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Location Guide - Dr. No
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London, UK
James
Bond is recalled from a high-stakes chem
de fer game against the delightful Sylvia
Trench with
urgent news of an impending mission. At three in the
morning Bond is briefed by his boss M at
the offices of 'Universal Exports' in Regents Park.
Returning to his London flat, albeit briefly, before
his flight to Jamaica, Bond encounters Trench who
has let herself into his apartment - and his pajamas.
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Kingston, Jamaica
After the death of MI6 agent John Strangways, Bond
is on the scene to investigate. He is picked up
from Norman Manley airport by a suspicious driver
and takes a detour en route to Government House.
He surveys Strangways' residence in Kinsale Street
before rendezvousing with Felix Leiter and local
ally, Quarrel, at Morgan's Harbour. Leiter reveals
that Crab Key - owned by an Anglo-Chinese Dr.
No - was of particular interest to Strangways.
After getting dangerously close to No's agent Miss
Taro and his more lethal henchman, Professor
Dent, Bond and Quarrel depart
for Crab Key itself.
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Crab Key, Jamaican Waters
On a sun-soaked beach Bond meets the lovely Honey Ryder. It is not long before they are hounded by Dr. No's men, first on boat and then on foot. The trio rest for the night but when Dr. No deploys the mythical dragon (really just an impressive tractor, armed with a flame-thrower), Honey and Bond are captured and Quarrel meets a fiery end. Quizzed by the doctor himself at a banquet hosted by the manic villain, No reveals that his loyalties lie with SPECTRE, before imprisoning Bond and torturing Honey. Bond stages a daring escape and rescues Honey - not before sabotaging Dr. No's scheme, causing a nuclear meltdown. |
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Shooting Dr. No
Debut 007 director Terence
Young rolled cameras on "Dr. No" on
Tuesday 16th January 1962. The day entailed capturing a young
Sean Connery as James Bond, emerging from Kingston airport
as well as his discussion in a callbox. Marguerite LeWars,
contemporary Miss Jamaica was on hand to contribute to her
one and only film credit as Annabel Chung, the inquisitive
photographer in pay of Dr. No. All in all the first day's shooting
would constitute little more than a minute in the final cut.
The facade of the real King's House in New Kingston was used
as James Bond arrives with a dead passenger. It was the memorable
line, "make sure that he doesn't get away", that
set the tone for the minimal humour of Dr. No, and according
to many, was an unscripted invention of Connery and Young. |
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Above: Dr. No casts the spotlight on
Jamaica and the Caribbean tropics...
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Other locations included the secluded Magenta
Drive, the residence of the double-crossing Miss Taro whom Bond
spends a passionate afternoon with. There is some discrepancy
as to the exact street number of the home. Over the phone Taro
(played by Zeina Marshall) tells Bond she resides at 239 Magenta
Drive but when 007 orders a 'taxi' for the couple, he checks
with Taro and she confirms the address is 2171. Another location
used by the filmmakers is the home of Dolores Keator in Kinsale
Street. Keator even won a bit-part in the adventure as the ill-fated
assistant of John Strangways - sometimes credited as Mary.
Above: James Bond is deployed to the
far reaches of the Empire, the sun-soaked Jamaican colony... |
Quite soon into their Jamaican shoot the crew
found themselves at Laughing Water, just minutes from Ian Fleming's
soon-to-be-famed Goldeneye home. Here the crew shot the iconic
sequence in which bronzed Honey Ryder emerges from the seashore.
The image lives on in fans' collective memory as a unique symbol
of this film and the Bond canon in general. Witnessing this immortal
moment were a series of well-know personalities of the time,
Noel Coward, Stephen Spender, journalist Peter Quennell and of
course Ian Fleming. Fleming reportedly took a keen interest in Connery's presentation of 007 on the silver screen, giving him tips and suggestions. Another out-of-the-way, exclusive location was Falmouth, where Bond and Honey cower in the sands as Dr. No's goons machine gun the beach.
Above: Quarrel and James Bond brave dragons and megalomaniacs on the remote island of Crab Key... |
By February 21st 1962, the crew were calling
a wrap on the Jamaican location and returning to London, where
filming was scheduled to commence at Pinewood Studios on the
26th. Bernard Lee, who would become James Bond's stern commander
through to the 1979 production of "Moonraker",
signed onto the production just a day before they were due to shoot
the M and Moneypenny sequence. The sequence between Bond and M,
the first of a long string in 007's on-screen history, was shot
on Pinewood's D Stage.
A host of other interior sequences had been prepared on the sets of Pinewood, even some from Jamaica that were not practical or possible to recreate on location. These included the Kings Club, Dr. No's lair and most memorably the cell-like room in which Professor Dent receives his orders. Shooting came to an end on 30th March 1962, leaving six months for post-production to edit, score and publicise James Bond's first on screen adventure.
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