James Bond sound engineer recalls Dr No stress

Sixty years on from the release of Dr No, the first James Bond film, the sound engineer behind many of its memorable moments says he remembers an unbelievable but stressful time.

Norman Wanstall worked on the first five Bond films and won an Oscar for his sound effects on Goldfinger.

He created the spinning hat sound of that movie's villain, Oddjob, but also Dr No's "crushing" metal hand.

He said the key to the movies' success was they entertained the audience.

Mr Wanstall, who lives in Clee Hill in Shropshire, retired from the film industry in the early 1980s and said his Oscar was "tucked away at home".

"Even though the Oscar was all related to Goldfinger, I think when people remind me about the Bonds, my first thought of course has to be Dr No," he said.

"Everybody looks back now and thinks 'how did they make that film for a million dollars? It doesn't make any sense'.

"A million dollars now would shoot about two scenes and then you've run out.

"I still look back and think it was quite unbelievable really. It wasn't real."

Mr Wanstall said working on Dr No was the only time he had known what it was like to be "really, really stressed".

Sound technology at the time was lagging behind the evolving picture technology, he said, adding he struggled to come up with sounds that matched and suited the image.

It was, he said, only at the last minute he found an appropriate sound for a nuclear reactor in Dr No's final scenes.

"I knew that I would need a machine, a machine that when you switched it on would create an electronic warble of some kind," Mr Wanstall said.

"All through the film I had lots of work to do and was always looking for a machine which I never found... I have no words to describe the stress... it was unbelievable."

He said a colleague at Pinewood Studios came up with "the most crude piece of gadgetry that I'd ever seen" but after turning it on "the sound began to escalate and I can't tell you what that sound meant to me".

"I look back now and that guy, he saved my reputation really."

He said he used several different sounds to create the "crushing" noise for Dr No's hand.

"I've always said even with the most modern technology in the world, I could not improve on that sound," he explained.

But he said at its core, the franchise had lasted so long because it entertained the audience with "a handsome star, beautiful ladies, excellent locations and incredible stunts and interesting villains".

Follow BBC West Midlands on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Send your story ideas to: [email protected]