In the 1960s,
spy movies were very popular, with one of the most popular
being Dr. No, the first movie in the James Bond, 007 series.
The James Bond movies are highly stylized with exciting opening credits,
and the quote, “Bond. James Bond” is a classic move catch phrase.
James
Bond movies are still being made and remade, and have been spoofed in a
variety of medium, including with the Austin Powers movies in the late
1990s and early 21st century.
Dr. No opens in Jamaica, where James Bond is sent to investigate the
disappearance of British agent Commander John Strangways. Bond begin
investigating Strangways’ life, and finds a receipt from a scientist
named Professor Dent, who was helping Strangway identify rocks from the
nearby Crab Key.
Dent turns out to be in collaboration with Dr. Julius
No, who lives on Crab Key, where the rocks are radioactive. He first
tries to kill Bond with a tarantula, and later lures him into bed with
secretary Miss Taro. However, his attempts are thwarted by Bond.
Bond befriends a man named Quarrel, who takes him to Crab Key. There, he
meets the innocent Honey Ryder, and the two narrowly escape a fire cause
by Dr. No’s dragon tank and which kills Quarrel.
They are captured and
imprisoned by Dr. No, learning that he was once the treasurer of the
Tong and is now disrupting American shuttle launchings on the nearby
Cape Canaveral because his intelligence has been rejected by the Western
world.
We also find out that Dr. No has two prosthetic hands, but he
doesn’t say how this happened.
Bond escapes the prison cell and fights Dr. No in a hand-to-hand combat
on a platform over the nuclear reactor that was to be used to harm Cape
Canaveral. Dr. No loses his grip due to his metal hands and falls into
the radioactive water, dying instantly. Bond rescues Honey and the
world.
The James Bond movies originally were books, but not well known. For the
lead role, the producers Cubby Broccoli and Harry Saltzman originally
wanted Cary Grant, but he turned down the role. The also asked were
actors Patrick McGoohan, James Mason, and David Niven.
The author of the
books, Ian Flemming had some say into who would play Bond as well.
Ultimately, the little-known Sean Connery was asked to play the role.
Connery is just one of the many men to play James Bond, but his
appearance in Dr. No definitely sparked fame for both the actor and the
series.
Others to appear in Dr. No included Ursula Andress as Honey
Ryder, Joseph Wiseman as the villain Dr. No, Anthony Dawson as Professor
Dent, John Kitzmiller as Quarrel, Zena Marchall as Miss Taro, and
Timothy Moxon as John Strangways.
Also appearing in lesser roles are
Barnard Lee, Peter Burton, Jack Lord, Eunice Gayson, Lois Mawell, and a
number of men playing Dr. No’s henchmen. The director of the film was
Terence Young.
Sean Connery went on to play James Bond in From Russian with Love
(1963), Goldfinger (1964), Thunderball (1965), and You Only Live Twice
(1967).
The part was then taken over by George Lazenberry, who played
Bond in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service in 1969. Connery returned in
1971 for Diamonds are Forever, but the forfeited his portray of Bond to
Roger Moore, who played the character from 1973 to 1985 in Live and Let
Die, The Man with the Golden Gun, The Spy Who Loved Me, Moonraker, For
Your Eyes Only, Octopussy, and A View to Kill.
After Moore left the role, Timothy Dalton became the new bond, with two
Bond films: The Living Daylights and License to Kill, in 1987 and 1989,
respectively. Pierce Brosnan then took over as Bond, playing what many
consider to be the best Bond since Connery.
He appeared as Bond from
1995 to 2002 in GoldenEye, Tomorrow Never Dies, The World is not Enough,
and Die Another Day. The most recent Bond is Daniel Craig, who appeared
in the 2006 Casino Royale and is set to appear in 2008’s Bond 22. This
was all possible due to the success in the 1960s of Dr. No. Bond movies
today are still box office hits.
