Dr. No or James Bond 54 Years Ago

We just saw Dr. No, which I think is the first James Bond film. What a kick. It's a time capsule of what was cool and modern and sexy and high tech 54 years ago! In case you don't remember this story, it's the one where Ursula Andress steps out of the water in a bikini and a knife belt. Haile Berry tried to reprise the role in a later Bond movie, but she just did not compare with the original Ursula. 

The story is shallow. A mysterious man, Dr. No, owns an island in the Caribbearn where strange things happen. Of course, one of the strange things has something to do with a missile launch at Cape Canaveral. James has to sneak onto the island, discover the dastardly thing that is going to happen and stop it.  It played with themes that were important to 1962: fear of nuclear radiation and space travel. James Bond to the rescue and (spoiler alert) the problem is solved. 

Some classic James Bond stunts happen. There is a high speed car chase between a Sunbeam Alpine and an old hearse (the hearse loses). There are several other attempts to kill James (that fail). There are no cell phones or computers, but there are short wave radios and typewriters.

It was fun to see the old cars. It was fun to see Jamaica 50 years ago. It was fun to see Ursula Andress in her best role. It was fun to see how James Bond has evolved in the intervening years. We have 5 more "classic" James Bond films to watch. I hope they will be as much fun as this one was. I'll let you know.