Dr. No

This is not meant to be a definitive history. It's just a way for me to kill time until the release of  Skyfall. Unless otherwise noted the information comes from the films, commentaries, special features and the booklet enclosed with the DVD. I do not have the films on blu-ray. No one is more sorry than I am.

The plot is . . . Um . . . Basically Dr. No wants to knock a NASA rocket out of the sky and Bond has to stop him. In a way the film is about the fact that Dr. No works for SPECTRE and this is just a set up for the films to follow. If you think about it that is what a lot of films are like today. Not about SPECTRE, but about sucking you in with a plot point so that you watch the rest of the series. Clever.

The film opens with the greatest theme in film history. Then there are Maurice Binder's titles. In Dr. No they seem rather simple compared to the more elaborate ones in recent films but they didn't have the benefits of computer animation in the early Sixties. Don't you people watch Mad Men?

Anorak moment: That isn't Sean Connery in the hat with the gun. He was unavailable on the day so they used stuntman Bob Simmons. So I guess you could say that Bob Simmons is the first person to portray Bond On the big screen. I don't know if I'd try to win any bets down the pub with that nugget.

The three blind assassins were pretty cool. I didn't see that one coming. Neither did Strangways for that matter.

Bond is introduced in a casino playing Baccarat. Baccarat is a game invented by Burt Baccarat to kill time in between writing songs. I actually once learned the rules but I have since forgotten them. It's kind of a high-falutin' Blackjack.

I miss Miss Moneypenny from the last two Bond films. Some reports say that she will be back in Skyfall. The question is who should play the part? I think Catherine Tate, while some smart alec said Benedict Cumberbatch in drag.

This is one of the few of the films not to have a scene with Q. Instead we have M calling for Major Boothroyd the Armourer. This is where we learn that Bond spent six months in hospital after his Beretta jammed. I hate when that happens. I'm glad that they got it sorted in time for the Lethal Weapon films.

Jack Lord wearing Lindsay Lohan's sunglasses plays CIA agent Felix Leiter. A lot of actors have played Leiter over the years. Eight in total. Only six have played Bond. I wonder why this never became a running joke like so many other things did.

I have recurring nightmares about spiders in bed. Not really, but I probably just jinxed myself.

Any car that goes over a cliff must explode. It is law.

Finally at minute sixty-three Ursula Andress shows up. That's the moment we all have been waiting for. This is the 1962 equivalent of Phoebe Cates in Fast Times at Ridgemont High.

One of the few quibbles is with the "dragon." That was rather lame. Then again they only had a one million dollar budget. I think they sold it to the producers of National Lampoon's Animal House. Then again I could be wrong.

After Quarrel is killed, and Bond and Honey are taken hostage, we are introduced to Sister Lily and Sister Rose. Thankfully there was no Sister Hyacinth.

If you want to hide in plain sight just grab a folder and act like you know what you are doing. It's worked for me for decades. Also, it does help if you are wearing a hazmat suit. Action figure sold separately.

You think that "Danger Level" sign is big enough? Dr. No may be evil but I'm glad to see that he follows UK health and safety regulations and guidelines regarding signage. A safe workplace is a happy workplace.

Speaking of the title character, I thought that Joseph Wiseman was correct to underplay him. Otherwise Dr. No would come off like a cartoon character. We don't need that in a Bond film.

Bond makes his daring escape and rescues Honey along the way. By the way, wasn't she wearing pants the last time we saw her. I'm not complaining.

Then it ends with the two of them in a boat not wanting to be rescued. Not yet anyway.

As you can tell most of the elements for future Bond films are there. There have been a few additions and tweeks along the way.

Terence Moore was the director and he created the template for the series. He basically taught Sean Connery how to be Bond. It's hard to believe that anyone else other than Connery would have been considered for the role. Cary Grant, James Mason, Patrick McGoohan and some guy called Roger Moore were amongst the candidates.

Peter Hunt created a very fast paced editing style that a lot of action films still use today. The sets were created by Production Designer Ken Adam. He turned the films into a world unlike anything seen in film. They were futuristic and timeless all at once.

James Bond will return in From Russia with Love.