From Russia With Love (1963)
The Cast Sean Connery (James Bond), Daniela Bianchi (Tatiana Romanova), Pedro Armendariz (Kerim Bey), Lotte Lenya (Rosa Klebb), Robert Shaw (Red Grant)
The Supporting Cast Bernard Lee (“M”), Desmond Llewelyn (“Q”), Lois Maxwell (Moneypenny), Vladek Sheybal (Kronsteen), Eunice Gayson (Sylvia Trench)
Credits Produced by Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman; Directed by Terence Young; Screenplay by Richard Maibaum; adapted by Joanna Harwood; Music by John Barry; Title song performed by Matt Munro; Titles by Maurice Binder; Lyrics by Lionel Bart; Edited by Peter Hunt
Assignment: 007 is set up to die in the most humiliating and embarrassing way possible, but not before he steals the Lektor Decoding machine, a property SPECTRE wants badly.
Villain`s Idiosyncrasy: Always strokes his little white cat (Blofeld)
Locations Covered: London, England; Istanbul, Turkey; Yugoslavia; Venice, Italy
Release dates: United Kingdom: September 23rd, 1963; United States: May 27th, 1964
Box office: Worldwide $78.9 million ($410 million adjusted gross for 1999)
Best line: Bond: “She should`ve kept her mouth shut.”
Review by: Michael Kersey
SPECTRE has hatched a plan to have 007 steal a top secret Soviet decoding machine and unwittingly deliver it into their hands, and then die a painful and humiliating death. Kronsteen, a world famous chess player, calculates Bond`s every move and countermove, and feels the time is right to have 007 do their dirty work for them. To that end Kronsteen utilizes Rosa Klebb and her charge, Tatiana Romanova, a Soviet agent. Tatiana is unaware that Rosa is an agent of SPECTRE, and is used as bait to lure Bond into stealing the secret decoder code named the Lektor. The plan is to then get the Lektor from Bond and kill of both 007 and Tatiana, involving them in a mock sex scandal designed to disgrace British intelligence. Of course Bond out maneuvers them all , saves the day, and gets the girl.
From Russia With Love is hailed by many as the finest Bond film ever, and the one that most closely reflects Ian Fleming`s novels. Even Variety called it “…topnotch escapism”. New fans to the series, and those brought up on Roger Moore will more than likely find the film tough to follow, hard to sit through, and lackluster in spirit. Judging by today`s standards, the film is downright ancient. From Russia, With Love comes from an era of Bond film making where plot was stressed more than explosions, and sensuality was more subtle than blatant, which isn`t a bad thing. This may account for the wide gap in taste among new generations of fans as opposed to older ones. The film has never particularly intrigued me and quite often proved to be a struggle to finish through.
Daniela Bianchi barely registers on the Bond girl radar. The actress was a former model and beauty pageant contestant prior to the film and had no particular desire to act; good thing since she isn`t particularly good at it. All her lines ended up being dubbed anyway. When the plot isn`t being too complex it`s too boring. The henchman, Red Grant, lacks sufficient screen time and is not particularly memorable. The locations lack intrigue and mystery. The soundtrack is uninspiring. Long time fans, Connery fans, and enthusiasts of the book will love the film, but it will be a tough sell to the crowd used to Moore, Brosnan and even Connery`s later Bond films.