Dr. No (1962)

A resourceful British government agent seeks answers in a case involving the disappearance of a colleague and the disruption of the American space program.

Director:

Terence Young

Writers:

Richard Maibaum (screenplay), Johanna Harwood (screenplay)

Stars:

Sean Connery, Ursula Andress, Bernard Lee

Won 1 Golden Globe. Another 1 win & 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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	...	Photographer (as Margaret Le Wars) (as Marguerite Lewars: end credits)
William Foster-Davis	...	Superintendent (as Wm. Foster-Davis)

Storyline

James Bond (007) is Britain's top agent and is on an exciting mission, to solve the mysterious murder of a fellow agent. The task sends him to Jamaica, where he joins forces with Quarrel and a loyal CIA agent, Felix Leiter. While dodging tarantulas, "fire breathing dragons" and a trio of assassins, known as the three blind mice. Bond meets up with the beautiful Honey Ryder and goes face to face with the evil Dr. No.

---

Plot Keywords:

british secret service | official james bond series | 007 | murder | terrorist plot | 

---

Taglines:

007 The double "O" means he has a license to kill when he chooses...where he chooses...whom he chooses!

---

Genres:

Action | Adventure | Thriller

---

Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English French

Release Date:

7 October 1962 (UK)

Also Known As:

El satánico Dr. No

Filming Locations:

2171 Magenta Drive, Jamaica

Box Office

Budget:

$1,100,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$16,067,035

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$59,600,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Eon Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

110 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color (Technicolor) (as Technicolor ©)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

On June 20, 1961, United Artists agreed to finance the picture after many studios rejected it on the grounds of "too British" and "too blatantly sexual."

---

Goofs

When Bond escapes from his cell via the steam pipe, he gets hit with a blast of "scalding water". if you watch close, when the water hit Bond, his wig flies up revealing Sean Connery's bald spot.

---

Quotes

Dr. No: [to Bond] I was curious to see what kind of man you were. I thought there may be even a place for you with SPECTRE.
James Bond: I'm flattered. I'd prefer the Revenge Department. Of course, my first job would be finding the man who killed Strangways and Quarrel.

---

Crazy Credits

The boat carrying Bond and Honey is between "The End".

---

Alternate Versions

For the UK cinema version the BBFC made cuts to reduce the number of gunshots fired by Bond at Dent from 6 to 2, to remove blows and a knee kick during Bond's fight with the chauffeur, and to replace Dr No's line "I'm sure she will amuse the guards" with "The guards will amuse her". All releases feature this version and the footage may no longer exist.

---

Connections

Featured in Hollywood U.K.: The Last Wave (1993)

---

Soundtracks

Dr. No's Theme
(uncredited)
Written by Monty Norman

User Reviews

A good introduction to James Bond

Dr. No begins the entire James Bond film saga, and yet barely fits any of the pre-conceived ideas of what a Bond Film is. What it does do is introduce the public to the basic tenets of who James Bond is and what he does and it does this very well.

We meet Bond playing his card game of choice (Chemin de Feur, a form of Bacarat) and as suave and confident as he will ever be. It is also in this first movie (though the book was much later in the Bond series) that Bond is assigned the Walther PPK from Q Branch by orders of M.

Bond is asked to investigate some problems in the Caribbean by the US (someone is messing with radar transmissions of US rockets in Florida) after a British agent in the area is killed. The investigations hint at a mysterious Dr. No (played brilliantly by Richard Wiseman) who owns a small island off the coast of Jamaica.

What is so great about this movie is that, though a Bond movie, it lacks many of the silly contrivances of the "Bond Formula" which would be introduced piecemeal through later films. Bond is a detective... an agent... not some super-human hero who can pull down evil empires with a button on his magic watch. He's cool, calculating, and even cold-blooded when he guns down a potential assassin who he has already disarmed (though, the scene inferred here has 2 filmed versions- one in which the assailant reacquires his gun- albeit it, with an empty chamber...) The interplay between Bond and Moneypenny are here from the get-go, as is the irascibility of M towards Bond (which Dame Judi Dench has brought back brilliantly in the Brosnan-Craig Bonds).

What's missing are the famous pre-titles sequences, although Maurice Binder's famous titles get a subtler beginning here (before they became the nude extravaganzas in later years). The requisite big-budget chase scenes are not here (though a car chase is offered), nor are the multi-continent gorgeous locales here... everything occurs in or near Jamaica.

The most famous element of Bond movies (outside of Bond) are the famous "Bond Girls." Eunice Gayson as Sylvia Trench comes first, then, the iconic and legendary scene- Ursula Andress (as Honey Rider). SPECTRE, the infamous crime organization, is also mentioned in this movie.

Again, this movie is not unlike many detective/spy movies of its era- it is the name "Bond" that makes it stand out. The fame that the Bond series later achieved was not here- the movie is solid and enjoyable but not "Casablanca" quality good. It is a 9/10 for Bond films because it is done well, fairly faithful to the book, and did not hide behind gadgets and gimmicks as later Bonds do. Bond here is an agent, who must be detective, lawman, and killer all rolled into one- and it does it well.

All in all, a fine movie, made on a shoe-string budget that accomplishes what it was meant to do- ably and properly introduce James Bond to an international audience.