Dr. No (1962)

User Rating:

7.3/10   

Director:

Terence Young

Writers:

Richard Maibaum (screenplay) &
Johanna Harwood (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

8 May 1963 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Thriller

Tagline:

NOW meet the most extraordinary gentleman spy in all fiction!...JAMES BOND, Agent 007!

Plot:

James Bond's investigation of a missing colleague in Jamaica leads him to the island of the mysterious Dr. No and a scheme to end the US space program.

Plot Keywords:

James Bond | Island | CIA | Scientist | Jamaica

Awards:

Won Golden Globe. Another 2 wins

Cast

Sean Connery	...	James Bond
Ursula Andress	...	Honey Ryder
Joseph Wiseman	...	Dr. No
Jack Lord	...	Felix Leiter
Bernard Lee	...	M.
Anthony Dawson	...	Professor Dent
Zena Marshall	...	Miss Taro
John Kitzmiller	...	Quarrel (as John Kitzmuller)
Eunice Gayson	...	Sylvia Trench
Lois Maxwell	...	Miss Moneypenny
Peter Burton	...	Major Boothroyd
Yvonne Shima	...	Sister Lily
Michel Mok	...	Sister Rose
Marguerite LeWars	...	Annabelle Chung - Photographer (also as Marguerite Le Wars) (as Marguerite Lewars)
William Foster-Davis	...	Superintendent

Also Known As:

Doctor No (UK) (alternative spelling)
Ian Fleming's Dr. No (UK) (complete title)

Runtime:

110 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Canada:PG (Manitoba/Ontario) | Iceland:12 | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:A (Nova Scotia) | Norway:12 (re-rating) (1979) | Singapore:PG | West Germany:16 (nf) | South Korea:15 | Brazil:12 | Portugal:M/12 | Canada:PG (video rating) | Argentina:13 | Australia:PG | Finland:K-15 (re-rating) | Ireland:PG | Norway:15 (re-rating) | Norway:16 (original rating) | Peru:14 | Sweden:15 | UK:PG | USA:Approved (certificate #20322) | USA:GP (re-rating) (1971) | USA:PG (re-rating) (1994) | UK:A (original rating) (cut)

Filming Locations:

2171 Magenta Drive, Jamaica

Company:

Eon Productions

Trivia:

It is long standing misconception that John Barry wrote "The James Bond Theme". It actually originated from a song, "Good Sign, Bad Sign" composed by Monty Norman, from an aborted musical, "The House of Mr. Biswas". Barry arranged and orchestrated Norman's theme to produce the theme as it is known throughout the world.

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): After Honey is finished being showered and decontaminated, the technician passes a Geiger counter over her and reports, "Practically zero - she's clean." However, in the very next shot, from the side, Honey is plainly seen removing her hands from the machine used to decontaminate radioactive particles from the fingernails. This action is redundant.

Quotes:

[first lines]
John Strangways: That's it. Hundred honors and ninety below.
Professor R. J. Dent: Nicely done, Strangways. I have to give it to you.
John Strangways: I must leave you for a few minutes. Order a round on my chit, will you Professor.
Professor R. J. Dent: Right.
Gen. Potter: Damn it all! Must you break off at this time every evening?
John Strangways: Sorry, General. My managing director is a creature of habit. There's a call booked through to me every day about this time.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Balls of Fury (2007)

Soundtrack:

Jump Up

The Dr. is in.

No matter whether or not you like this film in the end...if you don't get some feeling of joy the first time Sean Connery says "Bond. James Bond." at the card table, I feel sorry for you.

This Bond film has a lot less stuff going in it than most, but for what it's worth, and what it has inspired, it's a classic.

People who can't tolerate and appreciate older cinema from the 60's might laugh at the action scenes, set and costume design of the movie, but if one considers the year in which this was made, it's all rather exquisite. The film is also full of things that would be considered politically incorrect, and the way Bond and Moneypenny flirt in the office would ensue mass sexual harassment lawsuits in this day and age.

The film has an underused villain in Dr. No. Joseph Wiseman sets the standard on how Bond villains, and the majority of how other movie villains, act. One of the things that I love about Bond films is that you will see things that you will never see in other movies. I mean where else but a Bond film would a half Chinese, half German man with metal hands and a compulsive paranoia about radiation, with metal hands live on an island with a "dragon-mobile"?

Dr. No is a definite good start to the Bond series. Ursula Andress as Honey Ryder may only be there for eye candy...but she's great eye candy. Sean Connery is Bond, and pure enjoyment while in this role. So if you are looking for a classic enjoyable movie, this is just what the doctor ordered.