The return of everyone's favorite secret agent in this film, released one year after Dr. No, was, to no one's surprise, a gigantic success and represented a breakthrough for the character as well as for the franchise. From Russia With Love, based on Ian Fleming's successful novel that was mentioned in the press to be among President John F. Kennedy's favorite novels, managed to tweak the Bond formula to perfection, while retaining an optimum of Fleming's novel.
Fleming had politicized the drama in his novel by marking the Russian secret service (also known as SMERSH in the novel) as the heavies, but the producers changed this into the terrorist organisation called SPECTRE, which would become Bond's major Nemesis during the first 10 years of the franchise.
The formula for the films became evident here: for the first time in the series the film starts with a pre-title sequence in which in some way the danger is visualized. A sumptuous musical opening follows with a very suggestive title sequence, after which the story starts to unfold. Bond gets his mission from M, is equipped with some gadgets by Q, for the first time played by Desmond Llewelyn, who would be Q as much as Connery would be Bond, for the rest of his life and off Bond goes to the exotic locale: in this case Istanbul.
The film follows Ian Fleming's novel rather closely, but it takes enough distance to allow for several other incidents to be inserted, such as a boat chase and a sequence in which Bond is chased by a helipcopter. Yet, the formula is clear and allows this film to enjoy a solid base in the novel and still be as original as though it had been written just for the screen. The spectacular musical score by John Barry also manages to endow the film with a quality that helps it transcend it's rather conventional photography and editing, making it one of the most succesful and efficient Bond films yet.
Bond is played to perfection by Sean Connery, who by now also seems to enjoy the character. Robert Shaw plays a formidable opponent as Red Grant, a former British agent who defected to the Russians. (At least according to the novel.) The Bond girl, used primarily as a lure in this film, is Tatiana Romanova, played by former model Danielle Bianchi.
Even though the story does take its time, the film works excellently in bringing a taut thriller with exciting moments, interspersed with humour on all the right places, supported by the previously mentioned musical magnificence of John Barry.
Aside from the fact that the film is dated a bit, it still shines as one of the strongest entries of the 1960s. Top marks on all levels.
And you could tell Connery was beginning to like Bond as well. His performance has never been more on the money as here. Well, maybe in Goldfinger. Terence Young again directed the actors in this film, which was the last one Fleming would see in his lifetime. Fleming died shortly afterward. But this would not stop the producers from going on with another Bond epic to follow.
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