Dr. No (1962 As we all psych ourselves up for the upcoming "No Time To Die", where else would our retro tour of the JBU (James Bond Universe) begin except at the beginning......
Since there's obviously no reason to go through a plot synopsis for any of these films, we're just gonna roll out every random that hit us......
The Gun Barrel logo......destined to become a part of cinema iconography. But we've always wondered.......what's up with all that weird electronic stuff that precedes the iris opening of the barrel?
Bond's first villain smackdown......with a wussy......we still wish the producers had lined up a far more formidable opponent for Bond's first fight than that skinny, wimpy little chauffer. Come on, the poor sucker offs himself after Bond bitch slaps him a few times. Seriously?
Professor Dent gets dented........you can't keep actor Anthony Dawson down, even after Grace Kelly plunged a scissors in him during "Dial M For Murder". No wonder Bond pumps another slug in him after he's down..... Dawson discovered two irrefutable truths......you can't strangle Princess Grace and you can't get the drop on 007........
Ursula Andress rising from the sea......we realize we're in the minority here but we always found her the least attractive and least talented Bond girl. But no one can argue about how she looks in a bikini.....
Quarrel We always felt sorry for John Kitzmiller.....stuck with this character's jarring transformation....... from a savvy tough guy in the first half of the film to an awful Stepin Fetchit "feet don't fail me now" stereotype in the second half. Shame, shame.
Jack Lord as Felix Leiter A fine, cool choice since Leiter's supposed to be Bond's American counterpoint......but Lord, a preening egomaniacal diva, longed for his own stardom (later accomplished in "Hawaii Five-O").....so bye, bye, bye...hit the road, Jack..
Joseph Wiseman as Dr. No We always thought it was a remarkably out-of-the-box choice, picking a distinguished stage and film actor for Bond's first villain......(Wiseman himself thought of the gig as some second rate Charlie Chan movie and was later astonished by its success.....) His chilly gravitas set the template for many of Bond's later meglomaniac superbaddies.
Overall impression.....yes, it's antiquated and crudely made compared to today's films, but it's always a pleasure to re-visit the start of the saga.......And nothing beats that electric moment when Sean Connery announces himself as "Bond.....James Bond." 4 stars (***).
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