Dr. No (1962)

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:

According to Inside 'Dr. No' (2000) (V), the introduction of the James Bond character utilizes a technique which is a homage to the 1939 William Dieterle film, Juarez (1939) starring Paul Muni. This technique is performed using a series of close-ups of the character without revealing the face, cross-cutting with the other characters in the scene and the gambling table. Finally, the face of the person is revealed, stating his name, "Bond, James Bond." This classic introduction of the James Bond character to cinema audiences of the world was filmed on 2 March 1962.

Goofs:

Continuity: At the very end, when Bond and Honey are in the rowboat together you can see that one is on the left side of the other. However, in the next shot they have reversed positions.

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 South Park: Imaginationland (2008) (V)

Soundtrack:

Jump Up

Twenty installments later and what's better?

Commenting on DR NO is a little like being asked to review 'Genesis" or "The Gospel According to Matthew." It IS what it is! Connery WAS Bond from the instant he appeared on screen and remember Ian Fleming, his creator was still alive at this stage. (Fleming in fact saw the first three Bonds but died before the release of THUNDERBALL)

DR NO set the standards, albeit with a limited budget, for the entire series. Action, pretty girls, one-liners and impossibly cashed-up enemies. My own father was a confirmed Bond addict (having worked in army intelligence during WW2) and had been greatly looking forward to the release of this film. Cruelly, he died just a couple of weeks before its premiere in London in 1962. I made up for it however by seeing it four days running. At the time, just about as exciting as films got, it was an enormous box office smash and vindicated the studio's decision to sign Connery. Fleming in fact had wanted Roger Moore for the role, who was then riding high with THE SAINT worldwide and was unavailable for filming. Connery, who's only claim to fame at the time was as a part time male model and bit-part actor, his biggest role having been as a truckie in HELL DRIVERS three years earlier.

Of course DR NO is dated now - its 40 years old! and deserves to be looked at from that standpoint The action sequences were raw in parts, pretty good in others. Sure the car chase scenes in Jamaica with the laughable back-projections are a cackfest now but none of this matters. The sets were imaginative, the fights good stuff, Ursula Andress enough for any young man's wet dream and Wiseman as DR No himself probably the best villain of them all, despite his very limited screentime. Very imaginative sets for the time and pyrotechnics to please.

When it came to my home-town I took several days off college and watched it with fellow students. This was way better than Latin and calculus!