Miss Taro (Dr No)

Miss Taro

Miss Taro is a villainess in the 1962 James Bond movie "Dr No". She can claim the title of first Bond villainess for herself. She is played by Zena Marshall.

Miss Taro works as a secretary for Pleydell Smith (Louis Blaazer), the British Chief Secretary for colonial affairs in Jamaica. It is in this office where she first meets James Bond (Sean Connery). As she enters Mr. Smith's office, wearing a white dress, Bond eyes her up and down. We soon see her peering through the keyhole and eavesdropping on 007’s conversation with her boss. Bond walks through the door and catches her in the awkward position and he obviously knows she was spying on him. When confronted, she claims she was searching for the files on Dr. No. We are later to know that she is, in fact, an informant for the main villain, Dr Julius No (Joseph Wiseman). Bond asks the beautiful Miss Taro if she would like to tour the island with him later that afternoon, but she merely gives him a “maybe” as an answer.

Back in his hotel, Bond is asked to return a call from her, whereupon she invites him into her house in the countryside. While talking to Bond on the phone, we see Miss Taro stretching out on her bed in skimpy underclothing: clearly, she is getting ready to seduce 007 in order to lure him into a trap.

Miss Taro: Oh, Mr. Bond. I was thinking. why don't you collect me at my apartment? It's lovely up here in the mountains. Nice and cool.

Miss Taro is talking on the phone while laying on her bed, she turns over on her back, breasts up when she speaks of it's lovely up here in the mountains.

On his way to Miss Taro’s home, Bond escapes an assassination attempt by The Three Blind Mice, who are professional assassins working for Dr. No.

The villainess, who never expected him to arrive, is wearing nothing but a towel when she opens the door and tries to hide her surprise by letting Bond inside.

Bond: You did invite me here, remember?

Taro: Of course. I just didn't expect you here so soon. Yes, yes, come in. I'll just go and put some clothes on.

Bond: Don't go to any trouble on my account.

007 immediately makes a move on her. He leans in and gives her a passionate kiss on the lips.

Taro pulls back.

Taro: Please.

Bond: Forgive me. I thought I was invited up here to admire the view.

The phone rings in the room next door.

Bond: I feel one of us should answer it.

Miss Taro uses this an excuse to break away from Bond (who is being rather forward.) Leaving him holding the smaller towel she had in her hands. She goes to another room and picks up the phone.

Taro: Hello? Yes, Yes, I know. He's here now.

Miss Taro gets orders to keep him busy until an assassin arrives to finish him off.

Miss Taro is totally off balance now, she knows that Bond knows that she tried to set him up and that she was dressed only in a towel when he appeared at her door. Bond now holds the towel in his hands as if he were going to strangle her with it.

Taro sits down on the edge of her bed and Bond sits next to her.

Bond: You believe in living dangerously.

Taro, the double agent, is a bit shaken by this remark.

Taro: What do you mean?

Bond: Sitting around with wet hair, you'll die of pneumonia.

Taro realizing its just a joke smiles and relaxes a little.

Bond: It is rather beautiful.

Taro: Thank you.

Bond: Tell me, do you always wear it up?

Taro: Don't you like it that way?

Bond: Yes, very much. With your sort of face, it's wonderful.

Bond reaches behind Miss Taro's back and loosens her towel.

Taro: What's going on behind my back?

Bond: Nothing. Look, no hands.

Bond holds up his hands teasingly as Miss Towel towel begins to tumble down her mountains. She catches it just in time.

Finally, Miss Taro gives in to Bond’s seduction and has sex with him. He pulls her up to his lips by the towel around her neck. She tilts her head back and returns his kiss and the two fall back on the bed together.

Later in the evening, Miss Taro now in a robe kneels on the bed doing her nails with red varnish as Bond lays in bed next to her. James Bond insists they call a cab to get dinner at a restaurant. Ignoring Miss Taro’s repeated request to stay in,

Bond makes a phone call. We can assume that at this point, he has clearly figured out that the beautiful lady he has just slept with is not to be trusted. Nevertheless, Bond makes love to Miss Taro one more time.

In the following scene, they descend from Taro’s porch. The evil Miss Taro is wearing a satin blue Chinese dress. As the car pulls up front, Bond opens the door for the villainess, who unsuspectingly boards the cab.

She gasps in surprise as she sees a uniformed man seemingly waiting for her inside. By a gentle push against her derriere, Bond shoves the villainess into what turns out to be a police car. As she falls over the rear bench, the door closes behind her and the trap closes on Miss Taro.

Seen through the open window, she gawks at Bond with her eyes and mouth wide open. We cannot be sure what upsets the villainess most at this moment: the fact that she failed her mission, the fact that Bond took sexual advantage of her before busting her, or his mocking remark, “Be careful of her nail polish!”, before dispatching her to prison.

Miss Taro gives 007 another hostile look before she angrily spits into his face. As the car drives off, Bond returns into the villainess’ home to wait for the assassin there.

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