What's so great about FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE?

Russia was the second Bond film and, in my opinion--and that of most film scholars--it's the best, rivalled only by Goldfinger. Future Bond film-makers and screen-writers should be mandated to watch it before beginning their work, because it's got everything GOOD about a Bond film without any of the bad.

First of all, it's a Cold War film. The film, I recall, does wimp out and uses SPECTRE as its villain (not the Soviet agency SMERSH), but the location (Turkey), plot (trapping spy Bond with a hidden camera during sex), and trappings (great train scenes; assassination scenes; full character development) make for a good stand-alone story, even without the cachet of Bond attached. The Cold War-type Bond books are the best, though the films veered off into super-villainy on remote islands which is patently ridiculous (it's even hard to take in Dr. No, frankly). But Russia is a secret agent us vs. them story, and that is reason #1 why it works.

And it's got great villains, especially Robert Shaw's assassin, and bad-girl Rosa Klebb (Lotte Lenya). The lead female character (I recall the actresses's name is Daniela Biancchi) is more than just a pretty face; she's actually involved in the story; she feels like she's got a life apart from the film.

And then there's Kerim Bey, played by the then-terminally-ill actor Pedro Armendariz. I love the scenes with this man, especially the journey into the tunnels under Istanbul. What a full performance he gives! Rare, all-to-rare for a Bond film to have a real actor plying his craft.

For the male chauvinists out there, there's even a wild, skirt-ripping Gypsy hell-cat fight to get pulses racing--and for the women, there's always Sean Connery at the height of his powers. Plus, it introduces one of John Barry's great musical themes during one of the action sequences--watch it and you'll immediatley know what I mean.

Truly, it's the only Bond film that would work without the main character being the famous James Bond--which has been my main complaint about most of the films, which would most definitely not. Hopefully, the upcoming Casino Royale will add another film whose story would work with or without the Bond label.

BTW, in the book, when Rosa Klebb tells the girl that she knows her full life-story, which she reviews with her in humiliating, excruciating detail--well, that became my inspiration for the Director's similarly-themed speech to Apparite. And, in turn, I'd bet that Fleming got it from someone before him, too! Very little in literature is entirely new--except maybe a main character's obsession with the Washington Senators. I think I've got the market cornered on that one.