May 8, 1963 - - DR. NO, the first JAMES BOND motion picture, was released in the United States.
It wasn't a big deal.
At this point, movie goers had little knowledge of the James Bond character. DR. NO played four days in Salisbury and was gone. It did return for two obligatory drive-in engagements several months later, but that was it.
May 27, 1964 - - FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE, the second JAMES BOND motion picture, was released in the United States.
It wasn't a big deal either.
We still didn't really know who James Bond was.
January 9, 1965 - - GOLDFINGER, the third James Bond motion picture, was released in the United States.
HOLY COW!! Out of nowhere, 007 was the biggest thing going. As soon as we saw actress Shirley Eaton on the cover of LIFE magazine, spray painted gold, we couldn't get enough of the man with a license to kill.
GOLDFINGER was in such theatrical demand that enough prints couldn't be made fast enough to keep up, so many theatres received the next-best thing...the return of DR. NO and FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE...together!
This time it was a big deal!
And 007 has been a big deal ever since. SKYFALL, the 2012 BOND feature, has already become the most financially successful and many are saying the best of all the Bonds, this nearly a half-century since DR. NO first played movie houses. And there's no end in sight. As it turned out, it would be James Bond, not Auric Goldfinger, to be the man with the Midas touch.
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DR. NO eventually played Rowan County screens nine times, before giving way to newer BOND titles.
June 1 - 4, 1963 - CENTER THEATRE
July 28 - 30. 1963 - 601 DRIVE-IN THEATRE
November 28 - 30, 1963 - SALISBURY DRIVE-IN THEATRE
June 10 - 16, 1965 - CENTER THEATRE
August 15 - 17, 1965 - 601 DRIVE-IN THEATRE
September 29 - October 1, 1965 - SALISBURY DRIVE-IN THEATRE
September 28 - October 4, 1966 - CENTER THEATRE
April 9 - 11, 1967 - 601 DRIVE-IN THEATRE
July 27 - 29, 1969 - 601 DRIVE-IN THEATRE
