Bons Baisers de Russie

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.

A Bond film that stands out among all other films as well as the Bond films, From Russia With Love is filled with not only a heavy dose of nonstop action and adventure, but also an intelligent plot that commented heavily on the world state of affairs in 1963. Capitalist and Communists are set to work against each other by SPECTRE, an organization which does not give any special considerations to economic systems, but wishes to weaken the balance of world power and take control itself. The survival of the Bond films depended on their ability to change with the decades, and From Russia With Love is no exception. Great acting performances from not only Sean Connery, but Robert Shaw, Pedro Armendariz, and Lotte Lenya (the wife of Kurt Weill).

The first three Bonds (Dr. No, FRWL, Goldfinger) are without question the best in the series, though From Russia with Love may well be the best of the best. It has all things we look for in a great Bond film - exotic locales, sinister villains, beautiful women - but it was made before Goldfinger established the ingenious-yet-demented-supervillain-plus-indestructible-henchman formula as canonical, so its plot line may surprise viewers reared on the later Bond films. For one thing, there's little or nothing in the way of gadgetry (though Q does provide our hero with a pretty nifty briefcase). Beyond a brief encounter with the faceless Number One, there's no arch-villain looming over the action, and the henchmen are at once less invulnerable and more interesting than most of their successors in the series. Particularly memorable, of course, are Lotte Lenya as the hatchet-faced Colonel ("She's had her kicks") Kleb and Robert Shaw as the brutish Donald "Red" Grant. Kleb's edgy menace is neatly offset by her terror at the prospect of failure (an option which Number One refuses to countenance); her subtle come-on to Tatiana Romanova was positively daring by 1963 standards, and she manages to do for footwear what Goldfinger's Odd Job went on to do for head gear. Grant is no superman, but a vicious, small-time thug, recruited by SPECTRE and transformed into a fearsome enforcer; his bitter encounter with Bond on the train speaks volumes about the class tensions that still underlay British society in the post-war era.

Connery, for his part, gets to build on the character he first fleshed out in Dr. No. His Bond really emerges here as a complex man, formidable but flawed. He's genteel and sophisticated, but he doesn't always keep his cool; unlike the too-often unflappable Roger Moore, Connery's Bond betrays both anger and fear when the circumstances seem to warrant it. He intervenes chivalrously to stop a fight between two Gypsy women, but he's not above slugging a woman in the service of his mission. I've always enjoyed the humanizing chemistry between Connery and Pedro Armendariz's larger-than-life Kerim ("I've led a fascinating life") Bey, the most charming of Bond sidekicks; their friendship comes across as genuine and multi-dimensional. Today's viewers (especially women) will likely find Daniela Bianchi's Tanya ("I LOVE you, James") Romanova an uncomfortably passive damsel-in-distress, but, hey: she's drop-dead gorgeous and has some nice scenes with Connery. The Turkish and Balkan settings are spectacular and the train sequence at the end is both exciting and suspenseful. Cold War scenario notwithstanding, this one has aged very well. Shake yourself a pitcher of vodka martinis and spend a Friday night watching Dr. No, From Russia with Love and Goldfinger.

Sean Connery never failed to charm as James Bond.His charm,coupled with the terrific story line that you see here in from Russia With Love,makes this film second only to Goldfinger in terms of ranking all of Connery's efforts as 007.Nearly stealing the show is a fresh faced Robert Shaw as a trained assassin with his eyes zeroed in on the agent.Sadly,we also see the final performance of Pedro Armendariz,who committed suicide the year of the film's release upon learning he had terminal cancer.Even if you are not a Bond fan,this is a very well done good versus evil story that is carried out very well.If you are a Bond fan,you probably have all the films in your collection,whether they are good or bad,but if you are someone who only collects films you consider good,you'll want to consider this one.

A chess genius by the name of "Kronsteen" (played by Vladek Sheybal) is also the #5 ranked member of the secret criminal organization known as SPECTRE. He has come up with a foolproof plan which includes: (1) stealing a top secret Russian decoding machine called a "Lektor". (2) Increasing tension between NATO and the Warsaw Pact to the point of a possible war and (3) Killing "James Bond" (Sean Connery) in retaliation for the death of one of their operatives named "Dr. No". Kronsteen convinces #1 ("Ernst Blofeld") of his plans and #3 "Rosa Klebb" (Lotte Lenya) is ordered to assist him. Thinking that Colonel Klebb is still a member of SMERSH (the Russian secret service), the beautiful Russian intelligence analyst "Tatiana Romanova" (Daniela Bianchi) is pressed into luring James Bond to Istanbul so that he can acquire the Lektor from the Russian consulate. Once this is accomplished a ruthless assassin named "Grant" (Robert Shaw) is ordered to take the Lektor on behalf of SPECTRE and kill both James Bond and Tatiana Romanova. Obviously, the plot is very intricate and there are twists and turns throughout the movie, but for the sake of brevity I thought it best to end here. Overall, this is a remarkable movie which has nice cinematography, splendid acting, well-written scripts and good direction (Terence Young). Sean Connery is once again excellent as Agent 007. Pedro Armendiaz, who plays "Kerim Bey" (the head of Turkish intelligence), also performs admirably as does Robert Shaw. Likewise, Daniela Bianchi (a former Miss Rome and 1960 Miss World runner up) is a ravishing addition to this film as well. In short, it has the scenery, talent, script and direction that you need to make a good film and it is used to the utmost. A good James Bond film.