Dr. No

Synopsis
“I admire your courage, Miss…?”
“Trench, Sylvia Trench. I admire your luck, Mr.…?”
“Bond. James Bond.”

No matter what your gender or sexual orientation, chances are, at some point in your life, you’ve wanted one of two things: to be James Bond or to bed James Bond. This is the guy who defined cool for a spy-crazed generation—always unflappable, nearly invincible and totally irresistible. He had nothing but the finest tastes in clothes, liquor and women, and as a “double-O” agent on Her Majesty’s Secret Service, he carried a legitimate license to kill. Heaven help us all if this sex bomb had decided to use his powers for evil, but thankfully, Agent 007 was on the side of freedom and free love.

Sir Ian Fleming introduced his superspy creation to the world in a 1953 novel, Casino Royale, but it wasn’t until nine years later that James Bond made it to the silver screen. Plans had originally called for Thunderball to be the first Bond novel-to-movie translation, but legal problems with that title sent Fleming’s Dr. No to the head of the pack. Likewise, other leading men were considered for the title role (among them David Niven and Cary Grant), but former Mr. Universe Sean Connery ended up in the coveted part. Throw in a “Birth of Venus” moment with über-sexy Ursula Andress clad in a bikini and hunting knife, and you’ve got yourself the birth of a big-screen legend.

The action kicks off with the assassination of a British agent and his secretary in Jamaica. Meanwhile, half a world away, agent James Bond is busy working the tables and Miss Sylvia Trench in a London casino. Business calls, and Bond is given his assignment by ‘M,’ the British Secret Service bigwig. Bond is to travel to Jamaica, hook up with American CIA liaison Felix Leiter, and determine whether the assassinations are connected with recent sabotage of U.S. missile launches at Cape Canaveral, Florida.

In Jamaica, the Bond-ness of this Bond adventure truly begins. Through car chases, investigations, a dangerous liaison with sexy murderess Miss Taro, and an attempted tarantula assassination, Bond connects the murders with a radioactive island called Crab Key, owned by the reclusive Dr. No. Agent 007 boats out to the heavily-guarded island, where he first encounters the sexy Honey Ryder (Ms. Andress), an island girl with a fondness for shells. When No’s henchman come calling, Bond and Ryder are captured and taken to meet the doctor himself, setting up a test of wills, a radioactive conspiracy, and a fight to the finish.

Dr. No had sex, murder, gambling and explosions, and if you think that’s the stuff of a great movie, you just might have a future in this business. The film was a 60’s smash, and follow-ups like From Russia With Love and Goldfinger were even bigger hits. Spy mania became one of the biggest crazes of the decade, and the Bond franchise established the formula that would last through 19 films (and 5 different James Bond actors) to date. Very few of us actually get to be sexy British agents (you know who you are), but Dr. No and the James Bond series let the rest of us know what we were missing.

Release History 1962 - Dr. No
1963 - From Russia With Love
1964 - Goldfinger
1965 - Thunderball
1967 - You Only Live Twice
1969 - On Her Majesty's Secret Service
1971 - Diamonds are Forever
1973 - Live and Let Die
1974 - The Man with the Golden Gun
1977 - The Spy Who Loved Me
1979 - Moonraker
1981 - For Your Eyes Only
1983 - Octopussy
1985 - A View to a Kill
1987 - The Living Daylights
1989 - Licence to Kill
1995 - GoldenEye
1997 - Tomorrow Never Dies
1999 - The World Is Not Enough

Sub Categories live-action
action/adventure

Studio United Artists

Cast

James Bond		Sean Connery
Honey Ryder		Ursula Andress
Dr. No		Joseph Wiseman
Felix Leiter		Jack Lord
“M”		Bernard Lee
Professor Dent		Anthony Dawson
Miss Taro		Zena Marshall
Quarrel		John Kitzmiller
Sylvia Trench		Eunice Gayson
Miss Moneypenny		Lois Maxwell
Major Boothroyd		Peter Burton
Sister Lily		Yvonne Shima
Sister Rose		Michel Mok
Photographer		Marguerite LeWars
Superintendent Duff		William Foster-Davis
Mary		Dolores Keator
Jones		Reginald Carter
Pleydell-Smith		Louis Blaazer
General Potter		Colonel Burton
Stewardess		Margaret Ellery
Radio Operator		John Hatton
Concierge in Casino		Stanley Morgan
Strangways		Tim Moxon
Puss Feller		Lester Prendergast
Dr. No's Guard		Milton Reid
Communications Foreman		Maxwell Shaw
Voice of Honey		Monica van der Syl