HAPPY SIXTIETH JAMES BOND AND DR NO
chrisno1
LondonPosts: 3,279MI6 Agent
Today 5th October 1962 the worldwide premiere of Dr No took place at the London Pavillion, Shaftsbury Avenue.
I'd like to extend my congratulations to all those over the years who have worked on James Bond productions, starting back in 1961 and still continuing today, which have provided me and many millions of others with so much fun and entertainment.
The following post is a small, personal, thought about a few of the reasons I believe Dr No to be a great film and certainly a great James Bond film.
If any other members would like to post memories of Dr No and their thoughts on the sixty years of adventures, please do.
Comments
Well, for me, it's all about the Sixty Years of Adventures.....
The Dancing of The Stars gives a tribute to James Bond.
Bond Night Opening Number: Dancing With The Stars
So, we finally made it, sixty years of James Bond. He’s been around almost as long as the late Queen Elizabeth. In fact, if we include Ian Fleming putting pen and key-type to paper, he’s reigned and been killed off in the very same year as Her Majesty chose to depart us. And as the Royal Family of Windsor continues to reinvent itself, so too I hope will James Bond, both on paper and on screen.
[I hope that doesn't offend anyone... Apologies in advance if it reads hard hearted.]
I attended several events at the British Film Institute over the weekend and have popped along to my local Vue to soak up some of the flavour of the Bond films this celebratory year for OO7.
I am too young to know first-hand anything of the sixties Bond films. Even the seventies are slightly out of my reach. The impact of Bond on the population at large at those times is slightly lost on me. When I really became interested, in about 1979 / 80, those eras had passed by. You could still by model Lotuses and DB5s, annuals and stuff, but the true hysteria of Bond is a moment I missed. My first experiences were on television. I avidly watched Thunderball and On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, but my parents shuffled me off to bed at 9.30pm and I missed the climax of both movies. A repeat of You Only Live Twice in 1978 or 79 was my first full viewing, closely followed by Moonraker in the cinema. I then took in every Bond film on TV or in the cinema and fully caught up by 1985 and A View to a Kill. I’d also by then read all the books and had just discovered Gardner’s continuation series in 1983. I was late for everything.
It's difficult to contemplate the cultural impact James Bond has made over the six decades. The fact he was considered ‘British’ enough to be represented at an Olympic opening ceremony tells you how the character has intwined himself into the public’s consciousness. This may not have appeared so in 1962.
Dr No had its premiere on 5th October that year and met with middling reviews. Many critics were quite scathing, which seems hard to imagine now. There was an interesting article in the Daily Express yesterday by Anthony Horowitz which outlines his own feelings for the cinematic Bond. One of his sentences reads: “It’s interesting how, even sixty years later, Dr No doesn’t feel too ridiculously old-fashioned – but then it set a template that has barely changed throughout the films’ many incarnations.”
Having just watched this movie a couple of days ago, I can concur. Yes, a rough template does exist. A series of scenes are laid out in the film which are [almost] slavishly followed by all others. The sequences are so successful other films borrowed the template themselves, to varying degrees of success. The sequences I pick out run thus: the gun barrel, the title theme and sequence, an early incident which wields death and excitement, the introduction of Bond, the briefing with M and the flirtation with Moneypenny, receiving a gadget / equipment, an exotic location, a man on the ground, a duplicitous woman and / or man, a beautiful heroine, a car chase, a dastardly villain, spectacular sets, a one-to-one with the villain, a world endangering plot of some outlandishness, a fight to the death, an explosion to end it all, a happy ending with the beautiful heroine. Of course, the sequence changes and some are added, such as the PTS or an amazing stunt.
However, I think the reason Dr No remains fresh is because it still has an aura of believability to it. Yes, Dr No’s hideout is a bit of fantasy, although nor so farfetched as one might assume, but toppling missiles or shooting them down using tracking systems is still a military procedure today. The business of spy-work has changed, but the man on the ground is still trying to hide his identity as Bond does from the photographer. They still follow clues and make deductions based on evidence, as Bond does, however slim. And we know they still kill and assassinate. There is also something timeless about the locations and the music being quintessentially Jamaican rather than a composer's idea of what is Jamaican. I don’t like Monty Norman’s incidental score very much, but the song score is very strong and the electronic sounds he utilised for the tunnel of death sequence anticipate Eric Sera’s industrial score for Goldeneye, yet as they are merely sound, they don’t appear to have dated, while Sera’s music has. Additionally, Ken Adam’s interior locations feel big and brave. Every set is bigger than it needs to be: the casino, Bond’s flat, M’s office, Plydell-Smith’s office, Miss Taro’s villa, dent’s laboratory, Dr No’s cavernous interiors. This bigger-than-life scale takes us away from reality visually, while the story remains firmly locked in the here-and-now. He’s adapted what we know, or may know, and turned it into our dream or our nightmare. Of course, Adam would create many truly monumental interiors, but he’s created a worthy stage for the action of Dr No, one which doesn’t suspend our belief – well, perhaps a little, for the cynical.
As the movies progressed and as I came into my own James Bond experience, it was the solid stories, the music, locations and sets which always increased my enjoyment, whisking me into a world of spies, bad guys and beautiful girls. yes of course there were great performances and great fights and chases and oodles of good humour, and sometimes they didn’t always work well, but the timelessness of the franchise is exemplified by these four fundamentals applied to the template as laid out by Dr No. I can only hope as the movies continue, there will be an effort to retain the template and provide more thrills for more millions of fans.
Happy Sixtieth James Bond and Dr No.
I had just turned 6 when I first saw DN in 1962. My dad had seen it a few days earlier and on a Friday night he took my mum and older brother to see it (younger brother was still a twinkle in the eye at that stage), this began the ‘Friday night is cinema night’ family ritual which continued for the next decade or so. My recollection of that night is hazy, to say the least, but the tarantula scene remained in my head and maybe a couple more, I’m not sure, but my second viewing of it in a double bill with FRWL in 1965 is very clear. By the time TB was released Bondmania was at its zenith and I collected the bubblegum cards and had the 007 Underwater Battle board game. Playground talk was all about the new film. James Bond was literally everywhere, even outshining The Beatles. Look Up! Look Down! Look Out! Here Comes The Biggest Bond Of All! Never was an advertising campaign more apt.
60 years later and I’m still a big fan of Bond, although my interest has waned since Brosnan was chosen to play the role, I am still a loyal fan. I’d like to thank Ian Fleming, Cubby, Harry & Co, all the actors and technicians and anyone who has contributed to the greatest character ever invented in fictional history. All your efforts have enriched my life.
Happy 60th Birthday JB.
Ah, the double bill as mentioned by CHB.
If this was 1965 then it would be the first time I saw it. This would be after seeing GF. Later I caught DN on a different double bill
and didn't care that I'd seen both already.
These days DN is one I still watch regularly; I don't think I'll ever tire of it or its parent novel.
Thank @chrisno1 for this thread and your above post which brought happy memories.
By coincidence, I turned on the radio a few minutes ago when I went into the kitchen and caught MGW and BB being interviewed. They were mainly asked about last night's concert, of course, but also generally about 60 years of Bond including DN.
No, they don't know who will be next (at which point Nick Robinson volunteered to loud laughter), and WHATTITW is Barbara's favourite song. Michael praised Dame Shirley.
Happy James Bond Day, Everybody! And Happy Diamond Anniversary!!🍾🥂
WHATTITW is Barbara Broccoli's favorite? Really??? 🤔😏
That's what she said.
James Bond Casino Reunion
Just for fun