This is the very first EON Productions James Bond film and it has not dated too well. Its biggest crime is the shocking treatment of the character, Quarrel, in the film's second half. Quarrel is introduced well and is a interesting portrait as portrayed by actor John Kitzmiller. But something goes terribly wrong once the story shifts to the island of Crab Key. It's as if the producers decided in the middle of filming to revert to the old stereotypes and it is very shameful that they stooped to this. This is only one of the many problems that are inherent in this BOND production and this is why I give it a rating of three out of five stars.

The story suffers when compared to the Ian Fleming novel. What was cinematic in the book comes off as rather unimaginative and pedestrian in the film. Because of the lack of a Class A budget, the whole production suffers: case in point -- that cheesy flame-throwing dragon vehicle. Is this truly menacing? The miniature model work is also substandard for the time -- but a larger budget could have solved several similar problems. In short, just because this film was produced in the early sixties doesn't excuse the whole filmmaking team from all of these troublesome areas. Having more money for the film production enables the purchasing of superior working materials. However, Ken Adam is to be commended for working wonders within this meager budget for his designs of Dr. No's lab and living quarters. But we'll see what Class A type budgets bring forth from the superb 007 production designers, Ken Adam and Syd Cain, in the later James Bond films from the sixties.

More effort should have been expended on the film's script. Ian Fleming was forced to admit at the time that everyone who had read the novel would be very disappointed with the movie. The basic plot is solid enough and it presents Bond as a investigator as well as a man of action. But the villain does not fully explain himself and his motives as the novel so carefully has him do. Dr. No's rocket toppling is only a small fraction of his power game in Fleming's book. Dr. No literally exercises the power of life or death over all the inhabitants on his island of Crab Key. This is the locus of his megalomania. Bond is interesting to him because of his tenacity and abilities. Dr. No merely entertains him shortly before the tortuous experiment he places Bond in that involves a treacherous maze of specially designed tunnels: Bond is merely the first of a series of "points on a graph" in Dr. No's deadly obstacle course.

But what do the filmmakers do with such rich material from the Fleming novel? Essentially, it is dumbed down for mass audience consumption. The tunnel obstacle course is nothing of the kind as presented in the film and it is all rather silly. Aside from the cuts and bruises received before by Dr. No's guards, Bond emerges from said tunnels -- or rather super ventilation ducts -- practically unscathed after a couple of minor incidents. Needless to say, this whole sequence here is completely ridiculous and totally superfluous. The filmmakers also make a major mistake by having Dr. No be just part of the SPECTRE criminal organization. Like Auric Goldfinger, Dr. No has his own motives for whatever alliances happen along as depicted in the novel. A similar mistake will be made in the second BOND film as well. Most of Ian Fleming's plots are intriguing enough. They didn't need the apolitical SPECTRE grafted onto them until the time of adapting Thunderball, where Blofeld & Co. were first introduced to readers in 1961.

But enough with the problems. I must now turn to what works in the film version of Ian Fleming's Doctor No. It is essentially the superb talents of the cast. Sean Connery's first appearance as James Bond is one of the very best of the whole series. It was his first starring role, but Connery is no novice here. He does an excellent job and completely carries the whole picture quite handily. But he gets very fine support from all of his costars. Joseph Wiseman makes Dr. No one of the very best of the Bond villains and it is a shame that his time on screen is so brief. Ursula Andress as Honey Ryder, well ... what can I say, except that she is utterly stunning. Unfortunately, her role is poorly scripted (just as Wiseman's role is badly underwritten) but she makes quite an indelible impression regardless. Jack Lord is the best actor to portray CIA Agent Felix Leiter and the aforementioned John Kitzmiller is excellent until the filmmakers' injustice to him on Crab Key island. All the rest of the cast is is very good, with Bernard Lee and Lois Maxwell making impressive debuts as M and Miss Moneypenny, respectively.

DR. NO differs greatly from the later BOND films and that is the beauty of this movie. There are no overblown action sequences and the humor is very droll and subservient to the story, overall. The narrative moves along well and remains focused, unlike some of the later BOND films which meander or completely stop the flow of the story with gratuitous kinetics and juvenile antics. Bond isn't overladen with any gadgets because there are none to be found here. James Bond has to rely on his intellect and his own strength and endurance, so his success is far more admirable in this story than in many of his later film adventures.