Live and Let Die
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 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 selected for the lead role.
The film is adapted from the novel of the same name by Ian Fleming. In the film, a Harlem drug lord known as Mr. Big plans to distribute two tons of heroin free so as to put rival drug barons out of business. Mr. Big, however, turns out to be the disguised alter ego of Kananga, a corrupt Caribbean Dictator, who rules San Monique, the fictional island where the heroin poppys 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 cliché are depicted such as afro hairstyles, derogatory racial epithets ("honky"), black gangsters, and "pimpmobiles."[1] 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. Moreover, it is set in African American cultural centres such as Harlem, New Orleans, and 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 due to the racial overtones, the film was a box office success.
Cast
- Roger Moore as James Bond: A British agent who is sent on a mission to investigate the murder of three fellow agents. This mission leads him to Mr. Big and his drug ring.
- Yaphet Kotto as Dr. Kananga and Mr. Big: A corrupt Caribbean Prime Minister who doubles as a drug lord.
- Bernard Lee as M: Head of the "00" section of MI6.
- Lois Maxwell as Miss Moneypenny: M's secretary who has feelings for Bond.
- David Hedison as Felix Leiter: Bond's CIA colleague. Leiter is also investigating Mr. Big.
- Jane Seymour as Solitaire: Kananga's psychic girlfriend and the love interest of Bond.
- Clifton James as Sheriff J.W. Pepper: A local Louisiana sheriff.
- Julius Harris as Tee Hee Johnson: Kananga's primary henchman who has a pincer for a hand.
- Geoffrey Holder as Baron Samedi: Kananga's henchman who has ties to the Voodoo occult.
- Gloria Hendry as Rosie Carver: A treacherous young CIA agent in San Monique.
- Roy Stewart as Quarrel Jr.: Bond's ally in San Monique and son of Quarrel from Dr. No.
- Madeline Smith as Miss Caruso: An Italian agent whom Bond romances.
- Earl Jolly Brown as Whisper: Kananga's henchman who only whispers.
