For the first time, we are introduced to the leader of Spectre, Ernst Stavros Blofeld known as number one, and whose face remains hidden until "You Only Live Twice."
His goal is to steal a new decoder, the Lektor, from the office of the Russian consulate, heats up the Cold War by killing and attacking the Russians and the British, through their respective agents, the Bulgarians and the Gypsies...
Spectre has a feeling of resentment against Bond, because he eliminated Dr. No... He instructed number 5: "Let his death be a particularly unpleasant humiliating one."
Sean Connery's second portrayal of the Secret Agent 007 is right on target... Our patriot-libertine is always ready to seduce a pretty spy for his country... He is hard during his interrogation of Tatiana... That slap must have hurt... He has trouble disabling his vicious adversaries... His ultimate match with Klebb's poisoned toe cap left him sweaty... Luckily Tatiana knows which side to stand...
The charming Daniela Bianchi is Tatiana Romanova, a young Greta Garbo... She plays a pawn in Spectre blackmail scene... She knows her defection is fake but doesn't know that Klebb is a Spectre agent who will try to acquire the Lektor, and trap Bond at the same time... She also ignores that behind the mirror above the king sized bed, Spectre agents are secretly filming her love making with Bond from a cabinet de voyeur...
In his final appearance, Pedro Armendariz plays Bond's most memorable Turkish Ally, the delightful Ali Kerim Bey, head of Station T, in Turkey... Kerim Bey is the perfect combination of aggression and intelligence... (Dying of cancer and hospitalized in Los Angeles, this great Mexican actor, took a pistol from under his pillow and shot himself...)
Lotte Lenya plays number three, Rosa Klebb, former head of operations for SMERSH, and now a sadistic Spectre agent placed in control by the mysterious number one, who found Donald "Red" Grant fit enough for duty... This repugnant lady recruits the good-looking Tatiana from the Istanbul consulate... For her, "Training is useful, but there is no substitute for experience."
Robert Shaw is "Red" Grant, a psychopath training on Spectre island who has to take the decoding device from Bond... He is, perhaps, the most memorable assassin who succeeds in making Bond kneel...
Walter Gotell (later known as General Gogol) makes his first appearance in the series...
Vladek Sheybal plays the master planner, Spectre top operative on the mission, number five, Kronsteen... He is a chess master known as the "Wizard of Ice." His plan involves using Bond and Russian cipher clerk Tatiana as pawns...
Fred Haggerty plays the Bulgarian killer Krilencu... The way he is dealt with is very original...
"From Russia with Love" introduces "Q" to the series... Desmond Llewelyn isn't called "Q" yet, but the credits refer to him as Major Boothroyd, the equipment officer...
"From Russia with Love" is a straight spy adventure with lots of action and beautiful women: The attractive masseuse oiling Grant in the garden of Spectre training camp; Sylvia Trench, the "interesting old case" who returns to frolic in a canoe on the Thames; Kerim's slinky mistress lying on the settee, chews 'her breads and whines for attention;' Leila, the belly dancer at the Gypsy camp overwhelming Bond with her abdominal skill; the stunning two Gypsy girls (Vida and Rosa) whom Bond is told to select the victor in their Gypsy fight to the death; the lovely Tatiana lying naked in Bond's bed with only a black ribbon tied around her neck...
"From Russia with Love" is a splendidly entertaining film against exotic Istanbul and Venice backgrounds...
His goal is to steal a new decoder, the Lektor, from the office of the Russian consulate, heats up the Cold War by killing and attacking the Russians and the British, through their respective agents, the Bulgarians and the Gypsies...
Spectre has a feeling of resentment against Bond, because he eliminated Dr. No... He instructed number 5: "Let his death be a particularly unpleasant humiliating one."
Sean Connery's second portrayal of the Secret Agent 007 is right on target... Our patriot-libertine is always ready to seduce a pretty spy for his country... He is hard during his interrogation of Tatiana... That slap must have hurt... He has trouble disabling his vicious adversaries... His ultimate match with Klebb's poisoned toe cap left him sweaty... Luckily Tatiana knows which side to stand...
The charming Daniela Bianchi is Tatiana Romanova, a young Greta Garbo... She plays a pawn in Spectre blackmail scene... She knows her defection is fake but doesn't know that Klebb is a Spectre agent who will try to acquire the Lektor, and trap Bond at the same time... She also ignores that behind the mirror above the king sized bed, Spectre agents are secretly filming her love making with Bond from a cabinet de voyeur...
In his final appearance, Pedro Armendariz plays Bond's most memorable Turkish Ally, the delightful Ali Kerim Bey, head of Station T, in Turkey... Kerim Bey is the perfect combination of aggression and intelligence... (Dying of cancer and hospitalized in Los Angeles, this great Mexican actor, took a pistol from under his pillow and shot himself...)
Lotte Lenya plays number three, Rosa Klebb, former head of operations for SMERSH, and now a sadistic Spectre agent placed in control by the mysterious number one, who found Donald "Red" Grant fit enough for duty... This repugnant lady recruits the good-looking Tatiana from the Istanbul consulate... For her, "Training is useful, but there is no substitute for experience."
Robert Shaw is "Red" Grant, a psychopath training on Spectre island who has to take the decoding device from Bond... He is, perhaps, the most memorable assassin who succeeds in making Bond kneel...
Walter Gotell (later known as General Gogol) makes his first appearance in the series...
Vladek Sheybal plays the master planner, Spectre top operative on the mission, number five, Kronsteen... He is a chess master known as the "Wizard of Ice." His plan involves using Bond and Russian cipher clerk Tatiana as pawns...
Fred Haggerty plays the Bulgarian killer Krilencu... The way he is dealt with is very original...
"From Russia with Love" introduces "Q" to the series... Desmond Llewelyn isn't called "Q" yet, but the credits refer to him as Major Boothroyd, the equipment officer...
"From Russia with Love" is a straight spy adventure with lots of action and beautiful women: The attractive masseuse oiling Grant in the garden of Spectre training camp; Sylvia Trench, the "interesting old case" who returns to frolic in a canoe on the Thames; Kerim's slinky mistress lying on the settee, chews 'her breads and whines for attention;' Leila, the belly dancer at the Gypsy camp overwhelming Bond with her abdominal skill; the stunning two Gypsy girls (Vida and Rosa) whom Bond is told to select the victor in their Gypsy fight to the death; the lovely Tatiana lying naked in Bond's bed with only a black ribbon tied around her neck...
"From Russia with Love" is a splendidly entertaining film against exotic Istanbul and Venice backgrounds...