Tuesday, June 10, 2014

June 10 - From Russia With Love

Today’s movie is an espionage thriller with a scene that happens on June 10. I hope you will enjoy this film 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, impersonating a British agent he has killed, meets Bond 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

Producers - Harry Saltzman and Albert R. Broccoli

Director - Terence Young                       

Runtime – 1 hour 55 minutes      

Released – October 19, 1963                                   

Starring –

Sean Connery as James Bond
Daniela Bianchi as Tatiana Romanova
Pedro Armendáriz as Ali Kerim Bey
Lotte Lenya as Rosa Klebb
Robert Shaw as Red Grant
Bernard Lee as M
Walter Gotell as Morzeny
Vladek Sheybal as Kronsteen
Lois Maxwell as Miss Moneypenny


Copyright by Ivan Walters 2014. 




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