From Russia with Love (1963)

User Rating:

7.5/10   

Director:

Terence Young

Writers:

Richard Maibaum (screenplay)
Johanna Harwood (adaptation)

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

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

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:

The first line of the Ian Fleming James Bond novel "From Russia with Love" reads: "The naked man who lay splayed out on his face beside the swimming pool might have been dead."

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): The words used for "pull" and "push" signs on the doors at the Russian consulate are literal translations of the corresponding English verbs ("dergat" and "pikhat"). First, it's not what is customarily written on the doors in Russia ("to" and "fro" are used), and second, the colloquial forms of verbs are used, not the written forms.

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 Premiere Bond: Opening Nights (2006) (V)

Soundtrack:

James Bond Theme

The best of the James Bond series, probably the best of the spy genre as well.

Connery came, he acted, and he conquered as James Bond in this second installment of the James Bond film franchise. With some of the most realistic fight scenes for a '60s movie and terrific story by Fleming, this film has a recipe for a masterpiece.

As mentioned in my review of "Dr. No", his charm and intellectual wit is still there, and then in some scenes in a whole lot more better than before. How he tries to commence his mission, you just couldn't fall asleep. A-grade acting by Connery here.

Then-newcomer Daniela Branchi is good as Bond Girl Tatiana, who is the wrong girl at the right time. Desmond Llewelyn, in his debut as gadget man Q, shows us an impressive array of gadgets that Bond would later find quite useful. But it is Robert Shaw, who almost steals the show as the murderous, merciless, assassin Grant, who will stop at nothing to prevent Bond and Tatiana from commencing their mission.

Crew also return here. Producers Brocolli and Saltzman and director Young have returned, with double the budget and double the thrills in return. Also, the musical score by John Barry is memorable, it really sets the tone for a realistic spy adventure.

The story is not meant to be an action picture. It is more like the adventures of a spy, with the dangers of being a spy. In short, it is a complex spy thriller, made to suit the target audience which are spy fans and intelligent viewers. I do not understand how anyone could call such a film "boring." This truly is a pinnacle of the James Bond series, one which will remain for years to come.

9.34/10

Delton