Dr No: Film – Trivia
- Thunderball (1965) was originally going to be the first James Bond film, but legal wrangles with its co-author led to Dr. No (1962) being chosen instead.
- Author Ian Fleming wanted his cousin Christopher Lee to play Dr. No. (Lee would later appear as Scaramanga in the 007 flick The Man with the Golden Gun (1974).) Fleming originally asked Noel Coward to play the part of Dr. No. Coward turned down the part by replying with a telegram that read, “Dr. No? No! No! No!”
- Max von Sydow turned down the part of Dr No in order to play Jesus Christ in The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965).
- According to Albert R. Broccoli’s autobiography “When the Snow Melts”, Roger Moore was Ian Fleming’s choice to play Bond, largely based on his performance as “The Saint” (1962). This however is a misclaim as “The Saint” (1962) didn’t begin airing in the UK until October 1962, one day after the premiere of Dr. No (1962).
- Although Sean Connery landed the lead role via casting agents, for publicity purposes there was a contest to find the perfect man to play James Bond. Six finalists were chosen and screen-tested by Albert R. Broccoli, Harry Saltzman and Ian Fleming. The winner was a 28 year old model called Peter Anthony who looked the part but completely lacked the acting technique to play it.
- Eunice Gayson was originally cast as Miss Moneypenny.
- One of the main reasons for Noel Coward’s objection to the role of Dr No was the fact that he would have to wear metal hands.
- This was chosen to be the inaugural film in the James Bond franchise as the plot of the source novel was the most straightforward. It had only one major location (Jamaica) and only one big special effects set piece.
- “Dr No” was the fifth published James Bond novel. It’s working title was “The Wound Man.” The complete name of the villain in the book is Doctor Julius No, only ever referred to as Dr. No in the film. Ian Fleming is said to have based him on Sax Rohmer’s Dr Fu Manchu.
- The license plate number of James Bond’s blue 1961 Sunbeam Alpine Series II car was Z 8301.
- The license plate number of the black car that James Bond is chauffeured by Jones from the airport was J 7715.
- SPECTRE stood for SPecial Executive for Counter-intelligence, Terrorism, Revenge and Extortion.
- Of the £1,000,000 budget, production designer Ken Adam was given £14,000. Adam argued for an extra £6,000 to create his now-exemplary sets.
- One of the biggest problems for the crew while filming on location in Jamaica was the terribly wet weather.
- As detailed as Dr No’s underwater lair was, one vital element was very nearly forgotten – background plates of fish swimming in the sea to be added to the thick-glass window. The necessary film was quickly found among library footage the day before the scene was to be filmed.
- Although there are persistent rumors that Ursula Andress was nude in the shower scene to clean her of radiation, closer inspection reveals that she is wearing a flesh-colored bikini.
- The song that would eventually go on to be known as the James Bond Theme was originally called Bea’s Knees.
- Producers Harry Saltzman and Albert R. Broccoli were adamant that the film be directed by an Englishman, someone cultivated enough to understand the world of 007.
- Two weeks before filming was due to start, the part of Honey Ryder was still to be cast. The producers then saw a photograph that actor John Derek had taken of his wife, Ursula Andress, and offered her the part without even meeting her. Some sources claim that the photograph allegedly featured Andress in a wet t-shirt competition. Andress, who wasn’t overly interested in acting at the time, only agreed to do it when family friend Kirk Douglas read the script and urged her to take it on.
- Marguerite LeWars, who plays the photographer girl, was working as a flight attendant when Terence Young approached her with the age-old line “Would you like to be in films?” Lewars’ brother-in-law Reggie Carter was also in the film – he played Bond’s duplicitous driver.
- One of the Three Blind Mice who shot Strangways (played by Timothy Moxon (See: Tim Moxon) at the beginning of the film was actually Moxon’s dentist.
- Harry Saltzman and Albert R. Broccoli, the original producers of the James Bond films, cast Sean Connery because they liked how he was a big, tough-looking man who nonetheless moved gracefully (“like a cat”).
- Sean Connery won the role of James Bond after producer Albert R. Broccoli attended a screening of Darby O’Gill and the Little People (1959). He was particularly impressed with the fist fight Connery has with a village bully at the climax of the film. Broccoli later had his wife Dana Broccoli see the film and confirm his sex appeal.
- Sean Connery wears a toupee in all the James Bond films and this started with Dr. No (1962).
- The first ever day of filming at England’s Pinewood Studios for both Dr. No (1962) and the EON Productions James Bond series was on Monday 26 February 1962. The first take was Slate 310 at 11.25 am on Stage D. The scene was in M’s office and featured Bernard Lee, Peter Burton and Sean Connery. Many of the cast and crew including the director Terence Young had been late arriving on set due to harsh cold inclement weather.
- The script for the classic scene where Honey emerges from the water read: BOND’S EYELINE : DAY. WHAT HE SEES – HONEY, staring at the water’s edge, her back to him. She is naked except for a wisp.
- According to Inside ‘Dr. No’ (2000) (V), the introduction of the James Bond character utilizes a technique which is a homage to the 1939 William Dieterle film, Juarez (1939) starring Paul Muni. This technique is performed using a series of close-ups of the character without revealing the face, cross-cutting with the other characters in the scene and the gambling table. Finally, the face of the person is revealed, stating his name, “Bond, James Bond.” This classic introduction of the James Bond character to cinema audiences of the world was filmed on 2 March 1962.
- The aquarium in the Fairmont Hamilton Hotel’s Gazebo Bar in Bermuda was reportedly the inspiration for Dr. No’s aquarium, itself later inspiring the aquarium in Stromberg’s lair in The Spy Who Loved Me (1977).
- Director Terence Young wanted Richard Johnson to play James Bond.
- The location of the classic scene where Honey Rider (Ursula Andress) walks out of the sea and meets James Bond (Sean Connery) was Laughing Waters Beach on the Laughing Water Estate owned by Mrs. Minnie Simpson in Ocho Rios, St. Ann, Jamaica. Mrs. Simpson had been a fan of the Ian Fleming James Bond novels.
- MI-7’s London communications call sign was G7W.
- Cameo: [Bob Simmons] [The series regular stuntman is the first person ever to be seen as James Bond in the EON Productions series during the opening gun barrel-sequence. He would appear doing this three times, the second and third being for From Russia with Love (1963) and Goldfinger (1964) utilizing this same film as archive footage.]
- The directing job was originally offered to Guy Hamilton, Guy Green and Ken Hughes. They all turned it down.
- The budget was only $1,000,000, but when costs overran by $100,000 United Artists wanted to pull the plug, fearing they would never recoup their outlay.
- There is a longstanding rumor that in the early drafts of the script, Dr. No turned out to be a monkey. When first approached by Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman, screenwriters Wolf Mankowitz and Richard Maibaum discarded most of the source material and wrote a story treatment about a shipping magnate called Buchwald attempting to blow up the Panama Canal. Dr. No was a monkey god worshiped on the island, and the villain kept a capuchine monkey as a pet. Broccoli and Saltzman told them to try again and this time stick more closely to the source material. Wolf Mankowitz was dissatisfied with the script and had his name removed from the credits. Mankowitz later co-wrote the James Bond parody film Casino Royale (1967), which co-starred Ursula Andress who played Honey Ryder in “Dr. No.”
- The armorer who gives Bond his Walther PPK at the start of the film is Major Boothroyd, who in the next film, From Russia with Love (1963) would be played by Desmond Llewelyn. Beginning with Goldfinger (1964), the “armorer” would forever be known as “Q” (for “Quartermaster”). The character of Boothroyd, also appears in Fleming’s original Dr. No novel. He is named for Geoffrey Boothroyd, who wrote to Fleming complaining about Bond’s use of a beretta in the early Bond books and recommending Bond use a Walther PPK instead. This detail was included in the novel and later included in this film, establishing part of the Bond legend. Q is based loosely on Charles Fraser-Smith, who designed spy gadgets called “Q-devices” (named for Q-ships, the Royal Navy’s disguised warships of World War One) for MI-6.
- A sequence involving Honey Rider been tied to the ground and attacked by a swarm of crabs was scrapped because many of the crustacean arrived frozen, dead and damaged. The scene was altered to using water as the threat instead.
- In footage, producer Harry Saltzman stated that they originally planned to use Roger Moore but he was unavailable.
- To get a feel for the clothes, director Terence Young asked Sean Connery to sleep in his finely tailor fitted suit which was purchased at Turnbull and Aser Tailors and made to play James Bond.
- The story of Dr. No was originally written for an episode entitled ‘Commander Jamaica’ of a never-produced 1956 TV series that was to have been titled “James Gunn Secret Agent”. Fleming later expanded the story treatment into a James Bond novel.
- The year after this film was released, Ian Fleming gave Ursula Andress a one-line cameo appearance in his 1963 Bond novel “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service” (she is mentioned by name as a celebrity attending a ski resort secretly operated by Blofeld).
- According to the Inside ‘Dr. No’ (2000) (V) documentary, Ian Fleming was so smitten by Ursula Andress that when he wrote “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service”, he described the character of Tracy Di Vicenzo (Played by Diana Rigg in the film version) as looking like Andress.
- The film’s line “Bond. James Bond.” was voted as the #22 film quote by the American Film Institute
- The Japanese office of United Artists originally interpreted the title as “Dr.? No!” and produced posters with a translation that meant “We don’t want a doctor”. The mistake was discovered at the last moment.
- Roger Moore was author Ian Fleming’s original choice for Bond, but he was committed to “The Saint” (1962), he went on the play the role years later, as did David Niven in Casino Royale (1967). Producers Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman used Alfred Hitchcock’s North by Northwest (1959) as the template for this film and the subsequent early James Bond films. In fact, the role of James Bond was first offered to North by Northwest (1959) actor Cary Grant, who would commit to one film only, and its suave and urbane villain, James Mason, who would commit to only two, while Broccoli and Saltzman wanted an actor willing to make a multi-film commitment to the role and the projected series. The role of James Bond was offered to American actor Steve Reeves who turned it down. At the time, Reeves had become an international box office sensation in a group of European made mythological/historical spectacles. Patrick McGoohan is another actor who was considered for the role of Bond, due to his popularity on “Danger Man” (1960). According to legend, McGoohan turned the role down on moral grounds. Other actors considered for the lead role included: Trevor Howard, and Rex Harrison, Richard Johnson, William Franklyn, Ian Hendry (co-star of “The Avengers” (1961)) and Richard Burton. Director John Frankenheimer claims Albert Broccoli offered him the role of James Bond.
- Joseph Wiseman was the only early Bond villain not to have his voice dubbed by another actor.
- Other actors considered for the lead role included: Cary Grant, David Niven, Trevor Howard, and Rex Harrison.
- Sean Connery was chosen for the part of 007 after Albert R. Broccoli’s wife saw him in Darby O’Gill and the Little People (1959).
- Ursula Andress dialog was looped by voice artist Nikki Van der Zyl. It was her task to recreated Andress’ voice but give it only a mild accent. Ursula Andress’ singing voice was dubbed by Diana Coupland. Ursula Andress and Eunice Gayson were both dubbed by the same actress. Gayson’s real voice can be heard on the theatrical trailers for the film, included on the DVD release.
- After the film’s release in Italy, the Vatican issued a special communiqué expressing its disapproval at the film’s moral standpoint.
- Sean Connery is morbidly afraid of spiders. The shot of the spider in his bed was originally done with a sheet of glass between him and the spider, but when this didn’t look realistic enough, the scene was re-shot with stuntman Bob Simmons. Simmons reported that the tarantula crawling over Bond was the scariest stunt he had ever performed.
- A Goya painting of the Duke of Wellington, stolen in 1960 and never recovered, is found on an easel next to the stairs in Dr. No’s dining area – which is why Bond stops to notice it as he passes it while going up the stairs.
- Maurice Binder designed the gun barrel opening at the last minute, by pointing a pinhole camera through a real gun barrel. The actor in the sequence is not Connery, but stuntman Bob Simmons. Connery didn’t film the sequence himself until Thunderball (1965).
- Maurice Binder designed the gun barrel opening at the last minute, by pointing a pinhole camera through a real gun barrel.
- The character of Sylvia Trench, whom Bond first meets in the casino scene, was supposed to become a recurring character, her romantic intentions continually foiled by Bond’s missions. She reappeared in From Russia with Love (1963) – the only Bond girl to appear in two films (as the same character) – but the character was dropped from the series after that.
- The character of Miss Moneypenny was said to have been inspired by Vera Atkins (born Vera Maria Rosenberg), portrayed by Avice Landone in Carve Her Name with Pride (1958).
- The role of Sylvia Trench was first offered to Lois Maxwell, who instead went on to play Moneypenny.
- Although Moneypenny has always come across as the epitome of British efficiency, actress Lois Maxwell is actually a Canadian.
- In the novel, the character Puss-Feller is said to have that name because of wrestling an octopus. In the film, it’s said he wrestles alligators, which renders the name meaningless.
- The gimmick of having the audience first think of Leiter as a villain would be used again in other Bond films (due in part to the ever-changing actors in the role), specifically Thunderball (1965), Never Say Never Again (1983) and The Living Daylights (1987).
- The famous pose of Sean Connery holding a gun across his chest had to be redone at the last second. The Walther PPK was left at the studio, but the photographer had an old air pistol in his car. The gun in the picture is the air pistol
- The film’s USA release was forestalled by the political climate after the Cuban Missile Crisis.
- Dent shot “Bond” (actually pillows in bed) six times. After some plot point explanation by Bond, Dent lurches for his gun, but it’s empty, hence the Bond line, “That’s a Smith and Wesson, and you’ve had your six.” As a kind of payback coda, Bond shoots Dent once, and Dent flips off the bed onto the floor. Bond then fires five more rounds into Dent’s back. Censors scaled this back to two total shots, with just one to the back. Reportedly a second version of the scene was filmed, but not in the final film, showing Dent firing off one last bullet before being shot down by Bond. This actually explains why Dent is shown firing a seven-shooter, rather than a six-shooter.
- Location manager Chris Blackwell (who was uncredited) was later the founder of Island Records.
- The tall blond man dancing at Puss Feller’s club was location manager Chris Blackwell.
- It is long standing misconception that John Barry wrote “The James Bond Theme”. It actually came from a musical composed by Monty Norman (hence the credit), the music of which Barry adapted. Much has been made of Barry claiming to have originally composed it, including a court case. Monty Norman won.
- Ian Fleming was so impressed by Sean Connery’s performance as James Bond that he gave his character Scottish ancestry in the novel “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service”.
- Jamaican bandleader, songwriter and arranger Carlos Malcolm was asked by Eon Productions to write music for the film. He composed several fills, including the Dr. No theme, and handed over the scores to a musical director for approval. The director disappeared to London, leaving Carlos without credit.
- This is the only James Bond film to feature the gun barrel scene in both the opening and ending credits.
- The only James Bond film that does not feature a pre-titles sequence.
- During the initial briefing, M says that he recently was put in charge of MI7. Bernard Lee originally said MI6 during the take, but this has been overdubbed, possibly for fear of offending the real-life organisation. In later Bond films, however, 007 clearly works for MI6.
- The first scene Sean Connery filmed as James Bond is the sequence in the Kingston Airport where he passes a female photographer and throws a hat in front of his face. The filming date was 16 January 1962.
- The initial reason that MI6 launches an investigation, mysterious radio interference being picked up at Cape Cenaveral isn’t as far out of the question as one might think. A memorandum to the Pentagon in the year the film was released, reported unusually heavy radio emissions from Cuba, and that if John Glenn’s upcoming orbit of the Earth were to fail, a case could successfully made (whether true or not) of Cuban sabotage.
- Ken Adam’s sets so impressed Stanley Kubrick that he hired him the following year to be production designer on Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964).
- Bryan Forbes was asked to direct.
- Stuntman Bob Simmons reported that the tarantula crawling over Bond was the scariest stunt he had ever performed.
- John Stears was asked to help with the miniatures. He only a budget of £1000 for the effect of the destruction of Dr. No’s Fortress. In the next Bond outing Stears took over as Special Effects Supervisor
- When United Artist executives were first screened a print of the film at 10 am one morning with Arthur Krim in attendance, when the film finished around midday, there was a quiet silence at the end of the screening. The European head exec stated that the only good thing about the picture was that they couldn’t lose with it with only a budget of about $(US)840,000. Producers Harry Saltzman and Albert R. Broccoli were shaken and stirred.
- Ian Fleming didn’t originally like the casting of Sean Connery as James Bond. Bond was English and Connery was Scottish, Bond was upper-class and Connery was working-class, Bond was refined and educated and Connery was too rugged. However, Fleming would later change his view of Connery after the success of the James Bond films.
- Vehicles, boats and cars featured in the film include the Dragon Tank at Crab Key, a blue 1961 Sunbeam Alpine Series II which James Bond drives whilst being tailed by a pre-war Packard LaSalle hearse, and Bond rides in a taxi which is 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air convertible. Also featured are a motorboat, Mk II Ford consul taxi, Quarrel’s boat, Austin A55 Cambridge and a Ford Zephyr.
- The literal translations of some of this film’s foreign language titles include “Licence to Kill” (Italy); “James Bond vrs Dr. No” (Belgium and France); “Agent 007 : Mission : Kill Dr. No” (Denmark); “James Bond chases Dr. No” (Germany); “007 is the Killing Number: Dr. No” (Japan); “Agent 007 with a license to kill” (Sweden) and “Agent 007 vrs the Satanic Dr. No” (Portugal and Spain).
See also:
© No copyright claims are made on the content of the BondUnlimited.com site. The text on this site is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses collated material from various entries taking off from the Wikipedia article James Bond. All images are copyrighted material of the producers of the respective films. Contact us at bondunlimited(a)gmail(dot)com.