Not everything is as it seems in this Bob Marley biopic. Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re looking at details from Bob Marley: One Love that remained faithful to Marley’s life, as well as significant aspects that were changed or omitted from the biopic.
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00:00 "Weren't you right, Dad?"
00:02 "All my life."
00:04 Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're looking at details from Bob Marley One Love that remained faithful to Marley's life,
00:10 as well as significant aspects that were changed or omitted from the biopic.
00:15 Hopefully you feel alright about spoilers.
00:17 "I knew he was going to try it.
00:20 No, I've never seen a man who fire a shot."
00:25 10. Bob Marley's relationship, or lack thereof, with his father. Right.
00:30 Bob Marley's father is only briefly seen in flashbacks. Even then, his face is usually concealed.
00:37 It's established that Marley's father was a white man who didn't stick around to see his son grow up.
00:41 "Who is Bob's dad?"
00:43 "Well, my grandfather says a man from England, a white man.
00:48 He used to work with the government like a forest."
00:52 This is essentially the extent of what Marley knew about his father.
00:56 Even historians have struggled to uncover much information about his distant father, who was named Norval Sinclair Marley.
01:02 A former construction engineer, Norval enlisted in Liverpool and met Bob's mother, Sadella Malcolm, while supervising a Jamaican plantation.
01:11 "Then at that time he see this little girl and I guess he liked her and them."
01:16 Norval left shortly after his son's birth, dying by the time Bob was 10.
01:21 [Music]
01:26 Actress Esther Anderson, who dated Bob, said his father "didn't exist" aside from a photo of him on a horse, which this biopic reflects.
01:35 Number 9. Bob Marley's arrest in London. Right.
01:39 During his extended stay in London, Marley and a couple of his friends are pulled aside by the police.
01:45 Marley is subsequently seen relaxing in a jail cell, although he's quickly released.
01:51 Indeed, Marley was arrested in Ladbroke Grove along with fellow musician Aston "Family Man" Barrett on March 10, 1977.
01:59 "The media lied and said that Bob smoked a pound a day.
02:04 [Music]
02:06 And so everywhere we went, the police was on our heels and they would search our belongings with a fine tooth comb."
02:14 No one tiptoes around why Marley was brought in, however.
02:17 Marley was charged and fined £50 for possession of cannabis, which he was no stranger to.
02:23 [Music]
02:26 Outside of an interview question and a few other fleeting moments,
02:30 One Love doesn't delve that deep into Marley's relationship with cannabis, which he encouraged the legalization of.
02:36 While Marley got busted on this occasion, he otherwise managed to keep the fuzz off his tail.
02:41 "Every time they searched, they never found anything."
02:44 8. Marley's Run-In with Mossop and Marshall. Wrong.
02:48 Following the attempt on his life, Marley runs into Claude Mossop, a Jamaican gang leader.
02:53 "In Tivoli Gardens, Mossop was known to be a tough enforcer, who was not afraid to discipline anyone who fell out of line."
03:01 Mossop assures Marley that he wasn't involved in the ambush.
03:05 This random encounter is unlikely since Mossop would have been at Gun Court Detention Center during this time,
03:11 although he reportedly tried to warn Marley of the impending assassination attempt over the phone.
03:16 Mossop resurfaces later in the film alongside another gang leader, Bucky Marshall.
03:21 It's suggested that the two approached Marley in London, where they asked him to play in the One Love Peace Concert.
03:27 The truth is that Marley flew them out to discuss the event.
03:31 "Once out of jail, Mossop, who knew Bob Marley from his Trenchtown days,
03:36 flew to London to make him an offer he could not refuse, and he did not."
03:41 Mossop and Marshall went on to organize the concert, but the film neglects to mention that they died two years later.
03:47 "A reported 15,000 persons attended Mossop's funeral in West Kingston."
03:53 7. Nobody Died in the Assassination Attempt. Right.
03:57 It's not unknown for biopics to culminate in a late legend's assassination.
04:01 Those who go into One Love with little knowledge about Bob Marley might be surprised to see the film open with an attempt on his life.
04:08 "On December 3rd, 1976, would-be assassins invaded Bob Marley's home and attempted to take the life of the singer, his wife, and..."
04:16 "Don't worry about that."
04:18 They'll be even more shocked to learn that nobody died in this assassination attempt, although there were some close calls.
04:24 Marley got hit twice in his left arm and chest.
04:27 The armed attackers also shot Marley's wife Rita in the driveway, his manager Don Taylor, and band employee Louis Griffiths.
04:35 "And I'm shouting out for Bob, and then I hear, heard a voice who I recognize as Carly Barrett coming from, he says, 'Bob is alright. Bob is alright.'"
04:45 There were other people at the Marley household that night where they were ironically rehearsing "I Shot the Sheriff," according to keyboardist Tyrone Downey.
04:53 Thankfully, nobody else took a bullet, and the ones who did all survived.
04:58 "It's just a miracle, man, that nobody died from that man."
05:02 Number 6. Bob Marley beat up Don Taylor. Right.
05:06 The gunshots to his legs and torso might have been the most critical injury that Don Taylor endured as Marley's manager, but this wasn't the end of his pain.
05:14 While touring Africa, Marley got into a physical altercation with Taylor over a financial dispute.
05:20 "He was shocked that for the first time he stepped foot in Africa, something like that was happening."
05:25 The confrontation between Marley and Taylor is depicted in "One Love," although according to eyewitnesses, it lasted much longer than what we see in the film.
05:33 According to art director Neville Garrick, Marley questioned Taylor on tape for nearly three hours, while guitarist Junior Marvin remembers the manager getting held out the window.
05:43 "We were on the 23rd floor and they kind of held Don outside the window for a minute."
05:48 Although the movie implies they reconciled, Taylor claimed Marley made him terminate their contract at gunpoint.
05:55 The song "Bad Card" is also said to be based on Taylor.
05:59 Number 5. The extent of Bob and Rita Marley's affairs. Wrong.
06:07 "One Love" doesn't ignore the fact that Bob and Rita Marley had extramarital affairs, although it waters down just how open their marriage was.
06:15 "The fact that Bob was not a one-woman man was common knowledge," says Dan Taylor, "even though he had been married to Rita Anderson throughout his climb to the top of the musical ladder."
06:24 The couple had three children together. Bob adopted two of Rita's children, one from a past relationship and another from an affair with soccer player Owen "I Tall" Tacky Stewart.
06:34 While married to Rita, Bob fathered children with at least six other women, but it could be more.
06:40 His most high-profile affair was with Miss World 1976's Cindy Breakspear, who gave birth to Bob's son Damian in 1978.
06:48 "I don't think there's a man alive who doesn't want to get 'the girl.' So."
06:54 It's debatable whether the affairs were generally accepted or if they resulted in the jealous blowout portrayed in the film.
07:01 Either way, Bob and Rita's relationship was even more complex than the film indicates.
07:06 "You didn't know what's gonna happen tomorrow, and it really hurts to be alone."
07:12 Of the four people who got shot at the Marley residence on December 3rd, 1976, Rita probably had the closest brush with death.
07:24 "Then they turned the gun on the car."
07:27 As depicted in the film, Rita was in the car when she got shot. Resting her head on the steering wheel, Rita thought she was dead.
07:34 It wasn't until blood ran down her head that Rita realized she was still alive.
07:38 She almost certainly would have been that night's one fatality had it not been for her hair.
07:43 "A gunman shot at Rita from the passenger seat. The bullet grazed her scalp and left her bloodied, but alive."
07:49 It's been said that Rita's dreadlocks were so thick that they reduced the impact of the bullet.
07:54 According to Bob and Rita's son Ziggy, the bullet was only an inch away from his mother's brain.
07:59 Rita recovered, but it was literally by a hair.
08:03 #3. Smile Jamaica Concert - The Show Must Go On
08:07 Right. The assassination attempt took place only two days before the Smile Jamaica concert.
08:13 This event was already seen as a risky venture with political tensions in Jamaica on the rise.
08:18 "The whole thing about whether the concert was gonna happen or not, there was so much pressure. There was pressure from everywhere."
08:23 Even after getting shot over his quote "politically progressive music," Marley didn't back out.
08:29 While still recouping from his injuries, Marley performed before a crowd with nearly 80,000 in attendance.
08:35 "If somebody wanted to try to get you, it's like a perfect situation."
08:39 He wasn't the only one who made a miraculous comeback.
08:42 Only a few hours after being discharged, Rita showed up in her hospital gown, prepared to sing back up.
08:49 About an hour and a half into the performance, Marley showed his gunshot wound to the audience, saying quote, "Bang, bang, I'm okay."
08:57 "More Jamaican love than a man who just survived a gunfight."
09:00 "Yeah!"
09:01 One love captures Marley's unbreakable spirit, but he wasn't invincible.
09:06 #2. Bob Marley Didn't Receive Treatment For Cancer - Wrong
09:10 In the movie, Marley sees a doctor about what appears to be a toe injury.
09:15 He's diagnosed with melanoma, but One Love skips over much of this experience, suggesting that Marley did little to treat it.
09:22 While Marley objected to having an amputation, he would have the nail and nail bed removed after visiting multiple doctors.
09:29 "A lot of people told Bob that once you cut your toe off, your big toe especially, you won't be able to dance anymore."
09:35 Although the surgery was viewed as a success, that unfortunately wasn't the case.
09:40 As Marley continued to perform, his health began to decline.
09:44 It was discovered that the cancer had spread across his body, forcing Marley to end his tour early.
09:50 "He had cancer all over his body. Lungs, brain, all over the place.
09:56 It was incredible that he was able to keep working."
09:59 After consulting doctors in New York and Miami, Marley went to Germany for an alternative cancer treatment.
10:05 This proved ineffective, with Marley dying on May 11, 1981.
10:10 #3. Bob Marley Didn't Receive Treatment For Cancer - Wrong
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10:31 #1. Bob Marley Sought Peace Through His Music - Right
10:36 One love might not get into the nitty-gritty of Marley's political views, but it does convey his desire to bring unity through musical harmony.
10:44 "You can't separate the music and the message."
10:47 "Because every day we pay the price."
10:49 "Every day is the message."
10:50 "And sacrifice."
10:51 "Peace."
10:53 Prime Minister Michael Manley endorsed the Smile Jamaica concert in hopes of easing tensions between the People's National Party and Jamaica Labor Party.
11:01 After the attack on his life, Marley continued to send a peaceful message through his ninth studio album, Exodus.
11:08 #2. Bob Marley Sought Peace Through His Music - Right
11:12 This set the stage for the One Love Peace concert as Jamaica was on the brink of civil war.
11:18 The heads of the two opposing parties, Michael Manley and Edward Seaga, would join hands with Marley.
11:24 This gesture didn't bring an end to the ongoing violence, but it summed up the message that Marley strived to get across.
11:31 "If you lacked faith before then, you could not deny it after that, man."
11:37 Are you a Bob Marley fan? Let's remember him in the comments and feel alright.
11:41 "You know what, Bob talking to you, don't have no doubt. See him?"
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11:53 [music]