Dr. No (1962)

Buy it from Amazon.com

Dr. No: “A medium dry martini, lemon peel, shaken, not stirred.”
Bond: “Vodka?”
Dr. No: “Of course.”

Overview: Sean Connery stars in the first 007 film, popularizing both the spy genre and the vodka martini. In it, James Bond travels to Jamaica, and thwarts Dr. No’s plans to topple American rockets. A bikinied Ursula Andress becomes the first Bond girl.

What does Bond drink?

• The festivities begin when Bond checks into his hotel room in Jamaica, where a bellman mixes him “One medium dry vodka martini, mixed like you said, sir, and not stirred.” The martini is made with Smirnoff Red vodka and a slice of lime. The bellman leaves behind the bottle of Smirnoff, an undetermined bottle of vermouth (it's mostly hidden by an ice bucket) and a bowl of lime wedges.

This is a good time to examine one of the great martini conspiracy theories, advanced by a handful of gin aficionados: Smirnoff invented the vodka martini solely as a marketing tie-in to the film version of Dr. No. Before 1962, everyone drank gin martinis.

Let us be the first to set the record straight—it's simply not true. In fact, Smirnoff had been promoting vodka martinis since the mid-1950s, but the cocktail's origins go back even further. It's almost certain the vodka martini existed in Russia and other parts of Europe as far back as the 1930s (Ian Fleming was most likely exposed to it during one of his journalism assignments in Moscow). The earliest known reference to a vodka martini in the United States is found in the 1951 cocktail book Bottoms Up by Ted Saucier; the recipe is credited to celebrity photographer (and House and Garden society editor) Jerome Zerbe. As far as Bond is concerned, Fleming had the literary 007 drinking vodka martinis as early as 1954, in Live and Let Die. This New Yorker article from 1955 proves that the cocktail was being served in New York seven years before the release of Dr. No, with vodka that wasn't made by Smirnoff.

What Smirnoff (and the James Bond films) did do was popularize the vodka martini. But marketing and selling a product hardly qualifies as a conspiracy. The simple truth behind the ascendancy of the vodka martini is that most people prefer vodka to gin.

• While meeting with Strangways’ friends at the Queen’s Club, Bond has a drink in his hand, most likely a scotch and soda (which we'll count it as). The other three men have the same type of drinks.
• As they sit at a table in Puss Feller’s nightclub, it appears that Bond, Leiter and Quarrel have just finished eating dinner. There is a new bottle of Black & White scotch whiskey on the table, along with three empty glasses and a bottle of beer. The beer appears to belong to either Leiter or Quarrel (this would be consistent with the same scene in the novel, when Quarrel drinks Red Stripe beer). When Quarrel goes after the photographer who has just taken a picture of Bond, Leiter begins pouring drinks from the bottle of scotch, beginning with Bond. As Quarrel returns with the woman, we see Bond drinking from his glass. There are also glasses of scotch in front of Leiter and Quarrel.
• That night, Bond returns to his hotel room, and discovers that someone has broken in. Bond begins to pour a glass of vodka from the bottle of Smirnoff Red. He thinks twice, and sniffs the open bottle. Suspecting poison, he opens a drawer, and pulls out an unopened bottle of Smirnoff Blue (which has a higher proof). Bond pours himself a straight glass of the vodka.
• As he waits for Professor Dent at Miss Taro’s bungalow, Bond pours two glasses of Smirnoff Blue vodka (to fool Dent into thinking he’s asleep in bed). However, 007 does not have a drink during the scene.
• Prior to dinner in Dr. No’s apartment, Bond is given a vodka martini, while Honey Ryder takes a glass of red wine.
• During dinner, Bond has a half-finished glass of what appears to be red wine to his right. He is poured a glass of Dom Perignon ’53, but does not drink it. When Honey is taken away by Dr. No’s guards, Bond, looking for a weapon, grabs the champagne bottle. Dr. No calmly says “That’s a Dom Perignon ’55. It would be a pity to break it.” Bond puts the bottle down, considers his reply, and retorts “I prefer the ’53 myself.” (For more on 007 and Dom Perignon, see the Brands section.) Dr. No also has glasses of red wine and champagne in front of him, but is not shown taking a drink.

Other people’s drinks: When Bond first enters Puss Feller's bar, Quarrel is drinking a Red Stripe beer. Later in the film, during the boat trip to Crab Key, Quarrel begins drinking from a large jug of rum. In one of the film’s more embarrassing sequences, Felix Leiter tells Quarrel: “Hey, Quarrel, if you see a dragon, you get in first and breathe on him, you hear? With all that rum in you, he’ll die happy!”

Product placement: Bottles of Smirnoff vodka are seen in at least three separate scenes (the beginning of a long relationship between the vodka and 007). During the fight sequence at Puss Feller’s bar, Bond knocks Quarrel and Puss Feller into a stack of Red Stripe beer boxes. As mentioned before, a bottle of Black & White scotch is also seen during the club scene.

By the book: Based on Doctor No (1958).

• As in the film, 007’s first drink is in his hotel room in Jamaica, however, the waiter instead brings a gin and tonic with lime.
• Bond and Quarrel have drinks (gin and tonic and Red Stripe beer, respectively) at Pus-Feller’s restaurant. Felix Leiter does not appear in the book.
• When he returns to his hotel, Bond receives a basket of poisoned fruit (instead of his vodka being poisoned).
• In Doctor No’s office, Bond asks for a medium-dry vodka martini. He considers using his martini glass as a weapon against Dr. No. During dinner, 007 knocks over his glass of champagne in order to conceal his steak knife.

Total: Six drinks. Two vodka martinis, a glass of straight vodka, two scotch whiskies, and a glass of red wine.