Review of From Russia with Love

This second outing for Sean Connery as Bond sees him on his way to Istanbul to retrive a lekter machine from the beautiful Tatiana Romanova (Daniela Bianchi) with the help of Kermin Bey.
There is the usual car chase sequenes we were getting accustomed to in the Bond films, a teriffic fight between two gypsy girls, and a thrilling fight sequence on the train between Connery and Robert Shaw.
The film was further enhanced by the title song sung by Matt Monroe which struck just about the right balance, after the credits and at the end of the film.
The boat chase sequence (which was used often in later films) was also thrilling for the 1963 audience.
I have a soft spot for all the early Baond films as against some of the later ones, mainly because of the under use of gadets. The early films seemed less reliant on the gadgets as later films.
The real villian of this film for me was Rosa Klebb - brilliantly played by Lotte Lenya - small and diminutive, but as tough as nails and ruthless to boot.
Another one of my favorites of the series.
9/10