Dr. No

Bond came to film life out of the sixth novel titled Dr. No, after nearly a decade of Ian Fleming trying to get his novels made into motion pictures.  A Canadian producer, Harry Saltzman, obtained the rights to make the novels into films.  Even Harry had nearly given up until he found American producer Albert R. Broccoli who was both interested and financed the work through United Artists.  Financing was not great at only one million dollars but it was enough to get the film made.  Dr. No was not the producers first choice for a film, as Thunderball had more potential, but the tropical location of Dr. No could allow an action film to be made within the budget that was provided.

The greatest dilemma facing the producers was who could play the role of James Bond, Bond’s girl, and the villain Dr. No.  Thoughts of Richard Burton or Cary Grant were considered for the lead role.  They decided to take a chance on Sean Connery, a new young actor with a Scottish background.  Terence Young, the director, who was known for his style and elegance in film- making, quickly used his skill to provide Connery a more sophisticated image.  The role of Honey Ryder was quickly chosen as Ursula Andress who was a Swiss Beauty.  The villain turned out to be the hardest selection.  Ian Fleming recommended his friend and playwright Noel Coward but the answer from Noel was “Dr. No is No! No! No!”   A trained actor from New York was chosen for the role, Joseph Wiseman.  Once selection of the cast was complete, filming began in Jamaica in January 1962 without delay.

After location filming was completed, studio production moved back to England.  Imaginative sets were produced and the result was a very polished film elevated above the standard of thriller movies of the period.  The final piece of the film remained in the development of the music.  The film was lucky to have composer Monty Norman on site in Jamaica during the filming.  Monty worked with Byron Lee to bring a real Caribbean feel to the musical score.   A discarded song from the musical version of the novel The House of Mr. Biswas was transformed into the James Bond Theme through the use of a driving modern electric guitar version of the tune created by John Barry.  This theme song ended up being used extensively by the film editor Peter Hunt to make the song integral to the film.

Albert Broccoli had faith in the film.  He took a somewhat meager budget and turned the Ian Fleming novel into a production of value on the screen with high technical standards.  Dr. No was completed by October 1962 where it was released in England successfully under the United Artist banner.  In April 1963, Bond was introduced to American theatres where it had an excellent run with the new spy hero.  Albert Broccoli started with Dr.No to create high budget, award winning Bond films for the next thirty three years until his passing.  Now his daughter Barbara Broccoli, who was born just before the production of Dr. No, carries on the Bond film dynasty for her family.