UK, 1962
105m
35mm film, Technicolor, 1.37:1 (negative ratio)/1.66:1 (intended ratio for European prints)/1.85:1 (intended ratio for US prints)
mono, English
A British science fiction film directed by Terence Young. It was the first big screen appearance for Ian Fleming’s secret agent James Bond in the shape of actor Sean Connery, though a version of the character had already appeared on TV played by Barry Nelson in Climax!: Casino Royale (1954).
Plot Summary
James Bond is assigned to discover why US space rockets are being sent off course. On a Caribbean island, he discovers that the culprit is Oriental scientist Dr No, agent for the globe-spanning secret organisation SPECTRE.
Credits
Crew
Directed by: Terence Young
© 1962 by Eon Productions Limited
United Artists Pictures, Inc. [opening logo]. Released by United Artists
Produced by: Harry Saltzman & Albert R. Broccoli
Screenplay by: Richard Maibaum, Johanna Harwood, Berkely Mather; Terence Young [uncredited]
Based on the Novel by: Ian Fleming
Director of Photography: Ted Moore
Editor: Peter Hunt
Music Composed by: Monty Norman
‘James Bond Theme’ Performed by: John Barry & Orchestra
Sound Recordists: Wally Milner, John Dennis
Costumes: Tessa Welborn
Make-up: John O’Gorman
Hair Stylist: Eileen Warwick
Special Effects: Frank George
Main Title Designed by: Maurice Binder
Production Designer: Ken Adam
Cast
Sean Connery (James Bond)
Ursula Andress (Honey Ryder)
Joseph Wiseman (Dr No)
Jack Lord (Felix Leiter)
Bernard Lee (M)
Anthony Dawson (Professor Dent)
John Kitzmiller (Quarrel)
Zena Marshall (Miss Taro)
Eunice Gayson (Sylvia Trench)
Michel Mok (Sister Rose)
Lois Maxwell (Miss Moneypenny)
Peter Burton (Major Boothroyd)
Yvonne Shima (Sister Lily)
Louis Blaazer (Playdell-Smith)
Reginald Carter (Jones)
Wm. Foster-Davis (Superintendant Duff)
Marguerite Le Wars (photographer)
Dolores Keater (Mary)
Colonel Burton (General Potter)
Alternative Titles
007 – Agente Secreto – Portuguese title
007 Contra o Satânico Dr. No – Brazilian title
Agent 007 – Norwegian title
L’agent 007 contra el doctor No – Catalan Spanish title
Agent 007 med rätt att döda – Swedish title
Agent 007 – mission drab – Danish title
Agente 007 contra el doctor No – Spanish title
Agente 007, licenza di uccidere – Italian title
Doktor No – Turkish title
James Bond 007 contre Dr. No – French/French Belgian title
James Bond 007 contre docteur No – French Belgian/French Canadian title
James Bond 007 contre legen Dr No – German title
James Bond 007 jagt Dr. No – German title
James Bond 007 tegen Dr. No – Flemish Belgian title
James Bond Agent 007 – mod ratt od doda – Swedish title
James Bond, praktor 007 enantion dros No – Greek title
Salainen agentti 007 ja tohtori No – Finnish title
El satánico Dr. No – Argentine/Spanish/Uruguayan title
O Satânico Dr. No – Brazilian title
Links
Sequels
From Russia with Love (1963)
Goldfinger (1964)
Thunderball (1965)
You Only Live Twice (1967)
On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969)
Diamonds Are Forever (1971)
Live and Let Die (1973)
The Man with the Golden Gun (1974)
The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)
Moonraker (1979)
For Your Eyes Only (1981)
Octopussy (1983)
A View to a Kill (1985)
The Living Daylights (1987)
Licence to Kill (1989)
GoldenEye (1995)
Tomorrow Never Dies (1997)
The World Is Not Enough (1999)
Die Another Day (2002)
Casino Royale (2006)
Quantum of Solace (2008)
Skyfall (2012)
Spectre (2015)
No Time to Die (2021)
Extracts included in
100 Years at the Movies (1994)
Best Ever Bond (2002)
Premiere Bond: Die Another Day (2002)
Terence Young: Bond Vivant (2000)
The World of James Bond (1995)
Press
1962
Kine Weekly 6 September 1962 p.15
“The skulduggery, interleaved by torrid and tender romance, is put over with tremendous aplomb by a hand-picked cast and an alert director against a wide variety of bizarre interiors and breathtaking exteriors. The upshot is disarmingly ingenious, “Big Boys Own Paper”, capital British box office hokum. […] Sean Connery is a husky, handsome, athletic and well-groomed Bond. […] The thrills are really big, its romantic encounters intrigue, the humour intentional and otherwise, affords welcome relief and its staging is eye-filling. A crackerjack climax, and a catchy signature tune, to say nothing of compelling title and author values completes exciting and eminently saleable poppycock.” – from an uncredited review
Evening News 4 October 1962
“Grown-up schoolboys, you will find all your secret wishes fulfilled in James Bond – Secret Agent 007 – as he appears in Dr. No […] Sean Connery makes James Bond a somewhat rougher diamond than I had envisaged but he manages the thick-ear stuff well. This one’s going to make a fortune.” – from a review by F. Barker
Evening Standard 4 October 1962
“By putting their tongues often enough in their cheeks, the producers manage to turn Ian Fleming’s often unsavoury plot into what you could call sadism for the family. […] Directed by Terence Young, the thriller is content if it makes your mind boggle – which it does with the powerful help of Ken Adam’s sets – then leaves you smiling tolerantly at your own naivete.” – from a review by Alexander Walker
Daily Express 5 October 1962
“Dr. No is fun all the way and even the sex is harmless.” – from a review by Leonard Moseley
Daily Mail 5 October 1962
“I could never begin to explain how [Bond] foils a plot to divert Cape Canaveral’s rockets, but this film has an engaging air of chuckling at its own absurdities.” – from a review by Cecil Wilson
Scene 5 October 1962
“The skill with which the men behind Dr. No present the adventures of their monstrous hero – Ken Adam’s art direction is particularly striking – tends to disguise the fact that our applause is invited for jingoism, thuggishness and blind obedience.” – from a review by Derek Hill
The Times 5 October 1962
“Dr. No is a carefully, expertly made (manufactured would perhaps be the better word) exercise in violence and sadism so shaped that the audience is conditioned into believing that it is witnessing the last word in sophisticated thrills decked out with even more sophisticated trimmings of sex.” – from an uncredited review
New Statesman 9 October 1962
“The criminal, carnal antics of James Bond were obviously just what the director ordered, but it must be said that the director, Terence Young, who’s known how to temper them for mass consumption. […] If violent reveries are the style, this may well be the first in a chain of comparatively innocuous Bond goods: no-one could take these antics seriously” – from a review by John Coleman
References
Periodicals
Amateur Cine World November 1962 p.691 – editorial (on Maurice Binder’s titles by Tony Rose)
Amateur Movie-Maker January 1963 pp.69-71 – illustrated article (by Maurice Binder on creating the main titles)
Classic Images no.107 (May 1984) p.9 – illustrated video review (by John A Cardello)
Film Daily 8 March 1963 p.3 – illustrated US premiere report
Film Daily 19 March 1963 p.7 – review (by Mandel Herbstman)
Films and Filming September 1989 (reprint of November 1962) p.66 – illustrated review (by Richard Whitehall)
The Hollywood Reporter 15 March 1963 p.3 – review (by James Powers)
The Hollywood Reporter 12 April 1982 p.3 – interview with Albert Broccoli (by Robert Osborne)
Kine Weekly 6 September 1962 p.15 – review (by anonymous)
Monthly Film Bulletin October 1962 p.135 – review, synopsis, credits
Motion Picture Herald 3 April 1963 (Production Digest Section) p.785-786 – review (by C.S.A.)
New Statesman 9 October 1962 – review (by John Coleman)
Scene 5 October 1962 – review (by Derek Hill)
Sight & Sound Autumn 1962 – illustrated review (by Penelope Houston)
The Spectator 12 October 1962 – review (by I. Cameron)
Variety 17 October 1962 – review (by Rich)
Newspapers
Daily Express 5 October 1962 – review (by Leonard Moseley)
Daily Mail 5 October 1962 – review (by Cecil Wilson)
Daily Worker 6 October 1962 – review (by Nina Hibbin)
Evening News 4 October 1962 – review (by F. Barker)
Evening Standard 4 October 1962 – review (by Alexander Walker)
The Times 5 October 1962 – review (by unknown)
Books
Kiss Kiss Bang! Bang! pp.3-19 – article, credits, review
Reference Guide to Fantastic Films by Walt Lee p.107 – credits
