Day 2: From Russia with Love

It's 1963. One year has passed since Bond first graced the eyes of an unsuspecting public. Now producer Albert Broccoli has committed himself to making sure Bond's adventures are enough to satisfy the audience's tastes. From Russia was the film to start perfecting a formula that would capture all of Bond's outings (a formula I've read several times that was made perfect in Goldfinger). This pre-Goldfinger formula would include a pre-credit sequence (called a teaser), a spoken dialogue concerning the plot Bond was up against, a trip to Q Branch, and having Bond meet the bad guy early in the film.

Here, Bond never actually meets the bad guy who happens to be Blofeld, a nemesis Bond would end up clashing with several times more. And even though Blofeld is the mastermind behind this plan to turn the Russian and English governments on each other, it is Robert Shaw's Red Grant that is the major adversary in this film. He doesn't speak for most of the film until he boards the train that will become the place of his death. He is a mysterious man, hiding in shadows and eavesdropping on conversations. Grant's ability to have to speak when it comes time to confront Bond leaves something to be desired. He is much better just killing people when they're not looking.

The Russian operative who will be used for Blofeld's nasty game is Colonel Tatiana Romanova, a sight to behold when the camera focuses on her. She is also smart and takes initiative when trouble looms, instead of most of the Bond women we'll meet later. Her character is important throughout the entire film, a major turn around from Honey Ryder in Dr. No. Romanova is, after all, being used by SPECTRE to get the Lektor decoding machine.

A big chance in Bond's character is his ability to start muttering one-liners after a goon's death. It will become something that will be used way too much during the Roger Moore years, but since this is the first film that Bond finds humor in death, it is something tolerable.

Again, no song is used during the credit sequence, though it will be heard on a passing boat during Bond's first scene and the end credits. The song itself is memorable, but will unfortunately be lost in the other great songs like A View to a Kill, The Living Daylights, and my personal favorite You Know My Name. B-