Jan 08 2009
“From Russia With Love” (1963) ****
Preview
Starring: Sean Connery, Daniela Bianchi, Lotte Lenya, Robert Shaw, Vladek Sheybal, Pedro Armendariz, Walter Gotell, Bernard Lee, Lois Maxwell, Desmond Llewelyn, Eunice Gayson, and Aliza Gur.
Directed by: Terence Young.
“From Russia With Love” follows “Dr. No” as the second spy thriller in the James Bond film franchise, also the second to star Sean Connery as the title character. It also introduces us to several first-time trends in the film series that would soon become known as the essential formula elements for every bond film to come i.e. the pre-title sequence, the Blofeld villain, a secret weapon gadget for Bond to use at some point, a helicopter sequence, a post-showdown action scene at the end, and not to mention the film’s theme long with lyrics plus the usual “James Bond Will Return” link written after the credits.
“From Russia With Love” sends James bond to assist in the defection of Corporal Tatiana Romanova in Turkey, where the evil SPECTRE organization plans to steal a Lektor cryptographic device from the soviets, sell it back to them, and in addition, punish M16 for killing their agent Dr. Julius No (the villain from the previous film). Involved in this plot is a female villain, Rosa Klebb, who has a reputation for overseeing the interrogations of enemy agents and comes equipped with a poisonous blade that extends from one of her shoes, and her tall masculine henchman, Red Grant.
The opening of the film is a killer - James Bond is being stalked by a tall, blond assassin. Once captured, Bond is strangled to death in the most violent fashion by the assassin (Red Grant) with a garrote wire hidden inside of his watch. Bond turns out to be a man wearing Bond’s disguise and the whole sequence was a training exercise for Red Grant, conducted by the SPECTRE organization. Grant is a worthy menace for Bond, equipped with his watch-hidden garrote wire and a suitcase that shoots out tear gas. The film also includes a memorable battle between Bond and Grant on a railroad train towards the end of the second act and an explosive boat chase in Venice.
The second Bond film is graded as one of the best films in the series by many critics and even Connery himself. There’s a quote by the series’ current co-producer, Michael G. Wilson, where he once said “We always start out trying to make another From Russia With Love but we always end up with another Thunderball.”
“From Russia With Love” is classic James Bond cinema. It grossed $24 million in North American box offices and $78 million worldwide, later spawning a video game based on the film in 2005.
RATING: ****
