James Bond: Dr No

***Dr. No*** is the sixth novel by the English author Ian Fleming to feature his British Secret Service agent James Bond. Fleming wrote the novel in early 1957 at his Goldeneye estate in Jamaica. It was first published on March 31, 1958. The novel centres on Bond's investigation into the disappearance in Jamaica of two fellow MI6 operatives. He establishes that they had been investigating Doctor No, a Chinese operator of a guano mine on the fictional Caribbean island of Crab Key. Bond travels to the island and meets Honeychile Rider and later Doctor No.

The novel began as a 1956 screenplay for the producer Henry Morgenthau III for a proposed television show entitled Commander Jamaica. When those plans foundered, Fleming adapted the ideas as the basis for a novel, provisionally titled The Wound Man. The book's eponymous villain was influenced by Sax Rohmer's Fu Manchu stories.

Dr. No was the first of Fleming's novels to face widespread negative criticism in Britain; Paul Johnson of the New Statesman dismissed the book as one of "Sex, Snobbery and Sadism". When released on the American market it was received more favourably. Dr. No was serialised in the Daily Express, first in an abridged story form and later as a comic strip. The story was adapted in 1962 as the first film in the Bond series, with Sean Connery in the lead role.

#### Plot

Recovered from serious poisoning inflicted by the SMERSH agent Rosa Klebb (in From Russia, with Love) the MI6 agent James Bond is sent by M on an undemanding mission to the British colony of Jamaica. He is instructed to investigate the disappearance of Commander John Strangways, and his secretary. Strangways had been investigating the activities of Doctor Julius No, a reclusive Chinese-German who lives on the fictional island of Crab Key and runs a guano mine. Local rumour is that a vicious dragon also lives there. Spoonbills on the island are protected by the American National Audubon Society, two of whose representatives died when their plane crashed on No's airstrip.

On his arrival, Bond soon realises that he is being watched. His hotel room is searched, a basket of poisoned fruit is delivered to the room and a deadly centipede is placed in his bed while he is sleeping. With the help of an old friend, Quarrel, Bond visits Crab Key to establish a connection between No and the disappearance of the MI6 personnel. Bond and Quarrel meet Honeychile Rider. Bond and Rider are captured by No's men after Quarrel is burned to death by the doctor's "dragon"—a flamethrowing armoured swamp buggy designed to keep away trespassers.

No is working with the Russians and has built an elaborate underground facility from which he can sabotage US test missiles launched from Cape Canaveral. A Chinese Tong had No's hands cut off as a warning to others, after he stole money from their treasury.

No forces Bond to navigate his way through an obstacle course in the facility's ventilation system. Bond suffers electric shocks, burns and an encounter with large poisonous spiders and the ordeal ends in a fight with a captive giant squid. After his escape he encounters Rider, who has been pegged out to be eaten by crabs but she managed to escape.

Bond kills No by taking over the guano-loading machine and burying him alive. Bond and Rider then escape from No's complex in the "dragon" buggy, sail back to Jamaica and notify the colonial authorities.

#### Serialisation and Comic Strip

Dr. No was serialised in The Daily Express from March 19 to April 1, 1958.

The novel was adapted as a daily comic strip in the paper and was syndicated worldwide. The strip ran from May 23 to October 1, 1960 and was written by Peter O'Donnell and illustrated by John McLusky.

In 1962 the American men's magazine Stag serialised the story, renaming it as "Nude Girl of Nightmare Key".

#### Film

> *"The first James Bond film!"*
>
>

***Dr. No*** was adapted into a film in 1962, starring Sean Connery, with Ursula Andress and Joseph Wiseman. Filmed in Jamaica and England, it is the first James Bond film adapted from the novel by Richard Maibaum, Johanna Harwood, and Berkely Mather, and was directed by Terence Young. The film was produced by Harry Saltzman and Albert R. Broccoli.

The film was released on October 7, 1962 (UK) and May 29, 1963 (US).

Bond is sent to Jamaica to investigate the disappearance of a fellow British agent. The trail leads him to the underground base of Dr. No, who is plotting to disrupt an early American space launch with a radio beam weapon. The film introduced the criminal organisation SPECTRE (SPecial Executive for Counter-intelligence, Terrorism, Revenge, and Extortion), which would also appear in six subsequent films.

Produced on a low budget, Dr. No was a financial success. While critical reaction was mixed upon release, over time the film has gained a reputation as one of the series' best instalments. The film was the first of a successful series of Bond films. Dr. No also launched a genre of "secret agent" films that flourished in the 1960s. The film also spawned a spin-off comic book and soundtrack album as part of its promotion and marketing.

Many of the iconic aspects of a typical James Bond film were established in Dr. No: the film begins with an introduction to the character through the view of a gun barrel and a highly stylised main title sequence, both created by Maurice Binder. Production designer Ken Adam established an elaborate visual style that is one of the hallmarks of the film series.

##### Notable Cast

* Sean Connery: James Bond
* Ursula Andress: Honey Ryder (spoken voice by Nikki van der Zyl and singing voice by Diana Coupland)
* Joseph Wiseman: Dr. No
* Jack Lord: Felix Leiter: A CIA operative sent to liaise with James Bond while he is in Kingston.
* Bernard Lee: M
* John Kitzmiller: Quarrel
* Lois Maxwell: Miss Moneypenny
* Peter Burton: Major Boothroyd, head of Q-Branch. This was Burton's only appearance as Q.

##### ***Soundtrack***

Composer Monty Norman was selected by producer Albert R. Broccoli after Broccoli backed a musical of Norman's Belle or The Ballad of Dr. Crippen written by Wolf Mankowitz, a frequent collaborator with Norman and an original screenwriter for Dr. No.

Norman travelled to Jamaica and met Chris Blackwell, a location scout and production assistant, who introduced Norman to Byron Lee and the Dragonaires who performed the Jamaican music in the film. Lee and his band including guitarist Ernest Ranglin and trombonist Carlos Malcolm recorded the Jamaican parts of the score. The song "Under the Mango Tree" was performed by an uncredited Diana Coupland, Norman's wife at the time, backed by Ernest Ranglin on guitar. Ranglin also played on several other tracks. Lee recalled that most of their work was not used in the completed film but appeared on the soundtrack album.

The rest of Norman's score was orchestrated by his frequent arranger Bert Rhodes, who Norman gave half of his £500 fee to, was recorded with the 20-30 piece orchestra conducted by Eric Rogers. None of the orchestrated tracks appear on the soundtrack album.

The original "James Bond Theme" was written by Norman. John Barry, who would later go on to compose the music for eleven Bond films, arranged the theme, but was uncredited – except for the credit of his orchestra playing the final piece. John Barry claimed he, not Norman, originated the theme. This argument has been the subject of two court cases, the most recent in 2001.

The soundtrack album of Dr. No was not originally issued to coincide with the film's initial release. However, in addition to his fee for orchestrating the "James Bond Theme", Barry was allowed to perform a different orchestration of the theme on Columbia Records. This became a top ten hit in the U.K. The soundtrack album came out after the U.S. release of Dr. No in June 1963.

Listen to the album on Deezer.