History Trivia / DrNo

** NonSingingVoice: ...who also had a singing voice.

** Potential actors to play Dr. No included Fleming's next-door neighbor Noel Coward, who famously responded to a telegram asking him to take the role with "Dr. No: No, no, no!" (and who later visited the set with Fleming, nearly disrupting shooting), and Fleming's distant cousin Christopher Lee (who would finally get his chance to play a Bond villain in ''Film/TheManWithTheGoldenGun'').
*** Creator/MaxVonSydow turned it down in order to star in ''Film/TheGreatestStoryEverTold''.

* EnforcedMethodActing: Sean Connery is truly terrified of spiders. The arm of a stuntman was used when the tarantula crawled onto Bond. Note the shot when the spider is on his shoulder -- it's walking on a pane of glass. Once you've seen it you can't unsee it.

** Joseph Wiseman, who played the half-Chinese Dr. No, was Canadian.

** NonSingingVoice: ...which also had a singing voice.

* HeyItsThatGuy: Felix Leiter is Jack Lord of ''Series/HawaiiFiveO'' fame.
** This [[Film/DialMForMurder isn't the first time]] Anthony Dawson tried to kill somebody, who instead killed him.

* {{Tuckerization}}: This film marks the first appearance of the character Major Boothroyd (later played by Desmond Llewellyn and known simply as "Q"), based on fan and gun expert Geoffrey Boothroyd who informed Fleming the gun he had James Bond using was a wimpy ladies' pistol. (This also formed the basis for Bond's forced gun upgrade in the book and this movie.) The real-life Geoffrey Boothroyd appears in a vintage featurette on the ''Dr. No'' DVD and Blu-ray, in which he demonstrates the relative stopping powers of the two Bond guns, plus his own favorite, a Ruger .44 Magnum.

* {{Tuckerization}}: This film marks the first appearance of the character Major Boothroyd (later played by Desmond Llewellyn and known simply as "Q"), based on fan and gun expert Geoffrey Boothroyd who informed Fleming the gun he had James Bond using was a wimpy ladies' pistol. (This also formed the basis for Bond's forced gun upgrade in the book and this movie.) The real-life Geoffrey Boothroyd appears in a vintage featurette on the ''DrNo'' DVD and Blu-ray, in which he demonstrates the relative stopping powers of the two Bond guns, plus his own favorite, a Ruger .44 Magnum.

* ItWillNeverCatchOn: First, it was ignored by many studios. Then Creator/UnitedArtists [[AndYouThoughtItWouldFail gave little money and attention on the US release]]. 22 movies later...

* EnforcedMethodActing: Sean Connery is truly terrified of spiders. The legs of a stuntman were used when the tarantula crawled onto Bond. Note the shot when the spider is on his shoulder -- it's walking on a pane of glass. Once you've seen it you can't unsee it.

** This [[DialMForMurder isn't the first time]] Anthony Dawson tried to kill somebody, who instead killed him.

* {{Tuckerization}}: This film marks the first appearance of the character Major Boothroyd (later played by Desmond Llewellyn and known simply as "Q"), based on fan and gun expert Geoffrey Boothroyd who informed Fleming the gun he had James Bond using was a wimpy ladies' pistol. (This also formed the basis for Bond's forced gun upgrade in this movie.) The real-life Geoffrey Boothroyd appears in a vintage featurette on the ''DrNo'' DVD and Blu-ray, in which he demonstrates the relative stopping powers of the two Bond guns, plus his own favorite, a Ruger .44 Magnum.

** To a lesser extent, Jack Lord as Felix Leiter. Lord wanted a bigger role, more money, and co-star billing to appear in the next movie, which was declined, and Lord was too much in demand for leading roles to return to what was effectively a bit part. Leiter would be played by a succession of other actors in subsequent films.

** The first draft script strayed quite far from the book. In this version, Dr. No was a monkey god worshipped by native islanders, and the human villain was someone else. Saltzman and Broccoli were unsatisfied with this approach and got Richard Maibaum to rewrite it to be closer to the novel. The original screenwriter was not pleased with the rewrite and had his name removed from the script. Maibaum would have a hand in writing all but three Bond movies through ''LicenseToKill''.

** To a lesser extent, Jack Lord as Felix Leiter. This movie was Jack Lord's breakout role. Afterward, he became "too successful," too much in demand for leading roles to return to what was effectively a bit part. Leiter would be played by a succession of other actors in subsequent films.

* ThePeteBest: Peter Burton as Q (although he's only identified by Q's real name, Major Boothroyd). Desmond Llewellyn would take over the role starting with ''Film/FromRussiaWithLove''.

* {{Tuckerization}}: This film marks the first appearance of the character Major Boothroyd (later played by Desmond Llewellyn and known simply as "Q"), based on fan and gun hobbyist Geoffrey Boothroyd who informed Fleming the gun he had James Bond using was a wimpy ladies' pistol. (This also formed the basis for Bond's forced gun upgrade in this movie.) The real-life Geoffrey Boothroyd appears in a vintage featurette on the ''DrNo'' DVD and Blu-ray, in which he demonstrates the relative stopping powers of the two Bond guns, plus his own favorite, a Ruger .44 Magnum.

* NoBudget: United Artists only lent $1 million. The art director got an extra cash from the producers' own pockets, and the special effects people convinced UA to give an extra $100,000 to do the CollapsingLair.

** Bond original line was simply "I am James Bond", but Sean Connery felt it was rather weak and [[BondJamesBond went off script]], resulting in one of the most famous movie lines of all time.

** Ursula Andress (Honey Rider) is a Swiss playing a Jamaican descended from an old-established (presumably British) colonial family.

* ThePeteBest: Peter Burton as Q. Desmond Llewellyn would take over the role starting with ''Film/FromRussiaWithLove''.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Bond original line was simply "I am James Bond", but Sean Connery felt it was rather weak and [[BondJamesBond went off script]], resulting in one of the most famous movie lines of all time.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Bond original line was simply "I am James Bond", but Sean Connery felt it was rather weak and [[BondJamesBond went off script]].

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Bond original line was simply "I am James Bond", but Sean Connery felt it was rather weak and [[TheNamesBondJamesBond went off script]].

* ShoutOut: The title character was Fleming's tribute to the iconic YellowPeril villain Fu Manchu.

* SerendipityWritesThePlot: The idea of Rider being trapped among crabs was scrapped because the crabs that would attack her weren't moving (being flown frozen from the Caribbean helped...).

* HeyItsThatGuy: Felix Leiter is Jack Lord of ''{{Hawaii Five-O}}'' fame.

* WhatDoYouMeanItsNotAwesome: The making-of featurette on the DVD has a scene that adds extra explosions to Bond's signature line.
-->"Name's Bond. '''*EXPLOSION*''' James Bond '''*ANOTHER EXPLOSION*'''"

* ItWillNeverCatchOn: First, it was ignored by many studios. Then UnitedArtists [[AndYouThoughtItWouldFail gave little money and attention on the US release]]. 22 movies later...

* ItWillNeverCatchOn: First, it was ignored by many studios. Then United Artists [[AndYouThoughtItWouldFail gave little money and attention on the US release]]. 22 movies later...