11. Roger Moore Is Not James Bond
Despite being resolutely English and therefore far closer to the literary version of the character (Ian Fleming only gave the Bond of the books Scottish heritage after Connery was cast), the character which Roger Moore plays in
Live and Let Die departs from the established mould in all sorts of little ways. Most of these were deliberate on the part of the producers. The plan with Lazenby had been to try and make viewers believe they were still watching Connery. It didnt work, and so the plan here was to avoid comparisons wherever possible. So, although Q-branch provides Bond with a magnetic watch, there is no scene with Q himself. Although Bernard Lee appears as M, we are in Bonds home for the briefing instead of MI6 headquarters. Bond no longer smokes cigarettes, instead Moore puffs on his preferred cigars. He is never seen in a tuxedo and doesnt drink a single vodka martini in the entire film. Over the twelve years and six films which followed, Moore was allowed to do all these things, and his unbroken run of movies still gives him the record as the longest-standing actor in the role possibly because of these canny decisions in his first outing.