From Russia with Love (1963)

Director:

Terence Young

Writers:

Richard Maibaum (screenplay)
Johanna Harwood (adaptation)
(more)

Release Date:

27 May 1964 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Romance | Thriller

Tagline:

The world's masters of murder pull out all the stops to destroy Agent 007!

Plot:

James Bond willingly falls into an assassination ploy involving a naive Russian beauty in order to retrieve a Soviet encryption device that was stolen by SPECTRE.

Plot Keywords:

Russian | Spectre | Istanbul | KGB | Decoder

Awards:

Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 4 wins & 1 nomination

US TV Schedule:

Fri. Nov. 27

10:30 AM

SYFY

Cast

Sean Connery	...	James Bond
Daniela Bianchi	...	Tatiana Romanova
Pedro Armendáriz	...	Ali Kerim Bey (as Pedro Armendariz)
Lotte Lenya	...	Rosa Klebb
Robert Shaw	...	Red Grant
Bernard Lee	...	M
Eunice Gayson	...	Sylvia Trench
Walter Gotell	...	Morzeny
Francis De Wolff	...	Vavra - Gypsy Leader (as Francis de Wolff)
George Pastell	...	Train Conductor
Nadja Regin	...	Kerim's Girl
Lois Maxwell	...	Miss Moneypenny
Aliza Gur	...	Vida
Martine Beswick	...	Zora (also as Martin Beswick)
Vladek Sheybal	...	Kronsteen
Lisa Guiraut	...	Gypsy Belly Dancer (as Leila)
Hasan Ceylan	...	Foreign Agent
Fred Haggerty	...	Krilencu
Neville Jason	...	Kerim's Chauffeur
Peter Bayliss	...	Benz
Nusret Ataer	...	Mehmet (as Nushet Ataer)
Peter Brayham	...	Rhoda
Desmond Llewelyn	...	Major Boothroyd
Jan Williams	...	Masseuse
Peter Madden	...	MacAdams - Chess Player
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Dorothea Bennett	...	Woman on Bridge in Venice (uncredited)
Bedri Çavusoglu	...	Police (uncredited)
Elizabeth Counsell	...	Woman in a Punt (uncredited)
Michael Culver	...	Man in a Punt (uncredited)
Anthony Dawson	...	Ernst Stavro Blofeld (uncredited)
Arlette Dobson	...	Istanbul Hotel Receptionist (uncredited)
Moris Farhi	...	Gypsy (uncredited)
William Hill	...	Captain Nash (uncredited)
Barbara Jefford	...	Tatiana Romanova (voice) (uncredited)
Muhammat Kohen	...	Mosque Tour Guide (uncredited)
Julie Mendez	...	Girl Dancing During Opening Titles (uncredited)
Eric Pohlmann	...	Ernst Stavro Blofeld (voice) (uncredited)
Jaqi Saltzman	...	Woman on Train (uncredited)
Bob Simmons	...	James Bond in Gunbarrel Sequence (uncredited)
Nikki Van der Zyl	...	Receptionist (voice) (uncredited)

Directed by
Terence Young

Writing credits
Richard Maibaum		(screenplay)
Johanna Harwood		(adaptation)
Ian Fleming		(novel)

Produced by
Albert R. Broccoli	....	producer
Harry Saltzman	....	producer
Stanley Sopel	....	associate producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
John Barry

Cinematography by
Ted Moore		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Peter R. Hunt		(as Peter Hunt)

Casting by
Weston Drury Jr.		(uncredited)

Art Direction by
Syd Cain

Costume Design by
Jocelyn Rickards

Makeup Department
Basil Newall	....	makeup artist
Paul Rabiger	....	makeup artist
Eileen Warwick	....	dresser

Production Management
William Hill	....	production manager (as Bill Hill)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
David C. Anderson	....	assistant director (as David Anderson)
Terence Churcher	....	second assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Freda Pearson	....	set dresser
Michael White	....	assistant art director
Roger Cain	....	draughtsman (uncredited)
John Chisholm	....	props (uncredited)
Ron Quelch	....	production buyer (uncredited)

Sound Department
C. Le Mesurier	....	sound recordist (as C. le Messurier)
Harry Miller	....	dubbing editor
John W. Mitchell	....	sound recordist
Norman Wanstall	....	dubbing editor

Special Effects by
Frank George	....	special effects assistant
John Stears	....	special effects
Wally Armitage	....	special effects (uncredited)
Jimmy Harris	....	special effects (uncredited)
Garth Inns	....	special effects (uncredited)
James Snow	....	special effects (uncredited)
Jimmy Ward	....	special effects (uncredited)

Visual Effects by
Cliff Culley	....	matte artist (uncredited)
Roy Field	....	visual effects (uncredited)

Stunts
Peter Perkins	....	stunt work arranger
Bob Anderson	....	stunts (uncredited)
Peter Brace	....	stunts (uncredited)
Ken Buckle	....	stunts (uncredited)
Jack Cooper	....	train fight double: Robert Shaw (uncredited)
Gerry Crampton	....	stunts (uncredited)
Leslie Crawford	....	stunts (uncredited)
Bill Cummings	....	stunts (uncredited)
Peter Diamond	....	stunts (uncredited)
Cliff Diggins	....	stunts (uncredited)
Joe Dunne	....	stunts (uncredited)
Max Faulkner	....	stunts (uncredited)
Tex Fuller	....	stunts (uncredited)
Sol Gorss	....	stunts (uncredited)
Richard Graydon	....	stunts (uncredited)
Arthur Howell	....	stunts (uncredited)
Jimmy Lodge	....	stunts (uncredited)
Peter Perkins	....	stunts (uncredited)
Peter Perkins	....	train fight double: Sean Connery (uncredited)
Terence Plummer	....	stunts (uncredited)
Dinny Powell	....	stunts (uncredited)
Eddie Powell	....	stunts (uncredited)
Nosher Powell	....	stunts (uncredited)
Terry Richards	....	stunts (uncredited)
Jack Sholomir	....	stunt driver (uncredited)
Bob Simmons	....	stunt double (uncredited)
Bob Simmons	....	train fight double: Sean Connery (uncredited)
Rocky Taylor	....	stunts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Bob Kindred	....	camera operator: second unit (as Robert Kindred)
John Winbolt	....	camera operator (as Johnny Winbolt)
Ray Hearne	....	still photographer (uncredited)
Simon Ransley	....	clapper loader (uncredited)
John Shinerock	....	focus puller (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Ernie Farrer	....	wardrobe master
Eileen Sullivan	....	wardrobe mistress

Editorial Department
Ben Rayner	....	assembly editor

Music Department
John Barry	....	conductor
Monty Norman	....	composer: James Bond theme
Vic Flick	....	musician: guitar (uncredited)
Sidney Margo	....	music contractor (uncredited)

Other crew
Trevor Bond	....	assistant title designer
Albert R. Broccoli	....	presenter
Robert Brownjohn	....	title designer
Frank Ernst	....	location manager
Ilhan Filmer	....	production assistant: Istanbul (as Ilham Filmer)
Kay Mander	....	continuity
Harry Saltzman	....	presenter
Captain John Crewdson	....	helicopter pilot (uncredited)
Maureen Newman	....	assistant production accountant (uncredited)
Golda Offenheim	....	production office (uncredited)
Golda Offenheim	....	production secretary (uncredited)
Charles Russhon	....	military liaison: Turkey (uncredited)
Charles Russhon	....	technical advisor (uncredited)
Bob Simmons	....	body double: James Bond, in opening sequence (uncredited)
Captain Cyril Sweetman	....	helicopter pilot (uncredited)
Terence Young	....	body double: Pedro Armendáriz (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Danjaq
• Eon Productions

Distributors

• United Artists Corporation (1963) (UK) (theatrical)
• United Artists (1964) (USA) (theatrical)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (2000) (USA) (DVD)
• 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (2008) (USA) (DVD) (Blu-ray)
• C.B. Films (1964) (Spain) (theatrical)
• Chapel Distribution (1997) (Australia) (theatrical)
• Kommunenes Filmcentral (KF) (1964) (Norway) (theatrical)
• Park Circus (2009) (UK) (theatrical) (re-issue)
• Tuschinski Film Distribution (1964) (Netherlands) (theatrical) (as Nova)
• United Artists (1963) (Australia) (theatrical)
• United Artists (1964) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• United Artists (1964) (France) (theatrical)
• United Artists (1963) (Italy) (theatrical)
• United Artists (1970) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (2000) (Australia) (DVD) (Special Edition)
• 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (Brazil) (DVD)
• American Broadcasting Company (ABC) (1974) (USA) (TV) (original airing)
• Audio Visual Enterprises (video)
• CBS/Fox Home Video (1983) (USA) (video)
• CBS/Fox (USA) (laserdisc)
• Criterion Collection, The (USA) (laserdisc)
• Home Box Office (HBO) (1981) (USA) (TV) (cable television)
• MGM Home Entertainment (Europe) (2000) (UK) (DVD) (Special Edition)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (USA) (VHS)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (USA) (laserdisc)
• RCA (1981) (USA) (video) (Selectavision videodisc)
• Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) (2006) (worldwide) (DVD) (Ultimate Edition)
• Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (2006) (Australia) (DVD) (Ultimate Edition)
• Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (2006) (UK) (DVD) (Ultimate Edition)
• Warner Home Video (1983) (Australia) (video)
• Warner Home Video (2000) (Germany) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (laserdisc)
• Warner Home Vídeo (Brazil) (VHS)

Other Companies

• Pinewood Studios  studio
• Studios CTS  music recorded at (as CTS Studios London)
• Lowry Digital Images  pristine digital restoration: 2006
• United Artists  current copyright proprietor

Also Known As:

Ian Fleming's 'From Russia with Love' (UK) (complete title)
Bons baisers de Russie (Canada: French title) (France) [fr]
007 - Ordem para Matar (Portugal) [pt]
A 007 dalla Russia con amore (Italy) [it]
Agent 007 jages (Denmark) [da]
Agent 007 ser rött (Sweden) [sv]
Agente 007, dalla Russia con amore (Italy) [it]
De Rusia con amor (Argentina) [es]
Den hemliga agenten i Istanbul (Finland: Swedish title) [sv]
Des de Rússia amb Amor (Spain: Catalan title) [ca]
Desde Rusia con amor (Spain) [es]
Iz Rusije s ljubavlju (Serbia) [sr]
James Bond 007 - Liebesgrüße aus Moskau (West Germany) [de]
James Bond, praktor 007 se pagida (Greece) [el]
M'Russia B'Ahava (Israel: Hebrew title) [iw]
Moscou Contra 007 (Brazil) [pt]
Oroszországból szeretettel (Hungary) [hu]
Pozdrowienia z Rosji (Poland) [pl]
Rusya'dan sevgilerle (Turkey: Turkish title) [tr]
Salainen agentti 007 Istanbulissa (Finland) [fi]

Runtime:

115 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English | Russian | Turkish | Romany

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Canada:PG (Manitoba/Ontario) | Canada:A (Nova Scotia) | Canada:G (Quebec) | Iceland:12 | Ireland:PG | West Germany:12 (nf) | Germany:16 (DVD rating) | South Korea:15 | Brazil:12 | New Zealand:PG | UK:PG (2008) | Finland:K-16 (uncut) (1984) | UK:PG (video rating) (1987) | Argentina:13 | Australia:PG | Finland:(Banned) (uncut) (1964) | Norway:15 | Norway:16 (original rating) | Peru:14 | Sweden:15 | USA:Approved (original rating) | USA:GP (re-rating) (1971) | UK:A (original rating) (cut) | Finland:K-16 (cut) (1964) | UK:PG

Filming Locations:

"The Canals", Venice, Veneto, Italy

Company:

Danjaq

Trivia:

Walter Gotell, who plays Morzeny, later played General Gogol in The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) and reprised the role of Gogol in 5 Bond films after that.

Goofs:

Continuity: The train didn't stop at a couple of minutes past 6 (probably because of the double murder) and the train passes the two sons of Kerim who were waiting. When the train arrives at the next stop the clock on the platform shows 5.34.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Morzeny: [after Grant kills a look-a-like Bond] Exactly one minute, fifty-two seconds. That's excellent.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in I Love You, Beth Cooper (2009)

Soundtrack:

From Russia With Love

Bond in a Cold Climate

'From Russia With Love' is the second and last of the Bond films to be made without a rigid formula. With 'Goldfinger', the expected elements of the later films would all accrue in a single film, setting a template the series would struggle to escape from (and, for the most part, would not bother trying to). So, like 'Dr. No', there's only a single sex interest (let's not use the term 'love' too lightly), rather than the good-girl-survives, bad/tragic-girl-dies dichotomy that would later structure all the films (bar OHMSS and, interestingly, the Dalton films), and unlike 'Dr. No', the villainous plot is rather small beer and resolutely real-world - to steal a code machine and humiliate the British Intelligence community in the process. There's also no bombastic theme song, although Matt Monro provides an easy-listening version of the theme tune at the end (it's not half bad, actually, although Shirley Bassey's brassy 'Goldfinger' makes it seem antediluvian in comparison).

Effectively, this means that it's the last Bond film in which the makers were trying to make a film, not a Bond film. It didn't matter if the motifs were all there or not, it only mattered if it was a good film. Unsurprisingly, it has a good claim to being the best film of the series, and it's certainly the least self-conscious (compare with 'Thunderball', an artificial attempt to replicate 'Goldfinger' but making everything bigger).

So, Daniela Bianchi isn't really just the latest 'Bond Girl', but the character at the heart of this thriller - she pretty much is the story. Ursula Andress might have had an iconic entrance in 'Dr. No', but she was so much window-dressing, irrelevant to the plot, arriving late and with almost no agency in the events that unfold around her. By contrast, the crucial pivot of 'From Russia With Love' is whether Bianchi's Tanya will side with Bond or SMERSH - the age old 'love or duty' dilemma.

The film also takes time with detours that have little to do with the main plot - as in the sequence at the gypsy camp. There is a real feeling of a functioning world around Bond's escapades, rather than just colourful 'exotic' backdrops.

There also isn't an undue emphasis on big action set pieces - Bond's encounter with a helicopter (very 'North by Northwest' - in fact Hitchcock's influence is detectable throughout this film, from the Cathedral sequence, to the cool Blondeness of Bianchi, to the train setting of the second half) and the climactic speedboat chase are well-executed, but miniature next to those of later films. Tellingly, the best remembered action sequence is the fight between Connery and Robert Shaw on the train, and the series would never better this intimate, brutal struggle.

Shaw is by far the best of the series' bull-necked heavies - he's intelligent and charismatic as well as forceful, almost a Bond-equivalent. Lotte Lenya and Pedro Armendariz are both excellent in their supporting turns, reminders of a time when the series actually featured fully developed supporting characters, and Bianchi is good - she may lack the overt sex appeal of Andress, but she's a better actress, playing innocent without being either stupid or dull. Connery really grows into the role here, a long way from the pork-pie hatted clod he was in the first film but still untamed and prickly enough to be an exciting screen presence. It was a long slow decline from here to the tubby jobsworth of 'Diamonds Are Forever'.

The early Bond films often escape the critical gaze, and when they are subjected to it, it is usually through rose-tinted spectacles. 'Dr. No' is dull and poorly acted, 'Goldfinger' fun but rather shapeless, and 'Thunderball' just tries too hard altogether. 'From Russia With Love' is a polished little gem, a cold-war thriller done with great style, and a minor masterpiece, irrespective of the series around it.