From Russia With Love
I still have a ways to go in my continuing venture through the James Bond franchise, but with each film, it’s easier and easier to see why the series has endured for over 50 years and (now) 24 films. Even with reinventions like the recent run with Daniel Craig as 007, the basic formula has stayed, fundamentally, the same, even if the narrative has takes Bond to some unexpected places as it does in his second adventure, “From Russia With Love.”
When the series began, the industry was different. You didn’t see studios and filmmakers carving out years to get a film through pre-production to the screen. There was no need for elaborate post-production or pre-planning on tricky, choreographed stunts like there is with any new entry now. Case in point: Eon Productions had a new Bond film out every year from 1962 (with the first film, “Dr. No”) through 1965 (“Thunderball”), with only a year being taken off before 1967’s “You Only Live Twice.” That means that Sean Connery played Ian Fleming’s beloved spy five times in six years, and often had the same people around him making the movies. Three of those first four films, including “From Russia With Love,” were directed by the same man, Terence Young, who directed one of my favorite horror thrillers of all-time, “Wait Until Dark,” and he shows a deft touch at bringing the best out of Connery’s Bond, and keeping the tension high even when the action seems to dissipate.
Considering myself a bit of a novice still when it comes to the Bond franchise (my first Bond film was not until 1995’s “Goldeneye,” and the beginning of the “modern era”), “From Russia With Love” is one of the more intriguing plot lines I’ve seen in a 007 movie. Rather than a big action opening, we see Bond skulking in the bushes outside of a mansion-like building. He is being shadowed by a blonde-haired man named Grant (Robert Shaw). Grant manages to sneak up to him and strangle Bond. The bushes open up, where dozens of men are watching on. We then see that Bond’s face is, in fact, a mask on an expendable assassin- this was a training exercise. Grant works for SPECTRE, the shadow organization who is looking for revenge after Bond killed their agent, Dr. No. Part of their plan involves luring Bond into a trap to steal a piece of cryptographic device from the Russians, something MI-6 is very interested in obtaining, and taking him out in the process. The plan comes from Kronsteen (Vladek Sheybal), a master chess player and SPECTRE’s chief planner, and will be executed by Rosa Klebb (Lotte Lenya), who formerly worked in Soviet intelligence, and is in charge of finding a Russian agent to lure in Bond to the scheme. That agent is Tatiana Romanova (Daniela Bianchi), an Embassy clerk who doesn’t realize Klebb is working for SPECTRE. With all the pieces in play, the question becomes whether Bond, who is sent to Instanbul, where the device will supposedly be sold, will figure out the plan or not.
The idea of both the Russians and the British intelligence agency ultimately being on the same side is an intriguing one, neither of which are aware they are being pulled into a trap by SPECTRE. It’s not really played up that much because the whole idea is that neither Bond nor Tatiana know the real puppetmasters of the story, and they don’t find out until later in the movie when Grant has come across both of them on the Orient Express. That leaves us to just watch Bond and Tatiana get together, and it’s one of the more enjoyable pieces of “Bond girl” writing in the films I’ve watched in this franchise. Apparently, Bianchi’s English wasn’t that great, so her voice was dubbed over by Barbara Jefford, but just from a physical standpoint, she is a great foil for Connery’s Bond, starting with when they first meet, and she is just wearing bedsheets in a hotel in Istanbul. The vocal dubbing of her performance makes it difficult to judge her work as a whole, but her physical embodiment of the character (not just her looks but her mannerisms) help sell the character’s personality and chemistry with Bond, played by Connery with the same magnetic energy he brought to the character every time he played the iconic role. Because they are in the dark about being pawns in SPECTRE’s plan through most of the film, we have to be able to enjoy watching them together in their respective roles, and there’s genuine heat between Connery and Bianchi that delivers every moment.
This being the second film, a lot of the staples of the franchise were still establishing themselves, but Young and his writers, Richard Maibaum and Johanna Harwood, were basically getting things prepared for all who followed in “From Russia With Love.” The obligatory meeting with “M” at the beginning. The introduction of Q Section, and their toys, with Desmond Llewelyn debuting as the head of gadgetry department, a role he would continue in until his death in 1999. The flirtation’s with M’s secretary, Moneypenny. The seduction that leads too family-friendly lovemaking. The ruthless henchman and mysterious villain (very mysterious, in this case- we don’t see the face of SPECTRE’s leader, Blofeld, at all in his scenes). The only thing that isn’t really there are elaborate action scenes, although there is a great hand-to-hand between Grant and Bond on the train, and a shootout at a gypsy village in Istanbul. It’s not really a bad thing, but there is a decidedly lagging pace to the film that the next Bond film, “Goldfinger,” definitely did not have. Thankfully, Young has a compelling espionage thriller to make regardless, and by putting the weight on Connery and Bianchi’s shoulders, we’re more than willing to follow them through to the end, as they prepare for that last minute smooch before the credits role, at which point, we can never wait for the next Bond adventure.
