Live and Let Die James Bond film premieres

Live and Let Die James Bond film premieres on July 7, 1973

Live and Let Die (1973) is the eighth spy film in the James Bond series, and the first to star Roger Moore as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond.

The film was produced by Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman. Although the producers had wanted Sean Connery to return after his role in the previous Bond film Diamonds Are Forever, he declined, sparking a search for a new actor to play James Bond. Roger Moore was signed for the lead role.

The film is adapted from the novel of the same name by Ian Fleming. In the film, a Harlem drug lord known as Mr. Big plans to distribute two tons of heroin free to put rival drug barons out of business. Mr. Big, however, is revealed to be the disguised alter ego of Dr. Kananga, a corrupt Caribbean dictator, who rules San Monique, the fictional island where the heroin poppies are secretly farmed. Bond is investigating the death of three British agents, leading him to Kananga, where he is soon trapped in a world of gangsters and voodoo as he fights to put a stop to the drug baron's scheme.

Live and Let Die was released during the height of the blaxploitation era, and many blaxploitation archetypes and cliché are depicted such as afro hairstyles, derogatory racial epithets ("honky"), black gangsters, and "pimpmobiles".

It departs from the former plots of the James Bond films about megalomaniac super-villains, and instead focuses on drug trafficking, depicted primarily in blaxploitation films. It is set in African American cultural centres such as Harlem and New Orleans, as well as the Caribbean Islands. It was also the first James Bond film featuring an African American Bond girl to be romantically involved with 007, Rosie Carver, who was played by Gloria Hendry. Despite mixed reviews the film was a box office success and was nominated for an Academy Award.

Retro History for July 6 The 50s 60s 70s 80s

Retro History For The Decade 1980

1989 Barry Bond's home run sets father-son (Bobby) home run record at 408
1989 Mark McGwire's gets 100th home run, 2nd fastest (1400 at bats) (to Kiner)
1989 Rod Stewart hits his head while on stage and knocks himself out
1989 South African President Pieter Botha visits ANC leader Nelson Mandela
1989 Toronto Blue Jays are 10 games back in AL, and go on to win AL East
1988 Malcolm Marshall takes 7-22 at Old Trafford, England all out 93
1987 101st Wimbledon Mens Tennis: Pat Cash beats Ivan Lendl (76 62 75)
1987 A's Mark McGwire is 1st rookie to hit 30 home runs before All Star break
1987 Jane Geddes wins LPGA Jamie Farr Toledo Golf Classic
1986 93rd Wimbledon Womens Tennis: M Navratilova beats H Mandlikova (76 63)
1986 Ingrid Kristiansen of Norway sets 10K woman's record (30:13.74)
1986 Nancy Reagan cuts red, white and blue ribbon; reopens Statue of Liberty
1986 Statue of Liberty is reopened after it is refurbished
1985 117 degrees F (47 degrees C), St. George, Utah (state rec) (103 degrees spread, UT 1985)
1985 Premier Mugabe wins Zimbabwe elections
1985 Nicholas Mark Sanders (England) begins circumnavigation of globe, covering 13,035 road miles in 78 days, 3 hours, 30 minutes
1984 Supreme Court weakens 70-year-old "exclusionary rule"-evidence seized with defective court warrants can now be used in criminal trials
1983 France invades Algeria
1983 New Jersey Devils purchase AHL Maine Mariners as their farm team
1983 Woman gives birth to baby 84 days after brain death in Roanoke, Virginia
1982 Challenger flies to Kennedy Space Center via Ellington AFB, Texas
1982 ICC Trophy record p/ship, 257 Schoonheim/Liffman, Hol vs. Malay
1981 9th du Maurier Golf Classic (Peter Jackson Classic): Jan Stephenson
1981 Premier Begin's Likud party wins Israeli elections
1981 U.S.S.R. performs nuclear test at Semipalitinsk, Eastern Kazakhstan U.S.S.R.
1980 87th Wimbledon Womens Tennis: Evonne Goolagong beats C Evert (61 76)
1980 94th Wimbledon Mens Tennis: Bjorn Borg beats McEnroe (16 75 63 67 86)

Retro History For The Decade 1970

1978 Soyuz 30 spacecraft touches down in Soviet Kazakhstan
1978 U.S.S.R. performs nuclear test at Semipalitinsk, Eastern Kazakhstan U.S.S.R.
1977 Pakistan's army, led by General Mohammad Zia ul-Haq, seizes power
1975 89th Wimbledon Mens Tennis: Arthur Ashe beats J Connors
1975 Cape Verde Is gain independence after 500 years of Portuguese rule
1974 81st Wimbledon Womens Tennis: Chris Evert beats Olga Morzova (60 64)
1973 "Live and Let Die," James Bond film premieres
1973 Isle of Man begins issuing their own postage stamps
1973 Major General Juvenal Habyarimana becomes president of Rwanda
1973 Rwanda military coup under general-major Habyalimana
1973 Test Cricket umpiring debut of H D "Dickie" Bird vs. New Zealand at Leeds
1972 Pierre Messmer appointed French premier
1971 26th amendment certified, reduces voting age to 18
1971 Simon Gray's "Butley," premieres in London
1970 25th U.S. Women's Open Golf Championship won by Donna Caponi Young
1970 Air Canada DC-8 crashes 7 miles from Toronto's airport killing 109

Retro History For The Decade 1960

1969 83rd Wimbledon Mens Tennis: Rod Laver beats J Newcombe (64 57 64 64)
1969 Rolling Stones play a free concert in London's Hyde Park
1968 "Manifest of 1000 words" published in Prague
1968 82nd Wimbledon Mens Tennis: Rod Laver beats Tony Roche (63 64 62)
1968 John Lennon sells his psychedelic painted Rolls-Royce
1968 Philadelphia 76'ers trade Wilt Chamberlain to Los Angeles Lakers
1967 Congo uprising under Belgian mercenary Jean Schramme
1966 New York City transit fare rises from 15 cents to 20 cents
1966 National Guard mobilizes in Omaha after 3rd night of rioting
1966 Saturn I rocket launched at Cape Kennedy
1963 1st Beatle tune to hit U.S. charts, Del Shannon "From Me to You" at #87
1962 96 murder at massacre in Oran, Algeria
1962 Algeria gains independence after 132 years of French rule
1962 Mantle hits 2 homers en route to 4 consecutive homers
1961 80 die in collisions in Algiers
1961 KUSD TV channel 2 in Vermillion, SD (PBS) begins broadcasting
1961 St. Louis Cardinal Bill White hits 3 home runs and a double
1960 Mongolia adopts constitution

Retro History For The Decade 1950

1959 Ben-Gurion's Israeli government resigns
1959 Indonesia restores constitution
1959 Jack Gelber's "Connection," premieres in New York City
1958 65th Wimbledon Womens Tennis: Althea Gibson beats A Mortimer (86 62)
1958 J Pengel forms government/Emanuels premier of Suriname
1957 71st Wimbledon Mens Tennis: Lew Hoad beats Ashley J Cooper (62 61 62)
1957 Tom Graveney scores 258 vs. West Indies at Trent Bridge
1956 France raises tobacco tax 20% due to war in Algeria
1955 English harbor strike ends
1954 B-52A bomber made its maiden flight
1954 Last day of Test Cricket for Khalid Hassan aged 16 yrs, 356 days
1953 Jackie Pung wins LPGA Triangle Round Robin Golf Tournament
1953 WANorth Carolina TV channel 21 in Asheville, North Carolina (IND) begins broadcasting
1952 "Of Thee I Sing" closes at Ziegfeld Theater New York City after 72 performances
1952 59th Wimbledon Womens Tennis: Maureen Connolly beats L Brough (75 63)
1951 Dodgers sweep the Giants and lead by 7 games (Giants will win pennant)
1951 Dr. William Shockley invents junction transistor at Murray Hill, New Jersey
1950 Law of Return passes, guarantees all Jews right to live in Israel


Have a groovy vintage retro sunshine day!


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Vintage Retro Music & Retro Pop Culture is our passion and what we LOVE. We keep it going everyday for the love of producing it for you to enjoy. Thanks for viewing. Much Peace! Live and Let Die (1973) is the eighth spy film in the James Bond series.