Today's best picture ever: Frank Sinatra


Vintage ad: DC Comics tabloid editions


Pop Focus: James Bond "Dr. No"

As a Bond fan I always self-identified as a "Goldfinger." Not very original, I know, but it's a damned good film -- great action sequences, over-the-top plot, Honor Blackman karate-chopping people, and that car... It's when the elements Bond film franchise really came together.

But, after watching it twice within the past few years, once on a the big screen at a local theater that did a double feature of it with, of course, "Goldfinger," I'm thinking maybe I'm a "Dr. No" guy.

I'd sort of written it off as an early entry -- a little awkward. Sean Connery was new to screen-acting, the producers were still getting a handle on tone and figuring out how to make Ian Fleming's superspy work on screen. But, during both of these recent viewing, I was highly entertained. It's a fun movie, with some good action scenes, some funny lines, great music, lovely on-location stuff filmed in Jamaica and Ursula Andress -- a classic Bond girl. No cool car, though.

So, it was underrated in my mind, but no longer. It's near the top of my Bond list. I still love "Goldfinger" and would probably put "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" at number two. Weird, I know. But it's a great Bond flick -- John Barry is at the top of his game on the soundtrack, I love that cable car scene, and it's the one pre-Daniel Craig film where Bond is humanized. I'll need to do a Pop Focus on that one sometimes, too. Oh, plus Diana Rigg.

But, in the meantime, here's a selection of images and artifacts from "Dr. No." Enjoy!





Dr. No, original hardcover novel by Ian Fleming




















Dr. No adaptation in DC Comics Showcase Presents 1963

Dr. No original soundtrack album