MOVIE REVIEW: From Russia With Love Part 1

"From Russia With Love (FRWL)" was the second Bond film for Sean Connery, for EON Productions, for the franchise, and for the fans. This movie was so good, the scene that had been the audition scene for screen tests of possible incoming Bond actors was taken here. That was the scene where Bond found Tania in his hotel room bed.

Movie poster from Illustrated007 website

According to sources, American President John F. Kennedy spoke about how much he liked the novel FRWL by Ian Fleming. This development boosted the sales of the book which eventually made it inevitable for the said novel to be the next one to be in the big screens.

Aside from James Bond, Moneypenny, M, and Sylvia Trench made their return to the Bond films reprising their roles. Major Boothroyd was also in FRWL and was tasked to supply Bond of the standard issue attache case (with its secrets and surprises, of course) for the mission, however, he was bearing a different name in the movie. He was called Q, being that he is the Quartermaster of the Q Branch and he was also played here by Desmond Llewelyn instead of Peter Burton.

The villain in this movie was the sinister organization SPECTRE. After Dr. No was killed by Bond in the previous film, SPECTRE was out for revenge, utilizing a brilliant plan by SPECTRE No. 5 Kronsteen, who is a chess grandmaster. SPECTRE No. 3, Russian General Rosa Klebb was tasked to help Kronsteen, along with the henchman of this movie Red Grant. Moreover, the SPECTRE bad guys were headed by their No. 1, who was left unnamed in the film's end credits.

The mysterious head of SPECTRE and his white cat from michaelmay.online

Kronsteen at a chess battle from 007  Under the Mango Tree website

Of course, we all know now that he is Ernst Stavro Blofeld, who apparently is Bond's step-brother, as per the 24th Bond film, Spectre.

The film opened with a gun barrel sequence, which featured Bob Simmons again. After the shot and blood-dripping, the film commenced with the very first pre-title sequence of the film series with Red Grant and an agent looking a lot like James Bond. They were looking out for each other, waiting for an opportunity to attack. The thrill was present, the feel was a lot different from the previous film. However, the mystery continued further after Bond was seemingly strangled by Grant's garrote watch. After this, the film went on to the title credits.

After some time, you might start asking yourself this: Why would a movie starring Sean Connery who plays James Bond kill off the character in the films first minutes? This would be teased further as Bond would only appear 20 minutes into the movie after the whole plethora of villains were introduced. 

It was a great introduction for the villains. We saw that Kronsteen was the brains of the organization, Klebb was loyal not to Mother Russia but to SPECTRE, and that Grant was strong AF. Klebb punched his abdomen with a knuckle and he did not move a bit. That was how strong he looked like. No. 1 was creepy, and in this film, we knew that failures in the executions of their plans would lead to the execution of the ones who failed. Quite tragic.

Bond was sent to Istanbul for a supposed Russian defector, Tatiana Romanova (the Bond girl),  and a Lektor, a decoding device that M badly wanted. M sent Bond despite having doubts that the defection was only a trap.

Bond's ally in this film was Kerim Bay. He was one of the greatest allies that Bond had and could be even ranked higher than most of Felix Leiter's stint. Unfortunately, he was the sacrificial lamb of this film. He would be killed once Bond, Tania, and himself would board the Orient Express.

Before meeting Tania, Bond and Kerim go out on adventures with the gypsies and also taking out one of Kerim's nemesis. Tania and Bond crossed paths in this very intriguing scene. 

"But I think my mouth is too big."

"No, it's the right size. For me that is."

Unexpectedly, Klebb would be seen watching the flirting and other activities of the couple from a two-way mirror while also recording it in a video, and puffing a cigarette. (Get a room, Klebb! Better yet, get a separate room!)

Bond and Tania went on to discuss matters about the Lektor on the next day, with Tania still flirting with Bond. Bond should be given credit for being so focused on the mission despite Tania's flirting. Perhaps because he had already banged her during the previous night.

*Continuation on my next post!*