Dr. No
Since Ian Fleming's James Bond is something of a national institution, and since I am In- curably an addict, 1 went with some curiosity to see the film of Dr. No, Bond's first screen appearance. Apart from the fact that Bond is played with an Irish-American accent—not par- ticularly noticeable, of course, when he is throwing chaps around or conversing into his mistress's left ear—what struck me most was the assumption on the part of the film-makers that everyone would know the plot of Dr. No. I imagine that much of Bond's final obstacle race was cut because the script-writers feared it would be all too familiar, and some episodes became quite incomprehensible: the bit where Dr. No explains his life, achievements and motives for example. However. the script- writers' point was proved for them by those critics who brought in the novel to supply the de- ficiencies of the film, In the book we are told that Honey, the child of nature who disposes of sexual aggressors (appropriately enough) by means of a black-widow spider, is staked out to be eaten by land-crabs, and this episode was mentioned in one or two notices of the film. Only in the version 1 saw it was never stated at all. True, she was chained in a dungeon with the water rising through a sluice, but we were not told she was going to be eaten. This was either deleted by the censor or furnished by the critics. I should like to know which.
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