Irma la Douce (1963) - Wilder's overlong prostitution comedy

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Colorful levity and hijinks are promised on this poster for Billy Wilder's Irma la Douce

In Paris' sinful Rue Casanova, a new copper roams, indignant and active in upsetting the obvious prostitution going on there, but only until he falls head over heels for the charming Irma.

 

Irma la Douce is written by I.A.L. Diamond (One, Two, Three (1961)) and Austrian-Hungarian/American master filmmaker, co-writer/co-producer/director Billy Wilder (Bad Seed (1934)), whose 19th feature it was. It is an adaptation of the same-titled 1956 French stage musical. The title is French and translates to 'Irma the sweet'.

This poorly aged Wilder adaptation beckons you to accept prostitution a an easy and comfortable life, one that is also natural and without any negative sides to it. That proposition is a hard one to swallow, and fatiguing as well. The same can be said of Jack Lemmon's (Some Like It Hot (1959)) policeman character's unexplained 180 turn in the story from a by-the-book stickler to a completely embracing participant in the monkey business goings on of the Rue Casanova. His plan involves him keeping Shirley MacLaine's (Around the World in 80 Days (1956)) Irma from her sidewalk 'career' by dressing up as an English professor with very deep pockets.

Jokes are repeated ad infinitum. Irma la Douce is overlong. Handsome sets and costumes weigh up; and Lemmon's caricature of an Englishman is funny. But Irma la Douce overall is taxing.

 

Related posts:

Billy Wilder:  The Front Page (1974) - Wilder's hilarious Chicago newspaper comedy

Double Indemnity (1944) - Wilder's noir classic 

 

 

Watch a trailer for the movie here

 

Cost: 5 mil. $

Box office: 31.5 mil. $

= Huge hit (returned 6.3 times its cost)

[Irma la Douce premiered 5 June (New York) and runs 147 minutes. The film was envisioned as a repairing of Lemmon with Wilder and Marilyn Monroe as Irma, but the latter's overdose death in 1962 meant the hiring of MacLaine. It seems that Wilder, Lemmon and MacLaine negotiated the same pay deal of 350k $ plus 7.5 % of the profits, a very lucrative deal as it turned out, which reportedly also meant that United Artists only profited 440k $ from the film's stellar theatrical run. Shooting took place from October 1962 - February 1963 in California and Paris, France. The film was a huge hit in North America, where it was the year's 5th highest-grossing with rentals of 12 mil. $/25.2 mil. $ (80 % of the total gross). It also struck huge in Netherlands with 3.6 mil. admissions, becoming the biggest hit in the country for many years. The film was nominated for 3 Oscars, winning for Best Score - Adaptation/Treatment (André Previn (Dead Ringer (1963))). It lost Best Actress (MacLaine) to Patricia Neal in Hud and Cinematography - Color (Joseph LaShelle (A Child Is Waiting (1963))) to Leon Shamroy for Cleopatra. It was also nominated for a BAFTA, won a David di Donatello award and 1/3 Golden Globe nominations, among other honors. Wilder returned with Kiss Me, Stupid (1964). Lemmon returned in Under the Yum Yum Tree (1963); MacLaine in What a Way to Go! (1964). Irma la Douce is fresh at 75 % at Rotten Tomatoes.]

 

What do you think of Irma la Douce? 

It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963) or, It's a Loud, Loud, Loud and Long Movie

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A crazed mass of individuals crawl around a globe, all after a bag of money, on this cartoon-style poster for Stanley Kramer's It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World

An aging gentleman drives off a cliff and during his dying moments confesses to those surrounding him that a fortune is buried in a California park. - But who will get to the treasure first?

 

It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World is written by husband and wife writing team Tania Rose and William Rose (Touch and Go (1955), both) and produced and directed by New-Yorker master filmmaker Stanley Kramer (Not As a Stranger (1955)).

This enormous 1960s creation is a - by some - beloved phenomenon. It is very long and consists mainly of crosscut scenes of characters who hectically, exaggeratedly, voluminously and foolishly yell and scream at one another. - That gets old, star parade or not, and that makes It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World not a little exhausting to watch. Every one is more or less playing a screaming boob here.

But the film also has handsome high-speed car scenes and stunts as well as a big, wacky and undeniably funny finishing set piece featuring a fire escape. - As well as elegant photography (by Ernest Laszlo (Judgment at Nuremberg (1961))). It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World is a matter of taste.

 

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 9.4 mil. $

Box office: 60 mil. $

= Huge hit (returned 6.38 times its cost)

[It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World premiered 7 November (Los Angeles + Canada) and runs 192 minutes (original release/162 minutes general release version/202 minutes restored director's cut version). Shooting took place from April - December 1962 in Florida and California, including in Los Angeles and San Diego. The film became the 3rd highest-grossing of the year, raking in 46.3 mil. $ (77.2 % of the total gross) in North America. The foreign numbers are not made public. The film was nominated for 6 Oscars, winning for Best Sound Effects. It lost Best Cinematography - Color to Leon Shamroy for Cleopatra, Editing to How the West Was Won, Song (Ernest Gold and Mack Davis for the title song) to Call Me Irresponsible from Papa's Delicate Condition, Score - Substantially Original (Ernest Gold) to John Addison for Tom Jones and Sound to How the West Was Won. It was also nominated for 2 Golden Globes, among other honors. Kramer returned with Ship of Fools (1965). Spencer Tracey (Broken Lance (1954)) returned in Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967), Milton Berle (Burke's Law (1994, TV-series)) in 5 TV credits prior to his theatrical return in The Loved Ones (1965); and Sid Caesar (Christmas Snow (1986, TV movie)) in The Mouse That Roared (1966, TV movie) and theatrically in The Busy Body (1967). It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World is fresh at 69 % with a 6.90/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World?

Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow/Ieri, Oggi, Domani (1963) - De Sica and stars triumph with sexy smash

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Gorgeously painted and colored situations from the film are highlighted on this delightful poster for Vittorio De Sica's Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow

A three-story anthology: A Neapolitan mother is to be imprisoned, if she won't stop birthing children. A rich and superficial star. And a passionate couple nearly steer a young man into decline.

 

Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow is written by Eduardo De Filippo (Frisky/Pane, Amore e Gelosia (1954)), Isabella Quarantotti (Kiss the Other Sheek/Oggi, Domani, Dopodomani (1965)), Billa Billa (Ragazze d'Oggi (1955, actor)) and Cesare Zavattini (Woman Times Seven (1967)), with one segment adapting a novel by Alberto Moravia (Il Disprezzo/Contempt (1954)), and directed by Italian master filmmaker Vittorio De Sica (Rose Scarlatte (1940)), whose 18th feature it was. The title is a literal translation of the original Italian title.

Giuseppe Rotunno's (Red Sonja (1985)) photography dwells on the Italian beauty in three stories that are a perfect combination of sweetness, bittersweetness and desire. Sophia Loren (Io Sono il Capataz (1951)) and Marcello Mastroianni (I Grandi Peccatori (L'Eterna Catena) (1952)) are ravishing and seem as divinely meant for each other. - The film is a far cry from the corset of neorealism that De Sica championed in his earlier masterworks such as Bicycle Thieves/Ladri di Biciclette (1948), the ultimate one.

Armando Trovajoli's (Mario, Maria e Mario (1993)) music is beautiful and flirtatious. Is the film a bit dated? Perhaps. And a non-Catholic may also object to the salvaging of the young man in the third story, through his joining the cloth and thereby (stifling, potentially dangerous) celibacy. But these are minor reservations to a glorious film.

 

Related posts:

 

Vittorio De Sica: The Garden of the Finzi-Continis/Il Giardino dei Finzi-Contini (1970) - An exquisite, painful De Sica WWII love drama

A Farewell to Arms (1957) or, Love in Spite! (co-star)

 

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: Unknown, projected 1.5 mil. $

Box office: In excess of 21.75 mil. $ (North America, France, Germany and Italy alone)

= Uncertain but likely a mega-hit (projected return of at least 16.66 times its cost)

[Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow was released 21 December (Italy) and runs 118 minutes. Loren was reportedly paid 500k $ for her performance. Shooting took place in Italy, including in Rome. It is listed as having sold 13.39 mil. tickets across France, Germany and Italy, coming to approximately 12.45 mil. $. Together with its impressive North-American gross of 9.3 mil. $, it should have cleared 21.75 mil. $ in these markets alone. Likely its total gross exceeds 25 and perhaps even 30 mil. $. The film won the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar, a BAFTA, 3 David di Donatello award, 1/2 Golden Globe nominations and a National Board of Review award, among other honors. De Sica returned with Marriage Italian Style/Matrimonio all'Italiana (1964). Loren returned first in The Fall of the Roman Empire (1964), and then with Mastroianni in his return also, Marriage Italian Style. 10k+ IMDb users have given Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow a 7.2/10 average rating.]

 

What do you think of Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow?

Epilogue/Hvad Med Os? (1963) - Carlsen's New Wave-inspired bore

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Two stills of middle-aged men superimpose onto one of a young woman make up most of this sparse poster for Henning Carlsen's Epilogue

A Danish WWII Resistance fighter doodles around in Copenhagen almost two decades after the war, engaging in an affair with a beautiful young woman, but finds himself plagued by traumas from the war.

 

Epilogue is written by Leif Panduro (Rundt om Selma (1971, TV movie)) and directed by Danish master filmmaker Henning Carlsen (Dilemma (1962)), whose 2nd film it was. The original Danish title translates to 'what about us?'.

Clearly inspired by the at the time recently arrived French New Wave in cinema, which inspired new types of films across the world, Epilogue has youthful experimental aspirations and can today most aptly be catalogued as a reflection of its time that includes valuable footage of Copenhagen and Dyrehaven (the big open park with wild deer North of the city) from its day. The laziness and lack of commitment in the youth's relation to the older man and her maybe boyfriend (Morten Grunwald (The Black Madonna/Den Sorte Madonna (2007))) is tiring and a bit loathsome in its unrestrained carelessness. 

The plot of Epilogue is stillborn and lacks a dramatic curve: This perceived radicalism fails to fascinate, as must have been intended, and instead becomes deadly boring. Cutaways to images of the war do not relate anything clearly. Epilogue is a failed attempt at a new cinematic language.

 

Related posts:


Henning Carlsen: Memories of My Melancholy Whores/Memoria de Mis Putas Tristes (2011) - Carlsen signs out with a dubious adaptation

Top 10: Best Danish movies reviewed by Film Excess to date 

Film Excess' 5th birthday movie masterpiece: Hunger/Sult/Svält (1966) - Oscarsson leaves you breathless in Carlsen's impressionist masterpiece 

 

 

In lieu of anything related to this film, - which is not to be found on Youtube, - here is a lengthy video of Carlsen talking about the making of his much more interesting first film, the preceding Dilemma, shot in South Africa during apartheid

 

Cost: Unknown

Box office: Unknown

= Uncertain

[Epilogue was released 27 September (Denmark) and runs 93 minutes. Details concerning the film's production and release are regrettably hard to come by. It was released in Sweden and Finland in 1964 and at the San Francisco International Film Festival in 1964, where it won a prize. TCM also report that it was released in San Francisco in 1967. Carlsen returned with I Rum Sø (1964, TV movie) and theatrically with The Cats/Kattorna (1965). Erno Müller returned in 13 TV credits prior to his theatrical return in Nyt Legetøj (1977); Maud Berthelsen (Sommer-Weekend (1963, TV-series)) in Case of the 44's/Ih, Du Forbarmende (1965). 29 IMDb users have given Epilogue a 5.2/10 average rating.]

 

What do you think of Epilogue? 

Hud (1963) - Top points for Ritt's sensational Texas-set drama

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Classy credits, critical praise, a stylish, gritty comics-styled graphic and star Paul Newman's physique and name adorn this poster for Martin Ritt's Hud

Hud is a womanizing drunkard, who lives on his father's Texas ranch along with his nephew, father and a housekeeper, while a possible cattle disease is investigated, and Hud's enmity with his old man escalates.

 

Hud is written by co-writer/co-producer Irving Ravetch and Harriet Frank Jr. (Home from the Hill (1960), both), adapting the novel Horseman, Pass By (1961) by Larry McMurtry (Leaving Cheyenne (1963)), and directed by New-Yorker master filmmaker, co-producer/director Martin Ritt (Edge of the City (1957)), whose 9th feature it was.

Of the poison-laden, conflict-filled high-profile American grown-up dramas of its time (such as Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966), Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958) and others), Hud is the best. Still today it is an electric experience; intense, sexy, brave, stirring and strong. The dialog doesn't just ignite sparks, - it starts wildfires in several directions, and it is a study in suggestion and double meanings. 

Elmer Bernstein (Puppies for Sale (1998, short)) is responsible for the subtle score, and James Wong Howe's (Tess of the Storm Country (1960)) phenomenal cinematography is an evocative, super-sharp B/W ride to treasure. 

The cast is uniformly outstanding: Paul Newman (Exodus (1960)) is eternally on edge as the 'devil-may-care' amoral title character. Incredibly enough he gets the counterweight necessary from Melvyn Douglas' (The Americanization of Emily (1964)) performance as his straight-edged father. The complex and realistic drama extends to Patricia Neal's (Glitter (1984, TV-series)) housekeeper, SPOILER who herself flirts in the period leading up to the culmination, an attempted rape. She and the personality exploring, beautiful nephew (Brandon De Wilde (In Harm's Way (1965))) are also excellent. 

Hud is directed without a false tone in it by Ritt. Ultimately it is a 'Death-of-the-West' type of generational crisis tragedy that points forward to Peter Bogdanovich's The Last Picture Show (1971), (also a McMurtry adaptation.) The eminent ending of the film, both untraditional and brilliant, made me think that Hud might after these events develop into a man not dissimilar to the bitter magnate egotist we see in Paul Thomas Anderson's There Will Be Blood (2007). 

Related post:

Martin Ritt: Edge of the City (1957) - Poitier gleams in Ritt's idealistic debut

 

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: Reportedly 1.6 mil. $

Box office: Reportedly 10 mil. $ (North America only)

= Uncertain but likely a mega-hit (projected return of 9.37 times its cost)

[Hud was released 24 May (North America) and runs 112 minutes. Shooting took place from July - September 1962 in Texas and California. The-numbers.com allege, without giving any source, that the film cost 2.5 mil. $ to produce, whereas 1.6 mil. $ is listed elsewhere, (and seems more likely in my opinion.) They also list the 10 mil. $ domestic gross. With a projected world gross of 15 mil. $, the film ranks as a mega-hit. It was nominated for 7 Oscars, winning 3; Best Actress (Neal), Supporting Actor (Douglas) and Cinematography - Black-and-White. It lost Best Actor to Sidney Poitier for Lilies of the Field, Art Decoration-Set Decoration - Black-and-White to America America, Director to Tony Richardson for Tom Jones, and Adapted Screenplay to John Osborne for Tom Jones. It also won 1/3 BAFTA nominations, was nominated for 5 Golden Globes and won 3 National Board of Review awards, among other honors. Ritt returned with The Outrage (1964). Newman returned in A New Kind of Love (1963). Hud is fresh at 84 % with a 7.50/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Hud?

The Haunting (1963) - Excellent Harris performance in haunted psyche chiller

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Something horrible and ghoulish is teased on this effective poster for Robert Wise's The Haunting

A professor wants to find evidence of a parallel world of spirits and therefore invites a pair of relevant women to join him and the owner at the allegedly haunted Hill House manor.

 

The Haunting is written by Nelson Gidding (Lisa (1962)), adapting The Haunting of Hill House (1959)) by Shirley Jackson (The Sundial (1958)), and directed by great Indianan filmmaker Robert Wise (The Curse of the Cat People (1944)).

Julie Harris (Hamlet (1964)) as our afflicted, independence-seeking protagonist is outstanding, and the film is as much a ghost story as a creepy journey into the mind of a person who is getting near to a psychosis.

The remarkable photography (by Davis Boulton (Children of the Damned (1964))) manipulates with perspectives, distances and more, and the set design is excellent. There's a spiral staircase scene that demonstrates how long a suspense scene can be held. And Lois Maxwell (Lost and Found (1979)) is good in the supporting part as Grace Markway, the investigating doctor's cynical wife.

The Haunting is a study in withheld and insinuated horror that piques the subconscious with its eeriness. 

 

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 1.05 mil. $

Box office: In excess of 1.02 mil. $ (North-American rentals in 1963 only) 

= Uncertain but most likely a flop

[The Haunting opened 21 August (USA) and runs 114 minutes. Shooting took place around October 1962 in England, including in London. Harris suffered from depression at the time of shooting, affecting her performance and interaction (and lack thereof) with the cast and crew. With only a 1963 North-American rental figure, (which is unimpressive), the film's theatrical status is impossible to ascertain, - but it seems likely that The Haunting was a flop. It was nominated for a Golden Globe. It was remade as The Haunting (1999), and has inspired Rose Red (2002, miniseries) and The Haunting of Hill House (2018, miniseries VOD). Wise returned with The Sound of Music (1965). Harris returned in Little Moon of Alban (1964, TV movie), Kraft Suspense Theatre (1964, TV-series) and theatrically in Hamlet (1964); Claire Bloom (The King's Speech (2010)) in Il Maestro di Vigevano (1963). The Haunting is certified fresh at 87 % with an 8.00/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Haunting?

The Girl Who Knew Too Much/La Ragazza che Sapeva Troppo/The Evil Eye (1963) - Bava begins giallo genre with preposterous, sexy, Rome-set romance mystery

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A delectably designed and painted French poster for Mario Bava's The Girl Who Knew Too Much

An American tourist in Rome gets attacked and witnesses a murder, - or did she?

 

The Girl Who Knew Too Much is written by Ennio De Concini (The Twist/Folies Bourgeoises (1976)), Sergio Corbucci (Goliath and the Vampires/Maciste contro il Vampiro (1961)) and Eliana De Sabata (The Attic/L'Attico (1963)), with Mino Guerrini (Commando/Marcia o Crepa (1962)), Francesco Prosperi (Slave of Rome/La Schiava di Roma (1961)) and co-writer/director/cinematographer Mario Bava (Lust of the Vampire/I Vampiri (1957)) contributing elements.

It has a trashy/silly plot, which seems loose not only because the protagonist is an Italian-speaking 'American' with an aunt in Rome and no American characteristics, SPOILER but also from the killer turning out to be a madwoman, who slays in alphabetical order ... John Saxon (Wes Craven's New Nightmare (1994)) and Letícia Román (Who Wants to Sleep?/Das Liebeskarussell (1965)) are sexy, and Bava thankfully manages to get a lot of the eternal city into his film, which is beautiful to behold, and so for the Italophile The Girl Who Knew Too Much is acceptably entertaining. It is also of interest as the ostensibly first giallo movie, the particularly Italian dime-novel adaptation thriller mystery genre, and it certainly is premier giallo nonsense.

Related posts:

Mario Bava: Blood and Black Lace (1964) or, The Fashionista Killer!

Black Sabbath/I Tre Volti Della Paura (1963) - Bava and Karloff's great, gothic anthology 
Hercules Unchained (1959) - Spaghetti decadence never fades (cinematographer)

 

Watch the opening 3 minutes of the film in the French version here

Cost: Unknown
Box office: Unknown

= Uncertain

[The Girl Who Knew Too Much premiered 14 February (Turin, Italy) and runs 86 minutes. Bava was convinced to not leave directing for good and do the film by its American executive producers from American International Pictures, Samuel Arkoff and Jim Nicholson. Shooting took place in Italy, including Rome, from June - August 1962. One source says the film made 27k $ in its opening and only weekend, likely in Italy, but this collides with another information that it opened in different regions of the country in February, June and July of 1963. In North America it was edited with scenes cut, a new score and another ending and more comedic elements and given the title The Evil Eye, playing on a likely highly lucrative double bill with Bava's Black Sabbath (1963). Bava later disparaged the film, calling it "too preposterous." He returned with Black Sabbath (1963). Saxon returned in The Cardinal (1963); Román in The Reunion/La Rimpatriata (1963). 3,982 IMDb users have given The Girl Who Knew Too Much a 7.1/10 average rating.]

 

What do you think of The Girl Who Knew Too Much?

The Great Escape (1963) - Sturges' further manly exploits in war-adventure classic

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An elaborate, dramatically drawn and painted poster for John Sturges' The Great Escape, which effectively screws up expectations

The [in fact far from] true story of the ambitious escape mission from German POW camp Stalag Luft III during WWII by mainly English and American officers.

The Great Escape is written by W.R. Burnett (Sergeants 3 (1962)) and James Clavell (Five Gates to Hell (1959)), adapting the same-titled 1950 book by a survivor of the camp, Paul Brickhill (The Dam Busters (1951)), and directed by John Sturges (The Man Who Dared (1946)).
Compared to some of the other great prison escape films, I don't count The Great Escape among the most suspenseful, and the filmmakers' multi-character approach carries a large part of the guilt for this. Even so this popular classic is ripe with beautiful images, (cinematography by Daniel L. Fapp (A New Kind of Love (1963))) and in the very manly cast especially Richard Attenborough (Secret Flight (1946)) is in top shape in it.

Related posts:

John Sturges:  The Eagle Has Landed (1976) - Sturges' enjoyable, last man's adventure
Chino/Valdez, Il Mezzosangue/Valdez the Half BreedThe Valdez Horses (1973) - Bronson is his own man only in Sturges' good spaghetti western

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 3.8-4 mil. $ (different accounts)
Box office: In excess of 11.9 mil. $
= Uncertain - but at least a box office success and more likely a big hit (returned at least 2.92 times its cost in North America alone)
[The Great Escape premiered 20 June (London) and runs 172 minutes. Brickhill played a minor part in the escape mission in the Stalag Luft III camp but lived to tell the story: 50 allied airmen were executed as punishment for the escape, which only succeeded in getting 3 free; two Norwegians and one Dutch. The book had first been adapted for TV in 1951. Many in the star-studded cast had served in the war, including Attenborough, Charles Bronson and Donald Pleasance (who actually spent a year captured in the German Stalag Luft I POW camp); James Garner (The Pink Jungle (1968)) served in the Korean War. Shooting took place from June - October 1962 in Germany. Steve McQueen (The Reivers (1969)) did his own driving in the film's famous climactic motorcycle chase, except for the jump stunt, which was performed by stuntman Bud Ekins. The film changes the actual history on several fronts, making composite characters of altered nationalities and changing many facts surrounding the escape. It was the year's 10th highest rental grossing title in North America and likely similarly popular internationally, although gross numbers are regrettably not reported online. It was nominated for an Oscar: Best Editing, lost to How the West Was Won. It was also nominated for a Golden Globe and won a National Board of Review award, among other honors. It has been re-released many times, recently a 2019 re-release in the UK grossed the film another 227k $. An unofficial TV movie sequel was made; The Great Escape II: The Untold Story (1988). IMDb's users have voted the film in at #137 on the site's Top 250, sitting between Howl's Moving Castle (2004) and All about Eve (1950). Sturges returned with The Satan Bug (1965). McQueen returned in Soldier in the Rain (1963)); Garner in The Thrill of It All (1963)); and Attenborough in The Third Secret (1964). The Great Escape is certified fresh at 94 % with an 8.27/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Great Escape?

From Russia with Love (1963) - Several remarkable elements make Young's 2nd Bond an enduring classic

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James Bond returns to action, combat, stylish garbs and sexy women on this fabulous painted poster for Terence Young's From Russia with Love

When the evil organization SPECTRE lures MI6 agent James Bond to Istanbul with a Russian beauty and the chance to procure a Soviet cryptographic devise, 007 is launched on a perilous journey for the Lektor machine, his life and the life of the lovely Tatiana.

From Russia with Love is the first Bond sequel, following Dr. No (1962). It is written by Richard Maibaum (Diamonds Are Forever (1971)) and Johanna Harwood (Call Me Bwana (1963)), based on Ian Fleming's (Dr. No (1958)) novel From Russia, with Love (1957), and directed by returning Chinese-born, British master filmmaker Terence Young (The Secret Agents (1965)).
It is filled with Sean Connery's (The Man Who Would Be King (1975)) Bond brand of sexist one-liners, spy setups, the later heavily parodied SPECTRE organization, gadgets, cool locations such as the memorable lethal spy nest of Cold War Istanbul and the gypsy camp that sees alluring belly-dancing turn into a wild cat-fight, - and the Orient Express.
Add to this Connery, the ultimate Bond, who is in his prime as the suave character here; Pedro Armendáriz (The Uprooted (1960)) in his final part as Turkish gentleman Kerim Bey, beautiful Daniela Bianchi (Special Mission Lady Chaplin (1966)) as the main Bond girl, who just can't get enough James, and Robert Shaw (A Man for All Seasons (1966)) as the blond goon, Grant. - And Lotte Lenya (The Appointment (1969)) as the iconic, lesbian, shoe-knifing villain, Rosa Klebb.
From Russia with Love is more scruffy, suspenseful, colorful and handsome than Dr. No; it relies more on espionage elements than lushly exotic locales and is reminiscent of Alfred Hitchcock's masterpiece North by Northwest (1959). It is a spectacle of the rarest order, one that reeks of sex. - And it is certainly one of the top 3 Bond movies of all time.

Related posts:

Terence Young: Top 10: Best franchise movies

Top 10: Best UK movies reviewed by Film Excess to date

Dr. No (1962) - Bond # 1 is one attractive package
Other films in the Bond franchise: Spectre (2015) - Mendes' second Bond delivers Skyfall (2012) - The overly celebrated third pout from Daniel Craig as Bond in slick production
A View to a Kill (1985) or, Once a Gentleman, Always a Gentleman!  Diamonds Are Forever (1971) - Connery's last Bond adventure is a colorful romp
Casino Royale (1967) - The packed spy spoof frontrunner, a film very much of its time (spoof comedy - not an official part of the franchise)

Cost: 3 mil. $
Box office: Reportedly 78.9 mil. $
= Mega-hit
[From Russia with Love premiered 10 October (London) and runs 116 minutes. Connery was paid 54k $ and a 100k $ bonus for his performance in the film. The elaborate chess set cost a huge 150k $ to construct. Shooting took place from April - August 1963 in Turkey, including Istanbul, Italy, England, including London, Scotland and - the shots of rats - in Madrid, Spain. The production was rushed to completion just the year after the first Bond film, and several remarkable problems occurred: Armendáriz was diagnosed with inoperable cancer during production: He completed almost all of his scenes without delay, in pain, and took his own life when he could no longer act. Young crashed into the ocean in a helicopter with the art director and a cameraman in Scotland, but was rescued and completed the day's shooting. Days later, Bianchi's driver fell asleep during their commute, and the actress' face was bruised in the accident, barring her from shooting for two weeks. A boat rented by the production sunk in Turkey's Bosphorus strait, and the final explosion got out of control, burning one person's eyelids and seriously injuring 3 stunt men. The film went over schedule and budget: Its original budget of 2 mil. $ seems to have ended up vastly over its limit, if the 3 mil. $ final cost is accurate. The original international gross is listed as 12.5 mil. $, double Dr. No's take, becoming the most popular movie at the British box office of 1963. With many later re-releases, the film's North American gross has risen to 24.7 mil. $ (31.3 % of the reported international gross of 78.9 mil. $). Original reviews were a mix of praise and ridicule. The film was nominated for a Golden Globe and won a BAFTA, among other honors. Young returned with The Amorous Adventures of Moll Flanders (1965). Connery returned in Woman of Straw (1964). The next Bond movie was Goldfinger (1964), with Connery, directed by Guy Hamilton. Young directed one more Bond movie; Thunderball (1965).  From Russia with Love is certified fresh at 96 % with an 8/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of From Russia with Love?