From Russia With Love

The excitement never ends. James Bond is back again, and this time he is a pawn in perhaps the most intricate plot SPECTRE has ever devised. The bait is set in the coveted Lektor decoding machine, the players in James Bond agent 007 and Tatiana Romanova, the enemies in Red Grant, Rosa Klebb and SPECTRE, and the objective... destroy James Bond.

From locales such as exotic Turkey to the canals of Venice, James Bond much watch every step he takes as he searches for the decoding machine, all along moving further and further into SPECTRE's trap...

Blofeld: Let his death be a particularly unpleasant and humiliating one.

James Bond killed by SPECTRE assassin Red Grant? The opening sequence turns out to only be a training exercise with a masked 007 face taken off the man Grant has just killed. Later on, a chess match with SPECTRE planner Kronsteen quickly being called into a meeting with Number 1, the head of SPECTRE, Ernst Stavro Blofeld. He meets there along with Number 3, Rosa Klebb. The discussion of meeting: to destroy James Bond. A most dastardly plot is sent into motion, with Russian clerk Tatiana 'Tania' Romanova unsuspectedly working for SPECTRE in bringing down Bond, with Red Grant sent along as well to be 007’s ‘Guardian Angel’.

Bond is briefed by M on information that a new Lektor decoding machine, coveted very much by MI5 for years, is available based from what he has heard from Kerim Bey in Station T, Turkey. Bond is sent there, knowing it may very well be a trap. Upon arrival he soon finds out Istanbul can be a ‘rough town’ with followers tracing his every move. He meets up with Kerim Bey, and later travels with him to a gypsy camp where a fantastic battle breaks out between Bond, Kerim, and the gypsies against Krilencu and his men. Krilencu is later killed by Kerim Bey, after two attempts have been made on his life previously.

Tatiana: But I think my mouth is too big.
Bond: No, it’s just the right size…for me that is.

Upon arrival back in his hotel room, Bond meets Tatiana covered with a single sheet in his bedroom. The two briefly talk about the Lektor and then move to love - all of which is filmed by SPECTRE, which neither Bond nor Tatiana know about. Later on they steal the Lektor machine and aboard the Orient Express with Kerim Bey.

Throughout the journey it is revealed Red Grant has also joined them and he later kills Kerim Bey, and then takes the alias of a fellow agent and befriends Bond. A seemingly unnoticeable tablet dropped into Tania's drink at dinner by Grant is witnessed by Bond and the two confront eachother back in the private room cabin. Grant reveals SPECTRE's magnificent plan to Bond, how his death won’t be simple, but humuliating. An explosively violent battle between the two breaks out and Grant is finally silenced, with the help of some Q-Branch gadgets.

Bond and Tania escape off the train, avoid yet another SPECTRE run-in and then board a small boat and take off. Elsewhere, Blofeld takes out his wrath on Kronsteen's failed planning and has him executed. Klebb is now fully held responsible and promises that the plan can still be salvaged. Bond and Tania are later on attacked by SPECTRE boats, with Bond quickly taking control of the situation and escaping once more.

Bond: Red wine with fish. Well that should have told me something.

In Venice the two are relaxing in their hotel room when Rosa Klebb shows up to finally take down James Bond herself. Armed with a poison-tipped shoe, she engages in a vicious fight with Bond and is finally killed when Tania fires the gun at her.

Bond: She had her kicks.

All that is left is Bond and Tania enjoying eachother’s company on a gondola as Bond tosses the hotel room film of the two into the canal.

• James Bond - Sean Connery

• Tatiana Romanova - Daniela Bianchi

• Col. Rosa Klebb - Lotte Lenya

• 'Red' Grant - Robert Shaw

• Kerim Bey - Pedro Armendariz

• Sylvia Trench - Eunice Gayson

• Kronsteen - Vladek Sheybal

• M - Bernard Lee

• Miss Moneypenny - Lois Maxwell

• Q - Desmond Llewelyn

• Morenzy - Walter Gotell

• Vavra - Francis De Wolff

• Vida - Aliza Gur

• Zora - Martine Beswick

• Full From Russia With Love Cast List Here

• Director - Terence Young

• Producers - Albert R. Broccoli, Harry Saltzman

• Screenplay - Joanna Harwood and Richard Maibaum

• Art Direction - Syd Cain

• Editor - Peter Hunt

• Main Title Designer - Robert Brownjohn

• Costume Designer - Jocelyn Rickards

• Music - John Barry

• Title Song - “From Russia With Love” lyrics by Lionel Bart, Sung by Matt Munro

• Cinematography - Ted Moore

• Special Effects Supervisor - John Stears

• Full From Russia With Love Crew List Here

• World Premiere: 10 October 1963
• UK Television Premiere: 2 May 1976 (ITV)
• US Television Premiere: 14 January 1974 (ABC)
• Total Running Time: 115 minutes
• Poster Tagline: Meet James Bond, Secret Agent 007. His New Incredible Women... His New Incredible Enemies... His New Incredible Adventures...
• Poster Tagline: James Bond Is Back!
• Locations: SPECTRE Island; London, UK; Istanbul, Turkey; Zagreb; Belgrade; Yugoslavia
• Academy Awards: None
• Film Title: Written by James Bond in Miss Moneypenny’s office
• James Bond Will Return In: Goldfinger

You can read all about the gadgets of From Russia With Love here.

• Walther PPK
• Briefcase
• Bug Detector
• Tape Recorder
• Poison-Knife Shoe
• Lektor Decoding Machine
• Grant’s Wristwatch

Blofeld: Siamese Fighting Fish. Fascinating creatures. Brave, but on the whole, stupid. Yes, they’re stupid...except for the occasional one such as we have here, who waits. Waits until the survivor is so exhausted that he cannot defend himself. And then, like SPECTRE, he strikes.
Klebb: I find the parallel amusing.
Blofeld: Our organization did not arrange for you to come over from the Russians just for amusement, Number Two.

You can read more quotes here from, From Russia With Love.

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