Trivia - Live And Let Die

On UK prints, the colour is credited to Rank, while US prints are credited to DeLuxe.

Several scenes and lines in Mankiewicz's screenplay were dropped from the film:

• The most noticeable loss was of an opening scene in which James Bond (Roger Moore) was to have met an old man in a garden at night. The man was to have handed over a pair of special contact lenses. They are disturbed by the approach of enemy agents and Bond tries to help the man escape by assisting him over a high wall that surrounds the garden. But too late, Bond discovers that the garden is in fact on the top of a very high building and his contact falls to his death. Actor Michael Sheard was cast as the man, but the scene was never filmed.
• Quarrel Jr demonstrates the gas pellet gun that Bond will eventually use to kill Kananga while he and Bond are out shark fishing.
• A dialogue reference to Quarrel's father and his encounter with Bond ["His father and I locked horns with a doctor named No several years ago"] was omitted.
• A scene in which Kananga threatens to cut off Tee Hee's arms and feed it to the crocodiles when he harms Solitaire was also removed.

Ross Kananga (credited as a "stunt co-ordinator") was the owner of the crocodile farm in which Bond escapes some hungry reptiles. Kananga did this stunt by himself, wearing Roger Moore's clothes and shoes made of crocodile skin. It took five attempts to complete the stunt. During the fourth attempt, one of the crocodiles snapped at one of the shoes as it went by! The producers liked Ross Kananga so much that the movie's villain was named after him.

Sean Connery was allegedly offered $5.5 million, which he refused, to play Bond one more time.

The producers made a conscious decision to make Roger Moore's Bond significantly different from Sean Connery's. For example, Bond never orders a vodka martini but drinks bourbon whiskey instead; the mission briefing occurs in his flat, not in M's office. This is also the the second time that Bond's apartment is featured in the films after an appearance in "Dr. No" (1962). Other changes to the character are those such as: Bond does not wear a hat and he smokes cigars instead of cigarettes. In time, as Moore grew into the role, a lot of these differences were relaxed.

When 007 is held captive in a chair by Tee Hee, Roger Moore's quip "Butterhook" was improvised.

Originally, United Artists had wanted an American actor to step into the shoes left vacant by the departing Connery. Among those names tentatively linked with the role were Burt Reynolds, Paul Newman and Robert Redford. Cubby Broccoli stood his ground, insisted on a British actor, and Roger Moore got the part. Among other actors considered for the role of Bond: John Gavin, Simon Oates, John Ronane, Michael McStay and Michael Billington.

The first Bond film to be set in a fictional country, San Monique. The next one to do this would be "Licence to Kill" (1989) in 1989.

Gayle Hunnicutt was signed to play Solitaire, but had to pull out of the project when she became pregnant. Diana Ross was also considered for the role of Solitaire.

Though this is the first film in which Q does not appear, the book was actually the first in the series to make reference to Q branch.

Roger Moore should not have been available for the part since at the time he was committed to "The Persuaders!", but when the show flopped in the U.S. he was prematurely released from his contract. Moore was author Ian Fleming's original choice for Bond, but he was committed to "The Saint" when the earlier films were in production.

Moore's contract stipulated that he have an unlimited supply of hand-rolled Monte Cristo cigars on hand (in one 007 movie the final bill comes to £3176.50).

"Live and Let Die" is first of two films to feature Louisiana Sheriff J.W. Pepper, played by Clifton James wearing a padded stomach to make him more rotund. He returned in the following Bond film, The Man with the Golden Gun (1974).

This is the first 007 score not to involve John Barry; former Beatles producer George Martin did the job instead.

Both stars Roger Moore and Jane Seymour caught dysentery while shooting in Jamaica.

The power-boat jump over the causeway set a new world distance record, clocking in at 110 feet.

The collision between the second power boat and the police car was an accident but when it turned out to look so good in film, the script was duly changed.

According to Paul McCartney, after the director heard the title song, complete with orchestra and all, he said: "Yeah, that's good for a demo but when are you going to do the real record?"

The Theme song "Live And Let Die" by Paul McCartney And Wings was the first Bond theme to make the Billboard Top Ten. It reached #2.

The first Bond film to feature adult language. The old woman whose flying lesson is hijacked by Bond clearly utters the word "s**t" (although this was dubbed out by US networks for showings on television). J.W. Pepper also begins to say the word "f**k" but is cut off when Bond jumps over him in a speedboat.

Madeline Smith, who played Miss Caruso said that additional awkwardness of a bedroom scene was created by Roger Moore's overprotective wife who was on the set during the filming. Additionally, in order to establish the effect of Bond unzipping Miss Caruso's blue dress with his magnetic watch, a thin wire was attached to the zipper from the watch to create the effect.

Bond's bungalow in San Monique was Number 12.

Product placements, brand integrations and promotional tie-ins for this movie include Pan American World Airways; Rolex Watches, particularly the Rolex Submariner 5513 watch; Bell Helicopters; Cadillac; Panasonic; Bollinger Champagne, beginning its relationship with the series; Pulsar Watches, particularly the Pulsar LED watch; General Motors Corporation (GMC) and its Chevrolet Motor Division; Jim Beam Bourbon; Budget Rent-A-Car; AMF Inc.; the Harley Davidson Motor Co. Ltd; the Glastron Boat Company.

Roger Moore performed a substantial portion of driving the San Monique bus himself, with guidance from the stunt crew.

On the set, one of the crocodiles at the Crocodile Farm was called "Old Albert" - named after one of the producers, Albert R. Broccoli.

This marks only the second time in the film series that the pre-titles sequence does not feature James Bond (with "From Russia with Love" (1963) being the first, as it featured an agent impersonating Bond).

The registration number on the back of Bond's wristwatch is 3266.

Each of Solitaire's fortune-telling Tarot cards have the 007 logo printed on the back of them - she must have known he was coming.

The Tarot card deck used by Solitaire features contemporary paintings by Fergus Hall, "Courtesy of the Portal Gallery Limited, London, England." A duplicate set was published by in Switzerland by Agmueller and Cie, distributed worldwide by U.S. Games Systems, Inc. New York. The cards in the film had a red, patterned background featuring the "007" emblem, but the commercial set is blue instead (same pattern).

The tarot cards seen on the movie's main poster were "the Devil", "Death", "the Lovers" and "Fortune". There is actually a fifth card on the poster but James Bond's torso blocks any possible name of the card. There is also actually no tarot card called "Fortune" in the set of cards used for the film. This title of the "Fortune" card is the product of a bit of artistic license. The title is basically an abridgment of the actual "Wheel of Fortune" tarot card.

The speedboat chase was originally meant to feature a sequence wherein Bond and his pursuers run through a water-skiing display team, causing their carefully balanced human pyramid to collapse and fall.

The boat chase through the bayous was originally written in the script as just "Scene 156 - The most terrific boat chase you've ever seen".

The character of Baron Samedi was rumored to make a return in a future Bond film, which explains his appearance on the front of the train at the end of the film.

The first Bond film to be filmed 'flat' (i.e. with spherical lenses rather than using the Panavision anamorphic widescreen process) since "Goldfinger" (1964).

The first 007 movie not to deal with the theme of world-domination (with a monopoly on drugs and a hold over habitual users). The drug theme would later surface in "Licence to Kill" (1989).

The white "Pimp Mobile" is actually a Chevrolet Corvette fitted with the fiberglass molding of a Cadillac Eldorado - the vehicle was marketed as the "Corvorado" by Dunham Coach of Boonton, New Jersey. Other Dunham conversions featured in the film included a Cadillac Fleetwood and Eldorado (seen parked in front of the Fillet of Soul restaurant). Les Dunham stated that he kept possession of the Corvorado after the film was completed; it has been modified several times for appearances in other films and/or car shows. He claimed that the car was used in the film "Superfly" (1972). The license plate of the white "Pimp Mobile" was 347-NDG. The address on the registration of the vehicle was 33 E. 65th St., New York, NY 10021.

All cars were made by General Motors except for the van a car slams into which was a early '60s Ford Econoline Van.

Geoffrey Holder (Baron Samedi) choreographed his own dance sequences.

CIA Agent Rosie Carver's weapon was a Custom .38 Smith & Wesson gun with corrugated 3 inch stock and no serial number.

The license plate of the car that picks up Bond in New York and his luggage ticket were the same, 545-BBB.