Welcome back to Memorable Movie Quotes, that column where we look at cool quotes from some really cool movies.

Up today, it’s LIVE AND LET DIE (1973), the first Roger Moore James Bond movie, and also the first Bond flick I saw at the movies, as I was fortunate enough to see this one when I was just nine years old.  I loved it and instantly declared Roger Moore the best James Bond. Of course, a few years and several Bond movies later, I changed my tune and went with Sean Connery.

Here’s a look at some quotes from the James Bond movie LIVE AND LET DIE, screenplay by Tom Mankiewicz.

Like most James Bond movies, especially the Roger Moore ones, the script is full of humorous double entendres. In fact, when playing Bond, Moore seemed most at home keeping things light.

Like in this early scene in the film, as Bond unzips his date’s dress with a magnet in his watch:

WOMAN: Such a delicate touch.

JAMES BOND: Sheer magnetism, darling.

In one of the film’s funnier scenes, Bond eludes the folks chasing him by hopping into a small plane only to find a woman at the controls waiting for her flying lesson.  They then speed through the airport with the villains in high pursuit. When the wild chase is over, and Bond and the woman safely bring the plane to a comfortable stop, Bond turns to her and says:

JAMES BOND:  Same time tomorrow, Mrs. Bell?

And after the villainous Kananga is killed when Bond shoves an explosive gas pellet into his mouth, causing him to blow up like a balloon and then explode, there’s this exchange with the beautiful Solitaire (Jane Seymour):

SOLITAIRE: Where’s Kananga?

JAMES BOND: He always did have an inflated opinion of himself.

 

One of my favorite lines comes right at the beginning of the movie, when one of Bond’s fellow agents is on a mission in New Orleans. He’s watching a funeral, when a man approaches him.

AGENT: Whose funeral is this?

MAN: Yours.

The man pulls out a knife and stabs the agent.

 

A lot of the humor in the film comes from Clifton James’ over-the-top portrayal of Southern sheriff J.W. Pepper. The role proved so popular that James reprised the role in Moore’s next outing as Bond, THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN (1974) which also starred Christopher Lee as the villainous Scaramanga.

In LIVE AND LET DIE, Sheriff Pepper spends most of his time chasing Bond all over the roads and waterways of Louisiana. When one of the cars whizzes past him, Pepper radios in:

SHERIFF PEPPER: Toby. Toby! I got me a regular Ben-Hur down here. Doing 95… minimum.

STATE TROOPER: Need any help, J.W.?

SHERIFF PEPPER: Hell, no!

When Bond proves too elusive, the sheriff decides to call for his brother-in-law, Billy-Bob, who owns the fastest boat in the area.

SHERIFF PEPPER: I got it. You call my brother-in-law, Billy Bob. He’s got the fastest boat in the whole damn river. Billy Bob sure enough will fix their ass! Call Billy Bob!

And later, when the chase ends badly for the police, and a boat lies smashed into the sheriff’s car, his deputies react:

DEPUTY: That look like a boat stuck in the Sheriff’s car there, Eddie?

EDDIE: Boy, where you been all your life? That there’s one of them new car-boats.

 

And we finish with one last double entendre from Mr. Bond. After defeating a one-armed assassin, and having removed the dead man’s prosthetic arm from the train window, he’s asked by Solitaire:

SOLITAIRE: Now what are you doing?

JAMES BOND: Just being disarming, darling.

 

And that’s it for now. I hope you enjoyed this edition of MEMORABLE MOVIE QUOTES featuring quotes from LIVE AND LET DIE.

Join me again next time when we look at more cool quotes from other cool movies.

Thanks for reading!

—Michael

Books by Michael Arruda:

TIME FRAME,  science fiction novel by Michael Arruda.  

Ebook version:  $2.99. Available at http://www.crossroadpress.com. Print version:  $18.00. Includes postage! Email your order request to mjarruda33@gmail.com. Also available at Amazon.com.

IN THE SPOOKLIGHT, movie review collection by Michael Arruda.

 Ebook version:  $4.99.  Available at http://www.crossroadpress.com.  Print version:  $18.00.  Includes postage. Email your order request to mjarruda33@gmail.com. Also available at Amazon.com.

FOR THE LOVE OF HORROR, short story collection by Michael Arruda.  

Print version:  $18.00.  Includes postage. Email your order request to mjarruda33@gmail.com. Also available at Amazon.com.