Little more than two weeks after its release on this day in 1963, From Russia With Love was being described as the ‘biggest crowd puller since films talked’.
Sean Connery’s second outing as Ian Fleming’s suave super spy James Bond proved so popular with viewers that there were queues outside cinemas.
And perhaps part of the draw was the fact that the new film was the first Bond production to feature a pre-title sequence – an element that is now a mainstay of the franchise.
Those opening minutes shocked viewers into believing Bond had been garroted by villain Grant, before a life-like mask was pulled off the corpse’s face, revealing another man entirely.
The film was released the year after Connery had made his debut in Dr. No, which received a more mixed reception than its successor.
Little more than two weeks after its release on this day in 1963, From Russia With Love was being described as the ‘biggest crowd puller since films talked’. Above Sean Connery as James Bond in the 1963 film
The Daily Mail’s original review
Terence Young returned as director and second time around he blew the critics away with a plot that saw Bond head to Istanbul amidst the Cold War.
Meanwhile, secretive organisation SPECTRE – which haunts Bond in successive films – was looking to kill Bond as part of a revenge plot after his vanquishing of Dr No.
From Russia With Love also delighted viewers with the truly fascinating gadgets that Bond was given by MI6 tech chief Q, played by Desmond Llewelyn.
They included what Q described in the film as a ‘nasty little Christmas present’ of a briefcase which concealed a folding rifle, throwing knife, gold sovereigns and a tear gas cartridge.
Also there was a car phone that to today’s audiences would seem primitive but back then was hugely exciting.
Llewelyn would go on to portray Q for a further 16 Bond films before he died in a car crash in 1999.
The film’s main antagonist was Colonel Rosa Klebb, a Russian soldier and member of SPECTRE.
The villain, who was portrayed by Austrian actress Lotte Lenya, gave viewers one of the most memorable scenes in the series when she was seen testing Grant’s endurance by hammering his stomach with her steel knuckles.
She also boasted a venom-spiked shoe which she used to great effect.
Grant – who was played by Robert Shaw – was Spectre’s fearsome assassin.
His clash with Bond at the end From Russia With Love is considered by critics to be one of the best in the franchise.
But Bond’s interactions with women in the film certainly fall foul of acceptable modern behaviour.
Sean Connery’s second outing as Ian Fleming’s suave super spy James Bond proved so popular with viewers that there were queues outside cinemas. Above: The moment in the film’s opening sequence when Bond appears to die
The film’s main antagonist was Colonel Rosa Klebb, a Russian soldier and member of SPECTRE. Above: Lotte Lenya as Klebb with Robert Shaw as Grant, the huge assassin
Connery is seen kissing leading lady Tatiana Romanova, who was portrayed by Daniele BIanchi
A poster advertising Froms Russia With Love, which was Sean Connery’s second outing as James Bond
Another poster luring viewers to go and see From Russia With Love
Connery is seen as Bond with Lois Maxwell as Miss Moneypenny in From Russia WithLove
From Russia With Love also delighted viewers with the truly fascinating gadgets that Bond was given by MI6 tech chief Q, played by Desmond Llewelyn. They included what Q described in the film as a ‘nasty little Christmas present’ of a briefcase which concealed a folding rifle, throwing knife, gold sovereigns and a tear gas cartridge
Bond meets villain Grant, who is portrayed by Robert Shaw. The pair go on to have a showdown at the end of the film
Daniela Bianchi as Tatiana Romanova in From Russia With Love
Lotte Lenya’s Rosa Klebb also boasted a venom-spiked shoe which she used to great effect
Lois Maxwell portrayed Miss Moneypenny in the first 14 James Bond films produced by Eon. She passed away in 2007 aged 80
He was seen selecting the more ‘gifted’ of two women to sleep with and also slapped leading lady Tatiana Romanova, who was portrayed by Daniele BIanchi.
In his glowing review of the film for the Daily Mail, Cecil Wilson wrote: ‘If you thought Sean Connery reached the limit of invincibility in the first James Bond film, just see what he gets up to in the second, and you will realise that the man had hardly started.
‘In the process of stealing a magic decoding machine from the Russian Embassy in Istanbul this laconic blend of Tarzan and Superman in Savile-row dress, Bulldog Drummond, Raffles and the Scarlet Pimpernel lives more lives than any cat ever knew.
He added: ‘Terence Young directs this orgy or strip cartoon blood and thunder with the zest of a lounge-suited Western.
‘Incredible twaddle it may be, but I for one find such twaddle irresistible.’
Connery went on to portray Bond a further five times, with his last appearance coming in 1983’s Never Say Never Again.
He is considered by many fans to have been the best Bond of all-time.
Younger viewers favour the likes of Daniel Craig and Pierce Brosnan, whilst others prefer Sir Roger Moore, who also portrayed Bond seven times.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Dailymail.co.uk
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