Movie Info
Movie Name: Dr. No
Studio: Eon Productions
Genre(s): Action/Adventure
Release Date(s): October 5, 1962
MPAA Rating: Not Rated
I’m either going to have to shoot who comes through that door or sleep with them
Meet Bond, James Bond (Sean Connery). He’s cool, collected, and one of England’s top spy. Agent 007 has been sent on a mission to Jamaica to investigate the death of a fellow agent and uncovers the plot of a fiendish scientist named Dr. Julius No (Joseph Wiseman). When he lands upon No’s secret island, he discovers a girl named Honey Ryder (Ursula Andress) searching for shells, and Honey and Bond are pulled into a conspiracy of international proportions.
Directed by Terence Young, Dr. No was the first James Bond film. It was released on October 5, 1962, and it started one of the longest running movie franchises. James Bond probably has one of the most big-screen entries with the series continue to this day (this is a hotly debated topic with some “theme” movies continuing longer and some foreign entries that have over one hundred films).
No…that my name….Yes, it’s No…This has always been a problem for me
James Bond was created by Ian Fleming and was the star of a series of novels published by Fleming over the years. The first novel however was Casino Royale published in 1953 with Dr. No being the novel published in 1958. Unlike many Bond films, Dr. No does follow the plot of Fleming’s novel and doesn’t just borrow the title. There are a few differences in the novel, but for the most part events correspond to this film.
Dr. No might be the first official entry in the James Bond series but a TV adaptation did precede it on October 21, 1954 by adapting Casino Royale into a one hour show for CBS. James Bond became Jimmy Bond and American and was played by Barry Nelson. He didn’t work for MI-6 and worked for an organization called Combined Intelligence…Making Barry Nelson the first real Bond and not Sean Connery (though it didn’t take off).
Connery is usually heralded as the best James Bond. Connery plays Bond in such a smooth, slick, and charming way that he is hard not to like. Connery really sets the bar for Bond, and it was hard for Moore and other actors to follow him. Connery wasn’t the first choice for this film however and it would have been a very different picture if Cary Grant, David Niven, or Patrick McGoohan took the role since they were top contenders among other before Connery.
I’ll buy your shells Honey!
Dr. No is classic Bond. It has a great evil villain, an exotic location, and of course a great Bond girl in Honey. The movie isn’t the best Bond film, but it is up there with my personal favorite Goldfinger. The movie keeps movie but it doesn’t have the technological advances of the later films (which also become clichés), and there is something “not Bond” about it but that is also refreshing.
Dr. No is an enjoyable film that is interesting to watch just to see how the films have evolved over the years. I love the current series of Bond, but there is something simpler and more basic about the original films. The current Blu-Ray transfers of the film also really breathe new life into the old pictures with rich colors so if you get a chance, check it out in HD. Dr. No was followed by From Russia with Love in 1963.
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