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Roger Moore's debut as the
new James Bond in Live And Let Die (1973), marked a return to
several marketing tie-ins with products featured in the film. In addition
to the usual Original
Soundtrack album,
PAN Books released a film
tie-in featuring the striking Robert McGinnis poster artwork on the
cover, and a second paperback of
Roger Moore's own
account of the filming of Live And Let Die (1973). The
entertaining book was actually
ghost-written by EON Productions
publicist Derek Coyte (1929-2014) from Moore's audiotape dictation
notes. Both paperbacks proved extremely popular, and with Ian Fleming's
second James Bond novel out-of-print in 1972, the film tie-in edition sold
an incredible 240,000 copies in 1973, making it the third most popular
title from the publisher until PAN Books relinquished their rights in
1977. |
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British toy manufacturer
Lone Star issued a new “James Bond pistol” in 1973, this time with
brown butt grips, and a “007 Presentation Set” containing a holster to
carry the double purpose cap firing pistol (now with a gold body and black
butt grips); a badge; two-way walkie talkie unit; two grenades and an
ingenious coder and de-coder unit. As the packaging did not
specifically mention Live And Let Die, this meant the products had
a longer than usual shelf-life. Lone Star continued to be granted a
licence to produce “James Bond” and “007” branded merchandise until the
end of the decade. |
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Marketed in the UK by
Waddingtons Playing Card Co. Ltd (and in America by U.S.
Games Systems, Inc.) the “James Bond 007 Tarot Game” featured the
distinctive card designs based upon paintings by Scottish surrealist
artist Fergus Hall.
The Tarot deck was
seen prominently in Live And Let Die (1973), even down to the
incongruous “007” motif on the reverse of each symbolic card. The
78-card fortune-telling deck was housed in a colourful slipcase, and
included an illustrated instruction booklet by leading Tarot authority
Stuart R. Kaplan (1932-2021). |
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In Live And Let Die
(1973) James Bond (Roger Moore) is seen shaving with a Schick
Injector Razor whilst taking a bath in his San Monique hotel room
before being menaced by a snake. The American manufacturer of personal
care products mounted a promotional campaign to tie in with the new James
Bond film in both the UK and USA, and supplied local stockists with a 30"
X 20" poster, strutted showcards showing Roger Moore using the razor.
A pre-packed display containing six
Injector Razors and leaflets for a mail-in offer of a free copy of the PAN Books film tie-in paperback of
LIVE AND LET DIE and poster worth 99p were supplied to chemist shops and
all Boots and Woolworth's branches in the UK. Aimed at younger
cinemagoers was a colour poster of Roger Moore from Scandecor which
retailed at 99p. The image of Moore as James Bond was one of many taken by
celebrated British photographer
Terry O'Neill, who had been a promotional stills photographer on the
James Bond films since From Russia With Love (1963). American
manufacturer GAF released 21 3-dimentional colour images from Live And
Let Die (1973) housed on three View-Master thin card
‘reels’. The reels were inserted into a slot at the top of the plastic
View-Master viewer and images then advanced by pulling down the lever
on the right-hand-side. A View-Master reel held 14 film
transparencies in seven pairs of surprisingly realistic stereoscopic
images. The components of each pair are viewed simultaneously, one by each
eye, thus simulating binocular depth perception. |
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Pan
American World Airways produced a colour poster (28" X 40") for
display in travel agents to promote the Caribbean locations of Live
And Let Die, although Jamaica would not be a holiday destination
within the reach of the average cinemagoer in 1973. A Pan Am Jumbo
Jet is also seen prominently in Live And Let Die as the
aircraft that brings James Bond to New York's JFK airport - with the
footage cleverly incorporated into Solitaire's (Jane Seymour) Tarot card
reading announcing Bond's arrival in the USA.
In order to capitalize on the
record-breaking 110-foot speedboat leap across a Louisiana levee
(performed in the film by stuntman Jerry Comeaux), there
were two promotional tie-ins with Evinrude engines, and the
Glastron GT-150 speedboat featured in Live And Let Die (1973). A
large colour
poster (60" X 40") was distributed to 300 Evinrude stockists
throughout the country, and a
30" X 40" poster (primarily used in the USA) was designed to be used in
conjunction with a still from the boat chase in showroom displays. |
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Sackville Publishing
Co. Ltd.
would again produce a 24-page souvenir brochure available in cinemas
during the release of Live And Let Die, featuring a story and
picture sequence, with biographies of the stars, producers and director. |
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