 |
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
| ||||||||
Dr. No is a novel by Ian Fleming and the first official James Bond film adapted from it. It was released in 1962 and was produced by Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman with Sean Connery playing the role of British Secret Service agent, Commander James Bond.
Spoiler warning: Plot or ending details follow.
This film introduced many of the recurring themes associated with the suave and witty secret agent: the code name "Agent 007" ("double-O-seven", whose double-O prefix means that he is "licensed to kill"), the distinctive theme music and equally distinctive "gunbarrel" opening credits sequence, the "Bond girl" (here, Ursula Andress), exotic locales, the criminal organization S.P.E.C.T.R.E., narrow escapes, Bond's astonishing good luck and skill (including skill at gambling), an over-ambitious villain (here, Dr. No is trying to take over the world), quirky villainous henchmen, characters with odd names (here, "M", "Honey Ryder", "Miss Moneypenny", and of course "Dr. No" himself), and the first meeting with Felix Leiter.
In fact, many characteristics of Bond himself were introduced in this film (or, often, brought in from the books), from Bond's idiosyncratic self-introduction (as "Bond. James Bond.") to his taste for fine wine or champagne, women, and weaponry.
The movie starts out in Jamaica, where British agent Commander John Strangways and his secretary mysteriously disappear. Although nobody knows it yet, they have been killed. James Bond is sent to Jamaica to investigate the disappearances and determine whether they are related to recent disruptions of American missiles.
Soon after exiting the airport, Bond is greeting by a taxi driver who says he has been sent to drive him to the government house. In reality, the man is an enemy who commits suicide after he is found out, rather than risk the wrath of his boss.
Eventually, Bond makes it to Dr. No's island, Crab Key, meets Honey Ryder, and discovers the Doctor's plot, which is, as suspected, to sabotage an American missile launch.
This is the first Bond film to mention the criminal organization S.P.E.C.T.R.E., though its role in this film is minor. Dr. Julius No, the film's villain, is also a member of S.P.E.C.T.R.E.; it would later be a more formidable foe in From Russia With Love through Diamonds are Forever.
The original James Bond theme was composed by Monty Norman, who also did the soundtrack for Dr. No. John Barry, who would later go on to compose the soundtrack for eleven Bond films, helped with the Dr. No soundtrack but was uncredited. It has occasionally been suggested that Barry, not Norman, composed the James Bond Theme, but in fact Norman based the music upon a song he wrote for a stage musical several years previously.
Originally they wanted Cary Grant to play the role of James Bond, but after he said he would only do one film, Ian Fleming requested Roger Moore to play the role; however the role went to Sean Connery because Roger Moore was comitted to The Saint. Ian Fleming also requested that his cousin Christopher Lee play the role of Dr. No, but that too fell through. Later Christopher Lee would play the villain, Francisco Scaramanga, in The Man With The Golden Gun. According to sources, he was also considered for Bond. Other actors considered for the role included Patrick McGoohan, James Mason and David Niven.
|
||||
| View Live Article | This article is from Wikipedia. All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License | |
||
