Roger Moore as James Bond
Jane Seymour as Solitaire
Yaphet Kotto as Dr. Kananga
Julius Harris as Tee Hee
Geoffrey Holder as Baron Samedi
One of the first Bond films I remember really liking when I saw it, LALD stood out to me not only for its music and setting, but also for blatantly diving into then-popular Blaxploitation wave of films. (Which, to be clear, I found funny because this direction was so absurd, not in spite of it.)
If not for its source material also having an all-black villain group, you would think James Bond would be the last character expected to go this route. And while LALD is vastly more progressive than the book, few other Bond films (if any) are all-but-completely mired in Unfortunate Implications like this one.
David Hedison as Felix Leiter
Gloria Hendry as Rosie Carver
Earl Jolly Brown as Whisper
Tommy Lane as Adam
At least back when I saw it, this was alleviated a bit by the introduction of Roger Moore as 007. Effortlessly slipping into the role and getting down to business, Moore and the film manage to avoid most of the awkwardness that followed George Lazenby's introduction in On Her Majesty's Secret Service.
With the filmmakers careful to differentiate Moore from Connery (cigars, no martinis, etc.) without overdoing it, the film pretty much eschews a big introduction scene, merely seeing Bond in his actual flat and making an espresso when M and Moneypenny visit. Perhaps a missed opportunity given how successful his Bond would become.
Moore's Bond pretty much in one frame.
Perhaps it's the success of Moore assuming the role that makes the issue of the villains and the optics stand out even more. From the unfortunate implication of seemingly all of Harlem being in Mr. Big's pocket, to Kananga's control of Solitaire and what he had in store for her had Bond not gotten to her first, it's more and more of a mess the more this reviewer thinks about it.
Lon Satton as Agent Strutter
Arguably the only black character that gets out unscathed in in this regard is Lon Satton's Agent Strutter. Cool, in control, and charismatic as hell, he pretty much steals the show whenever he's on, which makes his eventual fate all the more disappointing for the rest of the film.
An inspiration for Jeffrey Wright's Felix Leiter?
They sure do have the same wit.
The excellent actors playing Kananga and his henchmen work damn hard to elevate the material, especially Yaphet Kotto himself, given what he had to work with. (Dammit, Tom Mankiewicz, you did so well with the Superman movies, quit making it hard for me to like you!)
I have yet to find or come across anyone who found
this disguise convincing. (And that's not getting into
the jive talk the script has Kananga put on.)
Holder is awesome as Baron Samedi, so much so that
he seems to be in the film more than he actually is.
Gloria Hendry's Rosie Carver, originally written for a white actress when Mankiewicz wanted Solitaire to be played by a black actress, unfortunately adds little to the main plot. Her screams at the dead snake and the voodoo warning really stretch the audience's belief that she's supposed to be a CIA agent (and unintentionally spoiling her plot twist, at that). While there is a throwaway line later about her flightiness actually being an act, her prior behavior goes so far in this direction, that it's a wonder Kananga and Co. didn't just bump her off earlier.
Hendry's Rosie Carver suffers a lot due to the changes to
her character not being all that smoothed out.
I admit, Bond's move here dampens the film for me now.
Not that I was fine with it before, but at best, it was
an extremely grey area even in the name of Bond's mission.
Bond sure is suave doing it, but damn, is doing this
right after lovemaking cold as hell if I ever did see it.
Kotto is devilishly enjoyable as Kananga, a man who
enjoys his operation, and becomes that little bit
unhinged near the very end.
Carver aside, while the villains are competent and formidable foes, the reality is that the viewer inevitably bumps up against the elements (among others) that would become tired and stereotypical even in the Blaxploitation genre.
SO, ARE THERE THINGS THAT AVOID THIS FATE?
Most of LALD's elements that answer the above question are things that I liked even in my earliest viewings, things which had little if anything to do with the movie's trend-chasing itself.
Clifton James as Sheriff J.W. Pepper
Many Bond purists hate J.W. Pepper, the racist Louisiana Sheriff who finds himself smack dab in the middle of the film's classic boat chase. But for me at least, James' performance brings just the right level of absurdity to the character's zealousness in trying to apprehend the henchmen. He's very much the butt of the joke, and then some.
Unfortunately, Sheriff Pepper wouldn't fare so well
against the Thai police or those three Kryptonians
on the planet Houston.
While it goes on for too long, I really can't
otherwise fault the speedboat chase, especially
given the stellar stuntwork involved.
Stunt and demolition enthusiasts will find plenty
to like in LALD's vehicle wrecks and "car-boats".
Yes, folks, those are real crocodiles.
Also, I'd be remiss not to mention the "so bad, it's good, but who the hell thought this was a good idea?" factor of Kanaga's death by inflation.
OTHER OBSERVATIONS
Bernard Lee as M
This shot takes on a sadder meaning knowing
what Lee went through in real life prior to this film.
Ruth Kempf as Mrs. Bell, the Mrs. Durant of LALD.
(Ten points if you got that reference.)
Madeline Smith as Miss Caruso
After her encounter with June "Sister George" Buckridge,
slightly-sleazy James Bond is undoubtedly a step up.
Much like the spy camera in Moonraker, the tarot
deck here would make little sense in the film itself,
but would make an excellent merchandise tie-in.
(And indeed, that actually happened.)
Arnold Williams as the Cab Driver
I know this guy likely didn't aim to be covert,
but you could spot those sideburns a mile away.
Only in writing this review did I notice an Asian man
as one of Kananga's helicopter pilots.
(Filming in Jamaica, it makes sense.)
Despite a fear of snakes, Geoffrey Holder went ahead with
the snake coffin scene when he learned Princess Alexandra
was visiting the set that day. Now that's commitment to your craft!
Okay, I too thought this watch saw was an ass pull
given how we had no clue Bond had it before.
Whatever mystery this effect had was lost come the early 2000s
when fibre-optic lights became all the rage.
Wait, what?
In context or not, that line never gets old.
You know your movie is problematic when the question
of Baron Samedi's supernatural power is
one of the less prominent discussions.
An inevitable effect of looking back on films is to come to terms with what used to entertain us, only to find that same effect lessened for a number of reasons. If there's one upside I can determine from revisiting LALD, it's that the series (for the most part) never got this awkward with characters of color again. (Actually, Bond in yellowface aside, You Only Live Twice was almost better regarding this. Er, baby steps?)
Copyright © Chynna Moore
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