Monday, June 10, 2013

June 10 - From Russia With Love

Here is the movie with a scene that happens today - June 10. I hope you enjoy it and watch it tonight. 

FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE

Kronstein and Klebb are summoned to a meeting with SPECTRE’s mysterious Number One to discuss a plan to steal the Lector decoding machine from the soviets and lay the blame on the British. On June 10, 1963 [11:14 to 13:59] the killer, Grant gets recruited by Klebb. She also recruits Tatiana Romanova, a clerk in the coding section of the Soviet consulate in Istanbul, Turkey. M, the head of British intelligence tells James Bond agent 007 that Tatiana has sent a message that she will defect with the lector if Bond is the one who helps her. Q gives Bond his briefcase with a hidden knife, gold coins and gas grenade inside. Bond flies to Istanbul where he meets Ali Kerim Bey MI6’s man in the city. An attempt is made to kill Bey and they observe the Soviet consulate through a hidden periscope. Bey takes Bond to a gypsy camp to hide out, but it is attacked by  Krilencu and his men.  Back at his hotel Bond finds Tatiana in his bed and unknown to them their amorous interlude is secretly filmed. Bey and Bond set off a bomb under the Soviet consulate and use the confusion this creates to get the lector and Tatiana. They plan on traveling on the Orient Express. Grant is on board and makes it appear Bey and a Soviet agent killed each other. Grant meets Bond impersonating a British agent he has killed. Grant drugs Tatiana and overcomes Bond, taunting him by telling him of SPECTRE’s plan to set the Soviets and British at each other’s throats. Grant tells him that when Bond and Tatiana are dead he will plant film of their erotic encounter and a forged blackmail letter that will make it look like a murder-suicide, further damaging Anglo-Soviet relations. Bond, however tricks Grant into opening the briefcase and detonating the gas grenade and after an epic fight Grant is killed. Bond and Tatiana leave the train and after destroying the helicopter and boats SPECTRE sends after them reach Venice. Number One is very unhappy the plan has failed and after killing Kronstein sends Klebb to finish off Bond. She gets the drop on Bond, but Tatiana attacks and finally shoots Klebb. Bond and Tatiana relax in Venice. 

Many people, including me think this is one of the best Bond films. It focuses on the people not fancy sci-fi gadgets, as so many of the later films do. It is played straight and has a script with a plot that actually makes sense.

From Russia, With Love by Ian Fleming (Penguin Books, New York, 2003) at page 3 gives the date of this event

Producer - Harry Saltzman and Albert R. Broccoli

Director - Terence Young

Runtime – 1 hour 55 minutes

Released – October 19, 1963

Starring -

Sean Connery as James Bond, Agent 007.
Daniela Bianchi as Tatiana Romanova (voiced by Barbara Jefford), the bait for Bond
Pedro Armendáriz as Ali Kerim Bey: British Intelligence Station Chief in Istanbul.
Lotte Lenya as Rosa Klebb: Chief Operations Officer for SPECTRE
Robert Shaw as Red Grant: Cunning SPECTRE assassin
Bernard Lee as M : Chief of British Intelligence.
Walter Gotell as Morzeny: SPECTRE thug who trains personnel
Vladek Sheybal as Kronsteen: Chief Planning Officer for SPECTRE.
Lois Maxwell as Miss Moneypenny: M's secretary.
Desmond Llewelyn as Q : Head of 'Q' Section
Eunice Gayson as Sylvia Trench: Bond's semi-regular girlfriend.
Francis de Wolff as Vavra: Chief of a Gypsy tribe used for dirty work by Kerim Bey
George Pastell as the Orient Express train conductor.
Fred Haggerty as Krilencu: A Bulgarian assassin who works as a killer for the Soviets .
Aliza Gur and Martine Beswick as Vida and Zora, respectively: Two jealous Gypsy girls
Nadja Regin as Kerim Bey's lonely girlfriend.



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