The aquarium in the Fairmont Hamilton Hotel's Gazebo Bar in Bermuda was reportedly the inspiration for Dr. No's aquarium, itself later inspiring the aquarium in Stromberg's lair in The Spy Who Loved Me.
The armorer who gives Bond his Walther PPK at the start of the film is Major Boothroyd, who in the next film, From Russia with Love would be played by Desmond Llewelyn. Beginning with Goldfinger, the "armorer" would forever be known as "Q" (for "Quartermaster"). The character of Boothroyd, also appears in Ian Fleming's original Dr. No novel. He is named for Geoffrey Boothroyd, who wrote to Fleming complaining about Bond's use of a beretta in the early Bond books and recommending Bond use a Walther PPK instead. This detail was included in the novel and later included in this film, establishing part of the Bond legend. Q is based loosely on Charles Fraser-Smith, who designed spy gadgets called "Q-devices" (named for Q-ships, the Royal Navy's disguised warships of World War One) for MI-6.
The brand of silencer on James Bond's Walther PPK gun was a Brausch.
The budget was only $1,000,000, but when costs overran by $100,000 United Artists wanted to pull the plug, fearing it would never recoup its outlay.
The charred trees in the area where Bond confronts the Dragon Tank are part of the sanctuary for rare birds that Dr. No has disrupted. All mention of the sanctuary was deleted from the final film.
The directing job was originally offered to Guy Hamilton, Guy Green and Ken Hughes. Bryan Forbes was also asked to direct. They all turned it down. Phil Karlson was also considered. In the end, Terence Young directed Dr. No, and then returned for From Russia with Love and Thunderball.
The famous pose of Sean Connery holding a gun across his chest had to be redone at the last second. The Walther PPK was left at the studio, but the photographer had an old air pistol in his car. The gun in the picture is the air pistol
The film's USA release was forestalled by the political climate after the Cuban Missile Crisis.
The first scene Sean Connery filmed as James Bond is the sequence in the Kingston Airport where he passes a female photographer and throws a hat in front of his face. The filming date was 16 January 1962.
The first-ever day of filming at England's Pinewood Studios for both Dr. No and the EON Productions James Bond series was on Monday, 26 February 1962. The first take was Slate 310 at 11.25 am on Stage D. The scene was in M's office and featured Bernard Lee, Peter Burton and Sean Connery. Many of the cast and crew including director Terence Young had been late arriving on set due to harsh cold and inclement weather.
The gun Bond puts the silencer on at Miss Taro's house is not his famous PPK. It's a FN 1910 easily distinguishable by the FN logo on the grip. The reason is that the prop department couldn't get a silencer fitting the PPK.
The initial reason that MI6 launches an investigation, mysterious radio interference being picked up at Cape Cenaveral isn't as far out of the question as one might think. A memorandum to the Pentagon in the year the film was released, reported unusually heavy radio emissions from Cuba, and that if John Glenn's upcoming orbit of the Earth were to fail, a case could successfully made (whether true or not) of Cuban sabotage.
The Jamiacan production office was the Courtleigh Manor Hotel in Kingston. Terribly wet weather was a big problem for the crew.
The literal translations of some of this film's foreign language titles include Licence to Kill / Agent 007: Licence to Kill (Italy); James Bond Versus Dr. No (Belgium & France); Dr. No: Mission-Killing / Agent 007 - Mission: Kill Dr. No (Denmark); James Bond Chases Dr. No (Germany); Dr. No: 007 Is The Killing Number (Japan); Agent 007 With A Licence To Kill (Sweden); Agent 007 Versus Dr. No (Spain); James Bond, Agent 007 Against Dr. No (Greece); 007 Seized The Secret Island (China); 007 - The Secret Agent (Portugal); 007 And Dr. No (Finland) and 007 Against The Satanic Dr. No (Brazil & Spanish-speaking South America). In Japan the translators first interpreted the title as "Dr.? No!" and produced posters with a translation that meant "We don't want a doctor". The mistake was discovered at the last moment.
The location of the classic scene where Honey Rider (Ursula Andress) walks out of the sea and meets James Bond (Sean Connery) was Laughing Waters Beach on the Laughing Water Estate owned by Mrs. Minnie Simpson in Ocho Rios, St. Ann, Jamaica. Mrs. Simpson had been a fan of the Ian Fleming James Bond novels.
The movie's line "Bond. James Bond." was voted as the #22 movie quote by the American Film Institute, and as #51 of "The 100 Greatest Movie Lines" by Premiere.
The only James Bond movie that does not feature a pre-titles sequence.
The script for the classic scene where Honey emerges from the water read: BOND'S EYELINE : DAY. WHAT HE SEES - HONEY, staring at the water's edge, her back to him. She is naked except for a wisp.
The sounds of birds whistling were made by a child's bird call whistle.
The white bikini worn by Ursula Andress in the movie was sold by her at Christie's Auctions in London on 14 February 2001 for 35,000 UK pounds. It was purchased by Robert Earl of Planet Hollywood and with commission and tax fees, the total was actually around 41,000 UK pounds. Before the auction, the bikini had been estimated to fetch 40,000 UK pounds.