Dr. No (1962)

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Director: Terence Young

Writers: Richard Maibaum & Johanna Harwood & Berkely Mather, based on the novel by Ian Fleming

Stars: Sean Connery, Joseph Wiseman, Ursula Andress, Jack Lord, Bernard Lee, Anthony Dawson, Zena Marshall, John Kitzmiller



When a British agent is mysteriously murdered in Jamaica, veteran operative James Bond 007 (Sean Connery) is sent to investigate, ultimately facing the titular villain (Joseph Wiseman) on his secret island hideaway.

 


Still the best of the Bond actors, Connery combines a convincing physical presence with the suavity we have come to expect from the character. 



Although he does not have the array of gadgets that will come later, other hallmarks of the series are introduced here.

 


The result is a fun adventure that is a bit more grounded in reality than many of the later films would be. 



Ursula Andress remains one of the most impressive Bond girls.




















































Comments

  1. MI6July 31, 2022 at 3:40 AM

    Ian Fleming has not only eulogised and promoted the "espionage industry" but he has also spread so much disinformation about that industry that even MI6 would have been proud of the dissemination of so much fake news. Maybe the Bond legacy is finally coming to an end notwithstanding the recent publication of Anthony Horowitz’s With a Mind to Kill, particularly after Daniel Craig's au revoir in No Time To Die.

    We think the anti-Bond era is now being firmly established in literature and on the screen. Raw noir anti-Bond espionage masterpieces are on the ascent. Len Deighton's classic The Ipcress File has been rejuvenated by John Hodge with Joe Cole aspiring to take on Michael Caine and of course there are plenty of Slow Horses ridden by Bad Actors too.

    Then there's Edward Burlington in The Burlington Files series by Bill Fairclough, a real spy who disavowed Ian Fleming for his epic disservice to the espionage fraternity. After all, Fleming single-handedly transformed MI6 into a mythical quasi-religious cult that spawned a knight in shining armour numbered 007 who could regularly save the planet from spinning out of orbit.

    Last but not least, the final nail in wee Jimmy Bond's coffin has been hammered in by Jackson Lamb. Mick Herron's anti-Bond sentiments combine lethally with the sardonic humour of the Slough House series to unreservedly mock not just Bond but also British Intelligence which has lived too long off the overly ripe fruits Fleming left to rot!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. David BAugust 1, 2022 at 12:30 PM

      Not a fan of the glamourized spy genre, I take it?

      Delete
  2. MI6August 1, 2022 at 10:59 PM

    Loved watching and reading Bond when young until we realised it was so far from the truth to be beyond belief!

    ReplyDelete

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