Film Noir Buff Style Forum / Dr. No

Rip Rig & Panic · 2010-07-23 10:09:04

This is really the only Bond movie I can now watch with any pleasure. Nothing much to do with Sean bloody Connery, either - greasemonkey. No, it's the sheer kitsch cheesiness of the titles and music; the air of tight-budget experimentation; the slightly dodgy continuity. Gibson Gardens is right: forget about the plot and concentrate on the incidentals. This is pop art come to life, beating even 'Goldfinger' for first prize.

nouvelle vague · 2010-07-23 10:18:57

Saul bass=GENIUS

Gibson Gardens · 2010-07-23 11:16:54

It's the most gorgeous cinematic expression of 1962. I mean it's all there - Jamaica, mohair, elegance, the casino, nonchalance, the Tarantula, the architecture - I just breath it all in. The best Bond ever I think. The next one was the next best and they decline in quality almost chronologically afterwards. Jay McInerney wrote a nice extended essay once about Connery's Bond wardrobe, above all in Dr.No.

g.g.

formby · 2010-07-23 11:32:15

I always preferred Our Man Flint with James Coburn

He's the super agent for me...

Rip Rig & Panic · 2010-07-23 12:43:04

Harpo · 2010-07-23 13:08:02

The Elms thing was all about the "Conduit Cut" of his suits though wasn't it? The Conduit Cut - there's a Mod, traditional English, tailoring style topic for a thread if ever there was one.....

'From Russia With Love' is till my favourite Bond - if only for Daniella Bianchi, aka Tatiana Romanova (and of course the preposterous periscope into the Russian embassy) - then there's that lovely wooden speed boat.

Rip Rig & Panic · 2010-07-23 13:09:13

Harpo · 2010-07-23 13:33:45

Consider it done Brother Rip. To the "Talk Ivy" root, and don't spare the horses!

formby · 2010-07-23 13:41:37

Bishop of Briggs · 2010-07-23 14:30:58

I am not a fan of Connery's narrow lapels. Aquascutum's suits are very similar to the Conduit cut. The "designers" probably copied it.

Hard Bop Hank · 2010-07-25 06:30:18

Definitely the best Bond, indeed!

Rip Rig & Panic · 2010-07-27 07:12:39

I really don't like the way Bond treats Quarrel. "Fetch my shoes" indeed.

nouvelle vague · 2010-07-27 09:03:32

did you see the restored & remastered versions at the cinema last year?
dr. no looked great.. so good to see it on the big screen looking bright and fresh.

A Fine Sadness · 2021-09-15 13:28:06

I made the mistake, during lockdown, of re-reading the books one after the other, then anything else I could find on or by Fleming. Realised I'd fallen out of love with it all and started reading Mary McCarthy's fiction. Yet the first movie still has that crazy, not-quite-sure where it's going-vibe to it. Those migraine-inducing colours at the beginning! Miss Taro! That cheesy music! Tony Dawson's shoes!

Tworussellstreet · 2021-09-15 17:54:21

It never fails to work on me - so much atmosphere. If we can turn a blind eye to the fact that we nearly had a nuclear war in '62 I would nominate it as the pinnacle post-war year, the glorious culmination of all the energy that bubbled up after the war.

Yuca · 2021-09-15 19:41:15

The 1950s were better than the 1960s, in terms of clothes, music and stylish films. By 1962 the rot was just starting to set in. Although as I recall Dr No is well worth a watch.

Lawlib · 2021-09-16 06:25:35

I always enjoy seeing Chris Blackwell, future founder of Island Records, twisting to Byron Lee and the Dragonaires in the club scene. It was filmed in the run up to independence and in some ways is a document of the last days of colonial rule, though you wouldn't know that from the narrative. For context on the book, the film, and Fleming’s relationship with Jamaica this is an enjoyable read https://www.amazon.co.uk/Goldeneye-Where-Bond-Flemings-Jamaica/dp/009959174X/ref=sr_1_6?dchild=1&keywords=goldeneye&qid=1631793354&sr=8-6

A Fine Sadness · 2021-09-16 06:33:34

Many thanks for that. Would you believe I first saw the film (in the company of my parents, who presumably couldn't get a babysitter for that evening), on a double-bill with 'From Russia With Love'. It was at a local fleapit called the 'Rex' (long since pulled down), probably around 1964. I can't help wondering what someone like, say, Gregory Isaacs would have thought of that club scene. I also had the experience of seeing Jimmy Cliff in 'The Harder They Come' in, I think, 1976. Every time a rasta came on (not often I don't think) the audience (99.9 per cent black) would actually hiss. It was doubled with 'Performance'. They must have been either a. amused b. bemused or c. absent from the auditorium in order to buy their ice-cream tubs.

#1 2010-07-23 10:09:04

Dr. No

#2 2010-07-23 10:18:57

Re: Dr. No

#3 2010-07-23 11:16:54

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#4 2010-07-23 11:32:15

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#5 2010-07-23 12:43:04

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#6 2010-07-23 13:08:02

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#7 2010-07-23 13:09:13

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#8 2010-07-23 13:33:45

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#9 2010-07-23 13:41:37

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#10 2010-07-23 14:30:58

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#11 2010-07-25 06:30:18

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#12 2010-07-27 07:12:39

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#13 2010-07-27 09:03:32

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#14 2021-09-15 13:28:06

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#15 2021-09-15 17:54:21

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#16 2021-09-15 19:41:15

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#17 2021-09-16 06:25:35

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#18 2021-09-16 06:33:34

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