| The first James Bond film Adventure! (1962) |
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| Dr. No is the first James Bond movie. It opens with the now-famous sequence of a man, seen through the barrel of a gun, walking across the screen. He spins, shoots towards the viewer, then blood pours down the screen and the credits roll. In Dr. No stuntman Bob Simmons plays Bond in this bit, not Connery. Despite reservations from Bond's creator, Ian Fleming, Connery was cast as 007 and his remains the definitive portrayal. Here Bond is said to work for MI7, a non-existent organisation, and the only time that it is referred to as such. Most of the time it is called Her Majesty's Secret Service. From GoldenEye onwards he definitely works for MI6. We first encounter Bond playing cards in a casino. When he asks an attractive lady her name, she replies, "Trench... Sylvia Trench." She enquires as to his name, and he responds in the same style, "Bond... James Bond." An introduction that he will use in every movie to follow, and that will be repeated by people who think that they can do Sean Connery impressions forever. 007 is summoned to MI7 headquarters to see M, played by the great Bernard Lee. he also encounters the original Moneypenny (Lois Maxwell). M sends Bond to Jamaica (after he plays a round with Sylvia Trench) to investigate the disappearance of British agent Strangways. Q, played here for the one and only time by Peter Burton, issues Bond with a Walther PPK, as his Berreta jammed on him on his last missions and put him in hospital for six months. On his arrival in Jamaica Bond plays the detective to a greater extent than he ever will again. His investigations into Strangway's disappearance all point towards Crab Key, owned by the mysterious Dr. No, holding the answers. Once on Crab Key 007 encounters Honey Ryder (Ursula Andress). Honey is the definitive Bond girl, her emergance from the sea in her white bikini is not only one the most famous movie images of all time, but sent bikini sales rocketing. Dr. No has disguised a truck as a dragon to scare away supersitious Jamaican fishermen and beautiful female shell-collectors. This is a bit silly, especially when Quarrel (a superstitious Jamaican fisherman) just sits there and lets the dragon barbeque him. Dr. No himself proves quite a good villain, he has metal claws for hands following his experiments with radioactivity. His operation boasts a sizeable private army and affiliation to SPECTRE (Special Exeucitve for Counter-Intelligence, Terrorisn, Revenge, Extortion). SPECTRE is her Majesty's Secret Service's main for during the Sixties. It is quite difficult to watch the movie's climax these days without being instantly reminded of the excellent Austin Powers pastiche of it. Despite this, Dr. No stands up very well. The lack of action early on is more than compensated for Sean Connery being incredibly cool in everything he says and does. The James Bond theme is used liberally throughout the film to great effect, making the character even cooler. |
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| Director: Terence Young Producers: Albert R. Broccoli & Harry Saltzman Screenplay: Richard Maibaum, Johanna Harwood & Berkley Mather |