Bond, pt II: From Russia With Love

[Rigel]

Ooh, a cold open! Well, almost. You get the iconic shot of Bond turning and firing a gun at the camera, and then it's a cat & mouse game between Bond and a Norse agent who strangles him with a garrote... Only to reveal that Bond was an impostor, a man behind a mask, and just a chance for this Norse guy to practice killing.

For this is SPECTRE, the organization founded by Dr No, and they are royally pissed at Mr Bond for killing their mad scientist and blowing up their island in the Caribbean.

{To be fair, if I had an island in the Caribbean, and some British guy blew it up, I'd be rather upset as well}

Here we also get the first shots of a villain stroking a cat, Wayfriend. We still don't know his name or position, only that he is higher than No 3 (The Russian lady... Krepke? No, that was West Side Story. Krebb?) and No 5 (a "chessmaster" who looked so nervous during his match I thought he would either vomit or faint).

The story itself was more believable this time around; no fancy "radiation gun" that would screw with NASA's guidance, just a good old-fashioned decoding machine being used as bait to lure Bond out where he could be killed.

Except, they don't actually kill him. A couple of times Bond is completely at the mercy of enemy agents (who we've already seen killing other people, so we know they don't have qualms about it), and they chat, let him smoke, go to dinner with him (and order the wrong wine... Was that a clue that he didn't know the word "sole," that it was a fish, and so he wasn't actually British? Or was it just an odd character quirk that he likes red wine with fish?)

{Another side-note: Many sommeliers and vintners I've spoken to over the last few years eschew the old saw of matching the color of your wine to the color of your food, and will often times come up with novel but delightful pairings of white wine with red meat, or vice versa}

Here we also see the first of Bond's novel gadgets, but again they were much more grounded than I expected. Really, it's just a disassembled rifle hidden inside a brief-case with a few other hidden compartments.

Unfortunately, in this film Bond begins making sardonic quips after killing, and they all fell rather flat. Any time he tried to be clever, I just pictured Mike Meyers looking at a decapitated body, saying "Clearly, he'll never get a-HEAD in this world!"

I also had trouble with the Soviet agent, Tatiana... Romanova? She was clearly loyal to the Soviets, and only acting as a honeypot under orders, but as soon as she jumped in the sack with Bond (by the way: the very first time they see each other, she strips naked and climbs in his bed. Seriously, HOW IS HE NOT SUSPICIOUS AT THAT POINT? I'd expect to get murdered in my sleep), she flipped sides for real. Even in a drug induced stupor she mumbles, "Don't leave me." I guess men in the 60s wanted their women to be compliant and needy; not my cup of tea.

Overall, it wasn't horrible, but it wasn't great either. 3.5/5 seems a fair rating.

[wayfriend]

Except, they don't actually kill him. A couple of times Bond is completely at the mercy of enemy agents (who we've already seen killing other people, so we know they don't have qualms about it), and they chat, let him smoke, go to dinner with him

Lucius: So now I'm in deep trouble. I mean, one more jolt of this death ray and I'm an epitaph. Somehow I manage to find cover and what does Baron von Ruthless do?
Bob: [laughing] He starts monologuing.
Lucius: He starts monologuing! He starts like, this prepared speech about how "feeble" I am compared to him, how "inevitable" my defeat is, how "the world ... will soon ... be his", yadda yadda yadda.
Bob: Yammering.
Lucius: Yammering! I mean, the guy has me on a platter and he won't shut up!

[sgt.null]

well MGM seemed to have an audience in mind.

and is Bond a time-lord?

[Rigel]

and is Bond a time-lord?

Yes. Yes, he is.

[Hashi Lebwohl]

I guess men in the 60s wanted their women to be compliant and needy

Times were vastly different back then; movies and TV shows had to adhere to as well as reinforce the generally-accepted social norms. Even when the women had power--Samantha Stevens from Bewitched and Jeannie from I Dream of Jeannie--they were expected to keep their powers hidden and/or not use them. Women were also expected to be perfectly presentable in case company came over at all time...except for Loretta Young in Father Knows Best, who gave us the first instance of a wife/mother being allowed to be on camera in gardening clothes with dirt on her knees, arms, and face. *sigh* I digress into TV trivia....

From Russia With Love is probably the Bond movie closest to what being a Cold War-era spy was actually like--all you had with you was a gun, maybe some sort of concealed camera, and perhaps a hidden compartment in a briefcase or a small knife in the heel of your shoe, but not much more than that other than your wits.

The only reason I can figure why they wouldn't kill Bond right away is that they hope to convert him into a double agent.

[Avatar]

Been a long time since I watched this one, but it had its moments. I remember being horrified when they killed "Bond" at the beginning.

--A