From Russia with Love
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- For the video game see [[James Bond 007: From Russia with Love]]
From Russia with Love, published in 1957, is the fifth James Bond novel written by Ian Fleming. It is also the second James Bond film in the official EON Productions series, and the second to star Sean Connery as the suave and sophisticated British Secret Service agent James Bond. The cinematic From Russia with Love was released in 1963, produced by Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman, and directed by Terence Young.
From Russia with Love is considered both the best James Bond novel, and the best of the James Bond film series by many fans and critics, and by actor Sean Connery (who restated his view in a 2002 interview with Sam Donaldson for ABC News). While critical opinion has varied greatly on the films, the novel version is credited with launching the James Bond craze, and leading to the film series. Its biggest boost came four years after From Russia with Love was published from an article in Life magazine on March 17, 1961 in which U.S. President John F. Kennedy included it in a list of his favorite books; the James Bond novel was the only work of fiction in the list of ten.
Though the film's low-key tone contrasts with the popular outlandishness of Goldfinger and Thunderball, From Russia with Love is often considered the ideal Bond film that each film strives to aim for. Michael G. Wilson, the current co-producer of the series with his half sister Barbara Broccoli, has stated "We always start out trying to make another From Russia with Love and end up with another Thunderball." In 2004, Total Film magazine named it the ninth-greatest British film of all time.
In 2005 it was adapted into a video game by Electronic Arts and featured all new voice work by Sean Connery as well as his likeness and the likeness of a number of the supporting cast from the film.
The title of the book sometimes is printed with a comma, as From Russia, with Love, depending upon the publisher. It is more commonly printed without the punctuation.
The novel
Plot summary
From Russia with Love differs from Fleming's previous Bond novels in that the first one third of the novel revolves around SMERSH's executioner, Red Grant as well as the organization, SMERSH, itself. This is also the first novel in which Bond receives a gadget from Q-Branch, although Q is not in the novel.The novel is a series of elaborate plots and counterplots, between the British and the Russian intelligence agencies. It begins with SMERSH, the Soviet assassination agency, seeking to redeem itself from a series of failures that have made some within the Soviet government begin to criticize the organization. SMERSH plans to commit a grand act of terrorism in the intelligence field. For this, SMERSH has targeted British secret service agent, Commander James Bond. Due in part to Bond's defeat of Le Chiffre detailed in Casino Royale and Mr. Big in Live and Let Die, Bond has been declared as an enemy of the Soviet state and has been issued a "death warrant" for immediate execution ("To be killed with ignominy").
Mainly through the agency of Kronsteen, the chess-playing master planner, and Colonel Rosa Klebb, SMERSH lays a trap for Bond, by setting pretty young cipher clerk, Corporal Tatiana Romanova, to pretend to defect from her post in Istanbul, claiming to have fallen in love with Bond, from a photograph. As an added incentive, Tatiana will provide the British agent with a Spektor decoder, a prize much coveted by MI6. The ultimate goal is to set up James Bond for assassination, and cause a scandal, but SMERSH doesn't count on Tatiana actually falling in love with 007. The confrontation between Bond and Grant takes place on board the Orient Express on the journey from Istanbul to Paris, when Grant is shot by Bond. Later, after successfully delivering Tatiana to the West, Bond has a final encounter with Rosa Klebb which leaves her captured and 007 poisoned.
| Author: | Publisher: | Hardback: | Paperback: | Alternate titles: |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ian Fleming | Glidrose Productions | UK) 1957 | UK) 1959 | |
| Preceded by: Diamonds Are Forever | ||||
| Followed by: Dr. No | ||||
Comic strip adaptation
Fleming's novel was adapted as a daily comic strip published in the British Daily Express newspaper, and syndicated worldwide. The adaptation ran from February 3 to May 21, 1960, and was written by Henry Gammidge, and illustrated by John McLusky. The James Bond 007 Fan Club published a reprinting of the strip in 1981. From Russia with Love was reprinted again in 2005 by Titan Books in the Dr. No collection, which in addition to Dr. No, also included Diamonds Are Forever.
The film
Plot summary
The film follows the plot of Fleming's novel almost to the letter; however, the villain is the major change between the literary and cinematic versions of the story. At the Cold War's height, EON Productions felt it inadvisable casting the Russians as villains, so SMERSH was replaced by S.P.E.C.T.R.E., the criminal organization who is a mutual enemy of both superpowers, introduced in the first James Bond film, Dr. No. As such, this film is a sequel to the previous film in that S.P.E.C.T.R.E. seeks revenge upon James Bond for his killing of Dr. Julius No.The film features the first appearance of Ernst Stavro Blofeld, leader of S.P.E.C.T.R.E., although he wouldn't directly confront Bond for several more cinematic adventures. To integrate S.P.E.C.T.R.E. to the storyline, minor changes were made so that SMERSH agent Red Grant is responsible for actions committed by other characters in the novel. Other than these topical changes, the film's plot is the same as the novel's—James Bond is lured to Turkey, where Corporal Tatiana (Tania) Romanova is stationed to assist her defection, and obtains a LEKTOR decoder (renamed from the novel's Spektor to not confuse the audience with S.P.E.C.T.R.E.).
Cast & characters
- James Bond — Sean Connery
- M — Bernard Lee
- Miss Moneypenny — Lois Maxwell
- Q — Desmond Llewelyn
- Tatiana Romanova — Daniela Bianchi
- Rosa Klebb — Lotte Lenya
- Donald 'Red' Grant — Robert Shaw
- Sylvia Trench — Eunice Gayson
- Kerim Bey — Pedro Armendariz
- Morzeny — Walter Gotell
- Kronsteen — Vladek Sheybal
- Vida — Aliza Gur
- Zora — Martine Beswick
Crew
- Directed by: Terence Young
- Produced by: Albert R. Broccoli, Harry Saltzman
- Written by: Ian Fleming
- Screenplay: Richard Maibaum
- Music composed by: John Barry
- Cinematography by: Ted Moore
- Film editing by: Peter R. Hunt
- Production design by Syd Cain
Soundtrack
From Russia with Love is the first series film with John Barry as the primary soundtrack composer. The theme song, "From Russia with Love", was composed by Lionel Bart of Oliver! fame and sung by Matt Monro, although the title credits are instrumental. Monro's vocal version is later played during the film. John Barry, arranger of Monty Norman's "James Bond Theme" for Dr. No, would be the dominant Bond series composer for most of its history and the inspiration for the current lead Bond movie composer, David Arnold. In this film, Barry introduced the percussive theme "007", action music that came to be considered the "secondary James Bond Theme" and is used in the James Bond films of both Sean Connery and Roger Moore. The arrangement appears twice in the soundtrack album; the second version, entitled "007 Takes the Lektor," is the one used during the gunfight at the gypsy camp and also during Bond's theft of the Lektor decoding machine.)
Track listing
- Opening Titles / James Bond Is Back / From Russia with Love - (instrumental) / James Bond Theme
- Tania Meets Klebb
- Meeting in St Sophia
- The Golden Horn
- Girl Trouble
- Bond Meets Tania
- 007
- Gypsy Camp
- Death of Grant
- From Russia with Love - Matt Monro
- Spectre Island
- Guitar Lament
- Man Overboard / Smersh in Action
- James Bond with Bongos
- Stalking
- Leila Dances
- Death of Kerim
- 007 Takes the Lektor
Vehicles & gadgets
- Main articles: List of James Bond vehicles and List of James Bond gadgets
- Briefcase — Technically, James Bond's first gadget. The briefcase issued to 007 by Q-Branch contains a folding AR-7 sniper rifle with ammunition, a flat throwing knife, and fifty gold sovereigns in secret compartments accessible from outside the case. In addition, the briefcase has a trick safety mechanism that detonates a magnetically attached tear gas bomb if the briefcase is improperly opened.
- Pager — Although From Russia with Love was filmed in the 1960s, before this gadget's invention, Bond carried one, enabling MI6 to contact him at once; also, Bond's Bentley automobile had a radio-telephone.
- Bug detector — A small device that is designed to detect the presence of a phone tap device in a regular telephone when placed against such a device.
- Tape recorder disguised as a camera.
- The LEKTOR decoder, though never actually seen in use, could also count as a gadget (Fleming based it directly on the Enigma machine, a cryptology device used by the Germans during World War Two) .
Locations
Film locations
- London, England
- Istanbul, Turkey
- Belgrade, Yugoslavia
- Zagreb, Yugoslavia
- Venice, Italy
- Aboard the Orient Express
- S.P.E.C.T.R.E. Island (location unknown)
Shooting locations
Trivia
- Alfred Hitchcock was originally considered as director for the film version in 1958, with Bond to be played by Cary Grant and a possible return to the screen for Grace Kelly as Tatiana Romanova, but the deals fell through when Vertigo performed badly at the box office. The helicopter scene in From Russia with Love mimics the cropduster scene from the film Hitchcock did instead, North by Northwest.
- During the taking of the scene where Bond and company are attacked by rats in the Istanbul sewers, the rats had made problems. At first, white lab rats were used, and in order to make them look natural, they were covered with chocolate - but the beasts found the substance too delicious and spent the time licking each other off. Finally, real rats were used, but they ran amok in the studio. Sean Connery, however, kept a cool head and relieved the situation - just by opening the studio doors...
- In recent years, the scene in which Bond first encounters Tatiana in his hotel room often has been used to screen-test actors for the James Bond and leading lady roles.
- Reportedly, author and James Bond creator Ian Fleming makes a cameo in the Istanbul train scene (following Bond's stealing the LEKTOR decoder), standing outside on the right of the train, wearing grey trousers and a white sweater; some sources deny Fleming's appearance.
- Pedro Armendáriz, who played Kerim Bey had been diagnosed with terminal cancer and reportedly did this role to provide financially for his family before his impending death. Armendáriz's scenes were given top priority and he limps visibly in most of them. On the evening of June 18, 1963, while at the UCLA medical center, a gun was smuggled into his hospital room and the 51-year-old Armendáriz took his own life. Twenty-five years later, his son, Pedro Armendáriz Jr., also an actor, was hired for a small role in the 1989 James Bond film Licence to Kill as the President of the fictional Republic of Isthmus.
- Lotte Lenya's character, Colonel Rosa Klebb, often is cited as prototype of the Frau Farbissina character in the Austin Powers spy spoof series. Klebb would be the first of several Bond villains with ambiguous sexuality. Lotte Lenya was the widow of Kurt Weill. In the film "Undercover Blues" starring Dennis Quaid and Kathleen Turner, in the mock-torture scene, Dennis Quaid refers to Kathleen Turner (who was pretending to be a Russian doctor specializing in pain) as "Dr Lottelenya," a clear tribute to Lotte Lenya's portrayal of Rosa Klebb.
- The Bulgarian assassin Krilencu tries to escape from his apartment through a secret window in a billboard advertising Call Me Bwana, the only non-James Bond film produced by EON Productions.
- The "007" theme (the song played during the gunfight at the gypsy camp and also during Bond's theft of the LEKTOR) was used as part of the Eyewitness News format on Philadelphia television station KYW-TV.
- A version of the haunting "Stalking" track -- from the pre-credit sequence of From Russia with Love involving Connery and Shaw -- appears in The Spy Who Loved Me, when Bond (Roger Moore) and Anya Amasova (Agent XXX, played by Barbara Bach) confront Richard Kiel's Jaws character at a historic site in Egypt. Ironically, Spy was scored not by Barry but Marvin Hamlisch, one of only four times Barry did not helm the Bond music arrangements in the first 16 United Artists installments.
- Assistant director Kit Lambert, later became a record producer and manager for the rock band The Who.
External links
- [MGM's site on the film]
- [Ian Fleming Bibliography] of James Bond 1st Editions
| The James Bond films |
|---|
| Official films Dr. No | From Russia with Love | Goldfinger | Thunderball | You Only Live Twice | On Her Majesty's Secret Service | Diamonds Are Forever | Live and Let Die | The Man with the Golden Gun | The Spy Who Loved Me | Moonraker | For Your Eyes Only | Octopussy | A View to a Kill | The Living Daylights | Licence to Kill | GoldenEye | Tomorrow Never Dies | The World Is Not Enough | Die Another Day | Casino Royale | Bond 22 |
| Unofficial films Casino Royale (1954 TV) | Casino Royale (1967 spoof) | Never Say Never Again |
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