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Dr. No to get Cinema Re-Release in 2012


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#31 AMC Hornet

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Posted 01 May 2012 - 06:41 PM

Quarrel started out a tough, capable and good-natured character (John Kitzmiller was even billed as 'the negro star of Dr. No" when it played in the American south). It's unfortunate that he was turned into a superstitious, eye-rolling, rum-snorting stereotype as he and Bond approached Crab Key (on accounta the 'dragon,' presumably).

He still showed courage, resourcefulness and a bit of humour (hunkering down next to Bond to shoot at the dragon, until Bond's glare reminds him that they were supposed to spread out). His death was awful and ulitimately as much Bond's fault as Dr. No's.

That's why the line "fetch my shoes" sticks in the craw of so many. Bond doesn't treat visible minorities that way - he treats women that way. Honey should have dashed off after his footwear, not Quarrel.

The objection and resentment isn't just about being P.C., it's about expecting better of our hero and of the people who write his dialogue. At least this lapse never occurred again - Bond got on fine with Pinder, Strutter, Quarrel Jr and now Felix Leiter (while still challenging women to tolerate him).

Frankly, I'm surprised that I haven't read more criticism and accusations of racism levelled at Bond for his treatment of Molloka & Obanno and various other African characters in CR. One can argue (like Arnold in True Lies) "yeah, but they were all bad," but that in itself is an admission of racist writing.

Criticism of LALD includes how Bond - as the Mighty Whitey - rolls into Harlem and the Carribean and sorts out all these black troublemakers as if 'keeping them in their place' is the primary - or at least underlying - point of his mission. I don't see it that way (which is admittedly easy for me, being a Honky meself), but I can understand how and why others do.

But, like so much else in the early films (eg: "Lesbian, eh? Not once I'm through with you!") the treatment of Quarrel was typical of its time, and went unnoticed in that time. Who could have predicted how much times would change? (A: cue Dr. King and "I Have a Dream.")

So like I said earlier, the line could be redubbed, but then those who support textual (not racial) purity would be up in arms over the revisionism. I suppose I'd rather just leave the sequence as it is and let it keep its place in the pantheon of cringe-worthy moments that includes "Japanese proverb say..."; "Gawddam little brown water hogs!"; "A woman!"; "That'll keep you in curry for a few weeks"; "Especially when you're bad" and all those times Bond slaps his leading lady around.

If Dr. No gets shown in my area I may well go to it, even though I have the UE DVD. Although, I'm mainly hoping for a reissue of Goldfinger; I feel I need to see that one on a cinema screen - stupid Koreans, lesbian rape and all.

Edited by AMC Hornet, 06 May 2012 - 05:40 PM.


#32 Binyamin

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Posted 07 May 2012 - 12:58 AM

"I'm surprised that I haven't read more criticism and accusations of racism levelled at Bond for his treatment of Molloka & Obanno and various other African characters in CR."

​Wait, now there can't be black-skinned actors portraying Africans (from Africa), because those characters are antagonists?

Why don't we stop crying "racism" at the drop of a hat, and instead cast whoever fits the character best, and go enjoy the movie about people of different shades in a dramatic story.

Edited by Binyamin, 07 May 2012 - 12:59 AM.


#33 AMC Hornet

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Posted 07 May 2012 - 02:35 AM

My point exactly: it's no longer racist to have black actors playing African villains in the 2000s, yet it was racist to have black actors play Afro-American gansters and voodoo practitioners in the early1970s? (For the most part, those were the only roles going.)

Besides, they did cast the best fit for the character Molloka; if the world's best parkour runner had been Peruvian, then the foot chase would have been set (if not filmed) in Lima.

There has been progress since the early 1960s - ethnic actors play mainstream characters now, thanks to the ground-breaking films and TV shows of the 1970s (my favorite example of 'why the hell not?' casting was Graham Greene as a NY cop in Die Hard With a Vengeance).

I just wish that Quarrel could have been treated better in Dr. No for those few, contoversial seconds, thassall.

#34 Binyamin

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Posted 07 May 2012 - 04:05 AM

The thing is, the CHARACTER of Quarrel is below Bond in mission importance and ability. This has absolutely nothing to do with skin color. It's just the character as written, and that line is just a line. If he was played by a white actor, nobody would notice the "fetch my shoes" line because it's just part of the dialog, and it makes perfect sense it context.

Quarrel, the character, is acting as Bond's assistant in the entire movie. It is only in the post-racial world of 2012, where everybody is hyper-sensitive to the issue, that an assistant with black skin color is twisted to mean "racism." Is it racist to ask a black waiter to take your order? That's his job. The skin color is irrelevant. There are assistants who happen to have dark skin in the real world. Why can't there be assistants who have dark skin in Bond's world also?

#35 SecretAgentFan

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Posted 07 May 2012 - 04:11 AM

Not to stir up more debate or provoke anything but...

... isn´t it racist to separate people into those who are allowed to play heroes and those who are allowed to play villains?

IMO, it is just another uncomfortable treatment of this issue when people demand that black, asian or indian actors can only play positive characters. And in my experience, black, asian or indian actors do not want to play stock characters, they want to be able to play every kind of character - just as white actors. (What a shocker...)

And on the subject of James Bond: the character is not a racist but definitely has a huge ego and leans to the macho side. So, he always likes to assert his superiority. But he also always acknowledges his friends, regardless of their ethnicity.

#36 AMC Hornet

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Posted 07 May 2012 - 03:58 PM

The thing is, the CHARACTER of Quarrel is below Bond in mission importance and ability. This has absolutely nothing to do with skin color. It's just the character as written, and that line is just a line. If he was played by a white actor, nobody would notice the "fetch my shoes" line because it's just part of the dialog, and it makes perfect sense it context.


"Felix, fetch my shoes."
"Fetch your own goddam shoes! What do you take me for, some kind of Step'n'fetchit lackey? I'm a trained and experienced field agent, just like you and that feller Quarrel we left back in Kingston. That's it, you're on your own - I'm transferring to Hawaii..."

#37 SecretAgentFan

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Posted 07 May 2012 - 04:37 PM

This just in - an excerpt from the SKYFALL script:

Bond: "M, fetch my shoes." (Remark in the margin: FANTASTIC homage, perfect for the anniversary!)
M: "Fetch your own shoes. I´m too old for this [censored]."
Bond: "But, Mom..."
M: "007! Didn´t I tell you not to call me by my real name?"

#38 AMC Hornet

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Posted 07 May 2012 - 06:43 PM

Is it racist to ask a black waiter to take your order? That's his job. The skin color is irrelevant.


A very good point, which also supports the POV of us bleedin' heart liberal PC pinko commies.

When I give my dinner order to a server in a restaurant, black or white (the waiter, that is) I am as polite and courteous as I expect him/her to be.

(MR. CREOSOTE: Look. I couldn't eat another thing. I'm absolutely stuffed. Bugger off.

...Oh, and fetch my shoes.)

#39 Simon

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Posted 07 May 2012 - 07:44 PM

And on the subject of James Bond: the character is not a racist but definitely has a huge ego and leans to the macho side. So, he always likes to assert his superiority. But he also always acknowledges his friends, regardless of their ethnicity.

Exactly.

In the same way that he was portrayed as sexist in Goldfinger; 'Bugger off, this is man's talk', in the same way as he was portrayed as leaning towards terrorism in TLD in fighting alongside the Mujahideen....

Things change, attitudes and politics.

So quite why we're discussing this stuff as though it was portrayed just yesterday is a little beyond me. Treat the films as reflective of their times.

#40 AMC Hornet

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Posted 07 May 2012 - 08:33 PM

Things change, attitudes and politics.

So quite why we're discussing this stuff as though it was portrayed just yesterday is a little beyond me. Treat the films as reflective of their times.


What will people in the future make of the time 007 discovered a vast underground reservoir of water, then came out of the desert - ignoring the villagers gathered around a dry well - to catch a bus back to his five-star hotel in La Paz?

I can see it now:

"Bond took a ...bus?! Sacrilege!"

Reflective of the times - Bond is still a prick.

#41 SecretAgentFan

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Posted 08 May 2012 - 05:25 AM

And aren´t we all here because we secretly love him for that?

#42 AMC Hornet

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Posted 08 May 2012 - 04:53 PM

It's a secret?

#43 Dustin

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Posted 08 May 2012 - 08:44 PM

On that shoes thing, isn't it just a stupid line? Asking someone to fetch something Bond was perfectly capable fetching himself? Is that even in the book?

#44 AMC Hornet

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Posted 08 May 2012 - 08:47 PM

Of course not.

On the other hand, "Sho' ting, Cap'n" wasn't in the movie.

#45 Golden Claw

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Posted 11 May 2012 - 07:43 AM

Groan! Why does that line have to be mentioned every time anything related to Doctor No is discussed?

Lets get back to discussing the big-screen release of the movie.

Highly unlikely it'll be released in my country. Pity, 'cause its my favourite Connery film. Would've loved to watch it in a theatre.

#46 col_007

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Posted 11 May 2012 - 05:39 PM

Are they re releasing some of the other films as well sure i read in an article somewhere they where

#47 SecretAgentFan

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Posted 11 May 2012 - 05:45 PM

I wonder how people would react if DR.NO were released in a new version without that famous sentence (that nobody besides us remembers)...


"DAMN´ U, GEORGE LUCAS!"?

#48 glidrose

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Posted 11 May 2012 - 08:31 PM

in the same way as [Bond] was portrayed as leaning towards terrorism in TLD in fighting alongside the Mujahideen....


For the record, the Mujahideen and the Taliban are NOT the same thing. Many Mujahideen who fought with the US against the Soviets had to flee their country after the Taliban came to power.

What you've done is the same as saying that the allied forces leant towards communism during WWI because they fought alongside Tsarist Russia.

Sorry if I sound harsh, but many people on this Board and elsewhere make this same mistake.

#49 Leon

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Posted 14 May 2012 - 02:49 AM

I feel this sort of thing is just further evidence of the sheer amount of ignorance prevalent in the world, stemming from people who are mass-culturally encouraged to form quick opinions without any real concept of how to learn and discover subjects and events before deciding what's real. Here the half-baked notion, basically, is that any rebellious middle eastern groups are instantly the same as the extremist group that carried out the NYC attack in 2001. In reality, that's like jumping to a conclusion that anybody owning a gun in the US is the same as one of those mentally ill people who've carried out horrendous shootings.

#50 Simon

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Posted 14 May 2012 - 09:51 AM

My grasp of socio-political affairs may be up for question, but I was ultimately and only trying to offer examples of change.

We shouldn't be complaining about Bond's use of language to coloureds in 1962 as though it took place in 2002. In the same way, we can't get upset about Americans carrying guns every day in the Wild West in the 1800's or that there is a curious lack of Blacksmiths on the High Street nowadays. Trends and behaviours move on.

What was normal then, rankles now. Sure. But so what.

I think this probably only gets discussed about with Bond because his character is all pervasive. He has never been 'away' long enough to be considered in a historical context. However, if we had a modern Lone Ranger, then maybe carrying guns in a hip holster would also be discussed.

#51 scaramunga

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Posted 14 May 2012 - 02:18 PM

I saw the news that a few of the Bond films will be screened at Cannes.

Is there further news about US and UK screenings of some of the classic films?

I'd love to see them on the big screen.

#52 DR76

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Posted 14 June 2012 - 05:32 PM

DR. NO is the only movie that features Bond ordering his fellow agent (who is black) to fetch his shoes, as if the latter was a servant. I find the accusations of racism rather credible. I also take umbrage at some of the black characters in LALD using a racial slur to insult Bond.



We shouldn't be complaining about Bond's use of language to coloureds in 1962 as though it took place in 2002.



DR. NO came out in 1962, not 1942. Racial issues and sensitivities, along with the Civil Rights Movement, were alive and well even in the early 60s. Broccoli and Saltzman should have known better.

#53 Simon

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Posted 15 June 2012 - 09:47 AM

Ordering someone to fetch his shoes may or may not be a problem.

But your saying that as the one being ordered is black, that that makes it a racial issue, is so far wide of the mark as to be untrue. Where is the inferred racism in the remark, 'Fetch my shoes.'?

Arrogance maybe, racism no.

#54 AndrewBond

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Posted 11 August 2012 - 12:43 AM

"I'm surprised that I haven't read more criticism and accusations of racism levelled at Bond for his treatment of Molloka & Obanno and various other African characters in CR."

​Wait, now there can't be black-skinned actors portraying Africans (from Africa), because those characters are antagonists?


It's funny, I always felt like the characters "Molloka" and "Obanno" were specifically created as African Lord's Resistance Army members. I assumed the filmmakers wanted to avoid directly throwing topicality in the audience's face by going with Muslim Arab terrorists. They may also have assumed it would make the film seem dated in later decades ("Ah, what a quaint 2000s movie, with Middle Eastern terrorists!").

The characters of Dimitrios and Solange are themselves questionable. The last name seems to be vaguely Greek or Eastern Mediterranean, enough to avoid association with Islam, although it's entirely possible he could be a Muslim country, such as Albania. I always imagined that Solange was enjoying her time in the Bahamas away from a home country where she would be expected to cover up. The Miami airport bomber also has a very Arab look, but in the credits is listed as "Carlos". It's all done to avoid incendiary flags (no pun intended) to the audience while still seeming relevant.

#55 seawolfnyy

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Posted 11 August 2012 - 05:49 AM

i just don't understand why everybody gets so up in arms over small and insignificant things or that certain things are okay and other are not. it only becomes racist and insenstive when someone says that one thing is appropriate while something else isn't. for example, why are people so upset over that one stupid line that Bond says to quarrel, but not that Bond smacks women several times? Is it just that that is acceptable because Bond is acting defiant or because he is macho? Either everything is okay to portray or nothing is.

#56 Dustin

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Posted 11 August 2012 - 06:17 AM

Actually that stupid line was ignored for decades while the bottom slapping was quite an issue for a time. Both are pretty much ignored today in the public eye. Discussions among fans tend to distort the actual state of affairs. Nobody judges the early films by today's standards.

#57 scaramunga

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Posted 12 August 2012 - 02:47 AM

Any news on some Bond re releases for UK and US markets? It would be nice to see some of the Bond films in the theater during the 50th anniversary.

#58 thecasinoroyale

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Posted 12 August 2012 - 11:10 AM

Still no indication of things here in the UK...

#59 Iceskater101

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Posted 23 October 2012 - 04:28 PM

I want this to be rereleased that would be really cool.!

#60 scaramunga

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Posted 06 November 2012 - 10:08 PM

Did anyone go??

http://www.amctheatr...-classic-dr.-no

It was shown here in the US in September..

There wasn't a theater in my area showing it unfortunately..