From Russia With Love

"From Russia With Love" Theatrical Release Poster

Production Team
Produced by: Albert R. Broccoli & Harry Saltzman
Directed by: Terence Young
Screenplay by: Richard Maibaum, Johanna Harwood
Edited by: Peter Hunt
Musical Score by: John Barry
Theme Song Performed by: Matt Munro

Premiere Info
Order in Series: 2 of 20
World Premiere: October 10, 1963
U.S. Release Date: April 8th, 1964
First Television Broadcast: January 14th, 1974 (on ABC)
First Basic Cable TV Telecast: March 4th, 1991 (on TBS)

Box Office Receipts

World-wide Box Office: $78.9 million

U.S. Box Office: $24.8 million

Plot Summary:

SPECTRE hatches a complex plot involving the recently defected former head of Soviet Intelligence (Rosa Klebb), a homocidal maniac (Donald "Red" Grant), a soviet cypher clerk (Tatiana Romanova), a British secret agent (James Bond), and a russian "Lektor" decoding machine.

More specifically, SPECTRE's plan of action calls for Klebb to continue acting as head of Soviet Intelligence, since most are unaware of her defection. Klebb orders Romanova to assist Bond in any way he dictates. To ensure that 007 is the agent sent by "M", SPECTRE sends the British a picture of Romanova, along with a letter professing her infatuation with Bond. The British believe this to be a russian trap, but feel that the benefit of recovering a soviet cypher machine far outweighs the risk to 007.

SPECTRE's true intention is to deceive both the USSR and the British secret service. Unbeknownst to both Bond and Romanova, SPECTRE assists Bond in stealing the Lektor. Grant is then to intercept Bond before he can leave communist territory, assassinate him, and recover the decoder. Once the Lektor is in the possession of SPECTRE, the terrorist organization can sell it back to the russians and improve relations with the USSR at the same time. The death of James Bond is seen as an added benefit.

Cast & Characters

British Secret Service

Character Name	Portrayed By	Character Description
James Bond	Sean Connery	British secret agent 007
"M"	Bernard Lee	Head of MI6, the British Secret Service, "M" gives all double-o agents their assignments.
Miss Moneypenny	Lois Maxwell	"M"'s secretary, Moneypenny enjoys a playful, flirtation relationship with 007.
"Q"	Desmond Llewelyn	AKA Major Boothroyd; The head of "Q-Branch", the special ordinance & equipment division of MI-6.

Allies

Character Name	Portrayed By	Character Description
Kerim Bey	Pedro Armendariz	Kerim Bey began life in the circus, but has risen to be head of Station "T" (Turkey). Kerim's large number of sons serve as his staff and security. Kerim aids Bond throughout his quest to obtain the Lektor machine.

Villains

Character Name	Portrayed By	Character Description
Ernst Stavro Blofeld	Anthony Dawson; voice of Eric Pohlmann	The head of SPECTRE (AKA "Number One").
Donald "Red" Grant	Robert Shaw	A homocidal paranoiac convicted of murder, Grant escaped from Dartmoor prison and was recruited by SPECTRE to be a professional assassin.
Rosa Klebb	Lotte Lenye	Until her recent defection to SPECTRE, Klebb was the head of SMERSH, the Soviet Union's secret service. Klebb now serves as SPECTRE's Director of Operations and is also known as Number Three.
Krilencu	Fred Haggerty	A Bulgarian killer employed by the Soviets. Krilencu leads a raid on the gypsy camp where Bond and Kerim Bey are hiding.
Kronsteen	Vladek Sheybal	Also known as Number Five, Kronsteen is a master strategist and SPECTRE's Director of Planning. Kronsteen concocted the plan to orchestrate the theft, recovery, and resale of the Lektor.
Morzeny	Walter Gotell	Administrator of SPECTRE Island and assassin sent to personally eliminate Bond after Grant fails.

Bond Women

Character Name	Portrayed By	Character Description
Tatiana Romanova	Daniela Bianchi	A russian cypher clerk at the Soviet embassy in Istanbul Turkey. Corporal Romanova is duped by Rosa Klebb into participating in SPECTRE's activities, believing that Klebb is still in charge of the Soviet secret service.
Sylvia Trench	Eunice Gayson	The only recurring Bond woman (Ms. Trench also appeared in Dr. No), Sylvia and James are having a picnic when Bond is called back into action.

Gadgets

"Q-Branch" Briefcase, which included the following:

AR-7 folding sniper's rifle
Forty rounds of ammunition
A tear gas cartridge disguised as a tin of talc
A trigger mechanism for the tear gas cartridge, built into the case's latches
Fifty gold Sovereigns
A throwing knife

Pager

Radio-based Car Phone

Telephone Bug Detection device

Tape recorder hidden within a Rolleiflex camera

Travel Destinations

SPECTRE Island
London, England
Istanbul, Turkey
Yugoslavia (via the Orient Express, with stops in Belgrade and Zagreb)
The Aegean Sea
Venice, Italy

Sacrificial Lamb

Kerim Bey - Killed by Grant while on board the Orient Express. Grant executed Bond's friend in such a way that it appeared that Kerim committed suicide after killing a russian agent.

Facts about From Russia With Love

From Russia With Love is Sean Connery's favorite Bond film.

Daniela Bianchi won the title of "Miss Universe" in 1960.

The scene in which Bond, Romanova, and Kerim Bey are confronted by a legion of rats under the Istanbul Russian consulate was adapted from a scene orginally scripted to be shown in Dr. No when Honey Ryder is imprisoned at the end of the film. The scene was scrapped from Dr. No due to health concerns, but was worked into From Russia With Love in such a way that the actors did not come into contact with the vermin, thus making the shot allowable..

A major revolution erupted in Turkey just two days after principal photography in Istanbul ended.

The battle between 007 and Grant aboard the Orient Express has been called the "most exciting two minutes of cinema imaginable" and "probably the most exciting fight sequence ever filmed."

Robert Shaw's portrayal of Red Grant launched a successful acting career, which included the lead role in Stephen Spielberg's Jaws.

Director Terence Young arranged the film's shooting schedule to put the scenes with Pedro Armendariz (Kerim Bey) first when Armendariz was stricken with terminal cancer. Young was forced to double as Armendariz when his health prevented him continuing with filming.

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