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"Ain't your debut at this sorta thing..." - The JW Pepper Discussion Thread.

Orbis_Non_SufficitOrbis_Non_Sufficit
edited June 2011 in Bond Movies Posts: 20
You know him as the loud Lousianna sheriff from New Orleans with a black brother-in-law, Billy Bob. However, his familial relationship doesn't conflict with his membership in the KKK which has no bearing or interference with his professional duties patrolling the backroads of the bayous. He has a desire for acquiring cholera, seen with his trip to the tropical paradise of South East Asia. Ironically, Here, he doesn't appear too kind to the natives whose country he had put a great deal of thought into choosing for a romantic getaway. Maybelle, his wife, who is actually his second-cousin from the next parish over, is secretly a Republican and plans on being one of Mitt Romney's many wives. JW was killed by a Chinese firing squad shortly after being arrested for crimes against humanity and incest.

You get the gist.
The character of JW Pepper has always brightened up my viewings of Live and Let Die and The Man with the Golden Gun. Clifton James lended that character a humorous sense of ignorance, stupidity and all the negative adjectives that could be associated with the Deep South. I may not understand what the hell the character says at points in the film and neither do the subtitles on the various editions of the DVDs and Blu-Ray (various phrases changed translations!), but I simply adore the character. I can never put my finger on it, but I always seem to laugh at the man-child leading a batallion of police officers that is chasing after a "swamp-full of Black Russians" and "an English secret agent from England." I find Clifton James to be incredibly endearing and wonder what others feel about the character, his place in the world of Bond and whatever else you think.

A completely random topic, but I could use a good laugh. Check Facebook for a JW fanpage (not created by me, I assure you.).

Comments

  • sHell_Is_HeresHell_Is_Here
    edited June 2011 Posts: 30
    I absolutely love the scene in Live and Let Die in which J. W. attempts to arrest Bond: "A secret agent!? On whose side?"

    And I guess it might be possible that they are secret Republicans, but I feel that J. W. was telling the truth in The Man With The Golden Gun when he proclaims that he and his wife are "United States Democrats." Remember, the releases of LALD and TMWTGG were not too long after the final weakening of the Democratic-supporting Solid South movement, during which the white voters of the south switched their party allegiance due to civil rights issues. The phrase was likely intended to suggest one of two things, that 1) J. W. Pepper was old fashioned, or 2) that J. W. Pepper was a hick, but not an overtly racist hick.

    Though, if J. W. Pepper were to be on the big screen today, he would definitely claim to be a Republican.
  • DaltonCraig007DaltonCraig007 They say, "Evil prevails when good men fail to act." What they ought to say is, "Evil prevails."
    Posts: 15,723
    I absolutly love him !! The best character in the franchise... 2nd only to Moore's Bond !! He is so memorably, funny, entertaining !! The car chase in TMWTGG is fantastic !!

    What's going on ?? The bridge is THAT way !! What the hell you doin' now boy ?? ... You're not thinkin'...
    I sure am BOY !!!!
    [slide whistle]
    waaaaaaaa weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee I've never done THAT before !!
    Neither have I, actually...

    And contrary to popular belief, the slide whistles is COOL !! It adds to the hilarity of the scene... I am flat out laughing during this entire chase !!

    Here's to J.W PEPPER !! :-bd
  • Orbis_Non_SufficitOrbis_Non_Sufficit
    Posts: 20
    I absolutely love the scene in Live and Let Die in which J. W. attempts to arrest Bond: "A secret agent!? On whose side?"

    And I guess it might be possible that they are secret Republicans, but I feel that J. W. was telling the truth in The Man With The Golden Gun when he proclaims that he and his wife are "United States Democrats." Remember, the releases of LALD and TMWTGG were not too long after the final weakening of the Democratic-supporting Solid South movement, during which the white voters of the south switched their party allegiance due to civil rights issues. The phrase was likely intended to suggest one of two things, that 1) J. W. Pepper was old fashioned, or 2) that J. W. Pepper was a hick, but not an overtly racist hick.

    Though, if J. W. Pepper were to be on the big screen today, he would definitely claim to be a Republican.
    I know. That first half of the post was just a joke, not meant to be taken seriously. :-D
  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    Posts: 24,257
    I don't like that character, I'm sorry. In LALD, I can still somewhat accept him in the context of that second act, but there's no room for Pepper in TMWTGG. I didn't need the comic relief, and by all means I wasn't comically indulged either.
  • Samuel001Samuel001 Moderator
    Posts: 13,356
    Pepper works well and does bring something to Live And Let Die but the following film, he's there just because he was a hit the first time round and for the sake of it. Bond happening to be in the same place Pepper is? Please, it's awful and makes me cringe. It doesn't help the "comedy" isn't in the least bit funny either.
  • DaltonCraig007DaltonCraig007 They say, "Evil prevails when good men fail to act." What they ought to say is, "Evil prevails."
    Posts: 15,723
    Ah c'mon, Pepper was even more fun in TMWTGG !! I can't imagine LALD and TMWTGG without him !! A golden character of the franchise !! One of the best !!
  • BAIN123BAIN123
    Posts: 11,189
    Ah JW Pepper. Probably the most infamous character in Bond ever.

    I find him ok in LALD. Annoying maybe but, as Darth said, he fits in with the surroundings. Clifton James does play him well in fairness.

    GG on the other hand. Well, that's probably the weakest part of the film anyway (sorry DC).
  • saunderssaunders Living in a world of avarice and deceit
    Posts: 987
    I honestly really like the Pepper, I find him in a nostalgic kind of way rather funny and felt his appearances enhanced both LALD and TMWTGG, though as both films rank very low on my list maybe his brand of dumb humour is less of a problem than it would of been had he appeared in a quality production, say OHMSS or FYEO.
    Possibly this is also an age thing, as I was brought up in a time when fat ,racist, American Sheriffs appeared on regularly both the big screen (Smokey and the Bandit) and TV (The Dukes of Hazzard) and were considered pure comedy gold.
  • SirHenryLeeChaChingSirHenryLeeChaChing
    Posts: 3,494
    I definitely agree with the thought that the popularity of LALD and good ole boy JW was the only reason the character was resurrected for TMWTGG. Clifton James was a very underrated comedic genius in my opinion, the fact that he was a native New Yorker made his impression of a redneck racist Louisiana sheriff even more hilarious. He and Sir Roger were comedic gold together and they knew it. Let's not forget that LALD was even more racist from the perspective of Kananga's crew, who used the racist word "honky" (which comes from "honky tonk" of course) quite liberally.

    I am OK with Pepper again in TMWTGG because, well, I love James' portrayal of the character. Just not his racism. But that's part of the culture that spawned real life characters just like him. Agreed that it didn't make much sense for a character like Pepper to otherwise be in Thailand, at least without a reasonable premise which is never presented to the audience to explain his presence.


  • 00Beast00Beast
    Posts: 4,762
    I've always loved Sheriff J.W. Pepper! What's not to like? He's hilarious, loud-mouthed, and persistant! He takes a great majority of the best quotes from LALD and TMWTGG, including, "Spin around, boy! Ten fingers on the fender" and "The bridge is THAT way!" However, I do wish they hadn't given him so many curse words to say. That really detracts from his otherwise perfect performance!
  • imranbecksimranbecks Singapore
    Posts: 984
    JW Pepper was there in both the Roger Moore movies obviously for comic relief.. Some of his scenes were hilarious, while some were just, sorry to say, seemed racist.. But he was entertaining alright...
  • ShakenNotStirredShakenNotStirred
    Posts: 1,399
    Jay Dubya Peppa.. Haha, love the character. I enjoy him much more in LALD, however.

    "Spin around boooy. Ten fingas on the venda!"
  • NicNacNicNac Administrator, Moderator
    Posts: 7,584
    The line of dialogue that makes me laugh more than any other is spoken during LALD to Pepper by another officer over the radio. Can't remember it word for word but it's something like
    "Mrs (name) says her dog has started frothing at the mouth. Wonders if you could go on over there and shoot it"
    And it comes over the radio right in the middle of all the destruction and pandamonium. Very funny moment.
  • The_ReaperThe_Reaper
    Posts: 1,092
    He's mildly amusing but almost ruins TMWTGG. This coulda been a serious, well thought out spy thriller but insteads suffers from inconsistant tone, a lack of a compelling theme, and nonsense like the slide whistle. I still like it overall but it had so much wasted potential it makes me mad sometimes to watch it. They shoulda stuck to Fleming.
  • Baltimore_007Baltimore_007
    Posts: 5,634
    He's on right now as Bond and Kananga thugs speed through the bayous and I'll say it again in that he's one entertaining character. It works far better here because he gets more time on screen then Golden Gun, and he never fails to entertain. People may not like him, and you can understand that thinking, but you just can't get bored with him

    "You go call my brother Billy Bob, he's the got the fastest boat on the whole damn river. Billy Bob sure ain't no pixie ass"

    'There's my brother in-law Billy Bob, there he goes, he'll get him'

    It's great he's in this movie as it makes it all the more better, and while his return a year later may have been ill advised I liked his character so much I didn't mind it at all. His rant at some Thailand locals in Golden Gun "You pointy heads" - was just damn amusing each time you watch. I think sometimes I would of liked to have seen him in one more Bond release, that is Moonraker. I think there could of been scope for more fun there

    He's back again -

    "There's that son of a bitch I got him. What are you, some kind of doomsday device boy. Well we got a cage strong enough to hold you" - "Secret Agent ! - on who's side ?"

    And that's the last we'll see of him in this release, but what a great and entertaining character he was, and of course Clifton James is still alive to this day, and may it continue. I wasn't expecting a cameo in Skyfall or anything, but he did give good value in his two appearances. James Bond legend (character) I feel sometimes
  • CommanderRossCommanderRoss The bottom of a pitch lake in Eastern Trinidad, place called La Brea
    Posts: 8,331
    JW is one of the best characters imo. Yes, he makes racist comments, but that's the idea, it fits the character. He's a local sherriff over his head into a situation he doesn't understand. It works extremely well, and makes him endearing. And indeed, Clifton James plays him to the hilt. could've gotten an Oscar for his portrayal in LALD..
    Sure his return in GG was just because so many people loved him. GG was rushed anyway and makes little sense as a film. But JW still makes me laugh again, which is good. If you're going to have a mess of a film, you might as well put in some genuinly funny characters.
  • Baltimore_007Baltimore_007
    Posts: 5,634
    TheHotMess wrote:
    I wonder how Craig's Bond would handle him lol

    I'm sure there would of been some great camaraderie, and Brosnan would of worked also. You can just picture Craig off on his adventures or getting into precarious situations, and Pepper never far behind giving advice. "What you up to now boy" etc

    Say it again in that it's a real pity Pepper wasn't featured in any subsequent releases after '74, but I think the producers realized that audiences didn't quite take to the character, and they decided two (appearances) was enough
  • X3MSonicXX3MSonicX https://www.behance.net/gallery/86760163/Fa-Posteres-de-007-No-Time-To-Die
    Posts: 2,635
    lol i loved his character in both films, but more in TMWTGG. The films are really added in comedy with him and that is something i love.
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