UK 110m, Colour
Director: Terence Young; Cast: Sean Connery, Joseph Wiseman, Ursula Andress, Jack Lord, John Kitzmiller
Sean Connery is James Bond – a suave secret agent sent to Jamaica to investigate the death of a fellow British agent where he discovers the nefarious Dr. Julius No, who is plotting to use his radio beam weapon to disrupt the American Space Program. Based on the 1958 Ian Fleming novel of the same name, Dr. No defined the “secret agent” genre in film and established the now iconic image and character of James Bond. Its unique opening title sequence, which begins with the view of Bond through a gun barrel to the equally recognizable “James Bond Theme” music, has become one of the most recognizable in cinema history. Likewise, the catch phrase which Connery introduced: “Bond … James Bond” has long since become synonymous with the numerous Bond films that followed (Klaus Ming January 2011).
A James Bond Fan? Check out the “James Bond January” over at Paragraph Film Reviews:
http://paragraphfilmreviews.com/2010/12/06/james-bond-january-update/
For those of us reading the Bond books, this first movie was a thrill. I saw it at the drive-in, back when there were drive-ins. I couldn’t believe how perfect Connery was for the part. (But the ending diverged from the book. Dr. No gets buried in guano in the book; that doesn’t happen in the movie, does it?
As we have little shelf space left in our house, we’re looking to get ourselves an e-reader in the very near future, and wouldn’t mind reading the first few Bond books – to see what differences there are. In the movie, Dr. No is drowned in reactor coolant – sounds better than being buried alive in guano!
Being killing by bat poop would be one of the weakest ends of a Bond villain. But still, seeing it at a drive in? Wow. that’s pretty neat.