From Russia with Love Review (Updated)

From Russia with Love

Release Date: 16th April 1964 - Australia

Production Companies

Eon Productions

Genre: Action

Rating: M

Runtime: 115 minutes

Budget: $2,000,000

Box Office Gross: $78,912,737 (Worldwide)

Plot Summary

James Bond's new mission takes him to Istanbul in search of a Soviet decoding machine called "Lektor", and he has to retrieve it before the evil organisation known as S.P.E.C.T.R.E. does. He becomes romantically entangled with a Russian woman named Tatiana Romanova, and little does Bond know that it was a trap set up by S.P.E.C.T.R.E.

to lure him into his doom.

Cast

Sean Connery - James Bond

Daniela Bianchi - Tatiana
Romanova

Pedro Armendariz - Ali Kerim
Bey

Lotte Lenya - Rosa Klebb

Robert Shaw - Red Grant

Bernard Lee - M

Walter Gotell - Morzeny

Vladek Sheybal - Kronsteen

Anthony Dawson - Ernest
Stavro Blofield

Eric Pohlmann - Ernest
Stavro Blofield (Voice) (Uncredited)

Lois Maxwell - Miss
Moneypenny
Desmond Llewelyn - Boothroyd - 'Q'
Eunice Gayson - Sylvia Trench
Francis de Wolff - Vavra
Aliza Gur - Vida
Martine Beswick - Zora
Fred Haggerty - Krilencu
Francis De Wolff - Vavra
Peter Bayliss - Benz
Nusret Ataer - Mehmet
Peter Brayham - Rhoda
Jan Williams - Masseuse
Peter Madden - MacAdams

Neville Jason - Chauffeur

Lisa Guiraut - Belly Dancer

Elizabeth Counsell - Woman in a Punt (Uncredited)

Michael Culver - Man in a Punt (Uncredited)

William Hill - Captain Nash (Uncredited)

John Ketteringham - Fake James Bond (Uncredited)

Jacqueline Saltzman - Train Passenger (Cameo)

(Uncredited)

Nikki Van der Syl - Sylvia Trench/

Receptionist (Voice) (Uncredited)

Barbara Jefford - Tatiana Romanova (Voice)

(Uncredited)

Crew

Director - Terence Young

Based on the Novel "From Russia with Love" -

Ian Fleming (Uncredited)

Adaptation - Joanna Harwood

Screenplay - Richard Maibaum and

Berkley Mather (Uncredited)

Associate Producer - Stanley Sopel (Uncredited)

Producers - Albert R. Broccoli and

Harry Saltzman

Art Director - Syd Cain

Assistant Art Director - Michael White

Production Buyer - Ron Quelch (Uncredited)
Costume Designer - Joselyn Rickards

Director of Photography - Ted Moore

Location Manager - Frank Ernst

Assistant Director - David C. Anderson

Second Assistant Director - Terence Churcher

(Uncredited)

Stunt Work Arranger - Peter Perkins

Special Effects - John Stears, Wally Armitage

(Uncredited), Garth Inns (Uncredited),

James Snow (Uncredited) and Jimmy Ward

(Uncredited)

Special Effects Assistants - Frank George

and Joe Fitt (Uncredited)

Visual Effects - Roy Field (Uncredited)

Matte Artist - Cliff Culley (Uncredited)

Film Editor - Peter R. Hunt

Sound Recordists - C. Les Mesurier

and John W. Mitchell
Dubbing Editors - Harry Miller and
Norman Wanstall

Titles Designer - Robert Brownjohn

Composer: James Bond Theme - Monty Norman
Writer: Title Song - Lionel Bart
Performer: Title Song - Matt Monro

Music - John Barry

Review

FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE is completely genuine for a Bond film. It brings something unique into the franchise the first film didn't have. This movie had terrific aspects, like the gadgets, which are not yet prominent in the later entries and the kind of action that's part of the Bond cliche, which is much better than Dr. No but still unspectacular compared to many modern action films.

It also includes the late Robert Shaw in his fantastic performance as the cunning blond-haired assassin Red Grant. While there are no Bond-like gadgets in the movie, it did introduce Desmond Llewelyn as the gadget master Q, who would later become a pivotal character in the Bond features. The film contains a few impressive scenes, including the helicopter attack, the fight on the Orient Express and the boat chase.

I know that many people considered FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE the best instalment of the series. Goldfinger is the one that deserves it, and I prefer this film over the second entry. FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE, in my opinion, is not the best, but it's a great movie. Still, I would recommend it highly.

Star rating: (4/5) Good Movie

Back to Home