That's No Moonraker: Doctor No

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Stilllife-dr.no.jpg

Date

May 23rd, 2020

Summary

Alex and Pete begin their assessment of the James Bond franchise with 1962's Dr. No.

Duration

1:01:43

Notes

Film

  • First time James Bond has been on the big screen.
  • First movie, but based on the 6th novel by Ian Fleming.
  • An early draft of the screenplay was rejected because they made Doctor No into a monkey (literally).
  • Budget under a million dollars for the whole movie.
  • Easter egg: Bond sees the Portrait of the Duke of Wellington by Goya, which was missing at the time of filming.
  • Nikki van der Zyl dubbed voices for Honey Ryder, Sylvia Trench, and nearly every other woman who has a speaking role in the movie.

Podcast

Abandon area.gif


  • The first person to portray Bond on the big screen (in release order) is not Sean Connery but stuntman Bob Simmons in the Gun barrel sequence.
  • It's amazing how this movie really sets up the franchise: so many things that would become tropes of James Bond are present.
    • But no real big action set pieces or gadgets.
  • It's a bit odd that this movie is named for the villain.
  • Everybody thought this movie would be a flop.
  • Cost-saving measures.
    • The aquarium.

Other actors considered

  • The titular Doctor No:
    • Noël Coward.
    • Max von Sydow.
    • Christopher Lee (related to Fleming through marriage).

The book is different than the movie

  • Referenced: Alex's other podcast
  • Fight with a giant squid.
  • Escape from Dr. No's lair on the "dragon".
  • James Bond and the tarantula. In the novel it was a centipede
  • Guano quarry instead of a bauxite mine, and how Dr. No meets his end.
  • Mentioned: the Pan Still Life series covers of the James Bond novels.
  • Spectre is mentioned but introduced in an earlier novel.
  • James Bond's introduction in a casino as a nod to Casino Royale.

Code name theory

  • Is 'Felix Leiter' also a code name?
  • Victor Harrington is a casino patron in like every movie.

Crossover with Star Wars

  • Peter Brace - stunt actor in this and many James Bond movies. Also Chewbacca's stunt double in Star Wars.

Ratings

  • The guys are still working out their ranking system. This movie is not as good as Superman II.

Meta Notes

  • The 1961–1962 budget of the film is equivalent to about $10 million in 2020.
  • The "other podcast" that Pete drops a veiled reference to is ABCD:TOS.
  • We'll hear from Nikki van der Zyl again.
  • Peter Brace was 6' 4" tall.
  • Be on the lookout for "brakefast" in other Connery Bond films.
  • The guys still can't say the show closer in sync.

Quotes

  • Alex: Let's call it Doctor "No Thanks".
  • Pete: (as Sean Connery) Let's have some "brakefast".

Star Wars names

Star Wars pun names for Dr. No 
Alex
  • Dr. NoooOOOooo!
Pete

Link (Patreon supporters only)

https://www.patreon.com/post/thats-no-dr-no-37420170


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