Review of From Russia with Love (1963) by I Don't Know W — 09 Jun 2011

By the time that From Russia with Love premiered in theaters in 1963, James Bond fever had already gripped the world. Audiences were swept away to the realm of spies, international intrigue and a protagonist who loved his martinis, cars and women almost as much as he loved his home country of the United Kingdom. The previous year, film audiences were introduced to the dashing spy with Dr. No, making a household name out of the previously unknown Sean Connery, almost overnight. As the second film in the series, From Russia with Love capitalized on Connery's popularity, and his character's decadent lifestyle and building real-world tensions between western nations and the Soviet Union. Any doubts in Bond's popularity were immediately forgotten; From Russia with Love smashed box office records around the world, cementing James Bond's place in film history.

The second James Bond filmed adventure finds everyone's favorite gentleman spy on a mission to retrieve a top-secret Soviet decoding machine known as the LEKTOR. Bond (Sean Connery) travels to Istanbul to intercept a defecting Soviet agent who possesses the device. Little does Bond know that SPECTRE, the menacing terrorist organization hinted at in Dr. No, has set a trap for him; they intend to exact their revenge for Bond's involvement with the death of their comrade in arms, Dr. No. Bond will dodge SPECTRE's assassination attempts at every turn while outwitting Russian agents, seducing the ladies and meeting new foes with some devilishly dangerous footwear. By boat, train and plane, Bond will take on the forces of destruction and chaos in a race across Europe, keeping the LEKTOR out of the hands of SPECTRE.

After the relatively confined Caribbean locale of Dr. No, From Russia with Love serves as more of a travel-log, jet-set Bond adventure. The film feels more exotic and dangerous; Bond visits locations that must have been seldom seen in films from the 60s, giving the film a more thrilling and mysterious flavor. It's the perfect paranoid adventure for the height of the Cold War, while still delivering Soviet characters who manage to come across as sympathetic compared to the diabolical craziness of SPECTRE's cadre to baddies. In From Russia with Love, we are finally introduced to the SPECTRE organization; their leader Blofeld (Anthony Dawson), assassin Rosa Klebb (Lotte Lenya) and the ruthless Red Grant (Robert Shaw) all amp up the villainy with their dreams of world domination. By contrast, Bond's major love interest in the film is Russian; Daniela Bianci's Tatiana Romanova proves to be a first rate Bond girl.

There are many notable firsts in From Russia with Love. Desmond Llewelyn makes his first appearance as "Q" - he'd appear in every subsequent Bond film until his death in 1999. Along with "Q" came a ton of new gadgets, including a pager, bug detector and a car phone. Bernard Lee returns as "M", Bond's boss and the head of MI6, while the ever-present Lois Maxwell reprises her role as Miss Moneypenny; a role she'd continue well into the next decade. Of course, the real draw still lies with Sean Connery; he's a little more confident as James Bond in his second outing, while still exuding a fresh excitement for the role. From Russia with Love is his movie and he enjoys every second of it.

Perhaps the best reason to enjoy From Russia with Love all over again, aside from Connery's great performance, comes from the inclusion of one of the series' best villains. The amazing Robert Shaw steals every scene he occupies as Red Grant. He's Bond's first real nemesis to appear in the films and he serves as an excellent, evil counterpoint to the witty British agent. While From Russia with Love isn't my absolute favorite of the Bond films, it comes pretty darn close.

From Russia with Love is one of my personal favorites among the varions James Bond films. With Sean Connery at his prime, featuring a story directly from an Ian Fleming novel, the film remains one of the storied series' finest achievements.