I recently started doing a rewatch of Roger Moore‘s various James Bond films as I realized there were a few that I have never seen before. I began with Moore’s first outing as 007, 1973’s blaxploitation-inspired Live and Let Die. While I had some problems with the flick, I mostly appreciated how it tried to bring some new elements to the James Bond mythos.
Yet there was one aspect of the film that I absolutely hated: The character of Sheriff J.W. Pepper. Portrayed by veteran character actor Clifton James, Pepper is a loutish buffoon who seems shoehorned into this picture from a Hee Haw rerun. The tonal shift was jarring, and I didn’t feel that his scenes worked, and the comedy didn’t hit the mark with me.
Apparently, not many people agreed with this opinion, as Pepper was popular enough that director Guy Hamilton and screenwriter Tom Mankiewicz brought the character back for the next Bond film, The Man with the Golden Gun. This time around, Pepper had even more screentime, and even briefly teamed up with Bond. Everything that made the character so distasteful to me in his first appearance was ramped up the second time around. Simply put, I have never disliked a movie character more, and was left wondering what he added to these films.
Of course, this is just my opinion. No doubt some of you love the Pepper character. And that’s okay, because what Open Threads like this one are for is to share opinions about films — there is no right and wrong here, nor any need to criticize others choices. So now that I’ve shared my pick for least favorite movie character ever, I want to hear yours! Sound off below!