Reporting For Duty
It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
Quick Links
Categories
Is Live and Let Die (1973) the "Marmite" James Bond Film?
Dragonpol
https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
This thread is designed to address what is surely one of the most overlooked James Bond films of them all - Roger Moore's debut as James Bond in Live and Let Die (1973). This film seems to be what I refer to here as a "Marmite" James Bond film, by which I mean to say - "You either love it or hate it", just like that selfsame bread spread favoured by butch lorry drivers.
There are many criticisms/comments to be made of Live and Let Die (1973) as a James Bond film. I will now list some of these points in summary form below:
1. It carries on the camp spoofiness first seen in DAF.
2. it has no plot to speak of - something about the supply of the drug heroin - the plot strand being the thinnest thread to hang the loose series of set pieces and action sequences together in semi-coherent form.
3. All the villains are black - query blatant racist undertones a la the Fleming 1954 Bond source novel - token good guys Harold Strutter/Quarrel Jnr.
4. There are too many silly scenes - introduction of Roger Moore as Bond in his house, Sheriff J.W. Pepper scenes, wedding boat scenes, Kanaga's inflated ego death, Baron Samedi laughing into camera in end credits, Mrs Bell Bleaker Flying School scene etc.
5. Jokey one-liners in place of character-driven storyline.
6. The Dr Kananga/Mr Big disguise is very poor - he looks more pasty white than black as Mr Big - one good villain is better than two weak villains. Yaphet Kotto is largely to blame for this fact as he refused to use the make-up job proffered and rather decided on his own alternative make-up job, according to John Brosnan in his book James Bond in the Cinema. After all of the Blofeld/SPECTRE hokum, Dr Kananga is a most refreshing changeof tack and he is one of ther better, if not one of the more memorable James Bond villains of the last 50 years. Yaphet Kotto plays Kananga to the hilt - he is indeed the black version of James Bond just as the later Francisco Scaramanga was the dark side of James Bond as seen in TMWTGG.
7. Has the feel of a TV episode more than a feature film - like a prolonged Tales of the Unexpected episode. Syd Cain and the lack of Ken Adam's sets accounts for the more low-key nature of the film - just like DAF and TMWTGG. It also has the feel of the supernatural/voodoo chillers of the Hammer horror films of the 1950s-1970s, especially The Devil Rides Out (1968).
8. The first example of the James Bond films jumping on the veritable bandwagon - the black action or "Blaxsploitation" picture - all black casts like in Shaft or Superfly and countless others...Bond films from here on in become trend-followers, not trend-setters. Use of early 1970s lingo further dates the film to a certain time and place. "Honky", "Pimpmobile", "Waste him.", "Klu Klux Klan cook-out" etc. The requisite plot involving drugs - the novel version of LALD had been about Mr Big, SMERSH agent, smuggling gold coins to fund foreign SMERSH operations.
9. James Bond is mostly clueless throughout and the black villains seemingly outwit him at every turn.
10. Seems as thogh the producers/director/screenwriter are trying to avoid any overt comparisons with Sean Connery as James Bond - no typical Q scene, no proper M office-bound briefing, no proper Moneypennny scene, no hat tossing, no martinis ordered, Walther PPK unused (Tee Hee destroys it early on). Use of Colt .45. Moore Bond wears prefect's best "preppy" clothes and sterotypical black spy fit at the end.
11. LALD goes against the established James Bond formula - no Q to show the secrets of his gadgetry - buzz saw on watch.
12. Changes in the nature of the James Bond character construct - more of a cad and a bounder, the Eton drop-out "Englishman abroad"/"Englishman in New York", deflowers Solitaire throgh trickery of stacked deck, ungentlemanly of Bond - not what we've come to expect - far from the novel Bond whop defended the helpless and didn't mistreat women or take advantage of the vulnerable in society.
13. More graphically violent - see shooting in Voodoo scene, Kanangas cutting Bond's arm - draws blood, Bond throws petrol in Adam's eyes, stabbing, Tee Hee thrown from train - defenceless as arm locked, Kananga hitting Solitaire,
"humorous" maltreatment of Mrs Bell ("She's in intensive care, but she'll pull through.") A nasty James Bond following on from its very nasty predecessor DAF.
14. LALD is basically Dr. No II - many similarities between the both debut Bond films, but then so are YOLT, TSWLM and TND, LTK and QoS, MR and DAD etc.
This is my list of points so far - I may add more to it in time through the post editing function.
I'd now really love to hear the views of MI6 Community members on what I have dubbed the "Marmite" James Bond film - Live and Let Die, which sees its 40th Anniversary on 5 July 2013. I'm currently writing a lengthy and alternative-based review of the film and I want to get a cross-section of views on this film, which, despite my criticisms here, I actually rather like!
I'm sure that most of us would agree that Live and Let Die is massively underrated as a James Bond film and as its unique to the James Bond canon, what better way to celebrate its 40th Anniversary in 2013 than to give it the reappraisal that it more than deserves!
Keep the posts coming!
There are many criticisms/comments to be made of Live and Let Die (1973) as a James Bond film. I will now list some of these points in summary form below:
1. It carries on the camp spoofiness first seen in DAF.
2. it has no plot to speak of - something about the supply of the drug heroin - the plot strand being the thinnest thread to hang the loose series of set pieces and action sequences together in semi-coherent form.
3. All the villains are black - query blatant racist undertones a la the Fleming 1954 Bond source novel - token good guys Harold Strutter/Quarrel Jnr.
4. There are too many silly scenes - introduction of Roger Moore as Bond in his house, Sheriff J.W. Pepper scenes, wedding boat scenes, Kanaga's inflated ego death, Baron Samedi laughing into camera in end credits, Mrs Bell Bleaker Flying School scene etc.
5. Jokey one-liners in place of character-driven storyline.
6. The Dr Kananga/Mr Big disguise is very poor - he looks more pasty white than black as Mr Big - one good villain is better than two weak villains. Yaphet Kotto is largely to blame for this fact as he refused to use the make-up job proffered and rather decided on his own alternative make-up job, according to John Brosnan in his book James Bond in the Cinema. After all of the Blofeld/SPECTRE hokum, Dr Kananga is a most refreshing changeof tack and he is one of ther better, if not one of the more memorable James Bond villains of the last 50 years. Yaphet Kotto plays Kananga to the hilt - he is indeed the black version of James Bond just as the later Francisco Scaramanga was the dark side of James Bond as seen in TMWTGG.
7. Has the feel of a TV episode more than a feature film - like a prolonged Tales of the Unexpected episode. Syd Cain and the lack of Ken Adam's sets accounts for the more low-key nature of the film - just like DAF and TMWTGG. It also has the feel of the supernatural/voodoo chillers of the Hammer horror films of the 1950s-1970s, especially The Devil Rides Out (1968).
8. The first example of the James Bond films jumping on the veritable bandwagon - the black action or "Blaxsploitation" picture - all black casts like in Shaft or Superfly and countless others...Bond films from here on in become trend-followers, not trend-setters. Use of early 1970s lingo further dates the film to a certain time and place. "Honky", "Pimpmobile", "Waste him.", "Klu Klux Klan cook-out" etc. The requisite plot involving drugs - the novel version of LALD had been about Mr Big, SMERSH agent, smuggling gold coins to fund foreign SMERSH operations.
9. James Bond is mostly clueless throughout and the black villains seemingly outwit him at every turn.
10. Seems as thogh the producers/director/screenwriter are trying to avoid any overt comparisons with Sean Connery as James Bond - no typical Q scene, no proper M office-bound briefing, no proper Moneypennny scene, no hat tossing, no martinis ordered, Walther PPK unused (Tee Hee destroys it early on). Use of Colt .45. Moore Bond wears prefect's best "preppy" clothes and sterotypical black spy fit at the end.
11. LALD goes against the established James Bond formula - no Q to show the secrets of his gadgetry - buzz saw on watch.
12. Changes in the nature of the James Bond character construct - more of a cad and a bounder, the Eton drop-out "Englishman abroad"/"Englishman in New York", deflowers Solitaire throgh trickery of stacked deck, ungentlemanly of Bond - not what we've come to expect - far from the novel Bond whop defended the helpless and didn't mistreat women or take advantage of the vulnerable in society.
13. More graphically violent - see shooting in Voodoo scene, Kanangas cutting Bond's arm - draws blood, Bond throws petrol in Adam's eyes, stabbing, Tee Hee thrown from train - defenceless as arm locked, Kananga hitting Solitaire,
"humorous" maltreatment of Mrs Bell ("She's in intensive care, but she'll pull through.") A nasty James Bond following on from its very nasty predecessor DAF.
14. LALD is basically Dr. No II - many similarities between the both debut Bond films, but then so are YOLT, TSWLM and TND, LTK and QoS, MR and DAD etc.
This is my list of points so far - I may add more to it in time through the post editing function.
I'd now really love to hear the views of MI6 Community members on what I have dubbed the "Marmite" James Bond film - Live and Let Die, which sees its 40th Anniversary on 5 July 2013. I'm currently writing a lengthy and alternative-based review of the film and I want to get a cross-section of views on this film, which, despite my criticisms here, I actually rather like!
I'm sure that most of us would agree that Live and Let Die is massively underrated as a James Bond film and as its unique to the James Bond canon, what better way to celebrate its 40th Anniversary in 2013 than to give it the reappraisal that it more than deserves!
Keep the posts coming!
^ Back to Top
The MI6 Community is unofficial and in no way associated or linked with EON Productions, MGM, Sony Pictures, Activision or Ian Fleming Publications. Any views expressed on this website are of the individual members and do not necessarily reflect those of the Community owners. Any video or images displayed in topics on MI6 Community are embedded by users from third party sites and as such MI6 Community and its owners take no responsibility for this material.
James Bond News • James Bond Articles • James Bond Magazine
Comments
People who adore Fleming love QOS? Sir please don't speak for everyone.
LALD is one of my least favorite films of the series but I can see the appeal of it. I just find it very by the numbers
Moore's debut is great, maybe should of started earlier if not for the Saint, but I simply can't see anyone else in the part. Jane Seymour is beautiful, there's lots of action, McCartney and Wings give one of the best themes ever, and Kotto isn't too bad as the lead villain, but that damn stupid blow up at the end was ridiculous. Great chase through the Louisiana Bayou and Clifton James is a fun character. Just seems terribly dated now and I could never give any Bond release 100 per cent, but this does come damn close. Viewing this right now, it doesn't get much better than this
The Samedi and Tee Hee fights were also great. I don't understand why the film should be a marmite.
Shouldn't it be DAD?
No because most people hate it. Quantum I find is often split even between communities and arguments.
The villains plot is kinda flimsy but it gets the ball rolling.
It has its humor but not so campy as DAF
Jane Seymour is one of my favorite Bond girls (that body! her angelic face, her innocence!)
Yaphet Soto is a great heavy and it was good to see one who could take on Bond in a fight rather than some Jabba the Hut who sits around and pushes buttons (Stromberg, some Blofelds...)
My main complaints are the death of Kananga and the absence of Q
And yes, this is the first time when the Bond movies began to follow the current trends rather than being trendsetters. Had the film come out earlier, it could have set itself aside like earlier films as being unique (TB with it's underwater action, YOLT with it's Japanese/Far East settings, OHMSS with its skiing action)
It is great introduction for the new Bond despite the fact that Roger did not find his stride until his third outing.
I agree with all of this. I think that the producers tried hard to make the black villains intelligent and capable so I've never liked the racist criticisms either. It's certainly far less racist than it's source material. Yaphet Kotto gives a great performance indeed, Mr. Big make up aside, and makes for one of the very best Bond villains in my opinion. Jane Seymour is gorgeous and Rog did a good job at establishing his own take on the role. Of the Guy Hamilton 70's trilogy (DAF, LALD and TMWTGG) this stands out as the best.
Agree with all your other comments @pachazo but I re-read LALD a few weeks ago and think the same can be said for Fleming. The novel's a product of its time and it makes for quite uncomfortable reading in parts but Fleming goes to some effort to make the black characters, and certainly Mr Big, intelligent and capable too (one of the reasons why it's uncomfortable in parts - Fleming stresses this so much that some of it reads as being very patronising)
Yes, all those lines of prose about Mr Big being the first negro criminal mastermind was a bit much!
Remember it was the early 50's where nobody thought anything about overt racism. I actually think Fleming was quite progressive in this area. Not only does he make Mr Big a pretty formidable adversary for Bond but we also have Quarrel who is his equal and friend.
How many other popular writers of post war Britain wrote about black people in anything other than subservient roles? Not that many I would wager.
Plus for all the accusations of racism levelled at Fleming, when viewed against the acceptable language of the times it could be a lot worse and Bond (Flemings mouth book) as far as I can recall never actually utters a racism sentiment.
As for LALD - it is a middling entry but the song, the boat chase, the voodoo aspect have all gone on to be regarded as classic elements of the canon. I dont know anyone who ranks it bottom but nor do I know many who rank it top.
As others have stated I think QOS is a far better candidate for the 'Marmite' Bond film as even some people who love CR and SF slate (no pun intended) QOS.