Jump Cut 3 - FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE Note, 7.22.06: An updated and amended version of this article with new information is at This Link. Who has cut the end of From Russia with Love? What's missing, and why? At the end of From Russia with Love, Sean Connery and Daniela Bianchi are blithely cruising on a Venetian canal (okay, okay, in front of a rear-projection of a Venice canal) when Connery produces the 8mm roll of blackmail film taken in the Istanbul bridal suite. He holds it up to examine a length of it against the sunlight, and says 'He was right, you know'. Before Bianchi can answer, there is a really obvious cut. A new angle pops on with the actors in different positions and the dialog proceeds as if something substantial has been cut out. Matt Munro singing the title song in the background jumps forward a few notes, indicating that maybe two or three seconds of film are missing. Savant doesn't pretend to know everything and this is an occasion that demonstrates it. I have been unable to get an answer to this question from the usual James Bond experts I know, and I haven't yet seen a shooting script for From Russia, so I can only guess as to why this cut is here. I don't know if older videotapes have the same cut, and I don't know whether or not this is the way the film screened in theaters. Pressed to make my best guess, I'd speculate that in the missing dialog Bond might compare the blue-movie blackmail ploy to England's notorious Profumo sex scandal of the time. A joke like that would be considered embarassing to the Brits and might have been cut for export. It's just a fun guess. Anyone know for sure? Have some proof, a script page perhaps? I'd be grateful for some help in publishing the truth here. FOLLOWUP: Two really helpful responses - do these responses jog anyone's memory? Any U.K. collectors care to check out their copies of From Russia with Love? I want to see it for myself to consider the case closed. MGM V.S. "JOHN" WRITES: "It doesn't get better, it gets deeper. After reading about the jump cut, I examined an old 16mm print made in England at Technicolor (it's an IB print) at the time Thunderball was about to be released. The cut is there. Bond says , "He was right you know", then the cut. The amazing thing is that there is a hot splice in the release print at that point, indicating to me that the negative and sound tracks were not cut. (NOTE: good call. V.S.) This print has the revised "end credit" i.e. The End, but he'll be back in.... Also Technicolor London used to ink edge number the release prints and according to the edge numbering nothing is missing! Perhaps someone who worked at Technicolor London in 1963 or 1964 could provide an answer. I would guess this material is missing from all American copies, although where the leader survived it says it is "production 17286, Version USA Short Version" (although I never heard that there were "different" versions of From Russia with Love.)." - - John DALE WRITES: "I am a member of the James Bond 007 International Fan Club and an expert on all matters concerning 007. In the original edit of the scene, Sean Connery holds up the film and says,"he was right you know - what a performance", referring to his and Tatiana's sexual exploits in the hotel. At the time it was thought that this piece of dialogue was a bit risque and so it was cut. This is why there is a jump of a few seconds in the final scene." -- Regards, Dale McFadzean Esq. Text © Copyright 1997 Glenn Erickson [Savant Main Page] [Savant Links] [Article Index] [Review Index] [Savant 5 Year Report] DVD Savant Text © Copyright 2007 Glenn Erickson Advertise With Us Review Staff | About DVD Talk | Newsletter Subscribe | Join DVD Talk Forum Copyright © DVDTalk.com All rights reserved | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use