When Eon Productions' first James Bond movie, Dr. No, was a hit at the box office, United Artists immediately ordered up a sequel, giving Eon twice the budget of the first movie and adding a $100,000 bonus to Sean Connery's $54,000 salary. Hoping to capitalize on the popularity of then-sitting President John F. Kennedy, the producers decided to next adapt Kennedy's favorite novel rather than the novel that followed Dr. No in creator Ian Fleming's series. From Russia with Love was a smash hit at the box office, ensuring that the fledling film franchise would continue.
The global terrorist organization SPECTRE is back and they want revenge on James Bond (Connery) and MI6 for disrupting their plans and killing Dr. No (Joseph Wiseman) in the previous movie. SPECTRE's Number 1 — identified as Ernst Stavro Blofeld in later movies — sets his sights on a Lektor, a decoding machine used by Soviet Intelligence that MI6 would love to get their hands on. SPECTRE sets a trap for Bond and baits it with a beautiful Russian cipher clerk (Daniela Bianchi), planning to assassinate him after tricking him into stealing the Lektor for them.
Action and espionage aboard the Orient Express! Tune in at 11:30am ET/ 8:30am PT for From Russia With Love, or catch the encore showing at 12:00am ET / 9:00pm PT. For more 007 movies in our month-long celebration of Bond, check the ReelzChannel schedule.
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Posted 02.23.13 by BrentJS