An impromptu early morning visit by M at Bond’s home leads to a funny scene in Live And Let Die (1973). Moore’s first on-screen appearance as 007 doesn’t start out great. After bedding an Italian agent Miss Caruso at his place, he bumbles and fumbles as he tries to distract M (Bernard Lee) from running into the woman. Bond makes M some coffee, and knows his way around an espresso machine, much to M’s surprise and a test of his patience.
The personal visit by M is warranted, of course, as the murders of three MI6 agents (Baines, Dawes and Hamilton) make it an urgent matter. But who knew Bond could moonlight as a barista? And it’s pretty cool we get a glimpse into his personal home. Yes, it’s the 1970’s – and I still can’t get over the atrocious kitchen wallpaper, but Bond’s vintage orange sandwich maker on the counter looks pretty sweet!
Live and Let Die (1973) – Bond the Barista
Sheriff J.W. Pepper (Clifton James) returns in The Man With The Golden Gun (1974) for more comic relief after his first stint as the bumbling counterpart to Roger Moore’s James Bond in Live And Let Die (1973).
This time around, even a vacation in a foreign country won’t detract from his ego or sense of authority. The above short clip exemplifies this – an overzealous J.W. almost blows Bond’s element of surprise (or any remaining he had, at least) on the chase for Scaramanga. Bond’s disappointment is obvious, and his reaction one of Moore’s most animated.
Sheriff J.W. Pepper (Clifton James) in The Man With The Golden Gun (1974)
Wish we could go back to knowing the title of the next Bond movie after one ends…
Baron Samedi laughs at the thought…
This is a great 30 second summary of Live And Let Die (1973), from a short 30 second scene from itself – the scene where Bond (Roger Moore) and Solitaire (Jane Seymour) escape San Monique. Bond summarizes that the entire Kananga operation and voodoo mystique on the island was a front for heroin smuggling. I’ve always said that the simpler a Bond villain’s plot in any James Bond movie, the better.
Also, now that Solitaire has finally lost her “magic,” she is horny. Really horny.
Kananga/Mr. Big (Yaphet Kotto) from Live And Let Die (1973) or Franz Sanchez (Robert Davi) from Licence To Kill (1989)?
You’ve gotta love Baron Samedi’s (Geoffrey Holder) menacing laugh at the end of Live and Let Die (1973). This along with a few other Baron Samedi scenes add a feeling of mystique and almost introspection to the movie, which really isn’t present in any other James Bond movie. The ever-present voodoo references in the movie also contributes to this feeling, in my opinion, and add to its overall creepy/scary vibe.
I also think this end scene also technically breaks the fourth wall of the movie, which is a rare occurrence that has only happened a few other times in the series.
If this Blu-ray cover is legit, someone needs to answer for approving this! Sir Roger can’t be happy about his likeness…
