Just over two weeks after its release on this day in 1963, From Russia With Love was described as “the biggest box office draw since movies began.”
Sean Connery’s second outing as Ian Fleming’s suave super spy James Bond was so popular with audiences that there were queues outside cinemas.
And perhaps part of the appeal was 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 first few minutes gave viewers the shocking belief that Bond had been strangled by villain Grant, before a lifelike mask was peeled off the corpse’s face to reveal a completely different man.
The film was released a year after Connery’s debut 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 box office draw since movies began.” Above, Sean Connery as James Bond in the 1963 film
The original Chron review
Terence Young returned as director and stunned critics for the second time with a plot that saw Bond travel to Istanbul in the middle of the Cold War.
Meanwhile, the secret organization SPECTER – which haunts Bond in several films – wanted to kill Bond as part of a revenge plot after he killed Dr. No. had defeated.
From Russia with Love also delighted viewers with the really fascinating gadgets that Bond received as a gift from MI6 head of technology Q, played by Desmond Llewelyn.
This included what Q described in the film as an “ugly little Christmas present”: a briefcase containing a folding rifle, a throwing knife, gold coins and a tear gas canister.
There was also a car phone, which would seem primitive to today’s audience, but was extremely exciting back then.
Llewelyn portrayed Q in another 16 Bond films before he died in a car accident in 1999.
The film’s main antagonist was Colonel Rosa Klebb, a Russian soldier and member of SPECTER.
The villain, portrayed by Austrian actress Lotte Lenya, gave viewers one of the series’ most memorable scenes when she tested Grant’s endurance by pounding his stomach with her steel knuckles.
She also bragged about a shoe laced with poison, which she used to great effect.
Grant – played by Robert Shaw – was Specter’s fearsome assassin.
His encounter with Bond at the end of “From Russia With Love” is considered by critics to be one of the best of the series.
But Bond’s interactions with women in the film undoubtedly violate acceptable modern behavior.
Sean Connery’s second outing as Ian Fleming’s suave super spy James Bond was so popular with audiences 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 SPECTER. Above: Lotte Lenya as Klebb with Robert Shaw as Grant, the giant assassin
Connery kisses the leading actress Tatiana Romanova, played by Daniele Bianchi
A promotional poster for From’s Russia With Love, Sean Connery’s second outing as James Bond
Another poster enticing viewers to watch From Russia With Love
Connery stars as Bond with Lois Maxwell as Miss Moneypenny in From Russia With Love
From Russia with Love also delighted viewers with the really fascinating gadgets that Bond received as a gift from MI6 head of technology Q, played by Desmond Llewelyn. This included what Q described in the film as an “ugly little Christmas present”: a briefcase containing a folding rifle, a throwing knife, gold coins and a tear gas canister
Bond meets the villain Grant, played by Robert Shaw. At the end of the film there is a showdown between the two
Daniela Bianchi as Tatiana Romanova in From Russia With Love
Lotte Lenya’s Rosa Klebb also boasted of a shoe laced with poison, which she used to great effect
Lois Maxwell portrayed Miss Moneypenny in the first 14 James Bond films produced by Eon. She died in 2007 at the age of 80
He chose the more “gifted” of the two women to sleep with and also beat the leading actress, Tatiana Romanova, portrayed by Daniele Bianchi.
In his glowing review of the film for the Chron, Cecil Wilson wrote: “If you thought Sean Connery had reached the limit of invincibility in the first James Bond film, just look at what he does in the second and you will recognize that.” The man had barely started.
“This laconic mix of Savile Row-clad Tarzan and Superman, Bulldog Drummond, Raffles and the Scarlet Pimpernel is about to steal a magical decryption machine from the Russian embassy in Istanbul and is living more life than any cat ever knew.”
He added: “Terence Young directs this orgy or cartoon blood and thunder with the spice of a lounge suit western.”
“It may be incredible talk, but I for one find such talk irresistible.”
Connery portrayed Bond five more times, most recently in 1983 in “Never Say Never Again.”
Many fans consider him to be the best Bond of all time.
Younger viewers prefer actors like Daniel Craig and Pierce Brosnan, while others prefer Sir Roger Moore, who also played Bond seven times.