From Russia with Love (1963) on Netflix
Approved19631h 55mActionAdventureThriller
James Bond is sent to Istanbul to bring back a Lektor decoding device and the Soviet clerk Tatiana Romanova, who wants to defect. SPECTRE has designed the offer as a trap.
- Netflix4.3/5
- IMDb7.3/10160,753 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes97%
Trailer
Plot summary
A Soviet consulate clerk in Istanbul, Tatiana Romanova, offers British intelligence a Lektor decoding device if they will help her defect, on the condition that James Bond comes for her himself. M suspects a trap but approves the mission. The criminal organization SPECTRE wants revenge for the death of Dr. No, and its planner Kronsteen has built the defection around the Lektor. Rosa Klebb, once of SMERSH, runs the operation, has recruited the assassin Donald Grant, and is using Tatiana, who believes Klebb still serves Soviet intelligence. Bond is issued a special briefcase of defensive gadgets and a sniper rifle from Q Branch. In Istanbul he works with the local MI6 man, Ali Kerim Bey.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about From Russia with Love (1963)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- President John F. Kennedy had named Fleming's novel among his ten favorite books of all time in Life magazine, which is why producers Broccoli and Saltzman chose it as the follow-up to Dr. No. On 20 November 1963 it was the last film Kennedy saw at the White House before his assassination.
- Mexican actor Pedro Armendáriz, recommended to Young by director John Ford to play Kerim Bey, was diagnosed with inoperable cancer on location in Istanbul. He pleaded to be allowed to make this his final film, so filming moved to Britain and his scenes were brought forward.
- On 6 July 1963, while scouting locations in Argyll, Scotland for the climactic boat chase, Terence Young's helicopter crashed into the water with art director Michael White and a cameraman aboard. All escaped with minor injuries, and Young was behind the camera for the full day's work.
- Professional wrestler-turned-actor Joe Robinson was a strong contender for the role of Red Grant, but it went to stage and TV actor Robert Shaw, who initially declined because he disliked the script until his then-fiancee Mary Ure urged him to take the role that launched his film career.
- The explosion for the boat chase, shot at Pinewood, got out of control, burning Walter Gotell's eyelids and seriously injuring three stuntmen.
- The original screenwriter was Len Deighton, who accompanied Harry Saltzman, Syd Cain and Terence Young to Istanbul, but he was replaced because of a lack of progress, and two of Dr. No's writers, Johanna Harwood and Richard Maibaum, returned in his place.
- Bianchi's driver fell asleep during the commute to a 6 am shoot and crashed the car. The actress's face was bruised and her scenes had to be delayed for two weeks while the facial contusions healed.
