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From Russia With Love does have a number of firsts, including the first appearance of Desmond Llewelyn as Q, the first pre-credit action sequence, the first physically formidable foe/ assassin to take on Bond (Robert Shaw, very effective and imposing, as Red Grant) and the first to feature a main title theme song (crooned by Matt Monro, best known for singing the Oscar-winning theme song to Born Free). Most enjoyably, it is also the first to reassure its audience, at the very end of the credits, that "James Bond will return." The second Bond also benefits from a revenge plot to drive the action. True, the shadowy (even in the credits where the character of arch villain Blofeld is listed as being played by ?) agency of SPECTRE is once again behind this, but their plans for wreaking havoc on the global populace take a back seat to a desire to see Bond eliminated. This appears to be a successful venture in the opening moments before it is revealed that we have been witnessing a training exercise conducted by SPECTRE with some unfortunate schmuck in a Bond mask as the unlucky recipient of a garroting by Grant. The scene also provides some (un?)intentional commentary on the burgeoning Bond phenomenon, as well as an indication of the filmmakers' willingness to have a little fun with the audience.

In fact, it is a full 20 minutes into the proceedings before Connery as Bond appears on screen in Russia, providing a textbook case of "deferral of pleasure." This deferral extends to the storyline also (alas) as the film draws out its plot much longer than necessary before culminating in 40-odd minutes of near continuous action sequences that take place aboard a train, in an open field, at sea, and in a hotel room. In a reversal of Dr. No, the second half of Russia is much more effective than its first, which is true for very specific reasons. The violence is a lot grittier, beginning with the hand-to-hand combat between Grant and Bond. Shot in near dark and infrequently lit by the colored lights within the train compartment where Bond and Russian defector Tatiana (Daniela Bianchi, more interesting and relevant to the plot than Andress) have been hiding out, the two minutes of on-screen action took several weeks to shoot, nearly all of it involving Connery and Shaw themselves instead of stuntmen. With visual style but also a keen sense of understatement, director Terence Young creates a significant amount of tension, considering it's a foregone conclusion that the victor will be Bond. A later attack on Bond by helicopter effectively pays tribute to North by Northwest (which was only four years hence at that point). The final mano y mano between Bond and a Russian agent with a lethal switchblade in her shoe does a feature a plot zag I didn't foresee (ending with Tatiana still alive and not sacrificing herself to save Bond) but does help steer the proceedings towards another element soon to become a Bond cliché: that of our hero locked in amour with a hottie and tuning out the attempts of HQ to steer him towards his next mission.

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