The Royal World Premiere of From Russia with Love was held on 10 October 1963 and attended by John Russell and The Duchess of Bedford. It was held at multiple venues in London which included the London Pavilion with the Odeon Theatre, Leicester Square being the main venue for the occasion. This was the final James Bond premiere attended by James Bond creator Ian Fleming before his death.
The scene in which James Bond and Tatiana Romonava first meet in the hotel suite has since been used as an audition scene for potential Bond actors and Bond girls. This can be seen in the "making of" documentaries for other Bond films.
This is the first James Bond film to feature John Barry as the primary soundtrack composer. The score allegedly still contains riffs from Monty Norman's work on Dr. No. Barry himself felt that Goldfinger was the first film in the series where he had complete creative control over the soundtrack.
Three Beauty Pageant Queens are actresses in this film: Daniela Bianchi, Martine Beswick, Aliza Gur. Bianchi (Italy) and Gur (Israel) were roommates at Miss Universe 1960, which Bianchi won.
Two actresses with bit parts would reappear in later films: Nadja Regin, who plays Kerim's girl, would play the dancer at the start of Goldfinger, and Martine Beswick (called Martin Beswick in the credits), one of the Gypsy girls, returned as Paula in Thunderball.
Vehicles featured included The Orient Express Train; SPECTRE's two-seater Hiller UH-12C helicopter; a yellow C30 1961 Chevrolet flatbed delivery truck; a 1960 Ford Fordor Ranch Wagon; a Venetian water taxi gondola; a Fairey Huntress 23 speed boat being pursued by two Huntsman 28 and two Huntress speedboats. In Istanbul, Bond is pursued by a black Citroën Traction Avant and chauffeured by a black Rolls Royce Silver Wraith Phantom V. Bond owns a Bentley automobile as was the case in the original Ian Fleming novels. Here it is a green-black Derby Bentley Mark IV ½ Liter Sports Tourer drophead coupé convertible with MTS radio car-telephone, a uncommon toy for 1963 and only new to Britain at the time of the film. Bond never has a Bentley car again in a Bond film except for Casino Royale and Never Say Never Again.
When then President John F. Kennedy listed Ian Fleming''s book among his top ten favorite novels of all time, a list published in Life Magazine, March 17, 1961, the producers decided to make this the second James Bond movie. According to the book "Death of a President" (1964) by William Raymond Manchester, this was the last motion picture John F. Kennedy ever saw, on a private screening in the White House, November 20, 1963.
With the advent of the Cold War, producers Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman didn't want James Bond's main enemy to be Russian, so for the film version his nemesis is the criminal organization SPECTRE, seeking revenge for the death of their operative, Doctor No in Dr. No.
Years earlier, Alfred Hitchcock was originally considered as director, with James Bond being played by Cary Grant and Grace Kelly lured out of retirement to play Tatiana Romanova. These ideas were scrapped after Vertigo failed at the box office. The helicopter chase scene is a homage to Hitchcock's cropduster sequence in North by Northwest.
Anthony Dawson:
In the first appearance of the Ernst Stavro Blofeld villain character in a James Bond movie. His part is uncredited in the credits, which are attributed to a question mark. Dawson had previously appeared in Dr. No as Professor Dent and again would return as Blofeld in Thunderball. He is the only actor to have ever played Blofeld more than once. The voice of Blofeld in this film was dubbed by an uncredited Eric Pohlmann.
Bob Simmons:
The series regular stuntman is the actor appearing in the gun barrel sequence at the beginning of the film. The same footage was used for the first three James Bond movies, the others being Dr. No and Goldfinger.
Terence Young:
The director appears (uncredited) as an extra and as a body double (uncredited) for Pedro Armendáriz.
Nikki Van der Zyl:
As the voice (uncredited) of a Receptionist. She dubbed other actresses' voices as Honey Ryder in Dr. No and Domino Derval in Thunderball.
Eric Pohlmann:
As the voice (uncredited) of Ernst Stravro Blofeld.
Dorothea Bennett:
The wife of director Terence Young as a Woman on Bridge in Venice who films James Bond and Tatiana Romanova.
Jaqi Saltzman:
Wife of producer Harry Saltzman is leaning out the window of the Orient Express, next to the window containing Robert Shaw, as it leaves the station. The film was actually shot on the real Orient Express.