Dr. No

Top 10 Fun Facts

1. Actor Max von Sydow turned down the role of Dr. No to play Jesus Christ in "The Greatest Story Ever Told." Almost two decades later, the actor agreed to play Bond bad guy, Ernst Stavro Blofeld, in "Never Say Never."
2. "Dr. No" was the first James Bond film made for the big screen. It was made with a shoestring budget of $1 million. It ended up launching a string of highly successful, and much bigger budgeted, James Bond films, as well as a whole genre of secret agent films.
3. Actor turned model Peter Anthony quickly learned that good looks could only get him so far in life. He was the producers' first choice to play James Bond in "Dr. No." They soon discovered that the 28-year old just couldn't act and the part was awarded to the sexy and talented Sean Connery.
4. It was just two weeks before "Dr. No" started filming when producers finally found the perfect woman to play the part of Honey Ryder. Ursula Andress got the role without auditioning after producers saw a photo of her taken by her husband, actor John Derek. Despite having only a little interest in acting, Andress went on to become a film icon.
5. In the first script drafts of "Dr. No," the villain turned out to be a monkey. Well, that's the rumor anyway. Allegedly, the film's producers didn't want any monkey business in the script and told the screenwriters to go back to the drawing board and stick more closely to the story originally written by Ian Fleming.
6. James Bond sang "Under The Mango Tree" in the film "Dr. No." It was the first and last time that the character ever sang in a James Bond movie.
7. The role of "Dr. No" was originally offered to Noel Coward. The renowned British actor left no room for confusion about how he felt about playing the character, turning down the role via a telegram that stated, "Dr. No? No! No! No!"
8. "Dr. No" featured the first fully animated opening title sequence. It was one of a kind in the EON Productions James Bond official film series. At least that was true until 2006, when "Casino Royale" also presented the opening credits in highly stylized, full animation.
9. "Dr. No" had only one major location and just one big special effects piece, making it the cheapest of the novels to adapt for film. This was why it became the debut film in the James Bond series.
10. After going over budget by $100,000 on "Dr. No," United Artists wanted to stop production fearing they wouldn't make their original one million dollar investment back. They had nothing to worry about. The film grossed almost $60 million.

Cast

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