Re-Viewing Bond - FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE (1963)

One year after the release of Dr. No and its worldwide success, EON productions returned to Ian Fleming's superspy series with From Russia with Love. Once again hewing very close to the source novel, they produced a compact, witty film that combines the finer qualities of Fleming's work with the sophisticated sense of style that director Terence Young brought to the Bond pictures.

Again the story focuses on the international terrorist organization SPECTRE and its ongoing criminal activities. Ernst Stavro Blofeld, the leader of the organization, is first introduced here (seen only from behind), devising a smart Cold War plot to pit Britain's MI-6 against the Soviet KGB for profit and to exact revenge for the death of their agent Doctor No. Ex-KGB official and new SPECTRE member Rosa Klebb (Lotte Lenya) is put in charge of a scheme to get James Bond to steal a Russian "Lektor" code machine, which she will then take from him. The plan is simple — get beautiful, low level Soviet embassy employee Tatiana Romanova (Daniela Bianchi) to feign love for Bond and promise the Lektor in exchange for British citizenship and James' company. Miss Romanova is based in Istanbul and has daily contact with the encryption device, so she will be able to be convincing as a mole. Since it isn't common knowledge that Klebb has left Soviet employment it's a simple matter for her to force Tatiana into the ruse without the girl realizing she's helping SPECTRE rather than Mother Russia. Knowing that something so obvious has to be a trap, secret service chief M (Bernard Lee) still sends Bond to Turkey on the off chance they might get the machine. In Istanbul Bond makes contact with Kerim Bey (Pedro Armendariz), the head of British operations for the country. Bey tells Bond that he should enjoy his stay in Turkey as a vacation because the chances of this defection being real are ridiculous. But almost immediately SPECTRE assassin Red Grant (Robert Shaw) launches attacks on both sides to manipulate the situation to the terrorists' advantage. When a bomb goes off in Bey's office, the escalation of violence convinces the agents that something must be done and makes them both realize this mission isn't going to be a milk run. Hastily Bond and Bey firebomb the Soviet Embassy and spirit the Lektor and Tatiana aboard the Orient Express, heading west. But Grant is following close behind, with orders to kill both of them and claim the Lektor.

From Russia with Love is one of my favorite films in the Bond series. It's serious, clever and never descends to the cartoonish levels of some the later movies. Viewed as part of the series it is a slight improvement over Dr. No with better pacing and a more interesting plot. Strangely, the idea of SPECTRE pitting rival nations against each other is not taken from the book. In the novel it's the Russian spy agency SMERSH that puts the plot in motion but I really prefer the movie's twist as it adds a level of nastiness that I like in espionage stories. Amidst Bond's interlude with a band of gypsies, his careful romance of Tatiana, and the sly machinations of Grant as he gooses Bond along, there's a smart undercurrent of exactly what I like to see in spy tales. Both Bond and Grant are very intelligent and know that at times they are being played, but also feel that they are good enough at their jobs to win through. Watching smart people battle each other in a logical way is the best part of a well-written spy thriller. One of the things this film does well — that other Bond films don't — is focus on the human element in the story.

As the series progressed there was a tendency to focus on the action and spectacle until at times the motivations and the plot became nothing more than a thin trail of crumbs linking giant stunt pieces. From Russia with Love is the antithesis of that approach and serves as a good template for what the current Bond producers should strive for. This film keeps the audience in their seats with suspense and character instead of chases and explosions. Of course, the film does have a few pyrotechnics but the most memorable action scene is the incredibly brutal fistfight between Bond and Grant in the small confines of a train compartment. (That's a far cry from a laser gun battle in low Earth orbit!)

This film also sports two firsts for the series: the first pre-credits sequence and the first appearance of Desmond Llewelyn as Q, here called by his actual name, Major Boothroyd. The importance of Q to the films is obvious to those of us who love the gadgets, but it was amazing to learn that the pre-credit bit was not originally planned. Editor Peter Hunt came up with the idea when piecing the film together. Never let it be said that film editing isn't a creative or crucial job!

Re-Viewing Bond - DR. NO (1962)

When MI6's operative in Jamaica, Commander John Strangways, is killed leaving a bridge game, M (Bernard Lee) sends England's "blunt instrument" — secret agent James Bond (Sean Connery) — to the island to investigate. M mentions that the Americans seem to think that the recent toppling of many of their rocket launches from Florida are connected to something in the Jamaica area. Convinced that there's something large behind Strangways' death, Bond thinks that the commander's recent look into the business of local Chinese national Doctor No is the cause of the agent's disappearance. Strangways had made secret trips to the doctor's island of Crab Key and returned with some radioactive rock samples. Finding that the local government files on Doctor No and his private island are mysteriously missing, 007 suspects the Colonial Secretary's beautiful Chinese assistant of being involved. When an attempt on his life is made as he drives to meet her, he's convinced.

Following her trail to a local geologist and bridge partner of Strangways', Bond realizes that all clues lead to Doctor No and his island. Enlisting Quarrel, a local sailor and CIA operative, Bond sails to Crab Key to scout for information. Once there, he finds beautiful Jamaican native Honey Ryder (Ursula Andress) poaching valuable seashells. 

He also learns that the good doctor plays very rough. Before any message can be relayed to the authorities, they're chased into the island's interior and Bond and the girl are captured. Completely at their host's mercy, Bond realizes he has very little time before yet another American rocket is toppled. And this time No intends to salvage the warhead for his own sinister purposes.

While rarely named a favorite of fans, Dr. No is also never singled out as one of the true duds of the 56-year-old series, either. Much like the next three sequels, this one follows the outline of the original source novel pretty closely. The plot, locations, characters and flavor of Fleming's book is kept almost intact with only a few additions and deletions made that push the story into more cinematic areas. The changes made to the book are mostly cosmetic — the mined resource of Crab Key was guano, not bauxite; a deadly caterpillar native to Jamaica was used in an attempt to kill Bond, not a tarantula; Quarrel was an old cohort of Bond's specifically requested for this mission; Doctor No was not a member of SPECTRE but a (self-professed) maniac out to dominate the world; there was no messing about with radioactive power. Of course, a few moments from the book were best lost in the translation, including 007's battle to the death with a giant squid (!) and No's ignominious end beneath a huge pile of bird crap. Some changes were done to curtail nudity (damn those censors!) and speed the story along, while keeping the budget manageable, but a few of them are a bit odd. I'm still not sure why there was a need to include CIA man Felix Leiter here, when he serves absolutely no purpose. But overall this is a very good adaptation of the book, one that keeps a good deal of the tone and intent in place while introducing us to a character for the ages.

Dr. No is a great spy thriller with strong direction and many great performances. This is the film that made Sean Connery both a star and a household name, of course, and it's easy to see why. His performance is so self-assured that it's hard to imagine a more perfect actor to tackle the role. The way he moves and carries himself exudes a sense of suave style and coiled energy that fairly crackles off the screen. Connery is always believable as Bond and for this type of film, that's half the battle. If we believe the character we are willing to follow him through almost any bizarre situation. And Dr. No certainly provides its share of those.

Diana Rigg - The Definition of 1960's Beauty

Because you can never have enough of her in your life! 

Caroline Munro - A Vision of Loveliness

Yes, I've posted photos of Miss Munro several times before but I'm beginning to prep for a podcast on STARCRASH so she's on my mind again. 

Diana Rigg - Avenger of My Dreams!

I have been finally watching the third season of Game of Thrones (Yeah- I know I'm still a season behind) and found that somehow no one had told me the Dame Diana Rigg appears in the show. What the Hell? I should be alerted when a lady so much a part of my youthful coming of age is about to pop up on my screen. Even at her age I still find her alluring and as Olenna Tyrell she gets to chew bloody chunks of scenery while wielding a sharp tongue. The scripts (and indeed the books) gift her character with dialog built to razor through flesh as her victim is still returning her sly smile. It is such a joy to see Miss Rigg again sinking her teeth into a good role!

Barbara Bach - Fishmen's Darling

I have never thought of Barbara Bach as a great thespian but I have found her to be a pleasant addition to a number of films I love. She was a solid foil for Roger Moore's James Bond in THE SPY WHO LOVED ME; she was a good addition to Castellari's thrilling crime film STREET LAW; and she played a stuck-up prehistoric hot chick very well in CAVEMAN. But her crowning achievement as far as I'm concerned is the role she has in Sergio Martino's beautiful ISLAND OF THE FISHMEN a.k.a. SCREAMERS (1979). If you have never seen this odd Italian combination of Jules Verne style science fiction and rubber suited monster film I highly recommend checking it out.

Corinne Clery

I know very little about French actress Corinne Clery but she has haunted my dreams ever since my first viewing of YOR, THE HUNTER FROM THE FUTURE. Back in the mad days of constant HBO re-runs of any trashy movie that could be shown at all hours because of a PG rating the sight of her animal skin covered backside scrambling over rocks as she ran away from mutants, dinosaurs or apemen was a glorious thing to see. Don't get me wrong- the cheesy awesomeness of YOR was great on its own but Corinne Clery's winsome smile and beautiful legs added spice to the dip. Since then I've enjoyed her presence in the Bond mess MOONRAKER, the tense thriller HITCH-HIKE with Franco Nero and David Hess as well as the amusingly awful STAR WARS rip-off THE HUMANOID. When I went looking for images of her I discovered that she did a LOT of nudity in her career, which is fantastic- but I'll keep it (mostly) clean here. Enjoy.

Emma Peel & The Kinks

A perfect combo.

Re-viewing Bond - LICENCE TO KILL (1989)

Because of an unexpected Christmas gift (from someone who I should expect such things from already) came the Blu-Ray disc of LICENCE TO KILL. This was given to me in response to my re-evaluation of QUANTUM OF SOLACE on the format and the idea was that perhaps LTK was the QOS of the 1980’s. I immediately disagreed with this description of the second Timothy Dalton Bond film as I really liked it when I saw it in a Cookeville, TN movie theater in 1989. I liked it a lot more than a much bigger hit from that year that is much better regarded- INDIANA JONES AND THE LAST CRUSADE. To this day I think the third Indy film is a mess and hold TEMPLE OF DOOM up as superior just before I duck my head to avoid the rocks thrown by the Movie Police.

Back to LICENCE TO KILL. I liked the film then and I thought it would be a blast re-visit it with the new format (‘Blu Was Made For Bond’ insists the packaging). I was right- it was a blast- but one that left me sadder than it should have.
The beef against the film for years has always started with those who despised Dalton in the role. I am NOT one of those folks. I read the Fleming books long ago and know that in looks, manner, attitude and general bearing Dalton comes much closer to the character on the page than anyone before him. I will always love Connery above other Bonds as he was fantastic and defined the role but Dalton was just what this lover of the books was more than thrilled to see onscreen after Moore’s series of movies declined into intentional and unintentional jokes. Thank God, said I, for a serious James Bond throughout an entire film instead of one that turned into a cartoon character on occasion for the sake of a dumb joke.

But the second usual complaint about LTK turned out to be something I had to end up more or less agreeing with. Namely that by 1989 the series was trying to be too much like the other action movies being made at the time. Immersed in the period at the time myself I didn’t see that as a problem- bring on the violence; kick some drug lord ass; destroy a major re-occurring character to set up a standard revenge plot- full steam ahead! At the time it seemed like a new, bold direction for a single adventure- the ultimate ‘This time it’s personal’ action movie BS grafted onto Bond. And for the most part this element still holds up today. I like the idea of putting Bond on the vengeance track and Felix was certainly the way to do it but 20 years later it does seem a bit too … 80s. Don’t get me wrong- one of the things I love most about the series is the flavors of the movies from the different decades. The cool of the 60s as the films defined a new screen style and aesthetic and the more detached snark of 70s as the character morphed into a parody of itself too often than was smart are part of the reason I love revisiting these movies. They reflect the prevailing cinema winds of those times in a way that is both fun and educational for any with a mind to pay attention. But with LTK I think the series may have made the mistake of following the trends rather than trying to set them. Parts of it feel like they could be from just about any action film of the late 1980s. Far too many times the movie doesn’t feel like a Bond picture. It’s always well done with solid storytelling and a fairly interesting plot but it feels kind of generic in ways it should not. And that’s a shame because Dalton is quite good here as are the supporting cast. Two very gorgeous ladies add to the long list of fabulous Bond girls and even if Q should never have been wedged into the script Desmond Llewelyn does what he can.


The action scenes are good except for the opening DEA assault which begs the question ‘Where the Hell are all the other agents?’ Much has been made of the amped up violence that was eventually cut to avoid a possible R rating but it isn’t any more bloody than average as it stands.

Overall, I’m glad to have re-watched this one but it lost a notch or two in my opinion this time around. It’s still a good Bond film but it only falls into the middle range for the series and just barely at that. I still wish Dalton had gotten the chance for at least one more film but maybe a hiatus is what the series needed.

Caroline Munro

I've had a crush on Caroline Munro since my first adolescent viewing of THE GOLDEN VOYAGE OF SINBAD. For reasons best left unspoken I was thinking of Miss Munro today and those thoughts brought a smile to my face. I got to meet (and hug) her a few years ago at a Monster Bash convention in Pittsburgh and she is still a lovely and charming lady. I need to go to more conventions in the future.