Live And Let Die

It's funny, but as Roger Moore walked across the gunbarrel in his flared tux, sans hat, and grabbing his arm as he swung to shoot his unseen assassin, I found I had no concern at the thought of a new James Bond. I think that, as this is the third movie in a row with as many Bonds, the idea of more than one actor being Bond is no longer a worry for me. Poor old George Lazenby paved the way for us to accept the idea of someone other than Connery carrying the Walther PPK. Although, that said, it's pretty hard to tell that this is actually a Bond movie at all...

Make no bones about it, On Her Majesty's Secret Service was a Bond movie with George Lazenby thrust into the dinner suit, giving a suitable performance of Sean-Connery-playing-James-Bond-with-a-twist; and with You Only Live Twice (and OHMSS is the aberration here) the movies have been going further and further away from the novels that Ian Fleming created. Live And Let Die dispenses with nearly all the trappings of what made a Connery Bond film. The gunbarrel is new, of course, and is now greeted with a rendition of the Bond theme that is so 70's it's not funny. Diamonds Are Forever thrust Bond into the 70s, but with a Richard Maibaum script, Desmond Llewellyn and John Barry, plus, of course, Connery himself, it still felt like a Bond movie. LALD has a new scriptwriter, no Desmond Lewellyn and George Martin taking over from John Barry with a music score that is more blaxploitation than James Bond. Indeed, with a group of black men running around New York in pimp clothes, LALD often feels more like The Saint meets Shaft vs Count Blackula. The new movie seems to have inspired Maurice Binder who provides us with a title sequence centered around voodoo (and, quite literally, a fibre optic lamp) against a title song that is far removed from the grand approach taken in the past; now it is a hard hitting rock song by Wings. On top of all that, similar to Diamonds Are Forever, the editing of the film is nothing like the 1960s films, as all the fast cuts have been replaced with a fairly standard style, much like the one adopted in DAF.

The funny thing is that this approach seems to work. Whilst in OHMSS you were constantly comparing Lazenby to Connery, it seems ridiculous in LALD to compare Moore to Connery because they are so different.

And make no mistake, Roger Moore is so radically different as Bond it's not funny. From the opening of the movie (again losing the traditional 'briefing in M's office' scene; now relocated to Bond's house - not an apartment anymore, I note) Bond is now a lover of women, having to work to ensure that M doesn't discover he is shagging his Italian liasion from his previous assignment - though Moneypenny does find out! Being a Guy Hamilton film, there is still the extreme tension between Bond and M though. Moore gets almost all the best lines in the film, starting with his very first line where he wittly enquires if his bedroom partner has a husband when the doorbell rangs early. But this Bond is a curious beast. Moore drops one-liners far more often than either of his predecessors, apprently not taking any situation he is in seriously - indeed when he finds out about Agent Baines death he quips "I quite liked Baines. We shared the same bootmaker." This seems to make Moore acting more like Simon Templar than James Bond, but there are some notable differences. Whilst Moore's Bond is extremely smooth and charming, he is also quite cruel and callous. Never once racist, he is extremely sexist, holding little regard for women and seeing them as nothing more than a means to an end. He seems content to have sex with Rosie, despite knowing she is a double agent, and then shoot her afterwards. Equally, he holds Solitaire in no regard, manipulating a situation so she ends up in bed with him. Though she follows him blindly, when Bond informs his associate that Solitaire is "an extremely valuable piece of merchandise" we are left in little doubt as to how Bond sees her. Even Connery wasn't that bad!

Aside from delivering us a brilliant new James Bond, the rest of the cast is actually on extremely top form. There is a high black percentage in the cast, and all the villains are black which could lead to some racism, though as Broccoli pointed out, equality in casting means equality in casting villains as well. Nonetheless the producers balance the scales in three ways - two of them are CIA agents Strutter (Lon Satton) and Quarrel Jnr (Roy Stewart). Satton is brilliant as the cynical, no-nonense Strutter, and having Quarrel Jnr is a curious reference to Dr No which featured and saw killed, Quarrel. Firstly, this is interesting in that the novels were reversed and so both featured Quarrel, LALD being Bond and Quarrel's first meeting. The second is that this is one of the few times LALD actually acknowledges the past Bond movies. In OHMSS there is a veritable plethora of references to the past, but in this movie it is almost like it didn't exist, and Bond doesn't even appear in the pre-title sequence.

The third balance isn't such a wonderful one, mainly because it's such a crap idea. The stupid sherrif of DAF obviously appealed to Hamilton, and so in LALD, not only do we get a stupid sherrif, but also one who is a redneck and proceeds to abuse all the blacks he can find. Clearly the point is to realise how stupid he is and how his racism is equally stupid, but essentially J W Pepper just doesn't work as a character and, although he has a few funny moments, most of the time you just want him to get off screen.

Onto the villains then, and Yaphet Kotto is simply outstanding as the villain - a dual role of Dr Kananga and his New York gangboss counterpart Mr Big. Indeed, Kotto gets all the great lines that Moore doesn't, dishing out a "Names is for tombstones baby" when Bond introduces himself, followed up by "Take the honky out and waste him." All though the movie Kotto shows us the two personalites of the villain, so that when Big reveals who he really is, those who don't know (and haven't read this review :)) will be relatively surprised. When he shows up at the end of the movie, he has become the grand Bond villain of old, offering champagne to his defeated rival and explaining his plans in detail. Nice to see some things don't change.

He is supported by some of the best henchmen we have seen in a while. Given DAF one could be forgiven for thinking that the henchman's foibles would be that they are black, but in fact we get three quite distinct lead henchmen in the form of TeeHee - a man with a hook for an arm who giggles constantly; Whisper - an overweight henchman who whispers; and Baron Samedi - a tall, disturbing man who has an equally disturbing laugh. Given that, at the end of the film Samedi is on the train as it rushes towards camera, his exact nature is rather curious. The three of them are fantastic opponents for Bond, and restore my faith in the decisions made by the production team.

The other member of the cast who should be mentioned is, of course, the beautiful Jane Seymour in her first movie role as the mysterious Solitaire. Never once in a bikini (although she is briefly in a very attractive teddy), Solitaire is a very regal Bond girl, though very innocent and naive at the same time. She's the Bond "girl next door", but when the chips are down she shows some resourcefulness in attempting to escape her former boss. Solitaire is a great Bond girl and works so well with Roger Moore.

Which reminds me that there is ONE other cast member I almost forgot, and that's David Hedison taking on the role of Felix Leiter. After the absymal performance in DAF, Hedison is a breath of fresh air, posessing a chemistry with Moore that at times makes it look as though the two are a comedy double act, cheefully exchanging banter as agents are killed left, right and center. Hedison works perfectly opposite Moore's Bond, in exactly the same way that Rik Van Nutter worked so well opposite Sean Connery. There is a similarity between the two actors which brings the relationship of Bond and Leiter to life.

But it's not just casting where the film excels. After the disappointingly ordinary Las Vegas in DAF, I was worried when Bond's first port of call was New York, but I needn't have been two concerned as Bond is soon travelling to New Orleans and San Monique, both places that bring back the exoticism of the Bond films. Indeed with the Voodoo theme of the movie, San Monique actually has a little more than just the standard exotic feel. Even the decision to show some old style funerals in Louisiana really bring the place to life and show it in a completely different light.
The action sequences in the movie also something special. We get to see chase sequences involving cars, planes, a double decker bus and a most brilliant boat chase sequence, the likes of which hasn't been seen in a Bond movie to date. On top of that there is a scene at a crocodile farm where Bond jumps across four crocodiles to escape - clearly it isn't Roger Moore, but who cares??? Some guy actually jumps on four crocodiles to escape from a pit of crocodiles! That's the kind of action we want in a Bond movie. Interestingly, despite the fact he has a number of gadgets, Bond invariably can't use them in order to escape, and ends up having to rely on his skills to get out of difficult situations.

There are though, some downsides to the movie, and some bizarre plot points and some interesting trivial notes. Quite why M feels the need to go into Bond's bedroom is a little bizaare and when the snake bites Baines it leaves no mark. Bond in a safari suit is a fashion faux pas extraordinary, while this movie features the first use of the word "shit" in a Bond film and one character actually mimes "fuck". This is a little unsettling. The music is generally good, though in most of the chase sequences it is removed. Sometimes, like the boat chase, this is great, but often it seems to slow the chase a little. As a sad James Bond and Doctor Who fan, I noticed two props in this movie that would go on to be used in Season 12 of Doctor Who...dearie me. Finally, Kananga's death is easily the most cringingly bad death ever created for a Bond film. It's the one really woeful moment of the film.

All in all I can't rave enough about Live And Let Die. It gives the series a shot in the arm and shows that, after the terrible Diamonds Are Forever, there is still somewhere for the films to go.

Favourite Bond:

1. Sean Connery

2. Roger Moore

3. George Lazenby

Favourite movie order:
1. On Her Majesty's Secret Service
2. Dr No

3. Live And Let Die
4. Thunderball
5. From Russia, With Love
6. Goldfinger
7. You Only Live Twice
8. Diamonds Are Forever
Favourite Bond girl:
1. Claudine Auger/Dominio
2. Diana Rigg/Tracy
3. Mie Hama/Kissy
4. Daniela Bianchi/Tanya
5. Ursula Andress/Honey

6. Jane Seymour/Solitaire
7. Honor Blackman/Pussy
8. Jill St John/Tiffany
Favourite Bond villain:
1. Donald Pleasance/Blofeld
2. Gert Frobe/Goldfinger
3. Adolfo Celi/Largo

4. Yaphet Kotto/Mr Big-Dr Kananga
5. Joseph Wiseman/Dr No
6. Lotte Lenya/Klebb
7. Telly Savalas/Blofeld
8. Charles Gray/Blofeld