DR. NO (1962) *** The first James Bond film, the best James Bond film, Sean Connery as the best Bond, and Ursula Andress as the hottest Bond girl. Talk about trumping the franchise right out of the gate (but I'm glad that they went on). For all Connery's charm and machismo things don't really pick up until he finds Ursula looking for shells in a white bikini, emerging from the water like a teenager's Botticelli into tantalizing dreams all over the world. She's not the sort of actress to leave much room on the screen, and Connery raises his game accordingly. All Terrence Young has to do is not get in the way of the camera himself, and he's saved the greatest sets (creating another Bond tradition) for the climax. Only Ian Fleming would come up with a flame-spitting armored dragon, and somehow Jack Lord managed enough notice to earn a prime time spot reprising his role as tough cop (McCarrott, Five-O). Gives being stranded on a boat in the Caribbean a good name, and why not?
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