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 by), Johanna Harwood (adapted by)

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:

istanbul | russkies | bond girl | pretty legs | bare midriff | 

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Taglines:

Meet James Bond, secret agent 007 [Australian theatrical daybill movie poster]

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Thriller

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Certificate:

PG

Did You Know?

Trivia

While this movie was in pre-production, the historic route of the Orient Express was changed. Since the nineteenth century, the westward-bound Orient Express stopped in Bucharest, Budapest, Vienna, Munich, and Strasbourg before arriving in Paris. But, beginning in 1962, the train followed a more southerly route, stopping in Sofia, Belgrade, Venice, Milan, and Lausanne. Changes in the script were made to accommodate the re-routing.

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Goofs

The Orient Express route shown in the film was discontinued in 1962, the year before the film was shot and released.

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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 Take the Tower: Episode #1.6 (2018)

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Soundtracks

James Bond Theme
Music by Monty Norman

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:

$24,808,767

Company Credits

Production Co:

Eon Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

115 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System) Dolby Digital (5.1 surround)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1