Dr.No: The Oddball Bond

Rick Roberts

I have always felt that James Bond number 1 is not quite a Bond film in the sense that the atmosphere is fairly unique because of the combination of different genres. The first half of Doctor No starts off as mystery instead of a spy thriller. Bond jumps in and out of action from time to time but largely he is an invesigator, he interviews witnesses and picks on subtle clues and carefully exposing the guilty parties like Prof. Dent and Miss Taro. The henchmen here are also all pretty much normal people being manipulated by a grand hand in the background and unlike future films, the main protagonist takes a back seat.

When we get to the island the genre shifts to an adventure. Bond and Quarrel venture up to a small island with a vast jungle and with Honeyrider characterized as sort of a "jungle woman", it's like we entered an entirely different film. Some of this time is devoted to solving the mystery of a "dragon" killing innocent people on this island, so maybe you could say a little fantasy is involved.

Finally we get one last shift in genre, a B sci-fi film. Bond and Honeyrider are captured by men parading around in radiation suits and then they are imprisioned in a hotel. We then finally find the grand power behind, Dr. Julius No. This superpowerful intellectual with an almost mechanized soul with robotic hands and of course, a laboratory with nuclear reactor and plans to "topple" NASA rockets . We get some last few moments of an action/adventure film at the conclusion.

Overall, looking at Dr.No I would say it's the only Bond film to successfully mix so many different genres. It would be interesting if we ever got one quite like it again.

chrisno1

Interesting view - never saw DN like that myself, but I see your point

Rick Roberts

Thanks.

thesecretagent

I love Dr. No. I liked the book a lot too, but how good would it have been if Bond did Dr. No's assault course of death, complete with the fight with the giant squid at the end with a knife between his teeth!
I think the film-makers held back just enough. Bond could have been catapaulted into an entirely different action genre, and not espionage.
You've made some good observations, I've not thought of it like that before. I would like to see the format again. There is also an overall aura of class and distinction around Bond, as there is with Connery's first four films. I do wish Craig would be allowed, or try to emulate a little of this now he's on his way to his third outing.

Tobias

thesecretagent wrote:

I love Dr. No. I liked the book a lot too, but how good would it have been if Bond did Dr. No's assault course of death, complete with the fight with the giant squid at the end with a knife between his teeth!
I think the film-makers held back just enough. Bond could have been catapaulted into an entirely different action genre, and not espionage.
You've made some good observations, I've not thought of it like that before. I would like to see the format again. There is also an overall aura of class and distinction around Bond, as there is with Connery's first four films. I do wish Craig would be allowed, or try to emulate a little of this now he's on his way to his third outing.

it would be similar to 20'000 leagues under the sea

Loeffelholz

Interesting and fair points about the seminal James Bond film; certainly it came before the Precious Classic Formula^TM was solidified...like its source novel, it certainly defies simplistic categorization, which is probably why Eon chose it for their debut Bond project: it contains many of the building blocks of future Bond blockbusters, without committing itself to any one principle, save for escapist adventure B-)