The realm of cinematic heroes goes on and on, but few have real staying power. In Eastern cinema popular film characters are used over and over. Japan’s Zatoichi character has made the trip to the screen 27 times with more on the way. In Hong Kong and China, Chinese folk hero Wong Fei Hung has appeared on screen over a hundred times, most prominently in recent years played by Jet Li in the Once Upon a Time in China series. In western cinema, franchises are indeed very popular. Even small independent features like El Mariachi, Evil Dead and Clerks have gone on to become trilogies and beyond. As far as long running series in Western cinema, nothing else has had the ability to stay in the spotlight like Britain’s number one super spy series, James Bond. Bond, created by writer Ian Fleming and first appearing in his spy novel Casino Royale, has been the subject of 22 films and has been played by five different men with varied takes on the role. Bond’s prominence in the cultural landscape has been cemented by his character’s name becoming synonymous high adventure, cool gadgets and femme fatales, but it was not always this way. Prior to Bond becoming a major franchise the likes of Star Wars or Indiana Jones, the character was being introduced by a relatively unknown Scottish actor name Sean Connery and producers Albert “Cubby” Broccoli and Harry Saltzman. Since then Bond has been known the world over. Even through every misstep, the 007 franchise has comeback even stronger to stay one of the world’s biggest box office draws time and again.
Dr. No Starring Sean Connery and Ursula Andres, Directed by Terrence Young
Bond’s first mission is rather simple compared to many of the later entries. After the murder of an MI6 agent, James is sent to Jamaica to investigate. Once there Bond becomes embroiled in a series of near fatal assassination attempts. Finally he discovers the mastermind of the evildoings, Joseph Wiseman’s, Dr. No. Apparently the not-so-good Doctor has a nuclear facility that he plans to use to take over the world. Bond has to stop Dr. No, save his new love interest, Ursula Andres’ Honey Rider, and make it all look good in the process. Needless to say this is accomplished, since Bond later returns in more than twenty sequels and four different incarnations.
On October 22nd, 1962 James Bond was unleashed on a public hungry for a new breed of action hero. Bond’s first time out of the gate set the standard for further entries by establishing most of the characteristics of a typical Bond adventure. Dr. No set standards for the series in terms of hard hitting action and exotic locations. Production designer Ken Adams created amazing sets that also provided a benchmark for all adventures to come. Adams was the genius set designer behind Stanley Kubrick’s war room in Dr. Strangelove. His influences can still be seen on many motion pictures. My own opinion is that Ken Adams would have cried tears of pride after getting a look at the design of this year’s The Incredibles. Also essential to the franchise was the use of the Dr. No theme song. Initially director Terrance Young wanted to use an island dance number used in the middle of the film as the opening credits theme, but this was struck down by the film’s composer, Monty Norman. Norman composed what is today one of the most recognizable movie themes of all time, The James Bond Theme. The theme itself is a key ingredient to a successful Bond formula. Never Say Never Again, a rival Bond film made outside of the main Eon-produced franchise, feels a little empty upon viewing, even though it stars Sean Connery. Part of the reason for this empty feeling is the absence of the theme originally used in Dr. No. Dr. No also set a trend himself for Bond villains to come. No looks to be almost too over the top conceptually. A half Chinese-half German meglo-maniac who has lost both of his hands in the pursuit of world domination seems too comic book-like for a period where villains in spy films were typically like those found in Hitchcock’s North By Northwest. Instead of cartoonish, Wiseman comes off as coldly menacing. Dr. No is a patient and calculating villain with larger than life desires. While No is not remembered as a preeminent member of the Bond Rogues Gallery, Wiseman’s performance laid down the gauntlet by which other Bond Villains like Goldfinger, Blofeld, and Scaramanga had to contend. Most important to the series was the character of Bond himself. Director Terrance Young and Sean Connery crafted Bond into a civilized-playboy-killer. Connery went from being a supporting character in Darby O’Gill and the Little People to the fantasy hero of every red blooded male in the Western Hemisphere. Stealing a line from the Bond-spoof Austin Powers, “Women wanted him and men wanted to be him.” Bond’s one-liners and sexually charged persona were all established in this film and actually vary quite a bit from the character on Ian Fleming’s pages. It was the character work done in Dr. No that established Bond and has made him endure so long as an icon.
When choosing the best film in the series, few rarely pick the inaugural entry. The film’s special effects are less than stellar and the film isn’t as spectacular as later entries such as Goldfinger and, Thunderball. On the other hand, Dr. No is without a doubt one of the most important of the series due to its setting such a high standard on so many fronts. Bond is what it is today mostly through the meticulous crafting of this first film. In one instance, Carey Grant had even expressed interest in becoming Bond. This seemed like a dream choice at the time, but the producers knew Grant would only go at Bond for a single film. “Cubby” Broccoli and Harry Saltzman decided to go instead with the unknown, Sean Connery. The rest is cinematic history as Bond would be played by the Scotsman six times. Dr. No is a very good film and is essential viewing to those Bond fans that are unfamiliar with it.
From Russia with Love starring Sean Connery and Daniela Bianchi, Directed by Terrance Young
With the success of Dr. No, the inevitable sequel would have to take place. As with many of the early 007 films, an Ian Fleming novel would first and foremost be considered for the picture to be made. Fleming’s novel From Russia with Love was the story finally chosen. The choice was an inspired one. Instead of an action spectacular loaded with excitement, From Russia with Love brings Bond back down to Earth. This trend of taking the Bond pictures from outrageous action epics to more character driven stories happens quite often in the franchise. For example, instead of trying to top the extravaganzas of You only Live Twice and Moonraker, producers and filmmakers followed these up with stories of a more human Bond that had to rely on his wits rather than shiny gadgets and rocket-packs. The fruits of their labor resulted in On her Majesty’s Secret Service, the most underrated of all Bond films, and For Your Eyes Only, one of Roger Moore’s most revered entries. From Russia with Love marks the high point in the series for simply putting together a straight espionage thriller. While there is plenty of action in the film, the story and the actor’s performances are its main driving forces.
The film begins at the height of the cold war. Russian cipher clerk Tatiana Romanova has apparently fallen in love with Bond and is defecting to Great Britain, bringing a Russian code breaker with her in exchange for asylum. Bond has been sent by MI6 to Turkey to bring her in. Unbeknownst to our hero is that Romanova is really a double agent who has really been ordered to defect to Britain by her superiors in an attempt to discredit British intelligence. Unfortunately for the lovely clerk, played innocently by Daniela Bianchi, both her and Bond are being used by the terrorist organization SPECTRE to secure the Russian decoder for their own agenda. In the process, SPECTRE assigns one of their top assassins, Donald “Red” Grant, to eliminate Bond. Her Majesty’s number one spy has to secure the decoder, save the girl, stay alive and make it look even better than it did the first time around.
From Russia with Love is one of the best films in the Bond cannon. Almost everything a Bond film should be that was missed by Dr. No is picked up in this entry. The famous “Bond Title Sequence” is used for the first time in the addition to the series. The sequence is much simpler than many of the later entries but it at least set a precedent. John Barry’s first of many scores for the series added a much needed sense of atmosphere to the movie. My favorite addition to the franchise is the first appearance of the villain’s henchman. Not exactly the brains of the operation, these men and women are the ones that end up having to go toe to toe with 007. Some of the most memorable villains in screen history have been henchmen from the Bond series. Robert Shaw’s “Red” Grant serves as a model for later hired muscle such as Oddjob, Mayday, and Jaws. The train car fight between Bond and Grant in this film stands as one of the best close quarter fights ever captured on screen, rivaling the smackdowns between Frank Sinatra and Henry Silva in The Manchurian Candidate and the Uma Thurman and Darryl Hannah trailer brawl in Kill Bill, Volume 2. Connery also fleshes out Bond and makes him a much more sympathetic character. The actor finally seems comfortable in the role and seems to be able to show a softer side that was not present in Dr. No. All in all From Russia with Love is not just a standout Bond movie, it’s an outstanding film in general.
Both of these films were the genesis of what the Bond pictures would become. One must see Goldfinger to really perceive the results of the directions these films were going in. Bond as a franchise was up and running due to the tremendous success financially and artistically that was brought about by these first two entries. Of course, no one could have foretold the success that 007 would go on to have, but without these two films, Bond would have perhaps only been a footnote. Instead, 007 went on to change cinema forever.
