‘Live and Let Die’ in New York

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007, filming location, James Bond, James Bond location, Live and Let Die, New York, New York City, USA

In ‘Live and Let Die’ James Bond (Roger Moore) arrived to New York, USA. After landing, he left the airport and got into the car waiting for him. While driving, he received a call from Felix Leiter from the CIA. On a multi-lane road in Manhattan, a white Cadillac approached the car carrying agent 007 and fired a fatal shot. Bond’s chauffeur died, and 007 had difficulty controlling the driverless car.

New York scenes were the last shot for the film. It was March 1973, less than 3 months before the premiere, when the film crew arrived to NYC.

The car chase was filmed on East River Drive on Sunday, when street closures caused the least disruption. The day they were filming the car chase, the management from United Artists came to the film set to see how the film was made. Director Guy Hamilton told them: ‘You won’t really see anything. Why don’t you ride in one of the cars?’. He made sure they were in the car that would be bashed and they didn’t know about it. He later recalled with laughter that they were pale when they got out of the car.

East River Drive at East River in New York, USA — *East River Drive at East River in New York.*

New York, USA — *East River Drive at East River in New York.*

The location of Leiter’s headquarters was shown in a short establishing shot filmed from South Street looking into Wall Street.

Wall Street at Lower Manhattan in New York, USA — *The Wall Street pictured from South Street.*

The car crashed at East River Drive near the Manhattan bridge.

James Bond took a taxi to the ‘Oh Cult Voodoo Shop’. Through its back room he entered the underground garage, where he found the white Cadillac in which the killer had previously driven. Suddenly, a group of people entered the garage, including Solitaire (Jane Seymour) and Tee Hee Johnson (Julius Harris). Bond secretly watched them get into the car and drive to the elevator. A moment later, he ran out into the street and hailed a taxi, which he followed after the departing car. The route led through Central Park to the ‘Fillet of Soul’ restaurant in Harlem.

The shop was filmed at 33 East 65th Street in New York. For 50 years this film location has not changed much.

35 East 65th Street in New York, USA — *33 East 65th Street in New York.*

The villains car drove out of the gate next to the store at 33 East 65th Street. Behind the gate there is actually a garage where the movie scenes were filmed.

Entrance to the underground car park at 35 East 65th Street in New York, USA. — *Exit gate from the underground car park.*

Bond entered the garage through the door which now reads: ELEVATOR MOTOR ROOM”. As you can see in the photos below, the interior of the garages looks almost identical to what it looked like 50 years ago. To enter the garage you still have to use the elevator.

Underground car park. — *Interior of the underground parking lot.*

Elevator in the underground car park. — *An elevator that carries cars into and out of the underground car park*.

Elevator door in the underground car park.

Entrance to the underground car park. — *Exit gate from the underground car park.*

Central Park in New York, USA — *A street through the middle of Central Park*.

The ‘Fillet of Soul’ restaurant that Bond went to in the film, was located at Lenox Avenue in Harlem. In reality the fake facade of the restaurant was built for filming at the corner of 2nd Avenue and 94th Street. The fight scene in Harlem was shot at 118th Street.

Thank you James H. for showing me the film location.

Go to LOCATIONS GALLERY – ‘LIVE AND LET DIE’ to see locations photos compared with movie scenes.

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