From Russia With Love

Fifty years ago today saw the world premiere of From Russia With Love at the Odeon Leicester Square. With a few notable differences, including the substitution of SPECTRE for SMERSH, the film closely followed Ian Fleming’s novel and following on from Dr No, a year earlier, was eagerly awaited by audiences hungry for 007. From […]

Take a journey back to James Bond’s sophomore outing with this special collectors issue of MI6 Confidential, celebrating the second 007 film, From Russia With Love, as it marks its 50th anniversary in 2013. With double the budget of the debut outing and filming commencing before Dr No was released in the USA, this issue is […]

The Walther air pistol originally used in promotional photography for From Russia With Love sold recently at action for $300,000. When it was realised that a prop PPK had not been sent along for the photo shoot with Sean Connery an air pistol belonging to the photographer was used instead, with the idea of airbrushing […]

Dating as they do from the Cold War, the James Bond novels by Ian Fleming are inextricably linked to Russia, although 007 only visited the USSR late in the series. Following his ordeal against Blofield at the end of You Only Live Twice, 007 is suffering from amnesia and, triggered by the mention of Vladivostok […]

Although it may not much feel like it at the moment, summer is fast approaching after a long winter that seemed to takeover spring, but finally the weather (at least where I live) has turned. The central heating is off at long last and although the mountains in the distance still have plenty of snow […]

I’ve been a fan of Timothy Ferriss ever since he published The 4-Hour Work Week back in 2007, and while I can understand why he might not be to everyone’s taste, his books do actually make you stop and think about things that you may have been taking granted for years; that can never be […]

Intel’s technology blog, IQ by Intel, features an article looking at some early Bond gadgets that were so in advance of their time that they appeared far fetched, but are in use in some form today. The films in question are From Russia With Love, Goldfinger and Thunderball, with the article discussing mobile phones, GPS, […]

Following the city’s appearance in Skyfall, the Mail Online were guided around Istanbul by local film producer Ali Akdeniza, who coordinated the Turkish location shoot. Filming in Istanbul included a rooftop motorbike chase, and additional scenes were filmed in Adana, eastern Turkey, and Fethiye on the south coast. The article mentions both the book and film versions of […]

Although Ian Fleming will be forever credited with the creation of James Bond, director Terence Young was responsible in many ways for the evolution of the smooth suave agent that people would later fall in love with. Young’s appreciation for tailored suits, fine wines and beautiful women was remarkably similar to that of Bond and […]

Syd Cain, who worked on five of the James Bond films as Art Director and Production Designer, died yesterday at the age of 93. According to an obituary published by MI6: Broccoli hand-picked their first Bond crew largely from his experience with Warwick Films, and selected Cain as his Art Director on “Dr. No”, where […]