The 007 Files: From Russia With Love

The second installment of “The 007 Files” is the follow-up to 1962’s Dr. No, 1963’s From Russia with Love. The worldwide success of the first installment gave audiences something to look forward to… and this picture delivered upon the high expectations and then some. The Ian Fleming novels were all wildly successful, but the book that this movie was based on was held in rather notable regard. President John F. Kennedy has listed it as one of his Top Ten favorite books in a 1961 Life magazine article. It is said that JFK received a private screening of the brillliant film adaptation just before the tragic events in Dallas.

The team from Dr. No would largely return for From Russia with Love: director Terence Young, screenwriter Richard Maibaum, and, of course, Sean Connery as 007. The success of that film would afford its follow-up with a $2 million dollar budget, double the first. 

Notably, several of the Bond traditions we’ve come to know and love that were not in Dr. No make their debut here. The pre-title credit sequence. The use of multiple exotic locations (Dr. No is about 90% in Jamaica). And the first appearance of the treasured Desmond Llewelyn as “Q”, the man who supplies 007 with all his nifty gadgets. In From Russia with Love, it’s the famous black briefcase that is used for much more than storing paperwork.

From Russia with Love does require audiences to remember Dr. No. The plot involves SPECTRE, that dastardly organization bent on world destruction. The villains in From Russia with Love are trying to kill James Bond, partly due to revenge of 007 killing Dr. No. Also, early in the picture, Bond is canoodling with the character of Sylvia Trench, who appeared as one of 007’s love interests in the inaugural film.

The film gives us our first glimpse of Bond’s arch nemesis in the franchise, Blofeld. Well, kind of. We don’t see his face. We only see him from the neck down, stroking his pet kitty as he barks out orders to his underlings. He refers to his fellow SPECTRE operatives as “Number 3” and “Number 5”. He had a button device that when he pushes it, he can rid himself of undesirable employees. If you’re smiling while reading this paragraph, it may be because From Russia with Love, more than any other Bond film, served as the main influence for the Austin Powers franchise.

The villains from the movie are truly unique and belong at the top of memorable baddies in the series. German actress Lotte Lenya plays Rosa Klebb, a former Soviet intelligence official turned SPECTRE operative. She certainly doesn’t look like a typical main 007 nemesis – she’s tiny in frame, but makes up for it with her ruthless ways and those now-famous shoes equipped with tiny knives protruding out of them. Robert Shaw portrays Red Grant, a cunning SPECTRE assassin who tails 007 throughout the film. He actually saves Bond’s life in one scene, because he can’t kill him until he’s located the Lektor device which Bond has in his possession. What’s the Lektor device? Well, it’s a device SPECTRE wants to steal from the Soviets, but it gets in MI6’s hands when Bond retrieves it. So… what’s the Lektor device? Here’s my best answer – who cares? I’m a firm believer in the teachings of the greatest director ever, Alfred Hitchcock. Hitch made famous the term “The MacGuffin”. What is that? The MacGuffin is what the protagonists and antagonists are seeking out. It’s what they’re fighting to protect. It’s what they’re willing to kill for to get. The MacGuffin moves the plot forward, giving the characters reasons to do what they’re doing. The MacGuffin provides reasoning for elaborate action sequences, iconic heroes, and vengeful and colorful villains. What the MacGuffin really does — in this case, the Lektor device — is incidental.

The main Bond girl this time around is Tatiana Romanova, an employee of the Soviets stationed in Istanbul. It is Rosa Klebb who tasks Tatiana with becoming romantically involved with Bond. The scene where Rosa explains the mission to the beautiful Tatiana is one of the more well-known and risque scenes in 007 lore. We definitely get the idea that Rosa is quite attracted to Tatiana and the homosexual overtones of the sequence were pretty bold for 1963. Tatiana thinks her mission to bed down Mr. Bond is a noble one and that she’s serving her country. She has no clue Rosa is a SPECTRE baddie. Of course, Tatiana is willing to go to bed with 007… and surprise, Bond puts up little resistance (even though he knows the whole time he’s being played). Tatiana is played by Italian beauty queen Daniela Bianchi. She certainly looks the part of stunning Bond girl, even if perhaps nobody could measure up to the standard Ursula Andress set as Honey Rider in Dr. No.

The doubled budget of From Russia with Love affords the picture with more action than Dr. No. It’s frankly a more exciting movie with better pacing than the first. While we only see Dr. No for a few moments, we get more familiar with Rosa and Red Grant’s characters.

The centerpiece of the film is a fantastic train sequence that encompasses about a half hour of the running time. This is where Bond and Tatiana are trying to deliver the Lektor, but the tough Red Grant has other ideas. This is when that handy black briefcase courtesy of Q comes into play. We also get a boat chase sequence at the end that is very well-done and a final encounter with Rosa and her pointy shoes in a hotel room. There’s also a terrific scene of a helicopter chasing Bond that is clearly inspired by Hitchcock’s North by Northwest.

From Russia with Love would double Dr. No‘s American box office gross, earning $16 million dollars and placing fifth in 1963’s biggest films, right behind Hitchcock’s The Birds.

While Dr. No provided a very solid and memorable start to the 007 franchise, From Russia with Love is a masterpiece. We see Connery growing even more into his signature role. We have greater villains and several more exciting action sequences. And we witness, for the first time, many signature 007 movie hallmarks. It is unquestionably one of the greatest Bond films of all time.

Here are the facts:

Film: From Russia with Love

U.S. Release Date: April 8, 1964 (October 1963 in the UK)

Director: Terence Young

Screenplay: Richard Maibaum, novel adaptation by Johanna Harwood

Bond: Sean Connery

Main Villain: Rosa Klebb (Lotte Lenya)

Main Bond Girl: Tatiana Romanova (Daniela Bianchi)

Theme Song: “From Russia with Love” – performed by Matt Munro

Budget: $2 million

Worldwide Box Office: $78.9 million

My James Bond blog series will return in “The 007 Files: Goldfinger”