Live and Let Die

This is my least favorite Bond film with probably my favorite Bond title song, by McCartney and the Wings, but I don’t think it has aged well at all, features some ill-advised (could be viewed through the lens as an unfortunate time capsule of its time) stereotyping, focuses away from extravagant, bombastic SPECTRE global terrorism plots instead centered on heroin being distributed by a Caribbean island ruler (Yaphet Kotto, intense and intimidating, although his end is as unflattering as the depictions of his people and culture) in the guise of a Harlem / New Orleans drug kingpin named Mr. Big. I’ll just avoid the cringe depictions of Harlem and “San Monique” island voodoo, as the Bond producers and screenplay look to place their secret agent within the Blaxploitation genre, and focus on what I did enjoy: there is a Louisiana boat chase where Bond tries to avoid the forces of Kotto’s (and eventually state and county police) men following behind, including a boat crashing into a cop car (Clifton James, with a wad of tobacco chew in his mouth, had “go away heat” with me. I wanted him off my screen, and the Bond producers opted to bring him back in the next film. Ugh), Bond’s boat skidding on ground back into canals and rivers, boats crashing into swimming pools, Bond discarding one boat for another returning to his fleeing from pursuers, and a clever use of gasoline in order to avoid Kotto’s henchman and make sure he blows up in an abandoned ship’s hollow shell. The infamous Bond stepping across the bodies of alligators in a pond as their mouths open sequence is just so preposterous I always laugh aloud at the sheer audacity to pull it off. The sight gag of Bond in Fillet of Soul cafes, where his tables are traps that move him into secret areas while activities continue in those locations as if nothing happened admittedly cracked me up. The Harlem and New Orleans locations are unique locations not often seen in Bond films so despite how I might feel about how dated/stereotyped the depictions of the people living there are presented, I think a chance to see New York and Louisiana in the early 70s removes us from the Connery Bonds for something completely different. The heroin scheme concocted by Kotto, with operations in Louisiana and New York (and his own island) is just a bit too DEA (David Hedison of “Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea” is head of the CIA, assigned to help Bond investigate the murders of British agents as lookouts into Kotto’s activities) and crime drama for a Bond film, where the plots are always more larger than life with terrorist villains wanting to global dominate. Kotto aims to double heroin addicts, flood the market with drugs culled from poppy gardens harvested on San Monique for free so that those addicted to it will pay more, and secure complete control from the mobs at work in the States. Julius Harris with the hook arm/hand comes off best as quite a towering henchman, and getting the chance to close the film on a train against Bond when Kotto “inflated like his ego” before the big “pop”, was quite a better adieu than the lead villain of the film. Harris even introduces Bond to the alligator/croc farm, with a menacing smile and perfectly deep voice, leaving him to supposedly be eaten on this little island before the crossing of gators. Geoffrey Holder as Baron Samedi, a Voodoo practitioner on San Monique, with followers in dance and celebration before folks get snake bit, makes for a memorable presence in the film…when I was a kid, I remember him from “Annie” (1982). His closing the film with that laugh left me with a smile…no casket of snakes would be enough to get rid of Baron Samedi. Jane Seymour, in my own personal opinion, is my choice for most beautiful Bond lover, and there are plenty to choose from during the history of the brand. Seymour has a great name, too, as Solitaire, kept around by Kotto for her ability to “predict the future” through the “power of the Tarot”. The card of “Lovers” foretelling her eventual sex with Bond supposedly corrupts her powers and makes her a potential victim as Kotto would see her as tainted. The lack of gadgets was a plus to me, although the “magnet watch” (it also spins, creating quite a cutting instrument for rope) is put to great use (as is an inflatable “bullet”). And for some cool trivia, this film gave us a chance to see Bond’s home, M (Lee) and Moneypenny (Maxwell) visiting to prepare him for the mission ahead. Madeline Smith, Bond’s early lay at the beginning of the film, I know as a horror fan from “The Vampire Lovers” (1970) and “Taste the Blood of Dracula” (1970). Gloria Hendry, as a CIA agent newly assigned with Bond, turning out to be a “double agent”, is known for the genre this Bond film emulates, but honestly I thought she was horrendous in performance, particularly when frightened or nervous…and her bumbling agent had me wondering just why she would be cleared to help in the field when she appears so unready and unprepared. Moore is smooth and at ease as Bond, explaining why he was able to remain the character throughout the remaining 70s into the early 80s. There is no sense that Moore seemed overwhelmed or incapable of filling in for the departed Connery, although clearly this is a different Bond than what fans had seen previously. 2/5