If I have to choose one James Bond movie, (and no one says I do by the way) I'd have to give the nod to Dr.No, the debut James Bond movie as my favorite in the series. Goldfinger (the best complete Bond movie) and From Russia With Love (the best Bond story) are outstanding, but it's this first glimpse of 007 which still gets my complete and full attention each and every time it shows up on television. I never seem to get tired of watching it.
In this story Sean Connery's Bond is still a man who can be hurt, a man who makes mistakes with regrettable and tragic consequences. This is the Bond movie with him at his most human and vunerable, traits which disappear with each succeeding film. Bond, the super agent is fun to watch still, but the emotional connection is broken when you know that he can never be hurt that the people around him might, but he'll certainly wreak his vengeance.
In Dr.No this doesn't really track. Bond is a sleuth, though admittedly a clumsy one and his partnership with Quarrel (John Kitzmiller) remains my favorite after all these years. In just a few scenes together, we get to care about these two men and the rugged and knowing kinship they share.
Ursula Andress as Honey Ryder is naive and beautiful and just enough of an airhead to keep you wincing, but not enough to quite make you dismiss her.
Joseph Wiseman as the titular villain damn near steals this show. He has just enough over-the-top nonsense to make him memorable, but still it's connected to a cold yet seething performance. He's got a lot of hate bottled up, and he doesn't rant like so many of his successors will do in years to come.
This is a damn good movie that builds to its climax with steady beats as the mystery of Crab Key unfolds. Since it's all new, we are properly surprised Jack Lord turns out to be the CIA's Felix Leiter, and we are a bit stunned by the cold-blooded assassination of No's henchman Professor Dent.
If the story requires that Dr.No's laboratory have some of the weakest security imaginable, it's okay, because the wrap up is so sweet.
The novel is substantially different from the movie, with Dr.No a more peculiar creature. If you've never read the original by Fleming, then you're in for a treat. It's got plenty to remind you of the film adaption, but enough different to keep it a fresh read.
Other Bond movies will get this detail or that detail better, but none of them capture the whole as well as this first did.
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While Dr No is one of the best of the Bond films, I feel the ultimate one is the second, From Russia with Love.
ReplyDeleteA closer adaptation of the book.
Memorable supporting characters (both good and evil) You feel real regret when Ali Kerim Bey is killed!
The amazing train compartment fight between Bond (Sean Connery) and Red Grant (Robert Shaw) which had only one quick cutatway shot with a stuntman, otherwise it was them bashing away merrily at each other! Yea, the air was thick with testosterone that day!
SPECTRE in all it's nasty glory, including the Training Center! ("We use live targets, too!")
Blofeld!
The too-short catfight scene in the gypsy camp.
The first appearance of the "real" Q!
And, the first complete John Barry music score!
Like I said, Dr No is damn good, FRwL is just a wee bit better, with all the "classic" elements in place.
I totally agree with you about how good FRWL is. It's a great one to watch, and doubtless a truer Bond experience. But I find Dr.No the more thoroughly enjoyable movie.
ReplyDeleteKerim Bey is a great character. Robert Shaw's Grant is a nasty bastard for sure. It's the gypsy stuff that takes me out of the story a bit.
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I am goign to go home from work and watch FRwL again after reading these
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