From Russia with Love (1963)

James Bond willingly falls into an assassination plot involving a naive Russian beauty in order to retrieve a Soviet encryption device that was stolen by S.P.E.C.T.R.E.

Director:

Terence Young

Writers:

Richard Maibaum (screenplay), Johanna Harwood (adaptation)

Stars:

Sean Connery, Robert Shaw, Lotte Lenya

Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 3 wins & 5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Sean Connery	...	James Bond
Daniela Bianchi	...	Tatiana Romanova
Pedro Armendáriz	...	Ali Kerim Bey (as Pedro Armendariz)
Lotte Lenya	...	Rosa Klebb
Robert Shaw	...	Donald 'Red' Grant
Bernard Lee	...	'M'
Eunice Gayson	...	Sylvia Trench
Walter Gotell	...	Morzeny
Francis De Wolff	...	Vavra (as Francis de Wolff)
George Pastell	...	Train Conductor
Nadja Regin	...	Kerim's Mistress
Lois Maxwell	...	Miss Moneypenny
Aliza Gur	...	Vida
Martine Beswick	...	Zora (as Martin Beswick)
Vladek Sheybal	...	Kronsteen

Storyline

James Bond 007 is on the search for a Russian decoding machine, known as "Lektor". Bond needs to find this machine, before the evil S.P.E.C.T.R.E. organization discovers it. While being romantically linked with Russian girl, Tatiana Romanova, Bond sneaks his way around Istanbul, while each S.P.E.C.T.R.E. Agent tries to pick him off, including the over powering Donald "Red" Grant and ex K.G.B. Agent Rosa Klebb, who knows all of the tricks in the book, and even possesses an incredible poison tipped shoe.

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Plot Keywords:

butt slap | mauser c96 pistol | mauser pistol | mauser | raki | 

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Taglines:

VIVA James Bond !

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Thriller

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Certificate:

PG

Did You Know?

Trivia

For the opening chess match, Kronsteen wins the game with a re-enactment of Boris Spassky's victory over David Bronstein in 1960. Syd Cain built up the "chess pawn" motif in his one hundred fifty thousand dollar set for the brief sequence.

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Goofs

When Bond is knocked out by the SPECTRE agent in the train car room, an overhead shot shows him landing on his back. The camera angle changes to floor level and Bond is laying on his right side.

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Quotes

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

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Crazy Credits

The opening credits are projected onto the moving body of a dancer.

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Alternate Versions

Some TV prints omit the gypsy girl fight. One Canadian showing in the 1990s omitted the gypsy camp segment altogether.

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Connections

Referenced in Bond's Greatest Moments (2013)

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Soundtracks

From Russia with Love
Music by John Barry
Lyrics by Lionel Bart
Performed by Matt Monro

User Reviews

Better than Fleming's Novel!

Hard to believe, but the movie is actually an improvement on Fleming's novel. Rather than have the Lektor operation be a simple Russian scheme to discredit Bond as Fleming did, SPECTRE takes a hand here in their first on-screen appearance as an organization. The plot is improved considerably because of this. The movie thrives on its supporting actors and Sheybal. Connery is somewhat outshone by these greater lights, but gives a credible performance. From Russia... is a different pace of movie: no one here is intent on wiping out the world's population, or destroying the gold supply, or stealing submarines. Basically, it's a quiet little plot focusing on an elaborate "sting" operation. Until the end, the pace is kind of slow, and might lose more "modern" audiences, particularly those used to incredible stunt sequences every 20 minutes.

Details

Official Sites:

MGM [United States]

Country:

UK

Language:

English Russian Turkish Romany

Release Date:

27 May 1964 (USA)

Also Known As:

From Russia with Love

Filming Locations:

Leckuary Farm, Argyll and Bute, Scotland, UK

Box Office

Budget:

$2,000,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$24,796,765

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$24,808,046

Company Credits

Production Co:

Eon Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

115 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1