DR. NO TURNS 50

Released in the Fall of 1962, an action thriller called Dr. No was unleashed on an unsuspecting public. The film starred a suave British secret agent with codename 007 and a license to kill: “Bond, James Bond.” Moviegoers were also introduced to the Ian Fleming book characters “M”, “Q” and “Miss Moneypenny”.

The debut Bond movie featured the iconic Sean Connery, as well as one of the agent’s top villains, the overachieving “Dr. No”, a brilliant power hungry madman. Of course, both were upstaged by bikini clad Ursula Andress as “Honey Ryder”.

The low-budget film, directed by Terrence Young and produced for only 1.2 million dollars, was a blockbuster hit and had one of the first classic car chase scenes. Bond drives a Sunbeam Alpine, just like Grace Kelly did earlier in To Catch a Thief. Interestingly, the location production manager was one Chris Blackwell, who would go on to found Island Records and acquire Ian Fleming’s Goldeneye beach home at the film’s Jamaica location. Blackwell’s mother was Fleming’s later life lover and muse.

Skyfall is the latest (and 23rd) in the James Bond franchise and stars Daniel Craig. It opened last week to delayed but successful receipts.