Dr. No (1962)

Oh, the days when sexual harassment in the office was not only accepted, but embraced. This was the time of Bond’s first few adventures, back in the early ‘60s when a strapping white man could still do practically anything they wanted. So sets the stage for Dr. No, the first film in the now legendary series, which also happens to be one of the most “different” films in the series - it doesn’t have a theme song, there’s no Q, and it features full frontal nudity where all the other films simply teased at this.

Beginning with the assassination of an important UK government contact in Jamaica by three “blind” guys (with “Three Blind Mice” playing in the background), this sets in motion the events that lead to Bond confronting Dr. No, a megalomaniacal Chinese-German scientist with no hands. Oh, and he also has terrible fashion sense, insisting on wearing pants hiked up above his ankles - possibly readying for an imminent flood?

Dr. No’s plan is never particularly clear. He offered his services as a scientist to both the Chinese and American governments and neither of them accepted, so he’s getting revenge on them. Uh-huh…that sounds revenge worthy, right? Right? Well, in true Bond fashion, it’s not WHAT they are going to do, but HOW they are going to do it. He’s set up a base of operations on Crab Key - an island off the coast of Jamaica - where he is screwing around with incredibly high levels of radiation. Also, according to the locals, he has a pet dragon - which turns out to be a jeep.



Though I jest, this is indeed a great movie, and definitely in the upper section of Bond film goodness. Bond’s introduction is beyond cool, as he plays cards at a casino and we only see his hands, until he lights a cigarette and says the now legendary “Bond…James Bond.” It also has Ursula Andress.


The Babes



When Bond is introduced, he is playing cards with Sylvia Trench (played by Eunice Gayson). The fact that she is the very first Bond Babe is one of two distinctions about her - the other being that she is the only Bond Babe in the history of the series that ever appears in two films as the same character. Maud Adams did appear in two of the films, but she was a different character in each.




Ursula Andress is Dr. No's main Babe, and is also considered by many to be the ultimate Bond Babe. She’s blonde, she’s slim, she’s busty, she’s sexy, and she’s foreign. Throw in the fact that she reveals she is actually pretty dangerous on her own (having killed a man who raped her when she was younger), and most guys are pretty darn turned on.


Distinctions From the Other Films

Being the first film in the series, there was no set formula that the filmmakers had to use. Director Terence Young - who went on to become arguably the best of all the Bond directors - began the film with a random display of colored dots while the signature Bond theme played in the background. This later became the time when a theme song for the film, sung by a popular singer of the time, would play while silhouettes of naked women danced around on screen. You can see the credits right here.

Aside from this difference, there are several others, including:

-No Q or gadgets - Bond has a gun, that’s it, that’s all

-No signature car

-Full frontal nudity of Ursula Andress after being captured by Dr. No’s henchmen - this never occurred in any other film in the series

-In place of a set theme song for the film, pretty much any time you hear music in the film that isn’t the Bond theme, it’s the song “Underneath the Mango Tree” - I guarantee you, you will hate this song by the end of the movie

-Only film in the series to use the famous gun-barrel sequence in both the opening and closing credits

-Jack Lord is the first of 3 million actors to play Felix Leiter; he's the best one, especially with these wonderful sideways-teardrop sunglasses...




Signature Scenes

The scene everyone knows Dr. No for is Ursula Andress’ introduction, as she comes out of the water at Crab Key. It’s such a famous and influential scene that people who haven’t even seen the movie know the scene, and it was “recreated” with Halle Berry in Die Another Day, where they turned it into a terribly staged scene, put into slow motion in an attempt to over-sexify it.



Another famous scene is the attempted assassination of Bond while he sleeps. Sounds pretty brutal and cold blooded, right? Well, there isn’t much of a conversation shown between Dr. No and the henchman (a geologist named Mr. Dent) as No orders him to do the hit, but I imagine that if there was an “inside scoop” shown of this, it would have gone something like this:

DENT: Bond knows about your operations at Crab Key!

DR NO: He must be eliminated.

DENT: Yes. Shall I shoot him tonight?

DR NO: NO! Far too easy. I want you to put this tarantula in his bed.

DENT: …

DR NO: Well? Get going!

DENT: What about the fact that tarantulas, aside from the fact that they are creepy looking, are relatively harmless?

DR NO: I don’t care! Do it!

DENT: But, Dr. No, the idea that tarantulas are deadly and filled with venom is a common misconception which can be attributed to misinformation of millions of people. Honestly, aside from the pain, a tarantula bite is no more deadly than your average bee sting.

DR NO: Tonight! And if he is not dead tomorrow morning, I shall hold you personally responsible!

Jumping back in time in the film, another scene that is quite interesting is near the beginning of the film, when Bond is issued his Walther PPK. It’s given to him by M (played by the late, great Bernard Lee - the best M of them all) to replace Bond’s Beretta. What makes this scene stand out is its reference to a past incident involving Bond’s Beretta, in which it jammed in the middle of a firefight and he was hit and out of the game for 6 months. It may not sound like a big deal, but it’s a nice look at the humanism of Bond - not only did he actually get hurt once, but he also does make mistakes.


Memorable Quote of Villainy

DR. NO: I'm a member of SPECTRE

BOND: SPECTRE?

DR. NO: SPECTRE. Special Executive for Counter Intelligence, Terrorism, Revenge, Extortion. The four great cornerstones of power headed by the greatest brains in the world.

BOND: Correction. Criminal brains!

DR. NO: The successful criminal brain is always superior. It has to be!


In summation, Dr. No is a great, great movie. At 1 hour and 50 minutes, it’s actually one of the shorter films in the series, and it moves at a great pace. Much like the best films in the series, its more about the story than the stylish action scenes - of which, there really aren’t any. It may seem like just a regular Bond story next to today’s standards (evil villain bent on world domination; Bond sent in to stop him; rescues girl in the process; saves the day, gets the girl) but at the time it was pretty risky, especially with the overt sexuality.

Rating for Dr. No - 8 out of 10