The year is 1962. Commander James Bond, agent 007, the hero
of a series of novels by writer Ian Fleming, is proving to be wildly popular,
and so it was quite natural that someone would turn the books into films. It
was Eon Productions, headed by Albert R. “Cubby” Broccoli and Harry Saltzman,
that took up the challenge. They had a low budget, but they were confident that
they could make a successful film. They had decided on a Scottish actor called
Sean Connery as ideal for the role of Bond, although many (Ian Fleming himself
included) felt he was the wrong choice. Funny that, people insisting that the
new actor is unsuitable for the role of Bond, only to be proven completely
wrong. I’m sure that won’t happen with any future actors taking over the role! Nevertheless, Broccoli and Saltzman forged
ahead, determined that their first film, Dr No, would be a success.
And they were right. But how much of a success, no one could
possibly have imagined. No one could have foreseen that Bond would become one
of the most famous characters ever, that the films would become one of the most
successful franchises in history, that Sean Connery would become a household
name, and that the films would define an entire genre.
But we’re jumping the gun a bit. That’s all in the future,
but for now, we’ll start at the very beginning. On the 5th of
October 1962, Dr No hit cinemas, and a legend was born.
Let’s go.
A series of white dots open into a view down the inside of a
gun barrel. A behatted individual strides across the screen. And yes, as any
Bond fan will eagerly tell you, this figure is not Sean Connery. In the
first three films, the gun barrel sequence was performed by stuntman Bob
Simmons, with Connery taking over in Thunderball. Bond, detecting that
someone is pointing a gun at him (usually not a good thing), spins and fires at
the camera. A sheet of red blood covers the screen from the top down, and
before people can question how someone could be bleeding inside their gun, the
Bond theme kicks in for the very first time.
There is no pre-credits bit in this film, though there will
be in every other one that follows. We just segue from the gun barrel straight
into the opening credits, which feature: a series of colourful flashing dots; silhouetted
dancers gyrating to a calypso beat; and finally, with an awkward musical
transition, the final segment features three figures hobbling along with sticks
as Three Blind Mice plays.
This fades into the film proper, with the same three figures
hobbling along the street. These three individuals are never named or credited
in the film; however, since they are introduced with the aforementioned music,
they are usually referred to as the Three Blind Mice. The three of them are
seen walking down the street in sunny Kingston, Jamaica. They arrive at a sign
that says “Queens Club – Private – Members Only”. They pause, possibly to
debate whether they qualify as queens or not.
Meanwhile, inside, a group of four men are sitting playing
bridge. One of them, identified as Strangways, makes an excuse and leaves. On
the way out, he passes the Three Blind Mice and is kind enough to give them
some money. The three of them respond the same way anyone would to generosity,
by ruthlessly gunning him down. Hey, wait a minute! They can see perfectly
well! They’re only pretending to be blind!
Out of nowhere, a hearse screeches up, and the Three Blind
Mice bundle Strangways’ body into it. Well, I suppose if you’re going to be
transporting a murder victim, a hearse is the ideal cover-up. However, they
appear to simply shove the body in the back without putting it into a coffin,
which surely is not how hearses usually operate. Anyways, we then see a gate
which helpfully informs us that we are now at Strangways’ place of residence. A
mysterious hand pushes the gate, which swings open with an ominous creak.
Inside, a woman is busy trying to set up a radio link. Although not identified
as such at the moment, she is Mary Trueblood, Strangways’ secretary. She’s
talking to London on a radio cunningly hidden behind a shelf of books. By now,
even if you didn’t know this was a spy film, you should probably have figured
out what Strangways’ job is. Trueblood looks at her watch and sighs, wondering
where her boss is. At this point, she sees the Three Blind Mice lurking outside
and toting guns. She claps her hands to her face and screams. Much like her
boss, she is gunned down.
The Mice enter the house. They approach the body and roll it
over. True to her name, Trueblood has oozed a quantity of curiously bright-red
blood on the rug. I bet those stains will take forever to get out. Two
of the Mice get to work removing the body, while the third begins ransacking
one of the filing cabinets in the room. He quickly finds what he’s looking for:
two files, the first labelled CRAB KEY, the second, DOCTOR NO. Hey! That's like the title of the film!
If this were a later Bond film, this would be a good point
at which to cut to the opening credits. But of course, they’ve already run, so
we fade a London skyline, with Big Ben ringing in the distance, because there’s
a rule that you cannot show London’s skyline without Big Ben ringing. We see a
room full of people on radios, and one of them is clearly having problems. He’s
evidently waiting to talk to Strangways in Jamaica, except there’s no reply. He
reports the issue to the guy in charge, who comes over to have a look. At one
point, he mentions MI6, so now we know exactly who Strangways is supposed to be
working for. The boss then speaks to someone on the phone, reporting the
problem, and evidently they’re going to get someone put on the job to
investigate. Oh, I wonder who it will be!
Moving to a club (in the refined, gentleman’s club sense,
not in the drunken nightclub sense) called Le
Cercle at Les Ambassadeurs, a man walks in and asks to speak to Mr James
Bond. We see a group of people at a table, playing Baccarat (specifically, a version called Chemin de Fer). It seems
that two people are playing against one another: a woman in a red dress, and a
man with perfectly groomed hair who we can only see the back of.
The woman is losing to her opponent. Running out of money,
she asks if the club will cover her for another thousand. At this point, the
man opposite, face still unseen, casually takes a cigarette out of a small
metal case and remarks (in a deep, sexy, and oddly Scottish voice):
“I admire your courage, Miss, uh…?”
To which Sylvia replies:
“Trench, Sylvia Trench. I admire your luck, Mr…?”
You know what’s coming next. One of the most famous lines in
cinematic history:
We finally see Bond’s face, and he introduces himself as “Bond.
James Bond.”
This is the moment that defined Bond forever. He is the
personification of suave, sitting in a gambling club in his tuxedo as the Bond
theme kicks in. This is a classic scene that would be reworked many times in
future films: Bond playing a card game with either a villain (in which case they
will both drop hints that both of them know the other’s game) or, as in this
case, beautiful woman, with whom Bond will flirt relentlessly. Unfortunately,
Bond is called away before they get too far. He leaves Sylvia his number and
heads off.
Bond now arrives at an office. He enters, and nonchalantly
tosses his hat onto the hat stand. This would become a tradition for the next
several Bond films. We are now introduced to a certain Miss Moneypenny.
Miss Moneypenny, in case you are unaware, is M’s personal
secretary (M being the head of MI6 and Bond’s boss). She is a mainstay of the
series, appearing in almost every single film, and in the vast majority of them
was played by Lois Maxwell. Bond typically engages in flirtatious banter with
her before entering M’s office, as he does here. Bond is summoned into the
boss’s office.
M, real name Sir Miles Messervy (at least for this
incarnation), is Bond’s superior and head of MI6. He is the one who gives Bond
his assignment and most films feature a scene near the start where he does so.
M is played here by Bernard Lee, who will go on to play the character many more
times. Anyways, M fills Bond in on Strangways’ mysterious disappearance, and
also tells us what Strangways had been investigating: the Americans have been
concerned that several of their rocket launches from Cape Canaveral have been “toppled”,
which means that someone has been using a radio beam to disrupt the rocket’s
gyroscopic controls and send it off course. They suspect that signal originated
in the Jamaica area, hence Strangways’ involvement. M informs Bond that the
Americans have their own man working on it, a CIA agent called Felix Leiter. M
then casually informs Bond that he’s booked on the next flight to Jamaica, and
has only a few hours before he leaves. Such is the life of a secret agent. M
then summons the Armourer into his office.
The Armourer here is played by Peter Burton. He seems a
somewhat insignificant character, only turning up to provide Bond with a new
gun. He’s referred to as Major Boothroyd, which might give you a clue as to who
this character is. From the next film onwards, he would be played by Desmond
Llewelyn, and would be known by the codename “Q”. Yep, that’s right; this minor
character is the same one who will provide Bond with the many outlandish
gadgets he uses over the years.
M orders Bond to relinquish his gun to Boothroyd, which Bond
does reluctantly. Bond turns over his Beretta, which Boothroyd declares:
“Nice and light… in a lady’s handbag.”
Well, if there’s one way to put a macho misogynist in his
place, it’s to call him a girl. Bond tries to defend his gun, but M points out
that it jammed on his last mission and almost got him killed as a result. Fun
fact: the “last mission” in question refers to the end of From Russia with
Love, which, in the novels, was chronologically the book before Dr No.
In the films, it’s the other way around, and so the “last mission” is simply
some other assignment Bond was on.
M also tells him that his 00 number means he is licenced to
kill, not get killed and that he can either give up the Beretta and carry the
replacement gun, or be demoted to a desk job. Bond chooses the former. The
Armourer hands him the gun that is now permanently associated with James Bond:
“Walther PPK, 7.65mm, with a delivery like a brick through a
plate-glass window.”
Bond doesn’t seem too thrilled with his new weapon. Upon
being dismissed, he attempts to sneak the Beretta out as well, but M catches
him and orders him to leave it behind. M then forbids Moneypenny from flirting
with Bond, as he is in a hurry. Man, it’s like M has no sense of fun at all!
Bond returns to his flat. His spy sense starts tingling,
telling him that someone is in the flat. He slips off his shoes, draws his new
gun, pads over to a door, and throws it open to find:
Indeed. It seems Sylvia has decided to pop round earlier
than expected, and just so happens to be wearing nothing other than Bond’s
pyjama top and gold high heels. Of course. She’s also playing golf in his
living room. I must say, that seems a bit forward for a first date. In my
experience, first dates tend not to involve naked golf (well, almost never,
anyway). Bond, however, doesn’t seem too perturbed, so we can assume this is a
normal occurrence for him. Sylvia is also holding two balls in her hand; I’m
not sure what that is supposed to symbolise.
Bond, unfortunately, has to leave for Jamaica, and so must
bid Sylvia farewell. Sylvia is having none of it, however, and soon changes his
leaving “immediately” to “almost immediately”.
We’re off to Jamaica!
Screencaps courtesy of
screenmusings.org
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