Composed by: Monty Norman (with an assist from John Barry)
Dr. No is the sixth novel in Ian Fleming’s series of British spy novels, but the first in the James Bond film series. After the assassination of several MI-6 agents in Jamaica, agent 007 James Bond (Sean Connery) is assigned to investigate. The trail leads him to an insidious plot by Dr. No (Joseph Wiseman), who is considerably toned down from his Fu Manchu-like roots in the novel into a scientist working for international criminal organization SPECTRE. It didn’t quite have the formula of the series down yet. There was no pre-credits sequence, no frustrated Q, and no fantastic gadgets for Bond (but a couple for the titular villain). It’s a solid spy thriller that was good enough to ensure a couple sequels, which in turn catapulted James Bond into an iconic movie franchise.
Among the elements that hadn’t been nailed down yet was the music, which moreso in the 007 franchise has been important. Compared to the \brassy and romantic scores that John Barry would establish as the regular standard, Monty Norman’s Dr. No’s score is almost entirely made up of Jamaican and Caribbean style music, much of it acting as source cues, and so-so orchestral suspense. There’s not even a proper theme song, a surety in following Bond films. The music covering the opening credits is four different cues spliced together in near-haphazard fashion. Continue reading
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