From Russia with Love (1963)
Dir: Terence Young
Stars: Sean Connery, Daniela Bianchi, Robert Shaw and Pedro Armandariz
As I discussed in my Stand by Me review, Bond films were always a nice halfway point between my Mom and I while I grew up. I couldn’t wait to watch R rated movies, but she insisted I wait till the appropriate age to do so. Bond films seemed to be the testing ground: was the film in question more violent than a Bond film? Then it’s out. The end.
Involving Storyline
Well, I’m covering From Russia with Love for my latest “Why I Love Film” entry because I think it’s one of the most pure Bond films. What I mean is, if you’ve read the books at all, Bond wasn’t necessarily a jokester or a blatantly horny bastard as he’s sometimes portrayed in the movie series. He was indeed a Cold War era spy who knew how to handle himself. What I mean is, he could fight if necessary, he could talk his way out of a corner with his knowledge – and he carried so-called “gadgets” as another means of survival. The gorgeous women that he happened to meet were all part of the assignment, and not present merely for him to sleep with and then dash off on. This picture of the character was what I got out of the books…
Before I get too ahead of myself, let’s cover what this film is about, remembering that this is the world as it existed in 1963: the Russian government possesses a “Lecter Decoding Machine”. What does it do? It decodes things! The British want this machine very much. The Russians know the British want their machine. So, the Russians set a trap for James Bond to meet a gorgeous agent of theirs. She reportedly fell in love with him when she ran across his file (or “dossier” as they so often say in Bond films). This gorgeous Russian will give Bond the “Lecter” if he agrees to come and help her defect to the West. So, the British suspect a trap, but as “M” tells Bond, they simply must look into any opportunity of getting a “Lecter”. If the story seems far fetched to you, please consider that John Fitzgerald Kennedy – the President himself – considered this his favorite Bond story. I’m just saying.
Superb Cast of Villains
The film opens with a sneaky assassination scene, which immediately establishes Bond’s soon-to-be nemesis, Red Grant. Played by Robert Shaw, this guy is the epitome of cold-blooded killer: one of his favorite weapons is a thin string of wire hidden in the winding mechanism of his watch used to strangle his victims. Now, here’s a murderer who’s put some thought into his crimes. He’s also put some serious work into his physique, as demonstrated when his handler comes to inspect him: you’ll know what I mean when you see the film, but I have just two words for you – brass knuckles. The thing about Robert Shaw’s performance is that it’s downright creepy. From the way he puts on gloves every time he’s about to conduct some mayhem to the way his expression rarely changes and he seldom speaks, Shaw’s portrayal makes your skin crawl. He deserves a lot of credit for making From Russia with Love such a classic because he contributes so well to one of the major pieces of the Bond formula: a truly despicable villain.
After establishing the ultimate killing machine in Red Grant, we meet a few other bad guys. There’s “Number One”, who runs S.P.E.C.T.R.E., which stands for “Special Executive for Counter-Intelligence, Terrorism, Revenge and Extortion”. That’s right, I knew that off the top of my head from watching Dr. No (the first Bond film) over twenty times! Regardless, the uber-villain “Number One”, who Bond would battle in many of is films, is never visible to the camera other than his hands constantly petting his white cat. This image and character have been parodied to the full extent by the Austin Powers films. However, I can’t stress enough that in the context of this film, you really believe that this is an evil mastermind and someone to be feared. I mean, he must be scary – they won’t even show us his face.
There’s also Kronsteen, who thinks up this entire operation to embarrass Bond and pit the Russians against the British: it turns out it’s not the Russians at all who are setting him up, but S.P.E.C.T.R.E. Kronsteen is a complete characterization of the villains as described in the books. He’s eloquent, but with an Eastern European accent. He smokes yellow cigarettes. Yellow frickin’ cigarettes for crying out loud! And of course, he’s a chess champion. He’s the kind of guy you just know grew up getting his ass kicked on a daily basis at recess (or whatever Europeans call recess), and has been plotting to get even with everyone on earth since. Finally, there is Rosa Klebb, an ex-Soviet intelligence official who is now working for S.P.E.C.T.R.E. Nothing personal to the actress who played her, but this is one intimidating woman. Klebb is responsible for selecting the personnel who will put Kronsteen’s plan into action. Just as “Number One” has a cat to pet, Grant packs a wire in his watch and Kronsteen smokes his yellow cigarettes, Klebb has a great prop, too – a poisonous knife blade hidden in her ugly shoes!
Travel to Exotic Places – with Bond!
One of the big selling points to Bond movies is their exotic locations. Have you ever been on a train travelling between Russia and Serbia? How about taking a boat from somewhere in Yugoslavia to Venice, ever do that? Did you ever see the ancient mosques in Istanbul? Neither have I! But, you can see all of these locales – and merry England, and Soviet Russia, and a Gypsy camp – by watching From Russia with Love. Once again, though, I have to mention the books: Bond wasn’t on vacation, remember! He was on assignment. None of these impressive destinations were presented in the books without their essential involvement in the story. This second Bond film is no exception to that maxim that destinations come with the story.
Ah, the Gorgeous Women
With Daniela Bianchi, we have the gold standard in Bond Women (that’s right, I capitalized that!): she’s important to the story, she’s in love with Bond and she can step up and jump into the action when necessary. And she looks pretty splendid in a nightgown. Outside of the primary love interest, you’ve got Kerim’s mistress (Kerim is Bond’s British Intelligence contact in Istanbul – sorry I didn’t mention that), who’s gorgeous. You’ve got Sylvia Trench, the lady Bond met at the Casino in Dr. No, who’s gorgeous. And you’ve even got a couple of Gypsy girls who are only too glad to stop beating on each other over the Gypsy man they’re in love with in their camp once old James Bond comes into their lives. Oh, and they’re gorgeous, too. While Thunderball undoubtedly holds first place from a “per capita” standpoint of Gorgeous Bond Women, From Russia with Love certainly has its share.
Unique Action Sequences
I don’t know if you happened to catch 2006’s Casino Royale, but one of my first thoughts after seeing it was that the producers seemed to be getting back to Bond’s roots concerning the action sequences. If you’ve seen From Russia, you’ll know what I mean from the epic battle in the train cabin! There are scenes in the film worthy of a Hitchcock picture: consider the information drop at the Mosque. Other scenes noticeably influenced today’s action sequences (lots of boats plus gasoline barrels equals explosions!). But again, all of the action in this picture is necessary to the storyline: the conflict reaches a point where Bond has to run or fight, and when he does fight it’s pretty damned fun to watch.