Three British agents are killed and OO7 is sent in to investigate. From New York to New Orleans and then to the voodoo island of San Monique, Bond must figure out the connection between diplomat Dr. Kananga and underworld boss Mr. Big and their diabolical plot to flood the streets of America with "free" herion.
Roger Moore takes over the double "O" mantle and keeps it for seven consecutive films and twelve years. This film is pure chase and the pace never lets up. The baddies are black hoodlums and the tongue is firmly placed in the cheek. Live and Let Die was Fleming's second Bond novel and it is EON's eighth. Cars, planes and boat chases abound with witty dialogue from the pen of Tom Mankiewicz. Roger Moore obviously is a little stiff in his first outing but he makes the best of it and helps create a funfest that would reach its peak in Moonraker. The film has some good performances by Yaphet Kotto and Jane Seymour and Maurice Binder gives us one of the best credit sequences in the series. A fantastic title song by Paul McCartney and Wings makes this one of the best of the Moore era.
Most Memorable Dialogue:
After a fantastic boat chase on the Louisiana bayous and thousands of dollars worth of damage. Sheriff J. W. Pepper tries to arrest OO7. He is stopped by the captain of police.
Captain: "J.W. this fella here is from London, England. He's over here helping out with our boys, sort of secret agent like."
J.W. Pepper: "Secret agent! On who's side!?"
Dr. Shatterhand's Scale from 1 to 10
"7"
CAST
Roger Moore . . . . . . . . . . James Bond OO7
Yaphet Kotto . . . . . . . . . . Dr. Kananga/Mr. Big
Jane Seymour . . . . . . . . . . Solitaire
Clifton James . . . . . . . . . . Sheriff J. W. Pepper
Julius Harris . . . . . . . . . . Tee Hee
Geoffrey Holder . . . . . . . . . . Baron Semedi
David Hedison . . . . . . . . . . Felix Leiter
Gloria Hendry . . . . . . . . . . Rosie Carver
Earl Jolly Brown . . . . . . . . . . Whisper
Tommy Lane . . . . . . . . . . Adam
Bernard Lee . . . . . . . . . . M
Lois Maxwell . . . . . . . . . . Miss Moneypenny
Roy Stewart . . . . . . . . . . Quarrel, Jr.
Lon Satton . . . . . . . . . . Harold Strutter
Arnold Williams . . . . . . . . . . Cab Driver
Ruth Kemph . . . . . . . . . . Mrs. Bell
Joie Chitwood . . . . . . . . . . Charlie
Madeline Smith . . . . . . . . . . Miss Caruso
Kubi Chaza . . . . . . . . . . Sales Girl
B.J. Arnau . . . . . . . . . . Fillet of Soul Singer