From Russia With Love (1963)
Synopsis
Connery is back and this time, finds himself in Istanbul to help a conveniently beautiful Soviet cipher clerk defect with a decoding device. Little does he (or the Soviets) know, the mission is a trap set by SPECTRE in revenge for Dr. No’s death. Who knew SPECTRE were so sentimental?
Particulars
Director: Terence Young
Writer/s: Richard Maibaum and Johanna Harwood
Producers: Harry Saltzman & Albert R. “Cubby” Broccoli
Stars: Sean Connery as James Bond, Robert Shaw as Donald Grant, Pedro Armendáriz as Ali Kerim Bey, Daniela Bianchi as Tatiana Romanova, Bernard Lee as M, Desmond Llewelyn as Q and Lois Maxwell as Moneypenny
Budget: $2 million (though it went over)
Shot: Turkey, Buckinghamshire, Scotland and Pinewood Studios
Based on: From Russia, With Love, the fifth book in Ian Fleming’s James Bond series
A proper spy film
I’ve seen From Russia With Love before but only really remember the Robert Shaw cold open, a cat fight in Istanbul and a train sequence towards the end, so I consider this the real start of my Bondathon. To my delight, this second Bond entry, released only a year after Dr. No, represents a pretty major step up in quality, intrigue and confidence in the franchise. Here’s what I liked.
The simple MacGuffin
After Dr. No’s plot nothingness, I really appreciate the cleanness of From Russia with Love’s story. Bond is chasing the Lektor (a cryptography device), SPECTRE is chasing Bond, and their plots overlap. While I found myself zoning out during its predecessor, From Russia with Love always maintained my attention and interest.
Murders on the Orient Express
I’m a big fan of train-based espionage and this film uses the setting to host more spy shenanigans than its predecessor. There are double agents, fight choreography in close quarters and a swiss army briefcase (demonstrated earlier by Q) that pays off beautifully. Overall, the film does action a lot better; a fakeout Bond death, mask reveals and a final helicopter sequence inspired by Hitchcock make the film feel positively action packed compared to Dr. No.
Some Bond girl growth
I’m not saying Tatiana Romanova is a great Bond girl nor that Daniela Bianchi’s performance is going to rank particularly highly, especially considering her dialogue was dubbed. But the film at least puts more thought into its Bond girl’s characterisation; Tatiana is based on Krystyna Skarbek/Christine Granville, a Polish agent of the British Special Operations Executive (SOE) who successfully completed some very dangerous missions in Nazi-occupied Poland and France during World War II.
SPECTRE villainy
While From Russia with Love’s Bond girl is only a slight improvement on Honey Ryder, the film gains feminist points for wielding Lotte Lenya as Rosa Klebb/No. 3, a former SMERSH come SPECTRE agent who is entrusted with leading the plot against Bond and who sports a nifty shoe knife that almost gets him in the final stretch.
From Russia With Love also introduces franchise Big Bad Ernst Stavros Blofeld (from the neck down, at least) and his iconic fluffy white cat, along with a great villain in double agent Donald Grant — spectacularly played by Robert Shaw (Quint in Jaws) — who outshines Connery in their scenes together.
Tune and croon
While the ‘From Russia With Love’ theme is only played as a tune in the opening sequence (scoring belly-dancing girls and close ups of bodies), the croony Matt Munro version at the end of the film has fast become one of my favourite Bond songs. I love the tune and I think it fits so well with the film overall, and waiting until the end for the song reveal only strengthens the film’s finale.
From Russia with Love is a massive improvement on Dr. No and it gives me hope for the rest of Connery’s reign. I have a few gripes – Bond smacking Tatiana in the face (thus making me switch sides to support Grant), Bond ally Ali Kerim Bey’s unceremonious death, the opening sequence still being a bit uninspired – but its focus and superior plot make it a much more enjoyable film to watch. I know it’s early but I suspect it’ll crack my Top 10.
RANKING CATEGORIES (70%)
Bond execution = 8
Villain = 8
Bond girl(s) = 5
Song = 8
Opening titles = 5
Plot/action/gadgets = 9
Franchise identity = 8
PERSONAL ENJOYMENT (30%)
8/10