Review of Dr. No (1962) by Darren H — 15 Jun 2012

Outside of Bond fandom very few people know that Sean Connery was actually the second actor to play the character of James Bond. In the 1950s there had been a television production based around Ian Fleming's first spy novel "Casino Royale" in which American actor Barry Nelson had played 007 as a US spy with Clarence Leiter as his British counterpart.

Fast forward to the early 1960s and work is once again getting underway to bring the fictional spy to the screen. Cast in the lead role is what one UA executive referred to as a "lorry driver" and with a small budget (a measly $1 million) there seems to be little hope for the fledgling franchise. Yet when Doctor No (the final choice for the first of the series) hits screens it changes the film industry, sending reverberations the likes of which are still being felt today.

Staying largely faithful to the Fleming book of the same name (something that was not to last) the rather modest movie set screens afire, helped enormously by the performances of Sean Connery and Swiss beauty Ursula Andress. In fact for many, Andress is the quintessential Bond girl, establishing one of cinema's most iconic images as she emerges from the sea in a white bikini).

Right away the trademark violence is evident as three assassins murder a British operative and his pretty secretary in Jamaica. The break in communication has the British nervous and they send for their top agent.

Switch to a smoky casino in London. And we see the back of a man, his hands moving his cards about the table and then taking a cigarette out of its case. Lighting it he is fully revealed and the trademark line "Bond, James Bond" is heard on cinema screens for the very first time.

Arriving in Jamaica Bond learns that the missing operative was investigating the mysterious character of Doctor No who operates from a private island named Crab Key. Determined to learn the truth he arranges to sneak onto the island with his colleague Quarrel to discover the truth behind the disappearance.

Taken on its own Doctor No is a nice, taut, suspenseful movie with some wonderful performances from its leads. New York actor Joseph Wiseman is particularly chilling as the title character with his metal hands (some disfigurement or quirk has since become a necessity for Bond villains). Taken as the initial outing in a franchise the movie is a low-key effort that ably sets the stage for the films that were to follow. Today this movie rarely tops people's lists as a favorite in the series, but that is largely because in the ensuing years the Bond series came to mean spectacle and special effects, often at the expense of good storytelling.