Sean Connery‘s departure to a better world has brought to the attention of moviegoers some of his most famous films, including the first films in the James Bond series. On this occasion, I also completed my spectator record by seeing ‘Dr. No ‘, the film directed by Terence Young that inaugurated in 1962 this series, the longest in the history of cinema. The film withstands the nearly six decades of its making very well, and Sean Connery proves to be, as the fans of the series and the character say, one of the best, if not the best James Bond in history. ‘Dr. No‘ is one of the two films that Ian Fleming, the creator of the hero and the author of the novels that were in turn transformed into film scripts, got to see. It is the film that is closest to the writer’s intentions and the way James Bond is presented in the books. At the same time we can already find in ‘Dr. No ‘ many of the spectacular elements that will be developed and become dominant for the James Bond brand in the 24 films made in the almost six decades that followed.
Sean Connery‘s James Bond in this film has charm and is already licensed to kill, but he is not yet super-technologically gifted. Sophisticated weapons are missing and the character Q. (the technical genius of the English secret services) does not appear yet. Bond’s mission takes him from London to exotic Jamaica, but the story is more of a traditional investigation in which Bond investigates the disappearance of the two English agents on the island and which is only further complicated by an international espionage story in which at stake is the launching of the first American space missions from Cape Canaveral. James Bond is here in good relations with the CIA agents, we are far from the world of the intrigues between allies in John le Carré‘s novels (and the films inspired by them). The first spectacular chase with cars also appears, James Bond is already drinking his martini with a drop of vodka, receiving orders from M. and flirting with Miss Moneypenny. Joseph Wiseman is an adequate Dr. No, the first evil opponent of James Bond and the first on-screen representative of the organization S.P.E.C.T.R.E. But the most memorable appearance is of course that of Ursula Andress coming out of the sea like an Aphrodite in a bikini and setting the high standard for the series of magnificent Bond girls which we will meet at least one in each of the following films from the series.
The execution is excellent. The pace is a little less alert than in newer movies, but this minus is offset by humor and a relaxed approach. The reconditioned version I saw looks great, and the cinematography already has some of the exoticism that will characterize the next movies. Much of the basic elements of the myth are in place, and ‘Dr. No ‘ is not only a good launching pad for the entire series, but also an action movie that fans of the genre will enjoy watching or watching again nowadays.