After Dr No turned out to be a success, Broccoli and
Saltzman knew they were on to something good, and so wasted no time in starting
work on the second Bond film. They had double the budget of the previous film,
had the basic plot elements established, and had already got Sean Connery. But
how to choose which book to adapt next? The answer came from an unlikely
source.
John F. Kennedy, then the president of the United States,
was known to be a bit of a fan of Ian Fleming’s novels, and when Life
magazine published a list of Kennedy’s top ten favourite books, From Russia
with Love made the list. So it seemed a natural next choice. In fact, after
the film was released, JFK was treated to a special screening of it at the
White House. Sadly, the very next day, JFK left on a trip to Texas from which he would not return.
Not only that, From Russia with Love is also the last
Bond film Ian Fleming would get to see. He would die the following year,
without knowing just how successful the film series would turn out to be.
A somewhat sombre introduction to the film, I’ll admit, but
then, this is one of the most serious and realistic of all of the films.
Let’s go.
As the film begins, we see Bond, clad in his tuxedo and with
his gun drawn, creeping through a garden maze at night. He’s being stalked by a
blond-haired muscular man.
Bond continues making his way through the garden, the blond
guy stealthily following him. At one point, Bond catches a glimpse of him, and
fires off a shot. He misses.
A brief game of cat-and-mouse ensues, with both men trying
to find each other in the dark. Both are armed, Bond with his Walther, and the
blond guy with his… watch? Yeah, he keeps a length of piano wire hidden inside
his watch. So he’s not just deadly, but punctual, too.
A bit more stalking ensues, and then-
What the hell? The blond guy won? But he was up against James
Bond. Nevertheless, Bond is garrotted, and falls to the ground dead. The
blond guy carefully tucks his wire back into his watch.
Spotlights suddenly illuminate the area, revealing a large
mansion in the background. Several dudes in black have been observing the whole
thing. The leader, distinguished by wearing a jacket, comes forward and
announces:
“Exactly one minute and fifty-two seconds. That’s
excellent.”
He then stoops over “Bond” and pulls off a mask.
What a shocker. Because it was totally believable that they
were going to kill off the main character in the first three minutes of
the film. Even without knowing that there are several decades’ worth of Bond
films to follow, it’s unlikely you really thought Bond had died. Slightly
interesting fact: originally, when they shot the scene, it was decided that the
guy under the mask looked too much like Sean Connery. They needed someone more
visually distinctive, so they got a dude with a moustache to do it instead.
The two men turn away from the body and make their way towards
the mansion. And thus ends the first ever pre-credits sequence in a Bond film.
Roll titles!
Aaaand it’s straight into naked ladies gyrating. Of course. They
didn’t really know what they were doing with the credits in Dr No, but
here, they discovered that scantily-clad woman dancing about was a pretty
popular thing. This would form the basis for the majority of the credits from
now on. Here, at least, there’s a semi-justification: the women are
belly-dancers, since the bulk of the film takes place is Turkey. The credits
are projected onto their gyrating and pulsating bodies: onto their arms,
thighs, bellies, posteriors, and of course their, uh, jiggly bits. It’s
actually a rather innovative way of showing the credits, even if it is blatant
fanservice. No lyrics at the moment though, the piece is instrumental. There is
an actual theme song which we’ll hear later on.
Side note: one of the names on the cast list is “Martin
Beswick”. Unfortunately, this is a typo; MartinE Beswick is a woman. The only
reason to mention this is because she’ll turn up in a later film, playing a
larger part. She’ll also spend a good part of said later film in a bikini,
proving that she is definitely a woman.
Onto the film proper. We see an establishing shot of a city.
Judging by the gondolas in the foreground, you could probably guess which city
it is; and this is promptly confirmed by a cut to a sign informing us that we
are watching the “Venice International Grandmasters Championship”. It’s a chess
match, the final in fact, with Kronsteen versus MacAdams. Chess is an important
metaphor in this film.
One of the players – Kronsteen – makes a move. If you’re not
into chess, you probably won’t have the faintest idea what he did; however, the
fact that an excited murmur passes through the audience should tell you that
Kronsteen has just made a killer move. A waiter comes up to deliver glasses of
water to both players. As he sets down Kronsteen’s glass, he hesitates, enough
for Kronsteen to take notice. He lifts the glass to see:
Apparently, Cthulhu requires him. Kronsteen looks somewhat
unsettled. MacAdams makes his own move. Kronsteen sees his chance and goes in
for the kill. MacAdams eyes the board for a moment, but obviously concludes
that it’s hopeless; he concedes defeat. Kronsteen practically bolts from the
room. He ignores everyone trying to congratulate him; he has somewhere to be.
“Somewhere” turns out to be a fancy yacht. Inside, two
people are having a chat: a red-haired, older woman, and a mysterious figure
who sits with his back to the camera and strokes a white cat. Yes, as you have
probably guessed, this is the first appearance of Ernst Stavro Blofeld, head of
SPECTRE and supervillain extraordinaire. His appearance here is minor though; we
won’t even see his face for a few films yet.
The woman, as we will soon learn, is Colonel Rosa Klebb. She
allegedly works for SMERSH, however,
she secretly works for SPECTRE. She is identified as Number 3. All of SPECTRE’s
key personnel are designated a number – Blofeld is, of course, Number 1.
Blofeld (never identified by name in this film) is busy
explaining a metaphor to Klebb. He has a tank of Siamese fighting fish in the office, and as they watch, two of the
fish duke it out while the third keeps back. The third waits until one fish
defeats the other, at which point the victor is too exhausted to offer any
resistance, at which point the third, like SPECTRE, strikes. This is pretty
much a foreshadowing of the plot of the film. Incidentally, the losing fish are
then fed to Blofeld’s cat. I’m not sure if that’s part of the metaphor, or if
the cat was just hungry.
Kronsteen enters. Unsurprisingly, he is revealed to also be
a SPECTRE agent, Number 5, and their Director of Planning. He then kindly
spells out SPECTRE’s plan: they’re going to steal a decoding device known as a
“Lektor” (not a real thing) from the Russians, using MI6 to do the dirty work.
Side note: in the book, the decoder was called the “Spektor”, and the villains
were actually SMERSH. In the film, the villains are SPECTRE, and so they
decided to rename the device so the name didn’t clash.
The plan will require a beautiful young woman (of course)
and Klebb has selected a suitable one: a girl who works in the Russian consulate
in Istanbul. Blofeld asks Kronsteen if he’s sure the plan he has devised is
foolproof. Kronsteen confidently assures him it is, as he has “anticipated
every possible counter-move”. Spoken like a true chess player. Blofeld asks him
how he can be so sure that MI6 will take the bait. Two reasons: first, it is so
obviously a trap, and apparently the British mentality is that they can never
resist a challenge. Secondly, if there’s even the slightest chance of grabbing
a Lektor, they’ll take it; they have wanted one for years.
Kronsteen adds that, as an added bonus, MI6 are likely to
send James Bond on this assignment. This will allow SPECTRE to get revenge for
Doctor No’s death. Blofeld specifies that Bond’s death should be a painful and
humiliating one. Kronsteen declares that his plan is foolproof. Well, a villain
making a confident proclamation about his plan; I bet things go well for
Kronsteen.
And now, over to an almost-naked man sunning himself.
It’s the blond guy from the pre-credits scene. A buxom young
woman walks over, strips down to her underwear, and begins massaging him. Of
course she does.
This seems more like a scene from a Carry On film, but before Sid James can pop up to make a crude
remark, a helicopter arrives. Judging by the mansion, this is the same place
the pre-credits scene took place. Klebb arrives in the helicopter and is greeted
by the same guy who congratulated the blond man on his efficiency at the start.
This guy is called Morzeny, and the actor who plays him is Walter Gotell. I
only bring this up because Walter Gotell will have a more prominent role in the
Bond films, though it will be quite a while from now and he will be playing a
different character. But anyways.
We are on SPECTRE Island, where SPECTRE trains new recruits.
Morzeny hands Klebb the file on one of their top agents, an individual called
Donald Grant. According to Morzeny, Grant is a “homicidal paranoiac”. So, ideal
material for SPECTRE then. Morzeny leads Klebb through the training area,
demonstrating that SPECTRE is in the habit of using live targets for their
lethal practice. Now there’s a job in serious need of a Union.
They arrive at the lakeside, where the blond guy, aka Grant,
is still getting his massage. Morzeny calls Grant over. Klebb looks Grant up
and down approvingly, because, well, who wouldn’t?
She then produces a knuckle duster and punches Grant in the
stomach. Grant barely flinches. Satisfied, Klebb orders that he report to her
in Istanbul the following day, and marches off.
Cut to Istanbul itself. A rather pretty young woman exits
the Russian consulate.
She says goodbye to her friends and heads off, looking for
an address she has on a piece of paper. What she is unaware of, however, is
that Grant is following her. She arrives at the address and knocks on the door.
The door opens, complete with an ominous creak. It’s Klebb,
resplendent in her military uniform. The girl identifies herself as Corporal
Tatiana Romanova. Klebb goes over her work record and also eyes her up. And I
mean eyes her up in the sexual sense. In the film, it’s hinted that Klebb may
be a lesbian, especially at one point where she puts her hand on Tatiana’s
thigh. On the other hand, in the novel, she openly tries to seduce Tatiana. So
yeah, Klebb is canonically a lesbian.
She tells Tatiana about the plan, or rather, tells her what
SPECTRE requires her to believe. She is to pretend to have fallen in love with
a photo of James Bond, and will offer to steal the Lektor and turn it over to
the British, provided Bond comes over in person to meet her and escort her back
to England. Tatiana asks what happens if she refuses. Klebb calmly informs her
that she will not leave the room alive. Tatiana agrees to undertake this Labour
of Love.
The trap is ready. Now all it requires is Bond to walk into
it.
Screencaps courtesy of
screenmusings.org
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