I've been in "a mood" lately. So, I thought, how about another one? Like one of the few instances when James Bond killed in cold blood in the first film in the series, Dr. No? He can do that; he has a licence. It's not a nice thing to do, but when dealing with international intrigues of a suspicious nature, sometimes one has to be a bit blunt.
Bond knows he has a target on his back—someone has already tried to kill him once (death by tarantulation), and he doesn't intend that there's a second time. He knows he's been lured to a trap—a honey trap—but, now he intends to end the evening by turning the tables on the man trying to kill him.
He won't be stood up.
The cold-bloodedness in the kill is less that he shoots the "bad" Professor when he knows he's basically unarmed...or that he shoots him in the back when he's down...for good measure. After all, Professor Dent went to the place to kill him and fired six shots to make sure the job was done. Dent was the aggressor here.
It's the way he sets the trap. He sets up the scene of an assignation (complete with whiskeys and casual clothing removal), moves the pillows to make a credible shape in the bed—an easy, drunken, drowsy target—then once Dent has emptied his magazine clip, reveals his presence, and gathers information, all the while keeping his gun ready for use.
Then...he lures him in. Preoccupying himself with getting rid of the lamp-switch, getting a cigarette and lighting it—he knows Dent will make a desperate play, but he also knows he has an empty weapon. And once he gets a confession, he lets down his guard enough for Dent to make his impotent play...tells him he's stupid (basically) and shoots him dead with two shots. Then, fires a third.
That is just cold.
He lets the guy hang himself and pulls the trap.
Cold.
The Set-Up: Station "J"-Jamaica has gone silent. The British Secret Service has dispatched one of it's licenced-to-kill agents James Bond (Sean Connery) to investigate. The agent, Strangways, was investigating the "toppling" of American missile launches from Cape Canaveral and disappeared. Bond will pick up the investigation, but with the added agenda of finding whoever killed Strangways and...dealing with him. Bond has been lured to the apartment of the secretary of one Professor Dent (Anthony Dawson*), whom he is deeply suspicious of. Bond keeps his date, but, after dispatching the secretary to the local authorities, decides to relax at her apartment...in case of any unexpected guests.
Action.
134. INT. OUSIDE MISS TAROS DOOR. NIGHT.
CAMERA picks up figure from angle at which we do not see
his face, just as his hand switches off light in passage.
FIGURE goes to door of MISS TARO's.
BOND is
seated in chair, one leg over the arm - left hand on
table light switch...Walther in right.
71.
As he talks, we see DENT edging imperceptible nearer to his
gun on the floor.
BOND goes on talking, seemingly
oblivious of DENT's manoeuvering.
135. Continued.
DENT (contd. )
(triumphantly) ... Dr. No! ·
Dr. No
Words by Richard Maibaum, Johanna Harwood, and Berkley Mather
Pictures by Ted Moore and Terence Young
Dr. No is available on DVD and Blu-Ray from Fox Home Video.
* Dawson was one of those character actors who "got around"—he was the hired strangler of Grace Kelly in Dial 'M' For Murder, and in the Bond series, he played the obscured form of SPECTRE #1, Ernst Stavro Blofeld, in both From Russia With Love and Thunderball.
My favorite scene from Dr. No.
ReplyDeleteAnd THAT, Richard, is really saying something!
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