Bond-a-thon: From Russia With Love

Released just a year after Dr. No, the second Bond film From Russia With Love was released and all around a bigger and better film. With the addition of a few things that would come to be series mainstays, namely the addition of Desmond Llewelyn as Q, in a role he would play in sixteen more Bond films. It also features a larger and more action packed story. 

This time, James Bond (played by Sean Connery) is assigned to meet a defecting spy Tatiana (played by Daniela Bianchi) who claims she has fallen in love with James and will only meet with him. Bond, as well as MI6 director M (played by Bernard Lee), suspect it's a trap but the chance to get their hands on a Russian Codex machine is too tempting to pass up and agree to go along with it. Hot on their trail is SPECTRE tough guy Grant (played by Robert Shaw) to ensure the plan goes off without a hitch. SPECTRE, the terrorist organization mentioned briefly in the previous film is seen here in full force headed up by the mysterious Blofeld, who is kept mostly off screen only his hands are seen petting his cat. His right hand woman is Rosa Klebb (played by Lotte Lenya), a double agent with the Russian government who assigns Tatiana the mission of posing as a defecting agent to get close to James Bond. SPECTRE's plot is part of an attempt to pit the British and Russian Governments against each other and escalate the Cold War. 

This one has always been one of my favorites of the Bond series. Connery is a bit more relaxed in the role of Bond in his second outing in the role and clearly having a bit more fun. Robert Shaw, as the main antagonist, is probably one of Bond's worthiest adversaries. Intelligent, charming when needed and intimidating. The big fight between him and Bond on the train is one of the film's high points. Daniela Bianchi does well as Tatiana, taking the role of Bond Girl up a notch. She is not simply a damsel in distress, but an active participant in the plot as well. 

The film was directed by Terance Young, who also directed Dr. No. This film though seems to be filtered through Hitchcock's influence, with both a scene of Bond and Tatiana meeting in an Istanbul cathedral and the climactic face off between Bond and a helicopter piloted by a couple SPECTRE agents standing out (and the latter being a deliberate nod to Hitchcock's North by Northwest). The film also ups the action quotient, with the standouts this time being the aforementioned fight between Bond and Grant on the Orient Express to an explosive speedboat chase and the helicopter face off. Of course, the action sequences would only get bigger and more elaborate from here. But this film finds a nice balance between the spectacle and the character moments. The action sequences serve the plot rather than the other way around. The film also was highly influential on the spy movie genre, in terms of both it's globe trotting plot, but also the various gadgets, especially Rosa Klebb's poison dagger shoes, which have made appearances in many other spy films most recently this past spring's Kingsman: The Secret Service. 

Overall, From Russia With Love was a big step forward for the Bond series as most of the other series staples fall into place here coupled with a more compelling and thrilling story that remains one of the best of the series.