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Just over two weeks after its release on this day in 1963, From Russia With Love was described as “the biggest audience since movies started talking.”
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 appeal 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.
These opening minutes shocked viewers into believing that Bond had been garrotted by the villainous Grant, before a realistic mask was removed from the corpse’s face, revealing another man entirely.
The film was released the year after Connery debuted in Dr. No, which received a more mixed reception than its successor.
Just over two weeks after its release on this day in 1963, From Russia With Love was described as “the biggest audience since movies started talking.” Above Sean Connery as James Bond in the 1963 film
The original Daily Mail review
Terence Young returned as director and the second time around he blew away critics with a plot that saw Bond heading to Istanbul in the middle of the Cold War.
Meanwhile, the secret organization SPECTER – which haunts Bond in successive films – sought to kill Bond as part of a revenge plot following his victory over Dr No.
From Russia With Love also delighted viewers with the truly fascinating gadgets Bond received from MI6 technical chief Q, played by Desmond Llewelyn.
They included what Q described in the film as a “naughty little Christmas present”: a briefcase that concealed a collapsible rifle, a throwing knife, gold sovereigns and a tear gas canister.
There was also a car phone which, to today’s audiences, would seem primitive, but at the time was extremely exciting.
Llewelyn would play Q in 16 more Bond films before dying in a car accident in 1999.
The main antagonist of the film was Colonel Rosa Klebb, a Russian soldier and member of SPECTRE.
The villainess, played by Austrian actress Lotte Lenya, gave viewers one of the series’ most memorable scenes when she was seen testing Grant’s endurance by pounding his stomach with her brass knuckles.
She also had a venom-spiked shoe that she put to good use.
Grant – who was played by Robert Shaw – was Specter’s fearsome assassin.
His confrontation with Bond at the end of From Russia With Love is considered by critics to be one of the franchise’s best.
But Bond’s interactions with women in the film certainly go against acceptable modern behavior.
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 where Bond appears to die
The main antagonist of the film 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, played by Daniele BIanchi
A poster advertising From Russia With Love, which was Sean Connery’s second outing as James Bond
Another poster encouraging viewers to 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 Bond received from MI6 technical chief Q, played by Desmond Llewelyn. They included what Q described in the film as a “nasty little Christmas present”: a briefcase that concealed a folding rifle, a throwing knife, gold sovereigns and a tear gas canister.
Bond meets the villain Grant, played by Robert Shaw. The two men confront each other at the end of the film.
Daniela Bianchi as Tatiana Romanova in From Russia with Love
Lotte Lenya’s Rosa Klebb also owned a venom-spiked shoe that she put to good use
Lois Maxwell played Miss Moneypenny in the first 14 James Bond films produced by Eon. She died in 2007 at the age of 80
He was seen choosing the more “talented” of the two women to sleep with and also slapped leading lady Tatiana Romanova, played by Daniele BIanchi.
In his glowing review of the film for the Daily Mail, Cecil Wilson wrote: “If you thought Sean Connery had reached the limit of invincibility in the first James Bond film, just see what he does in the second, and you will realize that the man had barely started.
“Stealing a magical decoding machine from the Russian Embassy in Istanbul, this laconic mixture of Tarzan and Superman in Savile-row robes, Bulldog Drummond, Raffles and Scarlet Pimpernel lives more lives than any cat has never known.
He added: “Terence Young directs this blood and thunder orgy or cartoon with the zest of a lounge western.
“It may be incredible stupidity, but for my part I find such nonsense irresistible.”
Connery went on to portray Bond five more times, with his final appearance coming in 1983’s Never Say Never Again.
He is considered by many fans to be the best Bond of all time.
Younger viewers favor Daniel Craig and Pierce Brosnan, while others prefer Sir Roger Moore, who also played Bond seven times.