Glen and produced by Albert R. Broccoli. The film stars Roger Moore as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond, and co-stars Carole Bouquet, Chaim Topol, Lynn-Holly Johnson and Julian Glover.

<i>Dr. No</i> (film) 1962 James Bond film directed by Terence Young

Dr. No is a 1962 spy film directed by Terence Young. It is the first film in the James Bond series. Starring Sean Connery, Ursula Andress, Joseph Wiseman and Jack Lord, it was adapted by Richard Maibaum, Johanna Harwood, and Berkely Mather from the 1958 novel of the same name by Ian Fleming. The film was produced by Harry Saltzman and Albert R. Broccoli, a partnership that continued until 1975. It was followed by From Russia with Love in 1963. In the film, James Bond is sent to Jamaica to investigate the disappearance of a fellow British agent. The trail leads him to the underground base of Dr. Julius No, who is plotting to disrupt an early American space launch from Cape Canaveral with a radio beam weapon.

<i>Live and Let Die</i> (novel) 1954 James Bond novel by Ian Fleming

Live and Let Die is the second novel in Ian Fleming's James Bond series of stories. Set in London, the United States and Jamaica, it was first published in the UK by Jonathan Cape on 5 April 1954. Fleming wrote the novel at his Goldeneye estate in Jamaica before his first book, Casino Royale, was published; much of the background came from Fleming's travel in the US and knowledge of Jamaica.

<i>Live and Let Die</i> (soundtrack) 1973 soundtrack album by George Martin

Live and Let Die is the soundtrack to the eighth James Bond film of the same name, scored by George Martin. The title song was written by Paul and Linda McCartney and performed by Paul McCartney and Wings. It was the first Bond film score to not involve John Barry.

The James Bond film series is a British series of spy films based on the fictional character of MI6 agent James Bond, "007", who originally appeared in a series of books by Ian Fleming. It is one of the longest continually running film series in history, having been in ongoing production from 1962 to the present. In that time, Eon Productions has produced 25 films as of 2021, most of them at Pinewood Studios. With a combined gross of over $7 billion, the films produced by Eon constitute the fifth-highest-grossing film series. Six actors have portrayed 007 in the Eon series, the latest being Daniel Craig.

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to James Bond:

Films made in the 1970s featuring the character of James Bond included Diamonds Are Forever, Live and Let Die, The Man with the Golden Gun, The Spy Who Loved Me, and Moonraker.

Ross William Heilman, better known as Ross Kananga, was a crocodile farm owner and stunt man, best known for his appearance in the 1973 James Bond movie Live and Let Die.

References

  1. "Live and Let Die". Lumiere . European Audiovisual Observatory. Archived from the original on 14 June 2021. Retrieved 9 October 2020.
  2. "Live and Let Die (1973)". AFI Catalog of Feature Films . American Film Institute. Archived from the original on 2 December 2020. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Inside Live and Let Die (booklet). MGM/UA Home Video. 2000.
  4. Nolasco, Stephanie (27 July 2022). "Jane Seymour says she's 'very open' to reprising Solitaire from James Bond film 'Live and Let Die'". Fox News. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Inside Live and Let Die (DVD). MGM/UA Home Video. 2000. ASIN: B000LY209E.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Bond 1973: The Lost Documentary (DVD). MGM/UA Home Video. 2000. ASIN: B000LY209E.
  7. 1 2 3 Field & Chowdhury 2015, p. 237.
  8. Anderson, Jeffrey E., ed. (2015). The Voodoo Encyclopedia: Magic, Ritual, and Religion: Magic, Ritual, and Religion. Abc-Clio. p. 104. ISBN   9781610692083 . Retrieved 11 May 2016.
  9. Goldberg, Lee (March 1983). "Richard Maibaum 007's Puppetmaster". Starlog. p. 63 via Internet Archive.
  10. Reynolds, Burt (1994). My Life . New York: Hyperion. p.  140. ISBN   978-0-786-86130-9 via Internet Archive.
  11. Jones, Alice (13 December 2012). "'Purple Rain' again and again; and, Anthony Hopkins 007?". The Independent. Archived from the original on 15 November 2020.
  12. Mankiewicz, Tom; Crane, Robert (2012). My Life as a Mankiewicz: An Insider's Journey through Hollywood. University Press of Kentucky. p. 155. ISBN   978-0-8131-6123-5.
  13. Field & Chowdhury 2015, p. 239.
  14. "David Hedison Interview". Mi6-HQ.com (Interview). 24 June 2005. Archived from the original on 10 October 2012.
  15. 1 2 Roger Moore (2000). Live and Let Die Audio commentary 1. Live and Let Die, Ultimate Edition DVD: MGM/UA Home Video.
  16. 1 2 "Llewelyn's last interview (with reference to Follyfoot and Live and Let Die)". Follyfoot-tv.co.uk. 19 December 1999. Archived from the original on 17 February 2012. Retrieved 19 November 2010.
  17. "Memories of "Q"". Her Majesty's Secret Servant. Archived from the original on 24 February 2014. Retrieved 24 February 2014.
  18. Field & Chowdhury 2015, p. 248.
  19. Chapman, James (2008). Licence to Thrill: A Cultural History of the James Bond Films (Cinema and Society). I.B. Taurus Books. pp. 101–102. ISBN   978-1-845-11515-9.
  20. D'Abo, Maryam; Cork, John (2003). Bond Girls are Forever: The Women of James Bond. Harry N. Abrams. p. 87. ISBN   978-0810943025.
  21. Moore, Roger; Hedison, David (2018). The 007 Diaries: Filming Live and Let Die. The History Press. ISBN   978-0-750-98759-2.
  22. Field & Chowdhury 2015, p. 242.
  23. Exotic Locations. Live and Let Die, Ultimate Edition DVD: MGM/UA Home Video. 2000.
  24. "Live and Let Die – Location Guide". Mi6-HQ.com. Archived from the original on 26 May 2012. Retrieved 6 November 2008.
  25. Field & Chowdhury 2015, p. 249.
  26. 1 2 Anderson, Stacey (22 July 2015). "Geoffrey Holder exhibition looks to capture 'absolute joy' of Trinidad's 'charisma bomb'". The Guardian. Retrieved 31 December 2023.
  27. Sorensen, Eric (25 January 2007). "Big, gaudy and Bond-like, Seattle Boat Show exhibit cuts to the chase". The Seattle Times . Archived from the original on 24 May 2011.
  28. Pearsall, Bill (28 January 1973). "Jumping Boats: James Bond Film Goes to Any Length". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 3 May 2022.
  29. Kravinsky, Nina (7 November 2019). "See Surreal Tarot Cards Designed by Salvador Dalí for a James Bond Movie". Smithsonian Magazine. Archived from the original on 8 November 2019. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
  30. "Lot 8 – Live and Let Die". Christie's. 2012. Retrieved 14 August 2020. A selection of ten prop tarot cards designed by Fergus Hall, used by Jane Seymour as Solitaire in Live and Let Die – [...] The cards comprising 'The Fool', 'Death', 'Justice', 'Queen of Cups', 'High Priestess'(2) and 'The Lovers' (4), the back of the cards with a red and white 007 design;
  31. Field & Chowdhury 2015, p. 250.
  32. "Beatles and Bond" . MI6 Confidential. Vol. 48, no. 12. December 2018.[ page needed ]
  33. Lindner, Christoph (2003). The James Bond Phenomenon: a Critical Reader. Manchester University Press. pp. 130–131. ISBN   978-0-7190-6541-5.
  34. Burlingame 2014, p.  109.
  35. Burlingame 2014, pp.  107–108.
  36. "Live And Let Die (1973)". Mi6-HQ.com. Archived from the original on 1 October 2012. Retrieved 29 June 2012.
  37. 1 2 "Live and Let Die". The Numbers . Archived from the original on 31 May 2012. Retrieved 31 October 2011.
  38. 1 2 1634–1699: McCusker, J. J. (1997). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States: Addenda et Corrigenda (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1700–1799: McCusker, J. J. (1992). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1800–present: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–" . Retrieved 29 February 2024.
  39. "TV's jewels fail to shine in list of all-time winners". Electronic Telegraph . 7 February 1998. Archived from the original on 13 June 2013. Retrieved 13 October 2008.
  40. Ebert, Roger (6 July 1973). "Live and Let Die". Chicago Sun-Times . Archived from the original on 27 October 2008. Retrieved 5 October 2008 via RogerEbert.com.
  41. Schickel, Richard (9 July 1973). "Cinema: Dirty Trick". Time . Archived from the original on 28 June 2021. Retrieved 2 June 2020.
  42. Greenspan, Roger (28 June 1973). "The Screen: 'Live and Let Die' Opens". The New York Times. p. 56. Archived from the original on 2 September 2020. Retrieved 2 June 2020.
  43. Champlin, Charles (28 June 1973). "Moore Takes Over as 007". Los Angeles Times . p. 17. Archived from the original on 24 June 2021. Retrieved 2 June 2020 via Newspapers.com. Open Access logo PLoS transparent.svg
  44. Murphy, Arthur D. (27 June 1973). "Film Reviews: Live and Let Die". Variety . Archived from the original on 24 June 2021. Retrieved 2 June 2020.
  45. Nashawaty, Chris (2 December 2008). "Moore ... And Sometimes Less: A look at the most — and least — memorable bad guys, babes, and Bonds in Roger Moore's 007 oeuvre". Entertainment Weekly . No. 1025. p. 37.
  46. "Live and Let Die (1973)". BBC. Archived from the original on 22 June 2009. Retrieved 5 October 2008.
  47. Peary, Danny (1986). Guide for the Film Fanatic. New York: Simon & Schuster. p. 244. ISBN   978-0-6716-1-0814.
  48. "Live and Let Die at Empire online". January 2000. Archived from the original on 11 December 2015.
  49. Svetkey, Benjamin; Rich, Joshua (15 November 2006). "Ranking the Bond Films". Entertainment Weekly . Archived from the original on 30 September 2008. Retrieved 20 September 2008.
  50. Wilner, Norman. "Rating the Spy Game". MSN. Archived from the original on 19 January 2008. Retrieved 1 June 2009.
  51. "James Bond's Top 20". IGN . 17 November 2006. Archived from the original on 6 November 2008. Retrieved 4 March 2008.
  52. Zdyrko, Dave (15 November 2006). "Top 10 Bond Babes". IGN. Archived from the original on 25 July 2008.
  53. "Live and Let Die (1973)". Rotten Tomatoes . Fandango Media. Archived from the original on 21 July 2022. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
  54. "Live and Let Die". Metacritic. Red Ventures. Archived from the original on 14 July 2022. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
  55. "The 47th Academy Awards (1975) Nominees and Winners". oscars.org. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 2 October 2011.
  56. "1973 Grammy Award Winners". Grammy.com. Retrieved 1 May 2011.
  57. "International Press Academy website – 2004 8th Annual SATELLITE Awards". Archived from the original on 1 February 2008.
  58. "Past Saturn Awards". Saturn Awards.org. Archived from the original on September 14, 2008. Retrieved May 7, 2008.
  59. "AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs Nominees" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 17 April 2015. Retrieved 19 August 2016.

Bibliography