Acknowledgments
Introduction
1. Sex, Snobbery, and Sadism
2. Everything or Nothing
3. Monkey Business
4. Underneath the Mango Tree
5. A Bizarre Comedy Melodrama
6. I’m Just Looking
Conclusion
Appendix I: Dr. No Production Credits
Appendix II: Dr. No Production Budget
Appendix III: Dr. No Daily Progress Reports
Notes
Bibliography
Index
James Chapman is professor of film studies at the University of Leicester and editor of the Historical Journal of Film, Radio, and Television. His books include Licence to Thrill: A Cultural History of the James Bond Films (second edition, 2007), Hitchcock and the Spy Film (2018), and The Money Behind the Screen: A History of British Film Finance, 1945–1985 (2022).
Dr. No: The First James Bond Film by James Chapman is particularly
well researched. I especially appreciate the time the author took
to dispel myths and legends about the movie. He delved into
archives, first-hand sources, as well as unfinished scripts to
separate fact from fiction.
*Man of la Book: A Bookish Blog*
Dr. No is a potentially invaluable resource for Bond scholars and
cultural historians, as well as Bond fans keen to engage with the
films at a more developed level. The lively writing and assured
knowledge make the ideas and analysis feel fresh and revelatory.
Chapman investigates and interrogates the many myths and
half-truths surrounding the making of the film and the
relationships between the key players in order to fully reassess
the reputations and reception of the film both at its time of
release and now.
*Laura Crossely, Bournemouth University*
An impressive and thoroughly enjoyable book. More than twenty years
after the landmark volume Licence to Thrill, the author’s latest
contribution to the field is meticulously researched and engagingly
written. Merging the rigor of the historian with the enthusiasm of
the aficionado and consistently illuminated by fresh archival
discoveries, Chapman’s Dr. No reminds us that, in the field of Bond
studies, nobody does it better.
*Jeremy Strong, author of James Bond Uncovered*
The reward of James Chapman’s inquiry is that it explains how and
why Dr. No "got it right" from the start while considering the
“first” Bond film as a text on its own. Excavating a wealth of
primary research, Chapman spearheads the archival and industrial
turn in Bond studies to arrive at a new understanding of the
ongoing appeal of the James Bond franchise.
*Jaap Verheul, editor of The Cultural Life of James
Bond*
James Chapman's brilliant-realised study of the first Eon-produced
James Bond film is a testament not only to the current renaissance
of James Bond studies as a field but also the cultural significance
of Dr. No in its own right, a film that arguably spawned the modern
franchise blockbuster as we know it. Of course, Chapman's rigorous
scholarship is the primary draw, here; he proves, once again, that,
when it comes to matters of James Bond, "nobody does it better."
Dr. No: The First James Bond Film breaks new ground, here, and is
likely to pave the way for subsequent "deep-dive" scholarly
examinations of specific films in the Bond series. This is film and
cultural history scholarship at its finest.
*Ian Kinane, editor of the International Journal of James Bond
Studies*
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