This fleeting but curious Bond line from Live and Let Die required a bit of research on my part. As Bond teaches Solitaire gin rummy aboard the train and promptly loses a hand, he rises, folds down the bed, fluffs the pillow, and delivers the line before trailing into a variation of an apparently age-old proverb about being “unlucky at cards and lucky at love.” Bond’s implication is hardly subtle.

He clearly hopes that a poor showing at gin rummy will improve his romantic prospects with Solitaire on the train. The scene quickly cuts away, and even after understanding Bond’s intention with the line, it feels to me a little awkward and disjointed. I chalk this one up to 1970’s dialogue that, although cute, can sometimes miss the mark.