From Russia with Love
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| From Russia with Love | |
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| Caption: | From Russia with Love film poster |
| Bond: | Sean Connery |
| Writer: | Ian Fleming |
| Screenplay: | Richard Maibaum Johanna Harwood (adaptation) |
| Director: | Terence Young |
| Music: | John Barry |
| Composer: | Lionel Bart |
| Performer: | Matt Monro |
| Distributor: | United Artists |
| Released: | 1963 (UK) April 8, 1964 (USA) |
| Runtime: | 115 min. |
| Preceded by: | Dr. No |
| Followed by: | Goldfinger |
| Budget: | $2,500,000 |
| Worldgross: | $78,900,000 |
| Admissions: | 95.3 million |
| Imdb id: | 0057076 |
From Russia with Love, is the second James Bond film in the official EON Productions series, and the second to star Sean Connery as the suave and sophisticated British Secret Service agent James Bond. The film was released in 1963, produced by Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman, and directed by Terence Young. It is based on the eponymous 1957 novel by Ian Fleming.
It is considered the best of the James Bond film series by many fans and critics, and by actor Sean Connery (who restated his view in a 2002 interview with Sam Donaldson for ABC News). Though the film's low-key tone contrasts with the popular outlandishness of Goldfinger and Thunderball, From Russia with Love is often considered the ideal Bond film that each film strives to aim for. Michael G. Wilson, the current co-producer of the series with his half sister Barbara Broccoli, has stated "We always start out trying to make another From Russia with Love and end up with another Thunderball." In 2004, Total Film magazine named it the ninth-greatest British film of all time.
In 2005 it was adapted into a video game, James Bond 007: From Russia with Love. The game was made by Electronic Arts and featured all new voice work by Sean Connery as well as his likeness and the likeness of a number of the supporting cast from the film.
Plot summary
Template:Spoiler The film follows the plot of Fleming's novel almost to the letter; however, the villain is the major change between the literary and cinematic versions of the story. At the Cold War's height, EON Productions felt it inadvisable casting the Russians as villains, so SMERSH was replaced by SPECTRE, the criminal organization who is a mutual enemy of both superpowers, introduced in the first James Bond film, Dr. No. As such, this film is a sequel to the previous film in that SPECTRE seeks revenge upon James Bond for his killing of Dr. Julius No.
The film features the first appearance of Ernst Stavro Blofeld, leader of SPECTRE, although he wouldn't directly confront Bond for several more cinematic adventures. To integrate SPECTRE to the storyline, minor changes were made so that SMERSH agent Red Grant is responsible for actions committed by other characters in the novel. Other than these topical changes, the film's plot is the same as the novel's—James Bond is lured to Turkey, where Corporal Tatiana (Tania) Romanova is stationed to assist her defection, and obtains a LEKTOR decoder (renamed from the novel's Spektor to not confuse the audience with SPECTRE).
Cast & characters
- James Bond — Sean Connery
- M — Bernard Lee
- Miss Moneypenny — Lois Maxwell
- Q — Desmond Llewelyn
- Tatiana Romanova — Daniela Bianchi
- Rosa Klebb — Lotte Lenya
- Donald 'Red' Grant — Robert Shaw
- Sylvia Trench — Eunice Gayson
- Kerim Bey — Pedro Armendariz
- Morzeny — Walter Gotell
- Kronsteen — Vladek Sheybal
- Vida — Aliza Gur
- Zora — Martine Beswick
The film notes the first appearance of Desmond Llewelyn as Major Boothroyd, known as Q, the character he would play in nearly all of the series' films, until his death in 1999. The Q character appeared in the previous film, Dr. No, but was portrayed by actor Peter Burton, and was addressed by M initially as Armourer (though 007's boss volunteers a "thank you, Major Boothroyd" after he demonstrates the Walther to Bond). The cast also features Robert Shaw, perhaps best known as Quint in Steven Spielberg's Jaws (1975), as the villain Red Grant.
The Women of From Russia With Love
| Picture | Name | Actress | |
| 100px | Tatiana Romanova | Daniela Bianchi | The lead Bond girl of From Russia With Love. Nicknamed "Tanya" by her friends, Romanova is a Russian cipher clerk stationed in Istanbul who found herself drawn into a bizarre and twisted web of intrigue spun by SPECTRE agents Kronsteen and Rosa Klebb. Daniela Bianchi, who played Tatiana, represented Italy in the 1960 Miss Universe pageant, where she won the Miss Photogenic award and placed second. Her roommate at the pageant was Miss Israel Aliza Gur. |
| 100px | Vida | Aliza Gur | Vida was one of the two fiery gypsy girls engaged in the now infamous cat-fight scene where she and her nemesis Zora fought over a common lover. Aliza Gur, who played Vida, was a semi-finalist in the 1960 Miss Universe pageant representing Israel. She and Martine Beswick were chosen to portray the gypsy girls because they do not look like "typical" Anglo-Saxons. In the film, it is suggested that Bond had his way with both women. |
| 100px | Zora | Martine Beswick | Zora forms the other half of the catfighting duo at the Gypsy Camp scene. Martine Beswick, who played Zora, was billed incorrectly during the title sequence as "Martin Beswick". This would mark the first appearance by Beswick in a Bond film. Her next appearance will be in Thunderball. |
| 100px | Sylvia Trench | Eunice Gayson | From Russia With Love would mark the second and final appearance of Sylvia Trench, as her character was dropped from the next and subsequent films. |
Crew
- Directed by: Terence Young
- Produced by: Albert R. Broccoli, Harry Saltzman
- Written by: Ian Fleming
- Screenplay: Richard Maibaum
- Music composed by: John Barry
- Cinematography by: Ted Moore
- Film editing by: Peter R. Hunt
- Production design by Syd Cain
Soundtrack
| 250px | |
| From Russia with Love | |
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| Type: | Soundtrack |
| Artist: | John Barry |
| Released: | 1963 |
| Recorded: | March 1963 |
| Genre: | |
| Length: | 34:20 |
| Label: | Capitol |
| Producer: | Frank Collura (Reissue) |
| Reviews: | *All Music Guidelink |
| Last album: | The Cool Mikado (1962) |
| This album: | From Russia with Love (1963) |
| Next album: | Zulu (1963) |
| Artist: | James Bond soundtrack |
| Type: | Soundtrack |
| Last album: | Dr. No (1962) |
| This album: | From Russia with Love (1963) |
| Next album: | Goldfinger (1964) |
From Russia with Love is the first series film with John Barry as the primary soundtrack composer. The 'theme song', From Russia with Love, was composed by Lionel Bart of Oliver! fame and sung by Matt Monro, although the title credit music is a lively instrumental version of the tune (segueing into the James Bond Theme). Monro's vocal version is later played during the film (as source music on a radio) and properly over the film's end titles.
John Barry, arranger of Monty Norman's James Bond Theme for Dr. No, would be the dominant Bond series composer for most of its history and the inspiration for the current lead Bond movie composer, David Arnold (who uses cues from this soundtrack in his own for Tomorrow Never Dies). In this film, Barry introduced the percussive theme 007 – action music that came to be considered the 'secondary James Bond Theme' and is used in various of the Bond films of Sean Connery, and also Roger Moore's Moonraker. The arrangement appears twice on this soundtrack album; the second version, entitled 007 Takes the Lektor, is the one used during the gunfight at the gypsy camp and also during Bond's theft of the Lektor decoding machine.)
The completed film features a holdover from the Monty Norman-supervised Dr. No music – the post-rocket-launch music from No (after Bond disrupts No's attempts to jam the takeoff)appears in Russia at the conclusion of the helicopter attack, and also at the attempt of SPECTRE to intercept Bond's speedboat. This cue, incidentally lifted by Arnold for Tomorrow Never Dies, is naturally absent from the Russia soundtrack album.
As Barry himself notes, 1964's Goldfinger would be the first Bond film in which he had total creative control over the soundtrack, including the music of the theme song. (Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley would contribute the theme's lyrics).
Track listing
- Opening Titles / James Bond Is Back / From Russia with Love - (instrumental) / James Bond Theme
- Tania Meets Klebb
- Meeting in St Sophia
- The Golden Horn
- Girl Trouble
- Bond Meets Tania
- 007
- Gypsy Camp
- Death of Grant
- From Russia with Love - Matt Monro
- Spectre Island
- Guitar Lament
- Man Overboard / Smersh in Action
- James Bond with Bongos
- Stalking
- Leila Dances
- Death of Kerim
- 007 Takes the Lektor
Vehicles & gadgets
- Briefcase — Technically, James Bond's first gadget. The briefcase issued to 007 by Q-Branch contains a folding AR-7 sniper rifle with twenty rounds of ammunition, a flat throwing knife, and fifty gold sovereigns in secret compartments accessible from inside the case. In addition, the briefcase has a trick safety mechanism that detonates a magnetically attached tear gas bomb if the briefcase is improperly opened.
- Pager — Although From Russia with Love was filmed in the 1960s, before this gadget's invention, Bond carried one, enabling MI6 to contact him at once; also, Bond's Bentley automobile had a radio-telephone.
- Bug detector — A small device that is designed to detect the presence of a phone tap device in a regular telephone when placed against such a device.
- Tape recorder disguised as a camera.
- The LEKTOR decoder, though never actually seen in use, could also count as a gadget (Fleming based it directly on the Enigma machine, a cryptology device used by the Germans during World War Two).
- The helicopter used the end to chase Bond is a Hiller H-23, which first flew in 1948.
Locations
Film locations
- London, England
- Istanbul, Turkey
- Belgrade, Yugoslavia
- Zagreb, Yugoslavia
- Venice, Italy
- Aboard the Orient Express
- SPECTRE Island (location unknown)
Shooting locations
Trivia
- Alfred Hitchcock was originally considered as director for the film version in 1958, with Bond to be played by Cary Grant and a possible return to the screen for Grace Kelly as Tatiana Romanova, but the deals fell through when Vertigo performed badly at the box office. The helicopter scene in From Russia with Love mimics the cropduster scene from the film Hitchcock did instead, North by Northwest.
- The name is based from the 1955 film To Paris with Love.
- In recent years, the scene in which Bond first encounters Tatiana in his hotel room often has been used to screen-test actors for the James Bond and leading lady roles.
- Reportedly, author and James Bond creator Ian Fleming makes a cameo in the Istanbul train scene (following Bond's stealing the LEKTOR decoder), standing outside on the right of the train, wearing grey trousers and a white sweater; some sources deny Fleming's appearance.
- Pedro Armendáriz, who played Kerim Bey had been diagnosed with terminal cancer and reportedly did this role to provide financially for his family before his impending death. Armendáriz's scenes were given top priority and he limps visibly in most of them. On the evening of June 18, 1963, while at the UCLA medical center, a gun was smuggled into his hospital room and the 51-year-old Armendáriz took his own life. Twenty-five years later, his son, Pedro Armendáriz Jr., also an actor, was hired for a small role in the 1989 James Bond film Licence to Kill as the President of the fictional Republic of Isthmus.
- Lotte Lenya's character, Colonel Rosa Klebb, often is cited as prototype of the Frau Farbissina character in the Austin Powers spy spoof series. Klebb would be the first of several Bond villains with ambiguous sexuality. Lotte Lenya was the widow of Kurt Weill. In the film "Undercover Blues" starring Dennis Quaid and Kathleen Turner, in the mock-torture scene, Dennis Quaid refers to Kathleen Turner (who was pretending to be a Russian doctor specializing in pain) as "Dr Lottelenya," a clear tribute to Lotte Lenya's portrayal of Rosa Klebb.
- The Bulgarian assassin Krilencu tries to escape from his apartment through a secret window in a billboard advertising Call Me Bwana, the only non-James Bond film produced by EON Productions.
- The "007" theme (the song played during the gunfight at the gypsy camp and also during Bond's theft of the LEKTOR) was used as part of the Eyewitness News format on Philadelphia television station KYW-TV.
- A version of the haunting "Stalking" track -- from the pre-credit sequence of From Russia with Love involving Connery and Shaw -- appears in The Spy Who Loved Me, when Bond (Roger Moore) and Anya Amasova (Agent XXX, played by Barbara Bach) confront Richard Kiel's Jaws character at a historic site in Egypt. Ironically, Spy was scored not by Barry but Marvin Hamlisch, one of only four times Barry did not helm the Bond music arrangements in the first 16 United Artists installments.
- Assistant director Kit Lambert, later became a record producer and manager for the rock band The Who.
External links
| The James Bond films |
|---|
| Official films Dr. No | From Russia with Love | Goldfinger | Thunderball | You Only Live Twice | On Her Majesty's Secret Service | Diamonds Are Forever | Live and Let Die | The Man with the Golden Gun | The Spy Who Loved Me | Moonraker | For Your Eyes Only | Octopussy | A View to a Kill | The Living Daylights | Licence to Kill | GoldenEye | Tomorrow Never Dies | The World Is Not Enough | Die Another Day | Casino Royale | Quantum of Solace |
| Unofficial films Casino Royale (1954 TV) | Casino Royale (1967 spoof) | Never Say Never Again |