By J.T. Johnson
Director: Terence Young
Cast: Sean Connery, Ursula Andress, Joseph Wiseman, Jack Lord, Bernard Lee, Lois Maxwell
Photo courtesy of EON Productions
Throughout the ‘50s, author Ian Fleming released a series of novels featuring superspy James Bond. There were many attempts to get a film off the ground, but the rights were always unavailable. Eventually, producer Albert R. “Cubby” Broccoli decides to secure the rights.
Broccoli discovered that the rights were held by another producer named Harry Saltzman. After a scheduled meeting in which Broccoli thought he was going to be able to buy the rights, a partnership was formed between the two in order to produce a movie. The two then moved forward with United Artist and made the first James Bond film, “Dr. No,” on a mere budget of one million dollars. Little did they know they were starting a franchise that has lasted for half a century and one that still continues today.
The story for the first film is simple enough. After a British agent goes missing in Jamaica, MI6 sends in agent 007, James Bond (Sean Connery) to investigate the disappearance. When he arrives, Bond is soon attacked by various henchmen that are somehow tied to Dr. No (Joseph Wiseman).
Eventually, Bond finds his way to a secret island that is owned by the evil doctor. After Meeting Honey Ryder (Ursula Andress), 007 must fight his way through the island in order to prevent Dr. No from carrying out his insidious plot.
This film is a classic example of an action thriller in the 1960s. It contains plenty of the elements that would define the series. It has the gun barrel sequence that has been in every Bond film in one way or another. Andress is the first of many women that would be seduced by Bond. It also contains the immortal words that Bond has uttered in almost every film in the series: “Bond, James Bond.”
This of course, is the first Bond film in which audiences got to see Connery as agent 007. With this film and the other five movies that he made afterwards, Connery wrote the rules which all other Bond actors have tried to adhere to. Even Daniel Craig, an actor who has brought more emotional weight back to the character, has admitted that it is Connery’s films that inspire his performance.
One of the reasons that Connery was perfect for the role was the fact that Connery always played Bond as a man who could either charm someone or kill them. This is something that the other actors in the role could never seem to achieve until Craig took over the role in 2006’s “Casino Royale.”
The movie also contains the first in a long line of villains that would try to stop Bond and take over the world. In this case, that villain is the title character of Dr. No. Wiseman plays the iconic villain as a man who is angry at the East and West and has decided to do everything in his power to topple the world’s leading governments.
Like Connery with the role of Bond, Wiseman’s Dr. No set the bar that all other villains have tried to emulate.
Another thing that audiences could never forget was Ursula Andress as the first main Bond girl, Honey Ryder. They especially could not forget her when Bond first meets her coming out of the water with her two piece bikini and knife strapped to the side. Once again, like Connery and Wiseman, she set a standard that all other Bond girls would have to live up to.
Having said all of that, the biggest problem with this film is that one can tell that it was shot on a small budget. Director Terence Young did his best and would later go on to direct two of Connery’s best Bond films, “From Russia with Love” and “Thunderball.” However, here, his resources were limited and it has not aged as well as the others.
Still, the story and Connery’s performance make this a worthy addition to anyone’s Bond collection.
PROS:
- Sean Connery, Joseph Wiseman and Ursula Andress all set the standard for future Bond films to come with their great performances.
- The film set some of the traditions that continue to this day such as the gun barrel sequence an imaginative credit sequences started by Maurice Binder.
- The action, while not as good due to the film’s low budget, is still pretty thrilling.
CONS:
- The film was obviously shot on a budget and despite all of the films aging to some degree, this movie seems to have suffered the most.
- Being the first Bond film, “Dr. No” is rather tame when compared to later entries.
GRADE: B
