Ian Fleming is said to be one of the best writers to come out of England. He was born on May 28, 1908. His love for adventure was attributed to his brother the traveler and co-author Peter Fleming. He served during WWII as an assistant to the director of Navel Intelligence with the rank of commander. During this time he was very much like the legendary character, he created agent 007 James Bond of the British Secret Service. After the Navy in 1953, he wrote Casino Royal. Many Bond books were created after this best seller. Including The Spy Who Loved Me, Live and Let Die, Goldfinger, From Russia With Love, For Your Eyes Only, Diamonds Are Forever, Moonraker, and Thunderball. Eventually Hollywood caught on and James Bond hit the big screen with Dr. No. Based on the book starring Sean Connery and Ursula Andrews. The film Dr. No was more action packed than the book by Ian Fleming because of action scenes, plot, and settings.
In the 90’s and perhaps for many years past the new millenium action is a four-letter word, Bond. James Bond symbolizes everything a modern man wants to be, handsome, with action in is life, and always getting the girl. It is the action scenes, which make Bond enjoyed by all. The action scenes are the major reason why the movie is more action packed then the book. From the opening shots of the movie there is action. Strangways another agent of the British Secret Service leaves the Queens Club and is shot by three blind black beggars. In the book, they are three blind Chigroes-Chinese Negroes. He is then thrown into a black hearse. The next action scene comes in when the beggars arrive at Strangways’ place where they kill Mary Trueblood, Strangways’ secretary. Then take out a file entitled Dr. No. Soon after Bond arrives in Jamaica, he learns that no car should have arrived for him. He tells the driver to loose the car following him. They pull off the road and Bond pulls a gun on the driver. A fight ensues and Bond beats the driver Mr. Jones and starts questioning him. He asked for a cigarette, puts it in his mouth, bits it, and dies. This scene is important and is not in the book, it shows the intelligence of Bond and is entertaining to watch. In the book, this is where we are introduced to Quarrel. In the movie when we are introduced to Quarrel, is an action packed scene of its own. Bond follows Quarrel to a storeroom at the back of a bar. Once there him and the owner of the bar Pus-Feller attack Bond. Eventually Bond gets a hold of his gun. Then a man puts a gun in Bond’s back. After a short conversation, he reveals himself to be Felix Lighter. A character who is in most of the Bond books but not in Dr. No. The next is a small action scene when two men try to kill Bond outside his hotel but a scared off by a passing car. After Professor Dent goes to Crab Key he gets a deadly spider from a table. And soon the spider is crawling under the sheets of a sleeping James Bond. Bond stays absolutely still as it crawls off of him an onto a pillow which his throws on the floor, and kills it with his shoe. In the book, it is a deadly centipede and it never says who put him there. After Bond throws Pendell-Smith’s secretary into a cab he goes back to her bedroom and hides a pillow under the sheets. Soon someone opens the door and shoots the pillow twice. It turns out to be Professor Dent. This is another scene not in the book. A little later Bond and Quarrel arrive on Crab Key, the next morning Bond finds Honey Ryder. And soon the soldiers find them. They shoot the beach looking for intruders. They leave and say they will be back with the dogs. Bond, Honey and Quarrel make their way through a river and hear the dogs. They duck under the water and the guards pass them by and leave. But, one guard stays behind Bond creeps up on him and stabs him. These two action scenes are in the book but Bond shots the guard instead of stabbing him. Next, they come face to face with the dragon. The dragon is actually a tank type vehicle. Bond shots out the headlights while Quarrel tries to shot the drivers. Soon the dragon approaches where Quarrel is hiding and shots them with a flame-thrower. Then Bond and Honey are captured. Eventually they are introduced to Dr. No. In the book, No sends Bond on an obstacle course through the vents where he ends us going against a giant squid. In the movies, Bond just goes through the vents. He enters the reactor room where Dr. No and his men are getting ready to topple another rocket. Bond makes a mess of things and soon him and Dr. No engage in combat. After the fight, Dr. No falls into the waste of the reactor. In the book, Dr. No and Bond, never engage in one on one combat. Instead Bond gets into a crane and rips up a conveyor belt loading guano dust into a boat and it all falls on Dr. No. A less dramatic death than in the movie.
The next element that makes the move more action packed then the book is the plot. The book and the movie start out basically the same. Strangways is killed by three blind beggars. They then kill Mary Trueblood, but in the book, they burn the house down. After Bond finishes a card game with Silvia Trench, the character or the game are not in the book. Bond goes to M’s office where he is told that Strangways was checking out something for the United States about massive interference with some Cape Canaveral rockets. In the book, M tells Bond about the disappearance of some birds and the death of two scientists at a bird sanctuary at Crab Key. M tells Bond that he thinks Strangways and Trueblood ran off together, but Bond does not think so and find the situation strange. “It just strikes me that four people seem to have more or less died because of the birds. Perhaps two more did – Strangways and the Trueblood girl. I agree it sounds ridiculous, but we got nothing else to go on.” (pg.30) He also says that the birds dung is a powerful natural fertilizer worth a lot of money. In the movie this part is more interesting, M tells Bond the rockets at Cape Canaveral are being toppled. Toppling is throwing the gyroscopic control of a rocket off course with radio waves. This and the disappearance of Strangways and Trueblood make for a more action packed plot. The next part of the action packed plot comes when he find out no driver was sent for him. The plot thickens when the driver kills himself instead of being questioned by Bond. After he meets Quarrel and Felix the same girl from the airport takes Bonds picture again. They grab her and find out that she would rather have her arm broke then talk. Then the morning after they arrive on Crab Key they meet Honey. She reveals she has been to the island many times without being caught. She also says that she thinks Dr. No killed her father. The next part of the action packed plot comes after they are caught and decontaminated. They are served breakfast and they both pass out. A mysterious man comes into the room lifts up the sheets and takes a look at Bond. The hand has a black rubber like glove on it. The next part of the plot we find out who the man behind the strange glove is, as Bond and Honey come face to face with the evil Dr. No. They sit down and have drinks. No is somewhat stiff and has robotic hands. In the book, he has metal pinchers instead of hands. He reveals how he was abandoned as a child, and that he wants power to rule the world. He then says he is a member of S. P. E. C. T. R. E. Special executives for counter intelligence, terrorism, revenge, and extortion. An organization headed by the greatest criminal masterminds in the world. In the book, the plot is more about birds and guano then Stangways and the toppling of the rockets in the movie. Dr. No only mentions the rockets once “there have been other failures, decisive failures, from the long list of prototypes – the ZUNI, MATADOR, PETREL, REGULUS, BOMARE – so many names, so many changes, I can’t even remember them all. Well, Mister Bond, it may interest you to know that the vast majority of the failures have been caused from Crab Key.” (Pg. 146) The plot of toppling rockets, world domination, and the criminal organization of S. P. E. C. T. R. E. make for a more action packed plot.
The third and final element that makes the movie more action packed then the book is settings. One setting inparticular is the final setting. In the book Dr. No has Bond go through and obstacle course in the vents. He has to put up with a grueling climb using only his shoulders and feet, heat, cold, tarantulas, and finally the legendary giant squid. In the movie as he goes through the vents he just has to put up with heat and water. Then he enters the reactor room where Dr. No is about to topple another rocket. Bond stops it and kills Dr. No. The reactor overloads and the island blows up. The end setting is typical of James Bond. Him and Honey escape the island and are on a boat with no oars or motor. They are rescued by Felix and the Coast Guard.
In conclusion, it is only fair to give credit where credit is due. The book Dr. No was good but the movie was better and more action packed. The book can be liked or disliked. For instance this book review from Richard Mc Laughlin “Mr. Fleming despite pandering now and then to low tastes, writes extremely well. He knows how to keep his readers hair literally standing on end.