The First James Bond Film Premieres

It's August 25th, 1944, in the center of Paris.

A young British commando scans the road ahead from the passenger seat of his scout car as it races through the deserted boulevards of the French capital.

Following behind is a convoy of armored vehicles carrying 80 of the best soldiers in the British armed forces.

These cars weave through barricades piled high with sandbags, but there are no enemy troops manning the defensive positions because just this morning, the German occupiers of Paris surrendered to the Allies.

Instead, crowds of French civilians cheered the British soldiers as they passed.

Despite these outpourings of joy though, young Commando knows there will still be pockets of Nazi resistance in the city.

He has to be on guard, especially where he's headed.

He has orders to lead this convoy to the German Navy headquarters and seize any intelligence remaining there before the Germans can destroy it.

As his scout car rounds a corner, the commando sees his destination in the distance, a large mansion of honey-colored stone surrounded by lavish gardens.

But as the convoy nears the chateau, there's a burst of machine gunfire.

Young Commando ducks as his driver veers the car to a stop on the side of the road.

The two men scramble for their guns, then they run for the cover of a low wall on the roadside as bullets pock the earth just behind them.

The convoy of armored cars behind them scatters.

Commandos leap from their vehicles and take up positions on the boulevard to fight back.

For the next two hours, these British soldiers fight a street battle with hundreds of Germans pulled up in the chateau.

Finally, the enemy stops firing.

Young Commando lowers his weapon and peers through the haze of gun smoke on the street.

He spots a white flag flying above the chateau.

The Germans have surrendered the naval headquarters and all the important intelligence stored inside.

The British commandos in this battle are part of the elite 30 Assault Unit.

Formed in 1942, their dangerous missions have seen them sneak behind enemy lines and infiltrate Nazi strongholds to capture intelligence vital to the war effort.

The unit was the brainchild of a daring and unorthodox spy with British Naval Intelligence, Ian Fleming.

At the end of World War II, Ian leaves the British Armed Forces, but that isn't the end of his adventures in espionage.

Inspired by his wartime experiences in the early 1950s, Ian writes his first novel, the story of a British super spy named James Bond.

Bond will become a literary sensation and a Hollywood icon, the lead character in one of the longest running and most successful film franchises in history, one that will be introduced to the world with the premiere of the first James Bond movie, Dr No, on October 5th, 1962.

From Noiser and Airship, I'm Lindsay Graham, and this is History Daily.

History is made every day.

On this podcast, every day, we tell the true stories of the people and events that shaped our world.

Today is October 5th, 1962, the first James Bond film premieres.

It's March 25th, 1952, a decade before the release of Dr No.

A small plane climbs into the sky above Jamaica and dipping its wings heads north on a course for New York City.

Onboard are two English newlyweds, 43-year-old journalist Ian Fleming and his wife Anne, who's four months pregnant with their first child.

But their unborn son is not the only precious cargo on this trip.

In the briefcase nestled by Ian's feet is a 60,000 word manuscript, a book which the slender Englishman believes will change his life.

Ian wrote the first James Bond novel, Casino Royale, in just two months.

James Bond was everything Ian wanted to be, tough, resourceful and suave.

But the British spy wasn't just the result of a writer's imagination.

Much of Casino Royale was based on Ian's own experiences during World War II.

The dangerous and daring commando missions Ian oversaw provided plentiful inspiration for his new fictional secret agent.

As a result, the book is filled with action and intrigue and Ian is convinced his story will be a hit.

After flying to New York, Ian and his wife journey on to London.

There, Ian meets with an old friend who works for a publishing company.

Over lunch, the friend agrees to read Ian's manuscript and pass it on to his boss, a publisher named Jonathan Cape.

And after he has an opportunity to read it, Jonathan decides to give the book a chance.

One year later, in April 1953, the first James Bond novel hits bookshops in Britain.

The reviews and the national press are glowing.

The spectator calls it lively, ingenious, and very entertaining.

The initial print run of about 5,000 copies sells out within weeks, and soon British readers are hungry for more James Bond.

Luckily, Ian has already written the sequel.

Live and Let Die is released in the spring of 1954.

This book does even better than Casino Royale, and it cements James Bond and Ian Fleming as the most exciting names in suspense fiction in the 1950s.

With sales increasing and Ian already hard at work on a third installment, it isn't long before Hollywood comes calling.

It's June 20th, 1961, eight years after the publication of Casino Royale.

At the New York headquarters of movie studio United Artists, two heavyset men in suits stride across the lobby and head for the elevators.

Albert R.

Broccoli and Harry Saltzman have a vision.

They want to bring Ian Fleming's spy sensation, James Bond, to the big screen, and they're here to convince studio executives to fund the film.

But Albert and Harry aren't the first to try.

There's been Hollywood interest in James Bond ever since the first novel was released in 1953.

A year later, in 54, CBS released an unsuccessful television adaptation that turned British spy James Bond into American agent Jimmy Bond.

But no film project had ever gotten off the ground.

Then in early 1961, Harry Saltzman became the latest producer to buy an option on Ian Fleming's novels.

It gave him the rights to make a movie based on the adventures of James Bond, but only for a limited time.

If Harry wanted to make his film, he had to put the production together within six months.

Harry had hoped to be able to find the funding himself, but by May, time was running out and he still hadn't secured the capital he needed.

So he teamed up with an experienced and well-connected New Yorker, Albert Broccoli.

Now the two producers have come to United Artists to secure the big money backing they need to make the film.

Harry and Albert walked into United Artists ready to make a persuasive pitch and they succeed.

Only 40 minutes later, they walk out of the building with a deal.

United Artists agrees to fund the first James Bond movie and to make five more if the first one is successful.

The budget the studio offers is modest though, just a million dollars for the first film.

But Harry and Albert are thrilled.

It's more than enough to achieve their goals and now they can get to work.

Their initial task is to decide which James Bond novel they will adapt.

The obvious choice is the first book, Casino Royale.

But the story's long history of near misses with Hollywood has left a problematic legacy and there are legal complications.

So instead Harry and Albert choose Ian's sixth Bond novel, Dr No.

With the story chosen and the funding in place from United Artists, James Bond is on his way to the big screen at last.

But before he gets there, the two producers will have one more all important task, finding the right leading man.

It's the fall of 1961 at a Polish restaurant in London, England.

The film producer Harry Saltzman and his wife are dining with friends.

It's a few months since Harry sealed the deal with United Artists, but despite that triumph, Harry is frustrated.

After an exhaustive search, they've still yet to find the right man to play James Bond.

At first, Harry and his partner Albert Broccoli wanted Cary Grant for the role.

The British-born actor was at the peak of his stardom, and the producers knew he was a fan of the James Bond books as well.

But they quickly discovered their budget of a million dollars couldn't possibly cover Grant's fee.

Not to mention the actor was nearing 60, making him a bit old to play the British super spy.

So Harry and Albert decided to look elsewhere.

Bond's creator, Ian Fleming, had suggestions he shared.

He'd seen a young actor named Roger Moore on television and thought he'd fit the role perfectly, but Moore wasn't available for Dr No.

Many other actors were approached and turned the project down.

Harry was beginning to despair of ever finding the perfect leading man.

As the producer complains about this struggle over dinner, one of the other guests, a fellow film producer named Benny Fish has an idea.

He's currently working on a comedy called On the Fiddle.

It stars a young Scotsman named Sean Connery.

Connery is 31 years old and has established a solid career for himself on British stage and television, but he's yet to break it into the movies.

Still, Benny is convinced he's just what Harry and Albert are looking for.

He offers to show them his unfinished film to prove it.

When the producers see Sean Connery on screen, they know they've found their bond.

It's not just the way the actor looks, it's the way he moves, powerful yet light on his feet, civilized but with a hint of menace underneath.

He's perfect, but not everyone agrees.

The studio is unimpressed and Ian Fleming is stunned.

The rugged and unmistakably Scottish Sean Connery is nothing like the cool Englishman of Ian's imagination.

But despite these misgivings, Harry and Albert are convinced they have the right man for the job and they quickly strike a deal with Sean.

They have their James Bond.

And finally, principal photography on Dr.

No can begin.

It's late January, 1962 on the Caribbean Island of Jamaica.

The Dr.

No crew is filming a pivotal scene.

The location is a beautiful beach on the north coast of the island.

Its golden sands are lined with palm trees.

A waterfall cascades gently through the rain forest down into the sea.

The camera rolls and the tan figure of Ursula Andress emerges from the crystal waters of the Caribbean.

The 25-year-old Swiss up and coming actress plays the role of honey writer, James Bond's love interest in the film.

Watching from a bluff above the sands is Ian Fleming.

His home on the island, where he writes all of the James Bond novels, is just a few minutes away.

And the 53-year-old is hard at work on the latest book in the series, but he couldn't resist taking a break and coming to see the film's progress.

So far, he's pleased with what he's seen.

Despite his initial doubts, Ian has come around to the idea of Sean Connery playing Bond.

The actor has worked hard on smoothing out his rougher edges, and Ian has helped him, joining Sean on set to discuss his character.

As a result, Sean has become more comfortable, embodying James Bond's love of the finer things in life, like a well-tailored suit or the perfectly mixed drink.

After completing the scene where Honey Rider first meets Bond, production returns to this location to film a gunfight.

Bond and Rider crouch down behind a sand dune as Dr No's henchmen shoot at them from a boat out at sea.

The sound of gunfire, however, catches some unwanted attention.

Thinking a real battle is taking place, sailors from the US Navy rush in speedboats to the beach to intervene, and they blow the take.

Despite the unwanted cameos by the American military, the Jamaican leg of production finishes on time and on budget.

At the end of February 1962, the crew decamps to Pinewood Studios in England to finish filming.

And a month later, the first James Bond movie is in the can.

But there is still much to do.

Six months of post-production work will be needed before the film is ready.

But as Dr No nears completion, all of Ian Fleming's doubts about the project will come roaring back.

And as the world premiere date approaches, Ian will begin to wonder if he's made a terrible mistake.

It's the evening of October 5th, 1962, at a grand theater on Piccadilly Circus in the heart of London.

Cameras flash as the cast and crew of the first James Bond movie, Dr No, gathered for a gala screening of the new film.

Among them is the man who made it all possible, Ian Fleming.

He poses for photographers alongside Harry Saltzman and Albert R.

Broccoli, the two producers who finally succeeded in bringing James Bond to the big screen.

Ian smiles for the cameras, but inside, he's anxious.

He's not sure whether the film will be a success.

When Ian saw an early cut of Dr No, he was despondent.

A supposedly tense scene of a tarantula menacing James Bond while he slept provoked fits of laughter among the previews audience.

During the end credits, Ian walked out of the theater, got into a cab and went to a pub.

Drowning his sorrows with a friend, Ian called the film simply dreadful.

But the public doesn't agree.

Three days after its debut in Piccadilly, the movie opens in theaters across Britain.

Dr No surpasses all expectations.

Audiences fall in love with Sean Connery's portrayal of Ian's super spy.

His James Bond is a seducer and a killer, a new kind of classless hero who can move between worlds, as comfortable in a tuxedo as he is in a fist fight.

Driven by a pulsating and instantly iconic theme song, the film is a blast of fresh air and British filmmaking.

Bold, violent, but fun, Dr No makes back its budget and more on its British release alone.

And then, when the film comes out in America in May 1963, the response is just as enthusiastic.

Producers Harry Saltzman and Albert R.

Broccoli immediately begin work on a follow-up, giving birth to an iconic franchise.

It will go on to become one of the most successful in the history of film.

And over the next 60 years, five men will follow Sean Connery in portraying James Bond on screen.

More than 20 sequels will be made, with a total worldwide box office topping $7 billion.

And it all began with the release of the first film, Dr No, that premiered in London on this day, October 5th, 1962.

Next, on History Daily, October 6th, 1889, the now world famous Moulin Rouge in Paris opens its doors for the first time.

From Noiser and Airship, this is History Daily.

Hosted, edited, and executive produced by me, Lindsay Graham.

Audio editing by Molly Bond.

Sound design by Derek Barrett.

Music by Lindsay Graham.

This episode is written and researched by William Simpson.

Executive producers are Stephen Walters for Airship, Pascal Hughes for Noiser.