[7]

Sean Connery returns for his second mission as Ian Fleming’s Agent 007. This time he’s working with a defecting Russian agent (Daniela Bianchi) to steal a decoding device before it falls into enemy hands. Meanwhile, the sinister Spectre organization plots revenge on James Bond for the death of Dr. No in the previous film.

A lot of screen time is spent setting up Spectre and introducing the villainous Blofeld, whose face isn’t revealed in this film. Whenever we expect to see a closeup of Blofeld, we instead get a closeup of his cat sitting comfortably in his lap — a gag that’s been parodied many times since. The Spectre subplot doesn’t quite pay off here, but it lays some groundwork for their continuing shenanigans in subsequent films.

The relationship between Bond and Bianchi’s character is fun. We’re never sure if her obvious (sometimes comical) sexual overtures are sincere or where her true allegiance lies until the film makes it clear in a fun finale scene. Bianchi lacks charisma compared to other ‘Bond girls’, but she’s serviceable. Robert Shaw (Jaws) makes an impact as an elite Russian hitman who stalks Bond throughout the film, finally catching up with him on the Orient Express for some good old-fashioned hand-to-hand combat. Lotte Lenya (Oscar nominee for The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone) puts in a fun performance as another nasty Spectre agent, and Pedro Armendáriz is memorable as an agency representative in Istanbul. (Side note: Armendáriz learned he had terminal cancer part-way through filming. The production rearranged its schedule (no small task, to be sure) to shoot out all of his scenes before he became to ill to work. He passed away a few months before the film was released.)

Other highlights include a gypsy village catfight, a helicopter assault, and a climactic boat chase. Matt Monro performs the film’s title song, which unlike the rest of the series, plays at the end of the film instead of the beginning. Desmond Llewelyn makes his first appearance as the agency’s beloved Q, creator of all Bond’s nifty gadgets and lethal gizmos.

With Bernard Lee as M, Lois Maxwell as Miss Moneypenny, Walter Gotell, and Vladek Sheybal. Directed by Terence Young, with music by John Barry.