Review of From Russia with Love (1963) by Richard R — 30 Apr 2011

The second James Bond film, has Sean Connery returning in the 007 role, and Terence Young directing again (Dr. No/Thunderball).

More worldly than "Dr. No's" two locations, "From Russia With Love" defiantly has that globe trotting feel that became a Bond staple over the years. 007 is sent to Istanbul, to meet a beautiful Soviet agent, Tatiana Romanova (Daniela Bianchi), who has fallen in love with him from a photo she found, and wishes to defect. Knowing full well that this is a trap, Bond can't ignore the payoff of the Russian decoding machine called the Lektor, which MI6 has been trying to get hold of for years. After getting Tatiana out of Istanbul and onto the Orient Express, Bond must now face off against the best SPECTRE agent, Grant (Robert Shaw), in a wonderful tight courters fight on the train. Then, 007 must travel to Venice for the final encounter with SPECTRE #3 Rosa Klebb (Lotte Lenya).

"From Russia With Love" introduces us to Bond's main nemesis over the Connery years, Ernst Stavro Blofeld (voiced by Eric Pohlman/who also sounds a lot like Connery). The film is a definite step up of a spy thriller from "Dr. No". Also, "Q" makes his first appearance, though not referred to by name, and 007 gets his first hi-tech gadget, the lethal attache case. And if you noticed, Rosa Klebb is the insperation for the "Austin Powers" character Frau Farbissina.