Just over two weeks after its release on this day in 1963, From Russia With Love was described as the ‘biggest crowd-puller since talking films’.
Sean Connery’s second outing as Ian Fleming’s suave superspy James Bond was so popular with viewers that there were queues outside cinemas.
And perhaps part of the draw was the fact 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 opening minutes shocked viewers into believing that Bond had been cornered by the villain Grant, before a lifelike mask was pulled from the corpse’s face, revealing another man entirely.
The film was released the year after Connery made his 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 crowd-puller since talking films’. Above Sean Connery as James Bond in the 1963 film
The Daily Mail’s original review
Terence Young returned as director and for the second time he blew the critics away with a plot that sent Bond to Istanbul in the middle of the Cold War.
Meanwhile, the mysterious organization SPECTRE – which haunts Bond in successive films – tried to kill Bond as part of a revenge plot after his victory over Dr No.
From Russia With Love also delighted viewers with the truly fascinating gadgets given to Bond by MI6 chief of technology Q, played by Desmond Llewelyn.
They included what Q described in the film as a ‘nasty little Christmas present’ of a briefcase that concealed a collapsible rifle, throwing knife, gold sovereigns and a tear gas cartridge.
There was also a car phone that would seem primitive to today’s audiences, but was hugely exciting at the time.
Llewelyn would go on to portray Q for a further 16 Bond films before dying in a car crash in 1999.
The film’s main antagonist was Colonel Rosa Klebb, a Russian soldier and member of SPECTRE.
The villain, played by Austrian actress Lotte Lenya, gave viewers one of the most memorable scenes in the series when she was seen testing Grant’s endurance by hitting his stomach with her steel knuckles.
She also boasted a poison spike shoe which she used to great effect.
Grant – who was played by Robert Shaw – was Spectre’s fearsome assassin.
His clash with Bond at the end of From Russia With Love is considered by critics to be one of the best in the franchise.
But Bond’s interactions with women in the film certainly run counter to acceptable modern behavior.
Sean Connery’s second outing as Ian Fleming’s suave superspy James Bond was so popular with viewers 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 SPECTRE. Above: Lotte Lenya as Klebb with Robert Shaw as Grant, the great assassin
Connery is seen kissing leading lady Tatiana Romanova, portrayed by Daniele BIanchi
A poster advertising Froms Russia With Love, which was Sean Connery’s second outing as James Bond
Another poster that entices viewers to watch From Russia With Love
Connery is seen as Bond alongside Lois Maxwell as Miss Moneypenny in From Russia WithLove
From Russia With Love also delighted viewers with the truly fascinating gadgets given to Bond by MI6 chief of technology Q, played by Desmond Llewelyn. They included what Q described in the film as a ‘nasty little Christmas present’ of a briefcase which concealed a collapsible rifle, throwing knife, gold sovereigns and a tear gas cartridge
Bond meets the villain Grant, portrayed by Robert Shaw. The pair go on to have a showdown at the end of the film
Daniela Bianchi as Tatiana Romanova in From Russia With Love
Lotte Lenya’s Rosa Klebb also boasts a poison spike shoe which she used to great effect
Lois Maxwell played Miss Moneypenny in the first 14 James Bond films produced by Eon. She died in 2007 at the age of 80
He was seen choosing the more ‘gifted’ of two women to sleep with and also slapped leading lady Tatiana Romanova, portrayed by Daniele BIanchi.
In his glowing review of the film for the Daily Mail, Cecil Wilson wrote: ‘If you thought Sean Connery had reached the limit of invincibility in the first James Bond film, just watch what he gets up to in the second and you’ll realize that the man has barely begun.
‘In the process of stealing a magical decoding machine from the Russian Embassy in Istanbul, this laconic mix of Tarzan and Superman in Savile-riding frocks, Bulldog Drummond, Raffles and the Scarlet Pimpernel live more lives than any cat has ever known .
He added: ‘Terence Young directs this orgy or strip of cartoon gore and thunder with the flair of a lounge-appropriate Western.
“Incredible twak it may be, but I find such twak irresistible.”
Connery portrayed Bond five more times, with his last appearance in 1983’s Never Say Never Again.
He is considered by many fans to be the best Bond of all time.
Younger viewers prefer the likes of Daniel Craig and Pierce Brosnan, while others prefer Sir Roger Moore, who also played Bond seven times.