Dr. Julius No (Joseph Wiseman)

Julius No
Character information
Alias(es)	Dr. No
Title/rank	Doctor
Age	43
Born	1919, China
Died	c.1962, Crab Key, Jamaica
Hair	Black, short
Eyes	Brown
Height	6'0" (1.83 m)
Dist. Features	Prosthetic Hands
Relatives	Unnamed (father; deceased), Unnamed (mother; deceased)
Nationality	Chinese/ German
Occupation	Nuclear physicist Criminal operative
Affiliation	SPECTRE
Status	Deceased; boiled alive
Behind the scenes
Role	Main Villain
Portrayed by	Joseph Wiseman
First seen	Dr. No (film)
Last seen	007 Legends

"East? West? Just points of a compass, each as stupid as the other. I'm a member of SPECTRE."
"SPECTRE?"
"SPECTRE. Special Executive for Counter-intelligence, Terrorism, Revenge, Extortion."

― Dr. No and James Bond

Dr. Julius No was a nuclear scientist and operative of the secretive criminal organisation, SPECTRE, who used his knowledge and wealth to threaten a U.S. rocket launch. The villain was based on the literary character who first appeared in the 1958 Ian Fleming novel, Dr. No, and was portrayed by the late Canadian actor, Joseph Wiseman, in the 1962 film of the same name. The first main antagonist in the EON Productions film series, No was also referenced in its sequel, the 1963 James Bond film From Russia with Love. He later appeared in numerous videos games adapted from the franchise, including GoldenEye: Rogue Agent (2004) and 007 Legends (2012). As the first main antagonist in the film series, No helped set up some of the characteristics of later villains and as such is still sometimes recognized as one of the best villains in the series.

Biography

Background

"My work has given me a unique knowledge of radioactivity, but not without cost, as you can see."

― Dr. No to James Bond

Dr. Julius No is a brilliant scientist with an implied Napoleon complex. He is of Eurasian ancestry, as a self-described "unwanted child of a German missionary and a Chinese girl of a good family". He later "became treasurer of the most powerful criminal society in China", in this case, the Tongs. He then "escaped to America with $10,000,000" of Tong gold bullion; using it to fund his subsequent criminal activities on Crab Key, Jamaica. He specialised in atomic energy, costing him both of his hands, which were replaced with crude, metal bionic appendages. These new hands were strong enough to crush a metal figurine with ease, but were lacking in manual dexterity. He offered his skills and expertise to the Americans and Soviets, but was rejected. In revenge, No joined the criminal organisation SPECTRE. Unlike his literary counterpart, the cinematic Dr. No appears as a slim, middle aged Caucasian man with slightly epicanthal eyes, due to his Chinese heritage. Closely shaven and his dark hair always neatly combed back, the well groomed Doctor dressed himself in equally well-tailored, cream coloured Nehru suits.

Dr. No (film)

Dr. No meets James Bond and Honey Ryder

Dr. No learns from his associate, local geologist Professor R.J. Dent, that British Secret Service agent John Strangways has been investigating his activities on Crab Key; obtaining suspiciously radioactive rock samples from the island. This prompts No to deploy his enforcers, the Three Blind Mice, to kill the inquisitive Strangways and his secretary Mary Trueblood. Fellow British spy, James Bond, is subsequently sent to Jamaica by his superior M to investigate their murders. Hoping to keep Bond from intruding on his business, Dr. No gives both the Mice and Dent orders to eliminate him. However, Bond manages to survive and kill his would-be assassins. He then sails with local fisherman Quarrel to investigate Dr. No's radioactive activities on Crab Key. There, they encounter shell diver Honey Ryder, who confides that she believes that Dr. No was been responsible for the death of her father when he went shell diving at Crab Key and didn't return. No zealously protects his privacy on the island using a flame-throwing tank the locals fearfully refer to as a 'dragon'. Quarrel is subsequently incinerated by the vehicle, whose crew take Bond and Honey captive.

Dr. No falling towards his agonising death

The pair are held in Dr. No's bauxite mine lair, finally meeting the Doctor face-to-face in his personal sub-aquatic apartment; lavishly decorated with a large concave ocean-window, and the recently stolen Goya painting. Dining with his helpless prisoners, No recounts his life story and explains his scheme to electronically sabotage the U.S. Project Mercury spaceflight program on behalf of SPECTRE. When his operation on Crab Key is concluded, he will destroy the island, and move on to another target. Disappointed by Bond's lack of appreciation and vision, the infuriated Doctor has 007 beaten and thrown in a cell. While No prepares to topple the rocket from his control room, Bond escapes captivity and disguises himself in a Hazmat Suit. No mistakes him for one of the engineers, presenting the spy with an opportunity to overload the facility's atomic reactor. As the reactor proceeds to melt down, Dr. No faces Bond in a last ditch effort to salvage his plans, but to no avail. In their ensuing struggle, the two men fall onto a platform descending into the bubbling reactor coolant. Bond manages to climb to safety, but Dr. No's is unable to pull himself up using his prosthetics and is boiled to death.

From Russia with Love (film)

In the aftermath of the failed scheme, SPECTRE Head Ernst Stavro Blofeld, orders his operatives, Rosa Klebb and Tov Kronsteen, to conceive a means of humiliatingly assassinating James Bond, partly to avenge the death of their colleague, Dr. No.

Alternate Continuities

GoldenEye: Rogue Agent

Dr. No as he appears in GoldenEye: Rogue Agent (2004).

The 2004 video-game GoldenEye: Rogue Agent explores an continuity separate from any established canon, in which Dr. No has not met his demise at the hands of 007, and commands an army of soldiers.

Multiplayer Game Appearances

Dr. No as he appears in the 2010 GoldenEye 007 video game.

Dr. No, using the likeness of Joseph Wiseman, has also made appearances in several James Bond video games as a playable multiplayer character, starting with the 2005 game From Russia with Love. In 2010, he would appear as one of 12 prominent characters in GoldenEye 007's "Classic Conflict" multiplayer mode. As a character-specific bonus, Dr. No's bullet-proof cybernetic arms grant him benefits including enhanced weapon accuracy and reload speed. Oddly enough, the character model sports only one cybernetic hand (likely a reference to Dr. Strangelove). The same is true for 007 Legends.

Personality

"The successful criminal brain is always superior. It has to be."

― Dr. No's most famous quote.

Cold-tempered, always thoughtful and absolutely unscrupulous, Dr. No seemed convinced of his intellectual superiority. To achieve his ends, he did not hesitate to step on corpses and ruthlessly eliminate anyone who got in the way of his plans or who ventured near his private island. He was also refined and elegant and was surprisingly welcoming to Bond and Honey Ryder during their stay at his base. In addition, like other higher ranking SPECTRE agents who would appear in later films, Dr. No was intolerant of failure as he severely reprimanded Professor Dent after several failed assassination attempts on Bond's life.

Henchmen

Prof. R. J. Dent

Three Blind Mice

Miss Taro

Annabel Chung

Jones

Sister Lily

Sister Rose

Chen

Weapons & Vehicles

Prosthetic Hands

Hazmat Suit

Dragon

Behind the Scenes

Ian Fleming wanted his friend Noël Coward to portray No, but the latter answered the invitation with "No! No! No!" Fleming also considered that his step-cousin, Christopher Lee, would be good for the role, although, by the time Fleming told the producers, they had already chosen Joseph Wiseman for the part. Lee would later go on to star as Francisco Scaramanga, the main antagonist of The Man with the Golden Gun. Swedish actor Max von Sydow was also offered the role as Dr. No, but decided to turn it down. He would later appear as Ernst Stavro Blofeld in the unofficial James Bond film Never Say Never Again. Producer Harry Saltzman picked Wiseman because of his performance in the 1951 film Detective Story, but later in his life, the actor viewed the film with disdain, and preferred to be remembered for his theater career. Being caucasian, Wiseman had special make-up applied to evoke No's Chinese heritage.

Gallery

• Dr. Julius No (Joseph Wiseman)/Gallery

Trivia

• His first name Julius is never mentioned in the film.
• Although he is the main antagonist, No only makes a personal appearance in the climax. His voice could be first heard at the start of the second half of the film.
• An initial draft of the screenplay of the film was rejected because the scriptwriters had made Dr. No a marmoset.
• In the German dubbed version of the movie, Dr. No works for an organization called GOFTER ("Geheime Organisation für Terror, Erpressung, und Rache" = secret organization for terror, blackmail and revenge). Therefore, in the German translation in From Russia with Love, the members of SPECTRE (Phantom in the German version) refer to him as their partner instead of their member as in the German version, the organization has a different name than the one in previous movie.

Dr. No's cameo in Heineken's commercial

• No also makes a brief appearance in Crack the Case, a 2012 Heineken beer commercial to promote the release of the twenty-third Bond film, Skyfall.
• No, along with many other characters from early 007 films, was featured in the opening sequence of 1969's On Her Majesty's Secret Service.
• Ian Fleming wanted his friend and neighbour Noel Coward to play the role. He replied, "Dr. No? No, no, no".
• Max von Sydow was offered the role, but he turned it down in order to star as Jesus Christ in The Greatest Story Ever Told.

See also

• Dr. Julius No
• Dr. Julius No (Literary)
• Dr. Julius No (James Bond Jr.)
• Dr. Julius No (Carlos Alazraqui)
• Dr. Julius No (World of Espionage)
• Dr. Julius No (David Suchet)