Brad Smith on FRWL

Personal Reflections on
"From Russia with Love"
by Brad Smith

It all began for me in 1961. That summer I read my first James Bond novel. I was nine. I spent that season in the hospital, doomed to three months of traction. Forced to do nothing else but lie in bed, I quickly tired of the daytime fare on pre-cable TV. 1961 was eons before CNN, even long before the perversely entertaining pathology of today's talk shows. In the very early 1960's, daytime TV consisted of soap operas, game shows, and re-runs of such non-Golden Age non-classics as "The Real McCoys". So to fill my daytime hours I read. Anything and everything I could get my hands on.
A friend of my father owned a used-book store, and so I had a seemingly endless supply of paperbacks. I first made my way through some sci-fi, then westerns, and finally mysteries. At the bottom of the last of the mystery bags were the intriguingly titled "Casino Royale", "Live and Let Die", "Moonraker", "Diamonds are Forever", "From Russia with Love", "Dr. No", and "Goldfinger".
Unlike the other genres, as quickly as I finished these Ian Fleming works, I re-read them. My favorite was "From Russia with Love". As far back as I can remember, I've always loved trains, and I knew of the Orient Express courtesy of Agatha Christie. This, plus the cold war paranoia that permeated American life at the time, made the novel especially appealing.
You might imagine how excited I was when the celluloid "Dr. No" showed up at the Palace Theater on Main Street. I attended the very first Saturday matinee that it was shown. And I went again. And again. I was eleven when I first saw "From Russia with Love". For younger readers here, try and recall the excitement of the first time you saw "Star Wars" or "Batman". That was how I felt. I've lost count of how many times I've seen the seventeen Bond films. But "From Russia with Love" remains my favorite. Why? It may very well be that I still see it through the amazed eyes of an eleven-year-old growing up in the American Midwest. Yet, I believe the film has many merits that still hold me enthralled today.
"From Russia with Love" expands many of the elements that were first seen in "Dr. No", and does such a good job that these elements became the building blocks of all future Bond adventures.
Cold War Paranoia . We knew that the Soviets were meaner and more ruthless than we were. The enemy always is. But then came Sputnik, followed shortly after by the success of Russian astronaut, Yuri Gagarin. The great unspoken fear in America was that they were not only meaner and ruthless, but even scarier, they were smarter. "From Russia with Love" subtly plays upon these fears. Rosa Klebb, Kronsteen, the two agents who follow Bond as he arrives in Istanbul. These characters were direct visualizations of our nightmares.
"One Man Alone." Younger filmgoers might think that the 'Die Hard' genre of "one man alone" is new. It's not. It has been an ongoing theme throughout Western Literature for millennia - think of 'The Twelve Labors of Hercules'. To some degree we all feel alone, facing a world of impersonal, even malicious, opponents. Joseph Campbell spoke of this as a common theme in all mythology. Bond faces all of his trials mostly alone. In "From Russia with Love", he (and we) suffer the loss of Kerim Bey, and yet he still has to complete his mission.
Admiration of Engineering. After retiring from the Navy, my uncle went to work for NASA. We visited him every summer when I was a boy. This was always the high point of my school vacation, as we were able to tour the facility, and have lunch and dinner with many NASA personnel. I even met several scientists who worked for von Braun at Peenemunde. I remember one night a NASA PIO (Public Information Officer) was speaking about the PR campaign behind positioning the Mercury astronauts as "regular" guys. They were certainly anything but. They were elite military test pilots, and most had doctorates in aviation-related disciplines. The PIO explained a decision was made to present these extremely capable and highly trained pilots as engineers because "Americans have always mistrusted scientists, but love engineers". I've always remembered that statement.
Much of the appeal of the Bond films has been "Q"'s gadgets, which became more ingenious and amazing with each film. But my favorite gadget has always been that seemingly simple attach case from "From Russia with Love", which Bond ultimately uses to defeat Red Grant.
Exotic Locales. In most Hollywood films of the day, going on location meant filming a western in Monument Valley, Utah, instead of Simi Valley, or Stockton, California. Yes, there were exceptions, such as 'The Man who Knew Too Much'; but if watched closely, many of the shots in Morocco from that film can be identified as process shots filmed in a London studio. The Bond films, one of the first exceptions of its day, went "on location" around the world and actually filmed there. Most Americans got their views of foreign locations from travelogues shown at National Guard armories on Saturday nights. Getting a great adventure story at the same time as a travelogue was a great treat. While Jamaica (in "Dr. No") was foreign to most Americans, Istanbul was downright exotic.
Attention Grabbing Pre-Titles Sequence. One of my favorite subjects in college was musicology. I recall that in one class we studied the history of Opera. The professor explained the purpose of the overture was to draw the audience into the suspension of disbelief that enjoyment of opera requires. The music in an overture often starts dramatically, primarily to get the audience's attention. Then the major musical themes of the opera are presented. Then there is usually a fast and furious finish just before the curtain goes up. I have always viewed the "pre-credits sequence" in the Bond films as visual and dramatic overtures to the film proper. "Dr. No", being the first in the series, didn't really have the traditional pre-credit sequence that we have come to expect, love, and debate. I believe that honor is reserved for "From Russia with Love".
As long as I live, I will always remember sitting in the dark theater that first Saturday the film was released. When James Bond was strangled, the entire audience gasped and held its' breath. When the mask was pulled off, the audience audibly issued a collective sigh of relief. Sure, I love the parachute jump in "The Spy Who Loved Me" and the quintessential pre-credits sequence in "Goldfinger". But "From Russia With Love" still contains my favorite pre-credits sequence. So integral to the plot, so elegant, so powerful. And it's the template for all future pre-credits sequences.
Eye-Popping Adventure. In the 1960 s there was no Arnold, no Willis, no Stallone (ah, the Good Old Days!). Adventure films were westerns, war films, pirate films, thrillers ('North by Northwest'), or historical dramas ('The Vikings'). EON gave us a whole new genre, with scenes the likes of which we had not ever seen. In "From Russia with Love", the helicopter chase, the gypsy camp attack, the boat chase, the fight with Klebb, among several others, were decidedly and wholly original.
Great Visual Storytelling. One of the reasons the Bond films have such great international appeal is that the stories are told in a straightforward and very visual style. (This statement was more accurate of the earlier films than the later entries.) I have no idea how Bond's "bon mots" translate, (being American I only speak broken English), but one can turn off the sound on the early films and still know what's going on. Hitchcock once told some film students, "Remember, it's a moving picture".
Now, let's examine how skillfully the story in "From Russia with Love" is unfolded. The first image is of Bond being stalked by Grant. Then Bond is "killed". Immediately, and without a word of dialogue, we know that the "baddies" are planning to murder Bond. In the next few minutes we learn that an international chess master has concocted a very elaborate scheme to accomplish just that. We know that Bond is going to be manipulated like a pawn on a chessboard. And further, Bond is facing two perils: the brawny (physical) Grant, and the scheming (intellectual) Kronsteen. The tension is enhanced even further because a very beautiful woman, Bond's greatest weakness, will be used as the lure. Immediately we see Bond stalked by Grant, we know that Bond is in grave danger. As the plan unfolds, Bond is enfolded, trapped. Even after Bond has killed Grant, we know that he still just a pawn in the chess match. As Kronsteen is killed, we may think it's all over. But then Klebb shows up with that damnable killer shoe.
Overt Sexuality. From 1934 to 1968, Hollywood was ruled by something officially known as the "Production Code". Everyone referred to it as the Hays Office, since it was founded and run by a fellow named Will Hays. The Production Code had an entire book of strict "rules", which included: married couples were only allowed to sleep in twin beds; if a couple were kissing in bed, one person had to have his/her foot flat on the floor. One of the most restrictive "Production Code" rules stated that two people who had sex out of wedlock had to receive some kind of punishment directly related to their sinful act. The effect of the Production Code was that characters in American cinema were reduced to the level of Rock Hudson and Doris Day films, wherein characters constantly talked and giggled about sex, but no one ever did anything.
The Bond films were one of the contributors to breaking the yoke of this stifling censorship. In "Dr. No", Bond had sex with both Sylvia Trench and Miss Taro (in the middle of the day, no less!). And while many bad things did eventually happen to Bond, God did not visit any punishment upon these two, though Taro was arrested. (For her role with Dr. No, not her roll with Bond.) And in "From Russia with Love", Bond is depicted again with Sylvia, and later Tatiana. And Vida and Zora!
Speaking of Vida and Zora, the cat fight between the two gave "From Russia with Love" a condemnation from the local chapter of the Legion of Decency.
Villains Extraordinaire. "From Russia with Love" expands upon the introduction of S.P.E.C.T.R.E. in "Dr. No" and then gives us our first glimpse of Ernst Stavro Blofeld. Further, Kronsteen, Klebb, and especially Grant, became models for all Bond villains to come.
Exotic Women. Hollywood may have had Gina Lollabrigida, Sophia Loren and Anita Ekberg, but the studios so sanitized these beautiful women that they were transformed into simply, the "girl next-door". Okay. With an accent. "From Russia with Love" originated the pattern of filling a Bond film with a nearly endless succession of exotic and erotic beauties. Beginning with Grant's masseuse, then the belly dancer, then Vida and Zora (whoops, promised myself I wouldn't mention them more than twice...), then Kerim Bey's girlfriend, and finally, Tatiana, we have very real and very sexy women.
John Barry's Music. What more can be said? While Barry did not write the title song, it was the first of what Barry once called 'the big song' for every Bond film.
Sorry...I can't wrap up without mentioning Vida and Zora one more time...

Š1997, 1998 by Brad Smith