The longtime New York Times film critic Bosley Crowther wrote of James Bond in his review of Dr No on May 30, 1963: “Nonsense, you say. Of course, it’s nonsense — pure, escapist bunk, with Bond, an elegant fellow, played by Sean Connery, doing everything (and everybody) that an idle day-dreamer might like to do. Called from a gaming club in London to pick up his orders and his gun and hop on a plane for Jamaica before a tawny temptress leads him astray, old “Double Oh Seven” (that’s his code name) is in there being natty from the start. And he keeps on being natty, naughty and nifty to the end.” Even the famously prickly Crowther seemed to find something to like about Bond, though I doubt he could have imagined that the success of Dr. No would lead to twenty one more films and counting.
Dr. No was based on the 1958 novel by Sir Ian Fleming; it was adapted for the screen by Richard Maibaum, Johanna Harwood, and Berkeley Mather. The film was directed by Terence Young, and produced by Harry Saltzman and Albert R. Broccoli. The producer’s first choice to play Bond was Cary Grant, but his price was too high. In addition, they knew that even if they could get Grant, he wouldn’t sign on for more than one picture, and they needed someone who would continue on with the series. Fleming’s top pick was Roger Moore, but he was tied up at the time with television work. They also considered Richard Johnson, Patrick McGoohan, James Mason and David Niven. Producer’s ultimately hired Sean Connery, who would go on to star in five Bond films.
When a British MI6 signal station in Jamaica goes silent, James Bond (Sean Connery) is sent by his boss M. (Bernard Lee) to investigate. Bond Arrives in Jamaica to discover that a ring of unknown agents have completely infiltrated the English intelligence networks. Bond joins forces with American CIA agent Felix Leiter (Jack Lord) and a host of Jamaican operatives to investigate the infiltration and the mysteries of Crab Key–an island off the coast of Jamaica shrouded in mystery. Crab Key is the home base of the evil Dr. Julius No (Joseph Wiseman), a deranged scientist with a nefarious plan to crash US rockets. On Crab Key, Bond makes the acquaintance of the beautiful Honey Ryder (Ursula Andress) who has her own reason for wanting revenge against Dr. No.
I hadn’t watched Dr. No in several years and found it to be a fairly entertaining film. The story is a real throwback to the 1960s–replete with machismo, sexism and politically incorrect statements for a 2008 world. Bond is the ultimate man’s man. He kills with ease and efficiency and carries himself with a suave coolness most of us can only dream of possessing.
Those who’ve never seen a Bond movie or at least not Dr. No, may be a bit surprised. The first film doesn’t have a lot of the fast action, expensive cars and cool gadgets that would become staples of the later films. Instead, Dr. No focuses on establishing James Bond as the cool commodity, rather than the objects around him. Given the stunts and high production values of the last couple of Bond films, some might find Dr. No a tad cheesy. It is rather funny to watch the projected backgrounds in all the driving scenes and the obviously fake fights. However, if you remember that the film was released back in 1963, it’s amazing to think how far film technology and special effects have come in the last forty-five years.
Dr. No is that rare entry in the James Bond film catalog that can be considered playful. Perhaps because of the lack of eye popping special effects, the writers gave Bond a series of one-liners that helps to keep the story fun and interesting. Here’s one of my favorite exchanges:
Miss Moneypenny: James! Where have you been? I’ve been searching all over London for you.
[Picks up phone]
Miss Moneypenny: 007 is here sir.
[Slaps Bond’s hand away from the papers on her desk]
James Bond: Moneypenny! What gives?
Miss Moneypenny: Me, given an ounce of encouragement. You’ve never taken me to dinner looking like this. You’ve never taken me to dinner…
James Bond: I would, you know. Only “M” would have me court-martialed for… illegal use of government equipment.
Miss Moneypenny: Flattery will get you nowhere – but don’t stop trying.
I had forgotten what a classic Dr. No is and have it available on Blu-ray is a real treat for Bond fans. Dr. No arrives on Blu-ray in full 1080p looking stunning. MGM has given the movie the full AVC Mpeg-4 treatment, while preserving the film’s original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.66:1. For a movie that is over forty-five years old, Dr. No looks remarkably clean and pristine. MGM utilized the Lowry process to restore the film and the results speak for themselves.
Casual viewers and home theater buffs alike, will be pleased with the lack of digital noise or other issues that sometimes affect other older Blu-ray transfers. Black levels and contrast are good for a film from the early sixties and the detail is surprisingly strong. It is possible to see individual grains of sand during the films many beach scenes. MGM really did a fantastic job on the video for this Blu-ray release.
Much like the video, MGM obviously took great care to make Dr. No sound as good as it looked. Presented in 5.1 DTS HD Master Audio, the movie sounds amazing while simultaneously showing the limits of early sixties sound recording techniques. A lot of the dialogue has a tinny sound to it, while the soundtrack is powerful and jumps right out at you.
The sound mix on this Blu-ray edition does a good job of making the most out of the limited source material. Dialogue is clear, while still maintaining the tinny nature of the original film. Basically, MGM has taken limited source material and been able to give the soundtrack a modern update, without losing the feel of the original film.
Dr. No comes with a pretty good selection of extra features that fall under two menu selections. Most of them are under “Special Features” but the “MI6 Commentary” provides access to the Commentary by Director Terence Young and Members of the Cast and Crew. John Cork of the Ian Fleming foundation announces the commentary track and mentions that the track is a montage of interviews from the cast and crew of Dr. No. The contributors include: composer Monty Norman and Editor Peter Hunt as well as several others. This commentary is one of the most informative I’ve listened to in awhile and should be a fascinating listen for any Bond fan.
The only option under “Top Level Access” is 007: License to Restore. (11:56) MGM technician Scott Grossman discusses the value of the James Bond franchise and the need to restore these films for presentation. Further, he provides some interesting information on how the restoration was done. The Guns of James Bond (5:06) is a brief vignette in black and white that is introduced by Sean Connery that looks at the various guns used by James Bond. Premiere Bond: Opening Nights (13:09) was filmed during the opening of The Spy Who Loved Me and discussed moments from the opening of Dr. No and other Bond film openings. I just love watching clips from older movie premieres. Credits (1:48) provides credits for the MI6 Vault production.
The next menu selection is “007 Mission Control.” Seven items are contained under this menu. Many of the items here are jumps to scenes in the film. “007” features seven items and some of them are submenus with their own items. Gun Barrel Textless (3:01) shows the familiar opening sequence without any text and is not a simple scene jump. “Women” features two scenes with Sylvia Trench and “Honey Ryder” includes a large number of jumps including her iconic walk onto the beach. “Allies” includes bookmarks for eleven of Bonds friends and allies. Eight “Villains” can be viewed from this menu. The “Mission Combat Manual” looks at various actions taken by Bond in the film. “Q Branch” goes directly to the ´gadgets´ in the film. The final set of scene jumps lead to Exotic Locations (2:37) and is a very short piece featuring Maude Adams talking about the locations. This setup of these items could be difficult for some to access and frankly, the features themselves don’t add much to the package.
Quality returns with the features under Mission Control. “Mission Dossier.” There are three featurettes: Inside Dr. No (42:10) is a great feature that looks at the events that lead to the first James Bond film and the production of the film. Terence Young: Bond Vivant (17:57) looks at the film´s director; finally, the Dr. No 1963 Featurette (8:40). This is very rough looking footage, but it is neat to see how this first Bond film was marketed and promoted when the world was unfamiliar with the names Sean Connery and James Bond. These featurettes are all great stuff.
“Ministry of Propaganda” deals with the marketing of the film. Four items appear under “Theatrical Archive.” The Theatrical Trailer (3:23) and Introducing Mr. Bond (3:15) shows it’s age but it’s an interesting look at how this new action hero was marketed to moviegoers. James Bond is Back to Back in Dr. No and From Russia With Love (2:00) struck me as strange but I guess it might have been shown at drive-ins. James Bond Face to Face with Dr. No and Goldfinger (2:19) is an advertisement for the first two Bond films. The “TV Broadcasts” take quick looks at the first two Bond girls with Miss Honey and Miss Galore Have James Bond Back For More (1:01) and Miss Honey and Miss Galore (:22). The six Radio Communication (6:38) items provide a graphical screen with radio ads for the film. The Image Database features a ´retro photo gallery´ broken into eight separate galleries from the filming of Dr. No.
