Title Card:
Production:
- Released: 1973
- Director: Guy Hamilton
- Screenplay: Tom Mankiewicz
- Music: John Barry
Theme Song:
- “Love and Let Die” performed by Paul McCartney and Wings
Villain:
- Dr. Kananga / Mr. Big (Yaphet Kotto)
Evil Plot:
Kananga plans to distribute heroin, free of charge, through a chain of restaurants, to increase need and bankrupt competitors. Ultimately, he will be able to seize control of the drug’s sale and distribution.
Locations:
- London
- New York City
- New Orleans
- Jamaica (as San Monique)
Bond Girls:
- Solitaire (Jane Seymour)
- Rosie Carver (Gloria Hendry)
Solitaire: “A man comes. He travels quickly. He has purpose. He comes over water. He travels with others. He will oppose. He brings violence and destruction.”
Supporting Cast:
- Tee Hee (Julius Harris)
- Baron Semedi (Geoffrey Holder)
- Felix Leiter (David Hedison)
- Sheriff J.W. Pepper (Clifton James)
- M (Bernard Lee)
- Miss Moneypenny (Lois Maxwell)
- Whisper (Earl Jolly Brown)
- Quarrel, Jr. (Roy Stewart)
- Miss Caruso (Madeline Smith)
Notable Moments:
- After arriving in New York City, an attempt is made on Bond’s life when his taxi driver to shot with a poisonous dart.
- A second attempt is made on Bond’s life after arriving in his San Monique hotel room: a snake is set loose in his room. But Bond kills the snake by burning it, using an aerosol can and a lighter.
- Rosie Carver is killed after a romantic encounter with Bond in a field: she flees from him, seeing signs of voodoo in the nearby woods, and is killed by poisonous dart shot from the mouth of a scarecrow.
- Bond and Solitaire are chased through the back dirt roads of San Monique in a double-decker bus. Eventually, they escape by boat.
- Kananga reveals himself to be disguised as Mr. Big, when he takes off a latex mask in front of Bond.
- When Kananga’s henchman, Tee Hee, leaves Bond isolated with a hungry group of crocodiles, Bond manages to escape by running across the crocodiles’ backs.
- Bond eludes Kananga’s men via speed boat, in a chase through the Louisiana bayou.
- Bond kills Kananga by inserting a pill in his mouth that causes him to inflate and explode.