James Bond: From Russia With Love

First appearance of half-naked women dancing through the credits. Desmond Llewellyn (Q, although he's still credited as "Boothroyd") makes his debut here, and brings with him the attache case (see Goldfinger) and the sniper rifle (see OHMSS). First time the film has a unique theme tune, and first time said unique theme tune has lyrics (although only over the closing credits). First time the film's title song appears as diegetic sound (meaning the characters can hear it). First appearance of the alternate "007" theme (see Thunderball, You Only Live Twice, Diamonds are Forever, and Moonraker), and the suggestion that a character (Major Klebb) is homosexual. For the only time in the series, a female character that Bond definitely had sex with makes a return appearance; this is the second and last appearance of Sylvia Trench. Despite the title, while this is the first film to venture beyond the Iron Curtain, it doesn't actually ever get to Russia. First appearance of a Nemesis - a character as smart and as strong as James Bond, played by an actor who could have been Bond himself (in this case it's Robert Shaw as "Red" Grant, setting a bar for this character type so high that only Sean Bean in GoldenEye has ever come close). First time the Bond Girl is Russian, and, if you squint hard enough while she's getting into Bond's bed, first time you can see a naked breast in a Bond film. In less perverted fields, it's the first time the Bond Girl saves Bond's life. First appearance of Blofeld, and of Blofeld's cat. Here, Blofeld has hair and sounds suspiciously like an older Sean Connery trying to hide his accent (no, it's not him, but once you've heard it you can't un-hear it). We never see his face. First time the villains explicitly try to lure James Bond into a trap, and also the first time they use him as a pawn in their scheme. First time the Bond Girl is used as little more than a pawn in a scheme (it's worth noting that The Living Daylights basically copies this film's "Get out of the USSR" plot, but with the added twist that Bond is manipulating the girl every bit as much as the villain is). First time the film persists in continuing on after it appears to be over.

I'm actually going to start my review with that last point. Red Grant is shadowing Bond throughout the film, mainly because Bond has no idea how the Cold War works in Turkey and would probably have screwed up somewhere along the way without Grant keeping him alive (...only, the war between Kerim Bey's people and the Bulgarians only really starts because Grant murders a Bulgarian pretty much for the hell of it). I like this for two reasons: one, it's proof that we're not yet in the era of Boring Invincible Comic-Book Superagent 007. And two, because Grant's constant presence is a reminder that the plot is more complicated than Bond believes it is. But this cuts both ways. Because Grant is the most constant face of SPECTRE this time around, as soon as he's dead, the movie seems to be over. And yet there's still a rather expensive chase scene and then a shockingly anticlimactic confrontation between Klebb and Bond, where the ice-cold Klebb suddenly starts shouting and awkwardly trying to kick Bond with a poison-tipped shoe...

The other major flaw in the film is the entire romance. Yes, Bond Girls aren't often cast for their acting ability, but even allowing for that, Daniela Bianchi is both unconvincing and over-the-top in her protestations of love, especially on the train after Kerim Bey dies. On top of that, her first scene with Bond has to be the most poorly-written romance scene in the franchise's history. No wonder it's used for screen-tests: they need to find actors who can say that crap with a straight face.

Everything else in the film is pitch-perfect, though. The fight scene between Bond and Grant on the train is one of the series's all-time bests. The gadgets haven't swamped everything else, Connery's still enthusiastic about the part, and the villains are convincingly dangerous.  Enjoy it while it lasts.

All the Bond films are graded on a curve with C being average. From Russia With Love gets an A-.