From Russia with Love is a 1963 spy film. It is the second in the James Bond series produced by Eon Productions and Sean Connery's second role as MI6 agent 007 James Bond.

The picture was directed by Terence Young, produced by Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman, and written by Richard Maibaum and Johanna Harwood. It is based on Ian Fleming's 1957 novel From Russia, with Love. In the film, Bond is sent to assist in the defection of Soviet consulate clerk Tatiana Romanova in Turkey, where SPECTRE plans to avenge Bond's killing of Dr. No. The film followed Dr. No (1962) and was followed by Goldfinger (1964).

Following the success of Dr. No, United Artists greenlit a sequel and doubled the budget available for the producers. In addition to filming on location in Turkey, the action scenes were shot at Pinewood Studios, Buckinghamshire, and in Scotland. Production ran over budget and schedule and was rushed to finish by its scheduled October 1963 release date.

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So, stock up on buttered popcorn and Good & Plenty. Then grab seats down front. The show is about to begin. And we will see daylight again sometime this afternoon.

Plot

🎥 International criminal organization SPECTRE seeks revenge against MI6 agent James Bond for the death of their agent Dr. No in Jamaica.[Notes 1] SPECTRE's chief planner, Czechoslovak chess grandmaster Kronsteen, devises a plan to lure Bond into a trap, using as bait the prospects of procuring a Lektor cryptography device from the Soviet Union's consulate in Istanbul. SPECTRE operative Rosa Klebb, a former head of SMERSH (Soviet counter-intelligence), is assigned to oversee the mission and chooses trained killer Donald Grant to assassinate Bond at the right moment. To set the trap, Klebb recruits a cipher clerk at the consulate, Tatiana Romanova, to unwittingly assist in the plan, tricking Romanova into believing Klebb is still working for SMERSH.

In London, Bond is called to a meeting with M and informed that Tatiana had requested Bond's help to defect to the West in exchange for providing British intelligence with a Lektor. Exactly as Kronsteen predicted, M suspects a trap but decides to honor Tatiana's request. Before departing, Bond is equipped with a special briefcase from Q Branch, containing several defensive gadgets and an ArmaLite AR-7 sniper rifle, to help on his assignment. Upon arriving in Istanbul, Bond works alongside the head of MI6's branch in the city, Ali Kerim Bey, while he awaits word from Tatiana. Grant is shadowing Bond to protect him until he steals the Lektor. During this time, Kerim Bey is attacked by Soviet agent Krilencu. After an attack on the men, while they hide out at a gypsy settlement, Kerim Bey assassinates Krilencu with Bond's help before he can flee the city.

Eventually, Tatiana meets Bond at his hotel suite, where she agrees to provide plans to the consulate to help him steal the Lektor. The pair spend the night together, unaware that Klebb and Grant are filming them. Upon receiving the consulate's floor plans and a description of the Lektor from Romanova, the latter of which MI6 confirms, Bond and Kerim Bey make and execute a plan to steal the Lektor before all three make haste to escape the city aboard the Orient Express. Aboard, Kerim Bey and Bond subdue Commissar Benz, a Soviet security officer. While Bond returns to Tatiana to wait for their rendezvous with one of Kerim Bey's sons, Grant kills both Kerim Bey and Benz. Angered, Bond questions Romanova's true motives.

When the train arrives in Belgrade, Bond informs one of Kerim Bey's sons of his father's death and receives instructions to rendezvous with a British agent named Nash at Zagreb. However, Grant overhears the conversation, kills Nash, and assumes his identity. He drugs Tatiana at dinner and overpowers Bond. He reveals that Tatiana is a pawn in SPECTRE's plan; he intends to kill both her and Bond, staging it as a murder-suicide and leaving behind faked blackmail evidence that will scandalize the British intelligence community. Bond tricks Grant into setting off a booby trap in Bond's attache-case before the two engage in a fight and Bond kills Grant. Taking the Lektor and the film of their night together, Bond and Romanova leave the train in Istria, Yugoslavia, and use Grant's escape plan. They evade helicopter and boat attacks by SPECTRE agents before reaching safety.

Learning of Grant's death and Bond's survival, SPECTRE's enigmatic chairman, Ernst Stavro Blofeld, has Kronsteen executed for his plan's disastrous failure. As the organization promised to sell back the Lektor to the Russians, Klebb is ordered to recover it and kill Bond. Klebb reaches the pair while they are resting in a hotel in Venice and comes to their room disguised as a maid. Klebb orders Tatiana to leave the room while holding Bond at gunpoint. Tatiana then re-enters, tackling Klebb and knocking the pistol to the floor. Klebb and Bond struggle as Klebb attempts to stab Bond with a poison-tipped blade in one of her shoes. Tatiana picks up the pistol and kills Klebb. With their mission accomplished, Bond and Tatiana spend some time on a romantic boat ride.

Casting

Although uncredited, the actor who played Number 1 was Anthony Dawson, who had played Professor Dent in the previous Bond film, Dr. No, and appeared in several of Terence Young's films. In the end credits, Blofeld is credited with a question mark. Viennese actor Eric Pohlmann redubbed Blofeld's lines in the final cut. Peter Burton was unavailable to return as Major Boothroyd. Hence, Desmond Llewelyn, a Welsh actor who was a fan of the Bond comic strip published in the Daily Express, accepted the part. However, screen credit for Llewelyn was omitted at the opening of the film and is reserved for the exit credits, where he is credited simply as "Boothroyd." This name does not refer to Llewelyn's character in dialogue, but M does introduce him as being from Q Branch. Llewelyn remained as the character better known as Q in all but one of the series' films until he died in 1999.

Several actresses were considered for the role of Tatiana, including Italians Sylva Koscina and Virna Lisi, Danish actress Annette Vadim, Polish actress Magda Konopka, Swedish actress Pia Lindström, and English-born Tania Mallet. Elga Gimba Andersson was nearly cast in the role but was fired after refusing to have sex with a United Artists executive. 1960 Miss Universe runner-up Daniela Bianchi was ultimately cast, supposedly Sean Connery's choice. Bianchi started taking English classes for the role, but the producers ultimately chose to have her lines redubbed by British stage actress Barbara Jefford in the final cut. The scene in which Bond finds Tatiana in his hotel bed was used for Bianchi's screen test, with Dawson standing in, this time, as Bond. The scene later became the traditional screen test scene for prospective James Bond actors and Bond Girls. In her initial scene with Klebb, Tatiana refers to training for the ballet, referring to the actress's background.

Greek actress Katina Paxinou was considered for the role of Rosa Klebb but was unavailable. Terence Young cast Austrian singer Lotte Lenya after hearing one of her musical recordings. Young wanted Kronsteen's portrayer to be "an actor with a remarkable face" so audiences would remember the minor character well. This led to the casting of Vladek Sheybal, whom Young also considered convincing as an intellectual. Sheybal was initially hesitant to take the role but was convinced by Connery's girlfriend, Diane Cilento. Several women were tested for the roles of Vida and Zora, the two fighting Gypsy girls. After Aliza Gur and Martine Beswick were cast, they spent six weeks practicing their fight choreography with stunt work arranger Peter Perkins. Beswick was miscredited as 'Martin Beswick' in the film's opening titles, but this error was fixed for the 2001 DVD release.

Mexican actor Pedro Armendáriz was recommended to Young by director John Ford to play Kerim Bey. After experiencing increasing discomfort on location in Istanbul, Armendáriz was diagnosed with inoperable cancer. Filming in Istanbul was terminated, the production moved to Britain, and Armendáriz's scenes were brought forward so that he could complete his scenes without delay. Though visibly in pain, he continued working as long as possible. When he could no longer work, he returned home and killed himself. The remaining shots after Armendáriz left London had a stunt double and Terence Young himself as stand-ins.

Englishman Joe Robinson was a strong contender for the role of Red Grant, but it was given to Robert Shaw.