His name was Connery. Sean Connery.
October 5, 1962: A film premieres, Doctor No. It is the 1st film based on a character created by Ian Fleming, a former officer in the intelligence division of Britain's Royal Navy. His agent number is 007. His name? "Bond. James Bond."
Eon Productions Ltd. was formed by Albert R. "Cubby" Broccoli and Harry Saltzman to make films based on Fleming's James Bond novels, which began in 1953 with Casino Royale. They didn't know if turning the novels into films would work, especially in America. If successful, they would make more money there than in the rest of the world. If unsuccessful in the U.S., it wouldn't matter how successful it was in the U.K. and elsewhere: They would be doomed. So they chose the Bond novel that they thought would be the cheapest to produce. It worked, and subsequent Bond films had bigger budgets.
Most of the familiar Bond tropes started here (with the analogues for this film in parentheses):
* The opening "gunbarrel sequence" and opening titles, both designed by Maurice Binder, who would continue to design opening titles until his death in 1991.
* The iconic theme song, composed by Monty Norman and performed by an orchestra conducted by John Barry.
* James Bond, Agent 007 of MI6, Britain's international security agency, played by Scottish actor Sean Connery, then 32 years old, looking cool as hell, getting the girls, killing the bad guys, and dropping mad quips.
* Bond's boss, known only as M, played by Bernard Lee, approving of his results, but not always his methods.
* Bond's playful banter with M's secretary, Miss Moneypenny, played by Lois Maxwell. (The character doesn't get a first name, Eve, until Skyfall in 2012).
* Exotic locations, in this case Jamaica, which had been granted independence by Britain after filming was completed, hence it was still a colony in the film.
* A spectacular lead "Bond Girl": Ursula Andress as the revenge-minded Honey Rider.
* And an insidious villain: Joseph Wiseman as Dr. Julius No, with a nefarious plot: Sabotaging an American space launch, so that the Soviet Union would get blamed, starting World War III, and allowing No's superiors in SPECTRE to take over what was left of the world.
Not yet in place: Q and his gadgets (the only new equipment Bond gets is a new sidearm, a .32-caliber Walther PPK), a tricked-out car, and a plot tying in with a current cultural phenomenon (which has been done a few times, and usually hasn't aged well).
If you can get past Bond's hyper-macho attitude, and the fact that the film views the world through a lens that is still tinted by the British Empire (which had, in real life, already given way to the British Commonwealth), the film is a good adventure with a satisfying conclusion.
Dr. No was a big success, allowing Eon to spend big thereafter. The 3rd film, Goldfinger in 1964, is generally considered where they hit their stride. Connery stepped aside temporarily for George Lazenby in On Her Majesty's Secret Service in 1969, and reclaimed the role for one last go-round in Diamonds Are Forever in 1971.
Roger Moore took it up from 1973 to 1985. Timothy Dalton played 007 in 1987 and 1989. Pierce Brosnan held the role from 1995 to 2002. It was then rebooted with Daniel Craig in 2006, and his 5th and last Bond film, No Time to Die, is about to be released.
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October 5, 1962 was a Friday. It was midweek for football, and preseason for the NBA and the NHL. But baseball was played. Specifically, Game 2 of the World Series, at the old Yankee Stadium. The San Francisco Giants beat the New York Yankees, 2-0. Jack Sanford pitched a 3-hit shutout, outpitching Ralph Terry.
From 1956 to 1966, there was only one Cy Young Award for all of Major League Baseball, and Terry won it. Had there been one for both Leagues, as there has been since 1967, Sanford would have won it for the National League.
Willie McCovey hit a home run. This was the 1st Series where neither team won back-to-back games. The Giants won Games 2, 4 and 6. The Yankees won Games 1, 3, 5 and 7. Game 7 was won by the Yankees, 1-0, at Candlestick Park in San Francisco, with Terry pitching a 4-hit shutout. In the bottom of the 9th, the Giants got the tying run on 3rd base and the winning run on 2nd, with McCovey at bat. But this was not the modern era: No closer was brought in. Terry got McCovey to hit a line shot that 2nd baseman Bobby Richardson caught, and the Yankees won the World Series.