#9 From Russia With Love

1963

 

Sean Connery as James Bond

Lotte Lenya as Rosa Klebb

Daniela Bianchi as Tatiana Romanova

Robert Shaw as Grant

Pedro Armendariz as Kerim Bey

Screenplay by Richard Maibaum and Berkely Mather; novel by Ian Fleming; adaptation by Johanna Harwood

Directed by Terence Young

 

The world’s masters of murder pull out all the stops to destroy Agent 007!

I suppose so. I think they pull out all the stops to get what they want, and if Bond happens to get in the way, so be it. I mean, really…he announces his arrival, he’s had sex with half of the women alive, and everyone thinks that NO ONE KNOWS WHO HE IS? Meh. I get that it’s basically the plot for the second Bond film, but wow.

SPECTRE branches out and we learn of SMERSH this time around—a spy detection branch of the supervillain organization. Blofeld, head of SPECTRE, divulges that his plan is to let two other world powers (Great Britain and Russia, of course) fight it out and then take out the weakened victor. There’s a cryptographic device involved, as well as a pretty (dim) blonde thrown into the mix. Of COURSE James goes for it, but he’s got help in Istanbul—Kerim Bey (Armendariz, Fort Apache) helps him hide from SPECTRE.

The story is pretty good, but it’s the action scenes that pull out the top ten ranking here. Specifically:

• Rosa Klebb (Lenya). She is EXCELLENT. The knife-tipped shoes are pretty special. I personally enjoy the scene in which she brass-knuckle-punches Grant (Shaw; Jaws) in the bare gut and he doesn’t even flinch. She’s a tight-ass hard ass villain.
• The gypsy camp. First there’s the belly dancing, then the chick fight. It’s pretty barbaric, really—two girls fight for the right to marry the chief’s son. It’s brutal and awesome, until the Soviets show up and start killing everyone.
• The train scene. I love climactic fight scenes between the best baddie fighter and the main character. And the villains always divulge WAY TOO MUCH. It’s fitting that Grant dies the way he kills at the beginning.

This is a good movie; full of intrigue and action. I love that the man who is after Bond is killing other people who are after him as well, because he wants to get him for himself. A solid #9 ranking.

Bond rating: 006. Meh. Boats. I like other stuff better. But it’s the second in the series, and he’s still magnificent.

Baddie rating: 007. It’s ironic that Blofeld is actually a minor character from Dr. No (nope, not gonna tell you). His organization is full of really awful people, and in true Cold War-era fashion, the Soviets and SPECTREs all blame somebody else for failure. Grant, Klebb, etc. are really top-notch.

Bond girl rating: 001. The character is written to be a witless pawn, and that’s exactly what we’re given. She’s in it because she’s pretty. Good neck ribbon, though. I’ll remember that one.

Photo credit: © Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. All Rights Reserved.