Bond Retrospective: "From Russia With Love"
Released: 1963
Actor: Sean Connery
Villain: Rosa Klebb (Lotte Lenya)
Henchman: Donald Grant (Robert Shaw)
Allies: Karim Bey (Pedro Armendariz)
Bond Girl: Tatiana Romanova (Daniela Bianchi)
First Appearance: Major Boothroyd aka Q (Desmond Llelywn), pretitles sequence, Ernst Stavro Blofeld (arm and cat only), "James Bond Will Return"
Plot: After the demise of Dr. No, Blofeld recruits number three, Rosa Klebb, and number five to devise a plot to steal the Russian coding maching, called the Lektor. The plan involves using Klebb's status as head of Russian intelligence, SMERSH, and the British secret service. Using number five's knowledge that the British would do anything to get their hands on a Lektor, even if it smelled like a trap, he had Klebb choose a good girl to play the Russian role. She sends word to M that this girl is in love with Bond, and will give up the Lektor. They send Bond to Turkey, where he meets with Kerim Bey. Klebb and her henchman, Grant, set the Russians against the Turkish. Eventually, Bond encounters Tatiana, and she gets him the Lektor. Bond and Tatiana and Bey escape on a train. Bey is killed by a Russian policeman. Grant comes on board to fulfill the plan and kill Bond and get the Lektor. Bond uses Q's fancy suitcase to distract Grant, killing him, and escaping with Tatiana. Number five is killed by Klebb's boot for his failure, and Klebb attempts to get the Lektor from Bond's hotel room, but Tatiana saves him, and kills Klebb. Bond and Tatiana enjoy their time in Venice at the end, and we get the promise that Bond will return in Goldfinger.
Thoughts: A solid follow-up to Dr. No, with a more focused story, smaller in scope. We got a better look at SPECTRE, after the tease in the prior film. We also got our introduction to the gadgets via Q branch, which will become a longstanding tradition henceforth. The villain was interesting, almost like a little witch. And the Bond girl, by her duplicitous initial nature, made for an interesting interaction with Bond. Overall, a solid film, and helping to make Connery arguably one of the best Bonds.
Actor: Sean Connery
Villain: Rosa Klebb (Lotte Lenya)
Henchman: Donald Grant (Robert Shaw)
Allies: Karim Bey (Pedro Armendariz)
Bond Girl: Tatiana Romanova (Daniela Bianchi)
First Appearance: Major Boothroyd aka Q (Desmond Llelywn), pretitles sequence, Ernst Stavro Blofeld (arm and cat only), "James Bond Will Return"
Plot: After the demise of Dr. No, Blofeld recruits number three, Rosa Klebb, and number five to devise a plot to steal the Russian coding maching, called the Lektor. The plan involves using Klebb's status as head of Russian intelligence, SMERSH, and the British secret service. Using number five's knowledge that the British would do anything to get their hands on a Lektor, even if it smelled like a trap, he had Klebb choose a good girl to play the Russian role. She sends word to M that this girl is in love with Bond, and will give up the Lektor. They send Bond to Turkey, where he meets with Kerim Bey. Klebb and her henchman, Grant, set the Russians against the Turkish. Eventually, Bond encounters Tatiana, and she gets him the Lektor. Bond and Tatiana and Bey escape on a train. Bey is killed by a Russian policeman. Grant comes on board to fulfill the plan and kill Bond and get the Lektor. Bond uses Q's fancy suitcase to distract Grant, killing him, and escaping with Tatiana. Number five is killed by Klebb's boot for his failure, and Klebb attempts to get the Lektor from Bond's hotel room, but Tatiana saves him, and kills Klebb. Bond and Tatiana enjoy their time in Venice at the end, and we get the promise that Bond will return in Goldfinger.
Thoughts: A solid follow-up to Dr. No, with a more focused story, smaller in scope. We got a better look at SPECTRE, after the tease in the prior film. We also got our introduction to the gadgets via Q branch, which will become a longstanding tradition henceforth. The villain was interesting, almost like a little witch. And the Bond girl, by her duplicitous initial nature, made for an interesting interaction with Bond. Overall, a solid film, and helping to make Connery arguably one of the best Bonds.
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