Live And Let Die

Our next entry in the month is the 1973 film, "Live and Let Die." After several British agents disappear, they are said to have died, James Bond travels from New York to the Caribbean to follow a mysterious drug lord called Mr. Big. His first area to search is the small island owned by Dr. Katanga, and home of the beautiful card reader Solitarie. 

After the mistake of George Lazenby, and the desperate and expensive recasting of Sean Connery in "Diamonds are Forever," this was a question of whether the franchise could last with another new casting as James Bond. The tension was all on to make it still go high or Roger Moore, the late TV actor described by Ian Nathan, "more debonair than versatile, would end up just as swiftly on the refuse pile and a new toupee would have to be ordered for the ageing Connery." 

Placing Guy Hamilton back as director was a smart idea, he had done "Goldfinger," the top notch and thrilling of every Bond film, and with a great scriptwriter from Tom Mankiewicz, they did the right thing – start Moore's run as Bond off great. This is a welcome return of Bond, bringing back the signature traits – action, judgment, persuasion – for a more modern phrase without breaking the ice. The film, with the beautiful Caribbean locations and crazy-scary things, is more playful than before – Moore decided this – without making this an irritating spook of his later films. Nathan mentioned, "On one side we get the use of alligators as stepping stones and the pompous puffball of rootin’ tootin’ Sherriff Pepper (Clifton James), caught up in the thrilling boat chase. On the other, the genuine aura of threat through weird voodoo henchman Tee Hee (Julius Harris), and the leaning toward — what’s this? — realism in Mr. Big’s (Yaphet Kotto) plot to take over the drug trade from the Mafia." 

Nathan continued by saying, "Naturally, there’s much of the regular Bondian kerfuffle — a stoney faced M, an irascible Q, the gadgets and Jane Seymour as one of the more memorable lady loves Solitaire — but delivered with a lighter touch." The final action scene doesn't come anywhere close to the same level as the previous installments, but Moore got off to a great start. 

This look on Bond is brought into the 70s on a strong note. Definitely one that you should check out because, if you were a fan of Moore, this will make you love him as Bond. He is a good actor to play him, and definitely one of the best, I give him credit for that. 

Let's see how Moore does when we continue his films in tomorrow's entry of "James Bond Month."