Producers: Albert Broccoli and Harry Saltzman
Director: Terence Young
Scriptwriters: Johanna Harwood and Richard Maibaum
Score: John Barry
Title Song: Matt Monroe
Running Time: I hour, 58 minutes
Locations: Istanbul and Pinewood Studios

     From Russia With Love was produced by Eon Productions in 1963. After the success of Dr. No, the budget for this Bond film was doubled. Sean Connery returned as James Bond, and the movie was done on a larger scale. The movie was a huge success, and grossed an unheard of 25 million dollars in ticket sales.
     SPECTRE tries to enact the Revenge part of its name as it attempts to avenge the death of their operative, Dr. No. A Soviet encryption machine called a Lector is used as bate to lure James Bond to his death. A young Russian woman, Tatiana, fakes a defection to lure James Bond deeper into the trap. At the time this is going on, SMERSH, a Russian intelligence group is also trying to get a hold of the Lector. Red Grant is their agent, and has been training specifically to kill James Bond. The opening scene of the movie shows "James Bond" being stalked and killed by Red Grant, only to reveal that it was someone in a mask. However, this shows that he means business. Bond is not to be defeated, however, and he beats Grant on a train. Once again, Bond is victorious.
Did You Know...
*This movie marks the first appearance of Desmond Llewelyn, the actor who has been in the most Bond films.
*This movie was beset with several major setbacks during production. A helicopter accident injured director Terence Young, a car accident injured Daniela Bianchi's (Tatiana) face and delayed shooting for two weeks, and extensive editing was needed to complete the film in time, with the scheduled release date almost being missed.

My Grade: B   This movie is good, but I feel that it is sandwiched between two superior Bond films, which makes it impact a little less.

Best Moment: The train fight scene between Red Grant and James Bond. I am not alone in thinking this scene is the best. For years, this fight scene was considered one of the best choreographed fights in any movie. A lot of times the fight scenes in Bond "jump" as scenes of the actual Bond actor and his stunt double are merged. This is not the case in this fight, which was all Sean Connery.

Also Notable: The opening scene shocked the audience, if even for a brief moment, by making it seem like Bond was killed.
Blofeld's line "Twelve seconds. One day we must create a faster working toxin." is also classic. To hear this line, click on the sound wav below.

A Note About The Theme Song: The song was scored by John Barry, and was originally instrumental only. Later, lyrics were added, and sung by Matt Monroe. This song is used in the film. This song reached #20 on U.K. charts, but represents the first true "Title Song", which became standard in all later Bond movies. Also in this movie was the "007 theme" (not to be confused with the James Bond theme) which would later appear in Thunderball, Diamonds Are Forever, and Moonraker