Today in History: Dr. No (first ever Bond film) premieres in London

Arguably one of the most famous action characters of all time, James Bond has been a thing for a very long time. There have been 24 total official films made throughout the ages and it all began with this first film.

The year was 1962

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The James Bond novels written by Ian Fleming had already been relatively popular from 1952 onward and upon learning that Sean Connery was going to be cast as 007, Ian was apparently very upset calling Connery (then 31 years old) "uncouth" and the "antithesis of everything he has written for the character." However, Fleming had already sold the rights to the movie and had no say in the matter.

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After actually seeing the completed product Ian Fleming changed his tune and actually loved the movie as well as Connery's performance. He would later kind of tweak the character in his future books to reflect a more "Connery-esque" persona. I think this is probably the highest praise you can possibly give an actor. Sean Connery did such a good job that his portrayal was actually better than what the man who thought of the character in the first place had in his mind.

In Dr. No, 007 is sent to Jamaica to investigate the disappearance of a fellow agent as well as two other agents that were ambushed and killed. His search leads almost immediately to action as his chauffeur was actually sent to kill him. This driver, known only as "Jones" has gone down in history as the very first villain to be offed by 007 ever (in film.)

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his name in real life is Reginald Carter

During the course of his searching around the island, we got our glimpses into what made the character so iconic. He is a master at all-things-combat, very intelligent, but also has a bunch of vices such as drinking, smoking, gambling, and of course womanizing.

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It is here that we are introduced to our first-ever Bond girl and the associated silly names that are given. Her name was Honey Ryder and even though this scene is extremely tame by today's standards, it was considered extremely racy footage for 1962 and barely made it past the censors.

A bunch of stuff happens in a silly island lair that Bond films are so famous for and we are eventually introduced to Dr. No

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I found Dr. No quite amusing. He is an evil genius who enjoys nice suits and because of his penchant for nuclear research, he lost both of his hands and had them replaced with glove-covered claws which easily crush metal, but have very little in the way of dexterity. Of course 007 overpowers him after an easily escaped and brief captivity.

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This film is actually pretty funny to watch today because well, we didn't really have a whole lot to speak of in terms of technology back in those days but it was pretty revolutionary for the time. Also the rather absurd nature of Dr. No almost had to be the inspiration for Dr. Evil of the Austin Powers franchise.

This might seem boring to a lot of people because well, it is quite lame in terms of what we have grown accustomed to in action films and even Bond films. However, this is a piece of history in that it was the first film in the second longest-running film-franchise ever (Godzilla is actually number one, if you can believe that.)

Dr. No was a triumphant success at the box office, pulling in near 60 million dollars globally on a budget of only $1.1 million.