Pros: Connery as Bond; Ursula Andress as Honey Ryder; great villain in Dr. No; calypso songs
Cons: No pre-credit action sequence; no intimidating henchman; no toys; occasional ugly back projections
The Bottom Line: The original Bond film still stands up to scrutiny forty plus years later, with more drama than later Bond films, though less action and no toys.
Plot Details: This opinion reveals major details about the movie's plot.
Whatever the artistic merits of Dr. No (1962), it certainly ranks as an historically important film, given that it launched the longest running series in film history. Furthermore, it established many of the elements that would become standard as the series continued – many but not all. The pre-credit action sequence was not yet evident in Dr. No, nor the high-tech toys or the picturesque villain's henchman, but Dr. No introduced the Bond theme song (in the rudimentary form of guitar riffs played by Vic Flick), the beautiful Bond girl, the megalomaniac villain, the Bond zingers, the now-clichéd Bond self-introduction ("Bond. James Bond."), and Bond's drinking preference ("vodka martini, shaken, not stirred"). Both M and Miss Moneypenny were also introduced to viewers.
Historical Background: In the early sixties, the Bond novels by Ian Fleming had gained a following partly because the first of them, Casino Royale (1952), had been listed by the popular young American president, John F. Kennedy, on his top-ten reading list. Although a rather weak television version of Casino Royale had been made in 1954, with Barry Nelson as Bond and Peter Lorre as the villain, it was not until 1960 that the idea of a Bond film began to percolate in the minds of co-producers Harry Saltzman and Albert Broccoli. Canadian-born Saltzman (1915-1994) and American-born Broccoli (1909-1996) had both ended up in Britain and had formed Eon Production Company. When they set their sights on adapting a Fleming novel, the rights to Casino Royale were unavailable. Dr. No proved a fortuitous choice, however, because Fleming had settled in Jamaica, where most of the story of Dr. No takes place, and was thus able to supervise the production.
For director, Broccoli and Saltzman chose the forty-six year-old Terence Young, a man who had directed films since 1948, but without distinguishing himself from the riff-raff. Dr. No was Young's first major success, which he then repeated with the second and fourth films in the Bond series, From Russia with Love (1963) and Thunderball (1965). After that, it was pretty much back to obscurity for Young, though he continued to direct up to 1982.
The Story: When the British intelligence agent in Jamaica, John Strangways (Tim Moxon), and his secretary suddenly disappear, M (Bernard Lee) sends word to secret agent James Bond (Sean Connery) to report to MI6 headquarters. The timing is poor, interrupting Bond's winning session at Chemin de Fer (French Baccarat) as well as his effort to seduce Sylvia Trench (Eunice Gayson), but Bond heads off dutifully. M has already booked Bond on a 7 A.M. flight to Jamaica. After forcing Bond to trade in his trusty .25 Beretta for a Walther PPK, M instructs Miss Moneypenny (Lois Maxwell) to dispense with the usual repartee so that Bond can get underway. That leaves Bond just enough time to discover Sylvia waiting for him in his room. "When did you say you have to leave?" she asks, cooingly." "Immediately," Bond replies, with momentary determination. Then, temporizing, he adds, "Almost immediately." That's our boy James!
Bond arrives in Jamaica and is immediately targeted for assassination. Bond subdues the driver sent to kill him, but is disconcerted when the man prefers death by cyanide to revealing who sent him. After a bit of confusion about who is on whose side, Bond links up with CIA operative Felix Leiter (Jack Lord) and boat owner Quarrel (John Kitzmiller), with whom Strangways had worked. Later, that night, Bond has to fend off a tarantula attack. Still later, Bond is lured into the countryside by Miss Taro (Zena Marshall), a secretary who doubles as a spy at the British embassy. Pursuing henchmen attempt to do Bond in and, when that fails, the shady metallurgist, Professor Dent (Anthony Dawson), tries as well. It's just not easy being Bond!
It's gradually becomes evident that Crab Key Island is the key to the murder mystery and its owned by the mysterious Dr. No (Joseph Wiseman), who operates a bauxite mine there and permits no visitors. Bond lands secretly, with the aid of Quarrel. In the morning, on the beach, Bond encounters Honey Ryder (Ursula Andress), a lovely shell scavenger who fills out a bikini admirably well. Soon enough, Bond discovers that Dr. No's real business is disrupting American's new space program at Cape Canaveral, using a "toppling beam." As always, it's up to Bond to save the free world as we know it.
Production Values: The film version of Dr. No is among the most faithful of the Bond films to the original source material, both in plot particulars and in Bond's personality. The literary Bond was more brutal and less suave that the Bond that would emerge as the film series continued. In Dr. No, we have one of the very few examples of Bond shooting an opponent in cold blood. Granted, Bond had watched the man empty six rounds from his Smith and Wesson into the bed where he thought Bond was lying. The films became more tongue-in-cheek during the Roger Moore era, but here there's a real tension in the proceedings.
There's a moment for Bond fans to treasure near the film's beginning. Bond is coolly taking Ms. Trench to the clearers at the casino, but she won't back down and asks Bond if he'll increase the stakes. Bond, who has the shoe, agrees and adds, "I admire your courage, Ms. _____?" "Trench," she say, "Sylvia Trench. And I admire your luck, Mister _____?" Lighting a cigarette, our man replies, "Bond. James Bond," for the first of many times.
This is a gadget-free film. Bond has to make do with such primitive aids as fingerprint powder and placing a hair across a closet door. Later, he cuts reeds so he and his companions can hide underwater. Bond can't yet depend on Q's inventions to bail him out, though Q's character is vaguely present, in the form of one Major Boothroyd (Peter Burton). Desmond Llewelyn would not appear until the second film and not as "Q" until the third.
Sean Connery proved to be an inspired choice for the role of James Bond, as the sequence of subsequent pretenders later further illustrated. Connery was not the first choice for the part, however. The producers had hoped to get Cary Grant, but his asking price would have broken their bank. Fleming wanted his friend David Niven or Roger Moore. Michael Redgrave and Patrick McGoohan were also considered, but, in the end, Connery was selected off his work in the Disney fantasy piece Darby O'Gill and the Little People. Connery established Bond as the man every other man wants to be and every woman simply wants. He's unbeatable at cards, can distinguish Don Perignon '53 from '55, knows something about everything, but knows women most of all. Connery's timing, in delivering his lines and expressions, is outstanding. Though Bond is almost always cool and unflappable, in Dr. No we actually see him sweat – twice.
Also getting the series off to a great start were Ursula Andress, as the original Bond girl, and Joseph Wiseman, as the first villain, Dr. No. Ursula sets a standard for intriguing beauty that may have been equaled in the series, once or twice since, but never surpassed. Few Bond girls have been afforded their own song, and a lovely one at that: "Underneath the Mango Tree." Andress is the distillation of sex appeal.
Dr. No's mechanical hands were a rip-off from Fritz Lang's Metropolis (1927) and the idea was later reprised by Peter Sellers in Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964). Wiseman's performance is handsomely understated yet distinctly sinister. The character Dr. No established one of the key features of Bond villains – there arrogance, which leads them to keep Bond alive so that they can gloat and apprise him of the genius of their criminal plan. Inevitably, that bit of folly is the downfall of every Bond villain because it gives Bond the time to gain the upper hand and foil the sinister scheme. Mike Myers did a great job mocking that aspect of the Bond films with his Dr. Evil. Dr. No introduces us to S.P.E.C.T.R.E. (Special Executive for Counter-intelligence, Terrorism, Revenge, and Extortion), the international criminal organization that Bond would battle over six films.
Bottom-Line: Reviewing Dr. No is a lot like doing a book review on the Old Testament. It is where the cult began. Here is my Overall Certified Gold Bond Rating (designed to facilitate comparisons between the various 007 films) for Dr. No:
Bond: Sean Connery Rating: 5/5
Villain: Dr. No (Joseph Wiseman) Rating: 5/5
Henchmen: Three Blind Mice Rating: 1/5
Henchman: Professor Dent Rating: 2/5
Bond (good) Girls: Honey Rider (Ursula Andress) Rating: 5/5
Colleagues: M (Bernard Lee) 5/5; Major Boothroyd (Peter Burton) 1/5; Miss Moneypenny (Lois Maxwell) 5/5; Felix Leiter (Jack Lord) 5/5; Quarrel (John Kitzmiller) 5/5 Average Rating: 4/5
Storyline: Dr.'s No Toppling Scheme Rating: 4/5
Action: Car chase, fights, final explosion Rating: 1/5
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