Dr. No Display Frame

General Info - Dr. No (1962)

The film that started it off, Dr. No remains the standard to which all Bond films should be set. Originally Thunderball was to be the first film in the series (initially anticipated to be a modest six-film series) but was dropped at the outset due to technical and legal reasons. Candidates for Bond were: Michael Redgrave, Patrick McGoohan, Cary Grant, Roger Moore and, of course, Sean Connery. Ian Fleming was not keen on Connery, whom he considered uncouth, but later said that he found it hard to see anyone else in the part.

The Plot

When a British agent, Strangways, goes missing whilst working in Jamaica, Bond is assigned to discover why. He finds out that the agent had been killed for trying to investigate the goings-on on a nearby island, Crab Key, by a mysterious scientist named Dr. No. The recluse uses fear tactics to keep trespassers away, but Bond has none of it. He persuades a local CIA aide, Quarrel, to take him there, where they come across Honey Ryder who is looking for shells. Dr. No's henchmen locate the trespassers by radar and hunt them down. Quarrel is killed by the dragon (the instrument which puts fear into the locals, but really a tank and flame-thrower) and Bond and Honey are caught. Dr. No reveals that he works for SPECTRE, a crime organisation which initiates terror and extortion worldwide, which at present is working to derail the U.S. space programme. Bond is imprisoned but escapes quickly and eliminates the madman as he is interfering with a rocket launch. He finds Honey and they escape just prior to the lair being destroyed by a massive explosion - the first of many...

Budget: $1m - Gross: $60m - Fastrac007 Rating: 68%