Location Guide - Dr. No

 

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.

 


 

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.

 


 

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.

 

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.

 


Above: Dr. No casts the spotlight on Jamaica and the Caribbean tropics...

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.