John Barry – From Russia With Love (OST)(1963)

From Russia with Love is a 1963 British spy film and the second in the James Bond film series produced by Eon Productions, as well as Sean Connery’s second role as MI6 agent James Bond. It was directed by Terence Young, produced by Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman, and written by Richard Maibaum and Johanna Harwood, based on Ian Fleming’s similarly named 1957 novel. In the film, Bond is sent to assist in the defection of Soviet consulate clerk Tatiana Romanova in Turkey, where SPECTRE plans to avenge Bond’s killing of Dr. No.

Following the success of Dr. No, United Artists greenlit a sequel and doubled the budget available for the producers. In addition to filming on location in Turkey, the action scenes were shot at Pinewood Studios, Buckinghamshire, and in Scotland. Production ran over budget and schedule, and was rushed to finish by its scheduled October 1963 release date.

From Russia with Love was a critical and commercial success. It took in more than $78 million in worldwide box-office receipts, far more than its $2 million budget and more than its predecessor Dr. No, thereby becoming a blockbuster in 1960s cinema.

This film also marked the debut of Desmond Llewelyn as Q, a role he would play for 36 years until The World Is Not Enough in 1999.

Seeking to exact revenge on James Bond (007) for killing its agent Dr. No and destroying the organisation’s assets in the Caribbean, the international criminal organisation SPECTRE begins training agents to kill Bond. Their star pupil is Donald “Red” Grant, an Irish assassin who proves his mettle by killing a Bond impostor in 1 minute and 52 seconds on a training course with a garrote wire concealed in his wristwatch.

Meanwhile, the organisation’s chief planner, a Czech chess grandmaster named Kronsteen (Number 5), devises a plan to play British and Soviet intelligence against each other to procure a Lektor cryptographic device from the Soviets. SPECTRE’s chief executive, Number 1, puts Rosa Klebb (Number 3), a former colonel of SMERSH (the counter-intelligence branch of Soviet Intelligence) who has defected to SPECTRE in the West, in charge of the mission as chief of operations. Klebb chooses Grant to protect Bond until he acquires the Lektor and then to eliminate 007 and steal the cipher machine for SPECTRE. As part of the scheme, Klebb recruits the beautiful Tatiana Romanova, a cipher clerk at the Soviet consulate in Istanbul, who believes the ex-colonel is still working for SMERSH.

In London, M informs Bond that Romanova has contacted their “Station ‘T'” in Turkey, claiming to have fallen in love with Bond from his file photo. She offers to defect to the West, and will bring a top-secret Lektor with her to sweeten the deal, but only on the condition that Bond handle her case, personally. Prior to his departure, Bond is supplied by Q with an attaché case containing a concealed throwing knife, gold sovereigns, a special tear gas booby trap connected to the lock mechanism, and ammunition for an included ArmaLite AR-7 folding sniper rifle with an infrared night scope.

After travelling to Istanbul, Bond heads into the city to meet with station head Ali Kerim Bey, tailed by Bulgarian secret agents working for the Russians. They are in turn tailed by Grant, who kills one of them after Bond is taken back to his hotel, stealing their car and dumping it outside the Soviet Consulate to provoke hostilities between British and Soviet Intelligence. In response, the Soviets bomb Kerim’s office with a limpet mine; Kerim, however, is away from his desk for a tryst with his mistress. Bond and he then investigate the attack by spying on a Soviet consulate meeting through a periscope installed in the underground aqueducts beneath Istanbul. Thus, they learn that the Soviet agent Krilencu is responsible for the bombing. Kerim Bey declares it unwise to stay in the city under such circumstances and takes Bond to a rural gypsy settlement. However, Krilencu learns of this and promptly attacks a gypsy feast, where Bond and Kerim are honoured guests, with a band of hired Bulgarian fighters. Much to Bond’s confusion, he is saved from an enemy fighter during the attack by a distant sniper shot from Grant. The following night, Bond and Kerim Bey track Krilencu to his hideout, where Kerim Bey kills him with Bond’s rifle.

Upon returning to his hotel suite that night, Bond finds Romanova waiting for him in his bed and has sex with her; neither is aware that SPECTRE is filming them. The next day, Romanova heads off for a prearranged rendezvous at Hagia Sophia to drop off the floor plans for the consulate, with Grant ensuring Bond receives the plans by killing the other Bulgarian tail who attempts to intercept the drop. Using the plans, Bond and Kerim Bey successfully steal the Lektor, and together with Romanova, escape with the device onto the Orient Express. On the train, Kerim Bey quickly notices a Soviet security officer named Benz tailing them, prompting him and Bond to subdue him. When Bond leaves Benz and Kerim Bey alone together, Grant kills them and makes it appear as though they killed each other, preventing Bond from leaving the train with Romanova to rendezvous with one of Kerim’s men.

At the railway station in Belgrade, Bond passes on word of Kerim Bey’s death to one of his sons, and asks for an agent from Station Y to meet him at Zagreb. However, when the train arrives at the station, Grant intercepts Nash, sent from Station Y, killing the agent before posing as him. After drugging Romanova at dinner, Grant overpowers Bond before taunting him about SPECTRE’s involvement in the theft. After disclosing that Romanova was unaware of what was truly going on, believing she was working for Russia, Grant reveals to Bond his plans to leave behind the film SPECTRE took of him and Romanova at the hotel, along with a forged blackmail letter, to make it appear that their deaths were the result of a murder-suicide, to scandalise the British intelligence community. Bond quickly convinces him to accept a bribe of gold sovereigns in exchange for a final cigarette, tricking Grant into setting off the booby trap in his attaché case. This distracts Grant enough for Bond to attack him in a brutal brawl. In the ensuing fight, Bond narrowly gains the upper hand, stabbing Grant with the case’s concealed knife before strangling him with his own garrotte. Bond then drags the barely conscious Romanova from the train, which has been stopped by a SPECTRE accomplice, where he hijacks Grant’s getaway truck and flees the scene with Romanova.

Upon hearing the news of Grant’s death, Number 1 calls Klebb and Kronsteen onto the carpet to explain what went wrong and remind them that SPECTRE does not tolerate failure. Kronsteen is executed by the henchman Morzeny with a kick from the poison-tipped switchblade in his shoe. Klebb, however, is given one last chance to make good on the mission and acquire the Lektor (which has already been promised to the Russians in a sell-back scheme).

The next morning, Bond’s stolen truck is intercepted along its escape route by a SPECTRE helicopter, but 007 destroys the attacking aircraft by shooting its co-pilot with his sniper rifle, causing the man to drop a live hand grenade in the cockpit. Thus, Bond and Romanova make it to Grant’s escape boat on the Dalmatian coast and steal that, too, only to be pursued by Morzeny, who leads a squadron of SPECTRE powerboats. Bond, however, escapes by dumping his own powerboat’s fuel drums overboard and detonating them with a Very flare to engulf all the chase boats in a sea of flames.

Eventually, Romanova and he reach a hotel in Venice, where they believe themselves to be safe. Klebb, however, disguised as a maid, makes one final attempt on Bond and the Lektor. Klebb tries to kick him with a poisoned switchblade shoe, but Romanova shoots her with her own dropped gun. With the mission accomplished, Bond and Romanova leave Venice on a romantic boat ride, in which course Bond throws Grant’s blackmail film into the canal.

From Russia with Love is the soundtrack for the second James Bond film of the same name. This is the first series film with John Barry as the primary soundtrack composer.

John Barry, arranger of Monty Norman’s “James Bond Theme” for Dr. No, would be the dominant Bond series composer for most of its history and the inspiration for fellow series composer, David Arnold (who uses cues from this soundtrack in his own for Tomorrow Never Dies). The theme song was composed by Lionel Bart of Oliver! fame and sung by Matt Monro.

Following the decision of the producers not to use Monty Norman, though keeping his “James Bond Theme”, Harry Saltzman decided on using the then popular Lionel Bart of Oliver! fame. Bart was unable to read or write music, but he offered to compose the music and lyrics for a title song to the film.

The producers chose John Barry to score the film. Barry had not only arranged and conducted the “James Bond Theme” from the previous film, but had already scored some films such as Beat Girl and Never Let Go. Barry’s group also charted at No. 13 in the November 1962 UK charts with a different arrangement of the Bond theme from that heard in the film.

The title song was sung by Matt Monro. Monro’s vocal version is played during the film (as source music on a radio) and properly over the film’s end titles. The title credit music is a lively instrumental version of the tune preceded by a brief Barry-composed “James Bond is Back” then segueing into the “James Bond Theme”. On the original film soundtrack, Alan Haven played a jazzy organ over the theme but this version was not released on the soundtrack album. The tune also appears in a soft string arrangement as a theme for Tania. In Germany, the original release featured an end title track cover version called Die Wolga ist Weit sung by Ruthe Berlé.

Originally planning to use local Turkish music as Norman had used Jamaican music on Dr No, Barry accompanied the film crew to Istanbul, however he found nothing suitable for the film.

Recalling his visit to Istanbul, John Barry said, “It was like no place I’d ever been in my life. [The Trip] was supposedly to seep up the music, so Noel Rogers and I used to go ’round to these nightclubs and listen to all this stuff. We had the strangest week, and really came away with nothing, except a lot of ridiculous stories. We went back, talked to Lionel, and then he wrote ‘From Russia with Love.”

The soundtrack’s original recordings are thought to be lost and did not appear when the Bond soundtrack albums were issued in remastered form on CD. The album is different from the film with the album’s recording of the main titles sounding slower and not featuring the organ played by Alan Haven. Several tracks on the album do not appear in the completed film. The album was the last of the Bond soundtrack albums to feature more than the usual six tracks per record side.

The soundtrack album reached No. 28 on the Variety charts in March 1964 with the title song becoming Unart Music’s most recorded song. Other cover versions of the “James Bond Theme” were also released to coincide with the film. Barry also released different cover versions of the title song and “007” on his Ember records for the pop charts. The Roland Shaw Orchestra performed cover versions of most of the music of Barry’s soundtrack on several albums. (by wikipedia)

The cover images include Sean Connery as James Bond, and Daniela Bianchi.

Personnel:
Unknown orchestra conducted by John Barry
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Matt Monro (vocals)

Tracklist:
01. James Bond Is Back – From Russia With Love – James Bond Theme (Bart/Norman) 2.26
02. Tania Meets Klebb (Barry) 1.31
03. Meeting In St. Sophia (Barry) 1.09
04. The Golden Horn (Barry) 2.25
05. Girl Trouble (Barry) 2.27
06. Bond Meets Tania (Bart) 1.20
07. 007 (Barry) 2.47
08. Gypsy Camp (Barry) 1.17
09. Death Of Grant (Barry)
10. From Russia With Love (Bart) 2.35
11. Spectre Island (Barry) 1.19
12. Guitar Lament (Barry) 1.12
13. Man Overboard – Smersh In Action (Barry) 2.19
14. James Bond With Bongos (Norman) 2.33
15. Stalking (Barry) 2.05
16. Leila Dances (Barry) 1.57
17. Death Of Kerim (Bart/Barry) 2.31
18. 007 Takes The Lektor (Barry) 3.03
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19. Die Wolga ist weit (German version of “From Russia With Love” (Bart/Hertha) 2.27

 

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John Barry – Out Of Africa (OST) 1985

Out of Africa is a 1985 American epic romantic drama film directed and produced by Sydney Pollack and starring Robert Redford and Meryl Streep. The film is based loosely on the autobiographical book Out of Africa written by Isak Dinesen (the pseudonym of Danish author Karen Blixen), which was published in 1937, with additional material from Dinesen’s book Shadows on the Grass and other sources. This film received 28 film awards, including seven Academy Awards.

The book was adapted into a screenplay by the writer Kurt Luedtke, and directed by the American Sydney Pollack. Streep played Karen Blixen; Redford played Denys Finch Hatton; and Klaus Maria Brandauer played Baron Bror Blixen. Others in the film included Michael Kitchen as Berkeley Cole; Malick Bowens as Farah; Stephen Kinyanjui as the Chief; Michael Gough as Lord Delamere; Suzanna Hamilton as Felicity, and the model/actress Iman as Mariammo.

The story begins in 1913 in Denmark, when Karen Dinesen (a wealthy but unmarried woman) asks her friend Baron Bror Blixen (Klaus Maria Brandauer) to enter into a marriage of convenience with her. Although Bror is a member of the aristocracy, he is no longer financially secure; therefore, he agrees to the marriage, and the two of them plan to move to Africa to begin a dairy farm.

Upon moving to British East Africa, Karen marries Bror in a brief ceremony, thus becoming Baroness Blixen. She meets and befriends various other colonial residents of the country, most of whom are British. She also meets Denys Finch Hatton (Robert Redford), a local big-game hunter with whom she develops a close friendship. However, things turn out differently from her expectations, since Bror has used her money to purchase a coffee plantation rather than a dairy farm. He also shows little inclination to put any real work into it, preferring instead to become a game hunter. Although theirs was a marriage of convenience, Karen does eventually develop feelings for Bror, but she is distressed when she learns of his extramarital affairs. To make matters worse, Karen contracts syphilis from her philandering husband (at the time, cures were uncertain) and is forced to return to Denmark for a long and difficult period of treatment using the then-new medicine Salvarsan. Bror agrees to look after the plantation in her absence.

After she has recovered and returns to Africa, the First World War is drawing to an end. However, it becomes clear that her marriage to the womanizing Bror has not changed, and she eventually asks him to move out of their house. No longer able to have children of her own due to the effects of the syphilis, she decides to open a school to teach reading, writing, arithmetic, and also some European customs to the African tribal children of the area. However, her coffee plantation runs into financial difficulties, and she is forced to rely on bank loans to make ends meet. Her friendship with Denys Finch Hatton develops further.

Despite her expectation and desire to have what begins as an affair turn into a lasting relationship, Karen realizes that Denys is as impossible to domesticate as the wild animals he hunts and often refers to. Although he moves into Karen’s house, he criticizes her desire to “own” things; this implies even people. He refuses to commit to marriage or give up his free lifestyle and tells her that he will not love her more just because of a “piece of paper”. Karen grudgingly continues in the relationship, knowing it will not ever be official. He decides to invite a female mutual acquaintance on one of his safaris, which exceeds Karen’s ability to tolerate his justifications for his lifestyle and behavior. Karen asks him to accede to her request to not take her along, and he refuses. She asks him to move out. The plantation finally yields a good harvest at long last, but a devastating fire breaks out in the processing shed, and the crops and all of the factory equipment are destroyed.

Now financially broke, and her relationship with Denys over, Karen prepares to leave Africa to return home to Denmark, just as British East Africa is becoming Kenya Colony. She arranges to sell everything that she owns and empties the house of all her luxurious items for a rummage sale. In the now empty house, Denys visits her that night, and the two of them enjoy a drink and a dance. He asks her if he might escort her to Mombasa in his biplane to begin her journey home. She agrees and he promises to return after a few days. However, Denys never returns, and Karen is told that his plane has crashed and that he has been killed. Her loss now complete, Karen attends his funeral in the Ngong Hills. With Denys gone, Karen’s head servant, Farah, takes her to the station, for the train to Mombasa.

Karen later became an author and a storyteller, writing about her experiences and letters in Africa, though she never returned there. (by wikipedia)

The music for Out of Africa was composed and conducted by veteran English composer John Barry. The score included a number of outside pieces such as Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto and African traditional songs. The soundtrack garnered Barry an Oscar for Best Original Score and sits in fifteenth place in the American Film Institute’s list of top 25 American film scores. The soundtrack was released through MCA Records and features 12 tracks of score at a running time of just over thirty-three minutes. A rerecording conducted by Joel McNeely and performed by the Royal Scottish National Orchestra was released in 1997 through Varèse Sarabande and features eighteen tracks of score at a running time just under thirty-nine minutes. (by wikipedia)

And this is a classic soundtrack by John Barry (3 November 1933 – 30 January 2011)

Personnel:
Unknown Orchestra conducted by John Barry
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Academy of St Martin in the Fields conducted by Neville Mariner (on 04.)
Jack Brymer (clarinet on 04.)

Tracklist:
01. Main Title (I Had A Farm In Africa) (Barry) 3.14
02. I’m Better At Hello (Karen’s Theme I) (Barry) 1.18
03. Have You Got A Story For Me” (1:14)
04. Concerto For Clarinet and Orchestra in A (K. 622) (Mozart) 2.49
05. Safari (Barry) 2.44
06. Karen’s Journey/Siyawe (Barry/Traditional) 4.50
07. Flying Over Africa (Barry) 3.25
08. I Had A Compass From Karen (Karen’s Theme II) (Barry) 2.31
09. Alone On The Farm (Barry) 1.56
10. Let The Rest Of The World Go By (Ball/Brennan) 3.17 (3:17)
11. If I Know A Song Of Africa (Karen’s Theme III) (Barry) 2.12
12. End Title (You Are Karen) (Barry) 4.01

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Various Artists – Music To Read James Bond By (1965)

This is a rather oddly-conceived eclectic mix of vintage Bond-era tunes, twelve tracks shaken, not stirred, with the shameless intent of both promoting the movies and selling more records. The bartenders at United Artists Records cannily mixed up this hi-fi cocktail: one part straight off the cinescores, one part covers from high-profile artists of the era, and the remaining third being some seemingly arbitrarily chosen lounge-y fluff, courtesy of the pen of LeRoy Holmes. And speaking of those, “Black on Pink” is a must for crypto-lounge enthusiasts who are always in search of that next obscure Sir Julian (Gould) nugget. In this case, it is a smoky little striptease number led by the good Sir’s overheated Hammond. Another one, “Golden Girl” is the lone track actually also performed by Holmes’s orchestra.

Good ol’ Al Caiola has a bangin’ twang on here, “From Russia With Love,” which was a big hit for him in 1964. It sounds like it should have been in the movie, but it wasn’t. My esteemed bro, Perez Prado, checks in with a funky, over-syncopated version of Goldfinger, which, although an impeccable performance, sounds like a bootleg tape recorded at a night club. Oh! That man can bark!

Ursula Andress & Sean Connery

A thing that might make this record kind of a “jenny stamp” for collectors is the inclusion of a remarkably proto-reggae version of Monty Norman’s “Underneath the Mango Tree,” done by The La Playa Sextet. Please note, however, that on this record they are listed as both The La Playas and The La Playa. I don’t know if this was just a typo, or an attempt to skirt royalties, or to not conflict with the Mardi Gras label or something. I don’t know; The La Playa Sextet was also a part of UA’s standard roster . . .

You also get the standard Shirley Bassey version of Goldfinger, which I’m sure broke one of my tweeters, and the official John Barry version of 007. It’s period fluff, but has some surprisingly worthwhile nuggets on it. A must for lounge lizards! (by Marganon)

Great cheesecake cover photo of nude “golden girl.

Tracklist:
01. Ferrante & Teicher: The James Bond Theme (from film “Dr. No”) (Ferrante/Teicher/Norman 2.25
02. John Barry: 007 (from film “From Russia With Love”) (Barry) 2.49
03. The La Playas: Underneath The Mango Tree (from film “Dr. No”) (The La Playas/Norman) 2.25
04. Sir Julian: Black On Pink (Holmes/Sir Julian) 3.11
05. Perez Prado: Goldfinger (from film “Goldfinger”) (Barry/Prado) 2.24
06. The Leasebreakers: Living It Up (Holmes/The Leasebreakers) 2.10
07. Al Caiola: From Russia With Love (from film “From Russia With Love”) (Caiola/Bart) 2.45
08. Monty Norman: Jamaica Jump Up (from film “Dr. No”) (Norman) 2.08
09. Shirley Bassey: Goldfinger (Newley/Barry/Biscusse/Bassey) 3.07
10. Leroy Holmes: Golden Girl (Holmes) 2.02
11. John Barry: Girl Trouble (from film “From Russia With Love”) (Barry) 2.27
12. Dick Ruedebusch: The Elegant Venus (Ruedebusch/Holmes) 2.01

 

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