5-8-1963

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                                         5-8-1963

Sean Connery stars in his first Bond movie, Dr. No

On this day in 1963, with the release of Dr. No, moviegoers get their first look–down the barrel of a gun–at the super-spy James Bond (codename: 007), the immortal character created by Ian Fleming in his now-famous series of novels and portrayed onscreen by the relatively unknown Scottish actor Sean Connery.

Connery had acted in repertory theater and television and scored some bit parts in films before landing his first significant role, opposite Lana Turner in Another Time, Another Place (1958). Bigger roles followed, notably in Tarzan’s Greatest Adventure (1959). Harold Saltzman and Albert “Cubby” Broccoli, the producers ofDr. No, had other actors in mind to play Bond, including Cary Grant and James Mason; Fleming himself preferred another leading candidate, David Niven. After winning the role, however, Connery swiftly made it his own.

Costarring Ursula Andress, Joseph Wiseman and Jack Lord, Dr. No sends Bond, a British Secret Service agent, to Jamaica to investigate the murders of a fellow agent and his secretary. There, he is forced to confront the villainous Chinese scientist Dr. No (Wiseman) with the help of a bikini-clad seashell collector, Honey Ryder (Andress) and a CIA agent (Lord). Dr. No established many signature elements of the Bond film series, including its distinctive theme song, fast-paced action sequences, sexy “Bond girls”–both good and bad, Bond’s fondness for vodka martinis “shaken, not stirred” and his introduction of himself as “Bond. James Bond.”

Connery went on to appear in six more Bond films, including From Russia With Love (1963), Goldfinger (1964), Thunderball (1965), You Only Live Twice (1967),Diamonds Are Forever (1971) and (after a 10-year hiatus) Never Say Never Again(1983). The title of the last film, an “unofficial” remake of Thunderball, was a self-mocking reference to Connery’s past statements that he had finished with the Bond franchise. Though he was a major box-office attraction after the overwhelming success of Goldfinger, Connery had reportedly already tired of playing Bond by the time he made Thunderball (1965).

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