If we accept Largo as the main villain in Thunderball even though he reports to Blofeld, the same logic applies to Klebb

Totally agree. While Blofeld is definetely the "head honcho" in the movie, Klebb is the primary among multiple antagonists. What makes FRWL such a unique and great movie is the fact that Bond is really going up against an entire organization and not a single person. More so than the other SPECTRE films.

The Living Daylights in a corner, seeing Calvin's new series on a channel: 'hehe I'm in danger'. Great video, Calvin! I agree Klebb is the true villain. But I do understand people saying it's Grant. Great analysis as always!

I agree that Klebb is the main villain of the film. She carries out the plan and brings everything together, even if she doesn’t always have boots on the ground. Plus, she’s the final foe Bond has to face.

Poor Kronsteen. He comes up with the evil plan and puts everything into motion, but he misses out because he's an ass and nobody likes him. Anyway, now time for Octopussy, Living Daylights and Tomorrow Never Dies- General Chang needs RESPECT, dammit!

That thumbnail makes it look like the cat is the villian

I agree that Klebb is the film's main villain but I have a strange sympathy for Kronsteen. When he tells Blofeld the plan failed because of Grant, he is absolutely correct. Bond was unconscious at Grant's feet, he could have killed Bond then and the plan would have worked perfectly. Instead, Grant let Bond recover and then did the whole "kiss my foot" routine. Hardly Kronsteen's fault. Of course, Kronsteen's death is not really about him being punished for failure. It's to let the audience know that the shoe blades are poisonous, to ratchet up the tension in Bond's later confrontation with Klebb.

From the thumbnail I legit thought the cat was one of the candidates for main villain lol

I always wandered who the main villain in From Russia with Love was when I was younger. Now I think it’s Rosa Klebb because apart from Blofeld she is the highest ranking Spectre agent in the movie and even though Kronsteen came up with the plan it was Klebb who selected Red Grant and other various henchmen to carry it out. Also she gets the final main villain fight at the end with Bond. Blofeld is definitely the one in charge of the whole organisation but he doesn’t get that much screen time and isn’t fully revealed until You Only Live Twice.

I've always seen Klebb as the main villain of FRWL. Klebb just had a more villainous presence throughout the film and I see Grant as being her henchmen. I mean how many Bond villains can punch a murderous henchmen in the stomach with a knuckleduster without fearing that their henchman wouldn't snap their neck once their back is turned?

I saw the poll and voted for Grant! I think Rosa actually is the main villan, but Grant for me is the most iconic and, I think, has superceded Lenya's Klebb as the most IMPORTANT antagonistic figure, for he audience, to come out of that film. Either way, amazing video as always, my friend. You inspire me! I will be starting my own channel and content in November.

I know is fun to have these debates about "who is the main villain of that 007 film", but in the case of FRWL I like to say that SPECTRE as a whole is the main villain with Donald Grant as the main henchman. Besides, it's nice to have multiple main villains in a Bond movie once in a while.

To me, 'ensemble' just makes me think of sitcom casts (I know it's a music/theatre term but I watch too much TV) so you talking about SPECTRE as an ensemble of antagonists just makes me think what a SPECTRE sitcom would look like. I reckon it'd be something like Cheers, just it's Blofeld instead of Sam, Klebb instead of Carla, and a terrorist group's private island instead of a bar.

In the novel, at least, there's an argument to be made for Grant as the main villain. There's a brief bit where Grant reflects on his murderous career and wonders "What's next?" More perks and priviliges? More medals? Or maybe there's A MAN OUT THERE that he hasn't yet met -- a challenger. In a way, this sort of sets up Grant as that "dark side of Bond" trope that a couple of the films have used; and the final fight on the Orient Express takes on the aspect of duel.

The ensemble villian method of this film really is a reason i love it. Makes it stand out!!

Everyone knows that Maria Menounos is the canon From Russia With Love main villain!

I love Red Grant. I think he's an underrated Bond villain. The fact that he is essentially a dark opposite of Bond makes him stand out amongst all other Bond foes.

6:31 It's also interesting to note when the main 'heavy' has been a woman, there never the 'silent but deadly' type but instead have plenty of dialogue and interaction with Bond more like Grant in FRWL [such as Fatima Blush, May Day and Xenia]. 9:50 They did do exactly that [along with the copyrighted prohibited Blofeld] for the 2005 video game although Kronstein is in the multiplayer!

10:15 - i think the reason they kept Kronsteen is to show what the shoe dagger would've done to Bond had Klebb been able to kick him with it.

I think this is similar to THE GODFATHER dynamic. Sollozzo seemed to the main antagonist, but he is allied with the Tataglia family, who support him financially. Capt. McClusky was one of the biggest threats to the Corleone family since he gives Sollozzo immunity. However, we find at the ending that they are all working for Barzini. Yet, we hardly ever see Barzini in the movie. So, who's the real villain? Is there a single one?

It's telling FRWL came before Goldfinger really cemented the 'Bond formula', especially regarding the villains. I personally see Blofeld as the main villain as it's him who initiates the plan [and negotiates the sale of the Lektor with the Soviets] and then gets his people to carry it out [Kronstein to flesh out the details; Klebb to liaise with the manipulated Tatianna and Grant; Grant to do the dirty work] but I could see a case for Grant as he is the one who interacts with Bond the most or Klebb as like the book she's the 'final boss'!

I'd say Klebb and Grant share the honours, though Klebb gets the nod being the more senior. Kronsteen and Blofeld don't engage Bond so are peripheral, though both are highly memorable. FRWL is an outstanding Bond film with a real sense of menace. Not just a great Bond, but a high point of the whole 60s spy genre. And one which really does have the Cold War as a backdrop. It would work as a stand alone picture.

I voted for Blofeld, as he is the authority figure. But can agree with either Klebb or Grant too. The idea of the 'ensemble', though, is the main focus of this story. It is presented so brilliantly, and overwhelmingly, in the first third of the book. It is really well presented in the film too.

10:08 To your point about merging Kronsteen with Klebb, if you remember the From Russia with Love video game, that is exactly what they did there. The game is really Klebb and Grant’s show. Klebb comes up with the plan and she even gets Kronsteen’s “My reading of the British mentality” line.

That Golden Gun poster is a real surprise in that they went with Savalas' image as Blofeld, considering that OHMSS was viewed as a failure, and they had two other Blofelds to pick from.

My favourite Bond Film. Klebb terrified the bits out of me as a kid. Every time I watch it, I spot something new. A masterpiece!

I have always thought that Klebb is the main villain of FRWL, with Grant being the henchman. They are the two main villains in the film but Klebb's seniority over Grant puts her in the main villain category. Incidentally they are both excellent in their respective roles.

I've always been scared of Rosa Klebb, despite the actress Lotte Lenya was apparently seen as a very lovely woman by everyone :)

Sounds like Klebb tracks into the same put-upon-middle-manager role as Krennick in Rogue One, where the hierarchy of Blofeld or Tarkin are constantly hovering over their heads, and their increasing efforts to survive by just doing their jobs being the driving force of the conflicts

Great points, Calvin! Also consider the order in which the villains are killed. First Kronsteen, then Grant, then Klebb, then the movie is over. Blofeld is the shadowy figure in the background that will first come into the foreground in You Only Live Twice where he is the end boss.

I think FRWL has one of the best villain teams of any of the movies (although not quite as colorful as Calvin's favorite - the GoldenEye ensemble). The 5 main villains (including Morzeny) are all so distinct in terms of their role and their strengths, but are all menacing in their own way. Even the supporting baddies (Krilencu, Benz, Rhoda) bring different things to the table.

The main villainous quote i took away from Russia with love is "What is bond compared to Kronsteen"

I say it's Klebb. Blofeld is the boss but the entire conspiracy is basically her enterprise.

The two Gypsy women are the real villains. Making a poor bloke choose between the two!? Horrid

I think the point you make is very good; what Bond is facing in FRWL is an organisation. SPECTRE very much behaves like one throughout. The head honcho sets an objective but doesn't get their hand's dirty with it himself (Blofeld). Then an analyst crunches the numbers and works out a plan as to how the achieve the goal (Kronsteen), who in turn hands it to Middle Management (Klebb), who's job is to take this plan and execute it. To that end she assigns an expert to perform some of the more specialist tasks the plan calls for (Grant), while she coordinates the personnel in the field. Then when things go wrong, the boss fires somebody, albeit rather more permanently than most places (no Golden Parachutes in SPECTRE) and makes it clear to the remaining staff on the project, that they better fix this OR ELSE. Fearing punishment our middle manager is forced into a piece of desperate improvisation to try and save herself and as is often the case which such things; it doesn't work. But yeah, in my book Klebb is the Main Villain, with Kronsteen as the Mastermind, Grant as the Muscle and Blofeld as the Overlord they all answer to (kind of like a Mafia family, with Klebb as the local boss, while Blofeld is the Don she pays homage to).

Just started watching this .. I'd always assumed Blofeld as the main villain. The rest are hench people.

I think I agree with you on Klebb. Red Grant just gets a juicier henchman role than most.

When I tried to read all Bond novels in their original order my first reaction to Grant's introduction was "Wow - is that the same guy who killed LeChiffre?" even though their description didn't actually match

Usually in the opening & ending credits for Bond Films, the main villain of the movie is given Top Billing & is usually in the near the top of the credits (usually 3rd highest). For ‘From Russia With Love,’ the 5 highest characters/actors for the movie are: . James Bond - Sean Connery . Tatiana - Daniela Bianchi . Kerim Bey - Pedro Armendariz . Rosa Klebb - Lotte Lenya . Grant - Robert Shaw So, if we were to go off the credits, the movie ranks Klebb more important to the movie than Grant (by just 1 space)

I interpret it as this, Blofeld is the producer so rosa, Rosa is the director, kronsteen is the writer and red is the lead actor. So for me the main villain is actually all 4 Morzeny is the prop designer/effects engineer and Krilencu is the lead supporting actor, these two are more like henchmen because nobody talks about them but they actually fight James.

I think SPECTRE is the main villain and FRWL does a good job, possibly better than any other, of showing the breadth of the organisation. There isn't a single main antagonist, but each villain brings something to the film. I sort of wish that Kronstein had more screen time and than the faceless Blofield had more of a presence in more films. I guess that having a single main villain and henchman makes for a tighter story, but at least on screen it's much easier to keep track of the characters than in a novel.

Bond is up against an entire Organisation in FRWL, with its own Hierarchy: Blofeld is the Boss, Kronsteen the guy devising a plan to achieve a certain objective, Klebb the Operative to carry said plan out and Grant the Blunt Instrument to do the dirty work. So yeah, just like Largo (both of them), Le Chiffre and Greene weren't the top dogs but still the highest-ranking threat Bond faced in their respective Movies, so is Klebb in this one.

It’s difficult to say as it is undeniable that Red Grant has the most presence in the movie. He is the big challenge & villain in Bond’s story. He is the tough fight for Bond, the first Dark Side of Bond villain and a man who is equal to Bond in every way. And of course these are Bond movies, so the main antagonist to Bond is the main antagonist of the story. However, he is still following orders from those above him. Klebb is in control of the entire operation & is (while not nearly as much as Grant) still a major presence in the movie. It is with her the inner turmoil with Tatiana stems from. Much like how Grant is the main villainous presence in Bond’s story, Klebb is the main villainous presence in Tatiana’s story. But even despite all that, she is still following orders from the man in-charge of everything & the one who is in complete control. Blofeld is the one who everyone here is following & who everyone here fears. He is such a massive figure in this plan that Bond can’t even get to him. The man behind it all & a man that Klebb clearly fears. The interesting thing with From Russia With Love (& the Connery Spectre Bond films as a whole) is that unlike in other films, Bond can’t immediately get to the one in-charge of every operation in just 1 film. He has to deal with one of Spectre’s operations one at a time, and has to build his way to get to the top of Spectre. With each Connery film (with the exception of Goldfinger) we see he has to fight a part of Spectre & the one in-charge of a section. Dr No, Klebb & Grant, Largo, until he finally gets to see the one in-charge of them all in You Only Live Twice, and from only there does Blofeld become the villain in Bond’s story. The moment he looks them in the eye. So saying that, I don’t think Blofeld is the main villain in From Russia With Love. He only appears in two scenes and, while he in-charge of everything, Bond doesn’t get to see him as the one in-charge & see him as the villain of his story…Yet… It’s between Grant & Klebb for me. Klebb as she is in-charge of Grant & definitely has a big enough presence in the film, causing the conflict for Tatiana and is about as prominent in the movie as Stromberg is in The Spy Who Loved Me. Grant as he is easily the biggest & most prominent antagonist in the movie, is the biggest challenge & danger for Bond in the film, and is the main villain for Bond in his story & his mission to get the Lektor Decoder. That is Bond’s mission in the movie, not to defeat Klebb or find out who’s in charge of Spectre, but get the Lektor Decoder which Grant is the main antagonist for in that story

The video looks like the cat is amongst the main villain's candidates

I think it's pretty close between Klebb and Grant. That said, I'm going with Grant. To me, he's so much more than just a henchman. He's essentially the SPECTRE equivalent to Bond here. He's the one sent on the mission to kill Bond and get the Lector. He's clever, witty, greedy and tough. The mirror side of Bond for this story. He also takes it personally and really wants Bond to suffer and be humilated. My impression is Klebb is doing this out of fear of Blofeld and duty. Grant enjoys putting Bond on his knees. Still they both could clain title of main villain and I'm happy. It's a terrific Bond adventure.

I’ve always felt that calling Grant a heavy or muscle or a henchman was really shortchanging his autonomy in actually pursuing his orders. He’s given WAAAY more latitude than other heavies. That’s why I consider him the main villain.

I figured this would be the next video, after the poll. Great job!

Kronsteen is the best bond character ever, don’t change my mind

Blofeld's cat is the true villain. The cat controls Blofeld; Blofeld could manage all this directly himself if the cat would get off his lap.

fun fact: From Russia with Love is Sean Connery's Favourite Bond Film. ah it's no wonder he came back to potray Bond for the last time with the video game of the same name as the film.

Weird that my brother and I just had a simila arguement just yesterday on this. I had it that Klebb was the main antagonist, but he argued that Grant does a bit more, and Blofeld is in the story but takes a back seat. He also mentioned this Kronsteen fellow and his importance in the story (I've only seen the film once and didn't like it) I'd also be interesting in seeing a video on who the main villains are in The Living Daylights, Thunderball or Octopussy.

If any of the movies was ever going to be called Spectre, it really should have been this one. I think the Spectre organization itself is the main villain in this one, with Klebb being the most orchestrative to the plot, kind of like a manager, Grant being the greatest physical threat, Blofeld being the boss, Kronstein as the mastermind/brains, which they humorously kill themselves, and Mozenni being the head of all other henchmen. It's all of them though, the whole organization creating the threat to Bond and everyone else.

I would say that the main villain in From Russia With Love is not a single person, but the SPECTRE organization itself. After all, all four of the potential candidates for 'main villain' in that movie ARE all members of SPECTRE. And yes, while Rosa Klebb, Red Grant, Kronsteen, and Ernst Stavro Blofeld all have different ranks and statuses within the SPECTRE organization (Blofeld is No. 1, Klebb is No. 3, Kronsteen is No. 5, and Red Grant is a hired assassin), they're all ultimately working toward the same end: conquest of the whole world under the banner of SPECTRE.

I was just think about this earlier and boom, Calvin delivers.

For me, I guess I’d go with Blofeld, just because each of the rest of them (at least Grant and Klebb) feel as though they have relatively equal presence in the story. Klebb is working for Blofeld and working under Kronsteen’s scheme, Grant is working for Klebb and Kronsteen… I love him but he’s not really doing much after the beginning. It’s tricky, because there isn’t really any scenes between Bond and the villains, outside the sequence with Bond and Grant and the climax with Klebb, whereas usually there’s a main baddie who Bond squares off against across the story. Also it’s definitely Morzeny, why? Because he’s played by Walter Gotell, who would eventually become a series main stay as General Gogol.

I think because From Russia With Love is such an early movie the Bond "formula" of having a main villain wasn't established yet and indeed I don't think there is one

I always assumed the point was that there was no singular villain in FRWL, that it was Bond up against SPECTRE as a whole and that is part of what made the film cool to me.

Going back to TWINE, the only reason Renard is considered the main villain was because of the script choice to have Elektra's villainy a twist reveal and the subsequent marketing of the film refelected that choice.

I would say that “Spectre” is the villain as a whole

Been watching you since the license to kill days and how much it was your «favorite» Bond movie ;) anyways you made me want to read the novels and it made me love the Bond seires much more then i already did, and its all thanks to you! Thank you for being the best Bond content KZfaqr out there, and keep up the good work you are putting into your videos, it makes my day!:)

I feel like you could argue that despite fitting the mold of the henchman, Red Grant could get away with being considered the main villain in FRWL because that formula hadn't been established yet. And once it is a movie later in Goldfinger, you'd be hard pressed to argue that Odd Job comes close to the level of importance and villainy as Grant. He may be under Klebb's orders but he acts too autonomously to completely separate him from the masterminding as well.

Thoroughly fascinating video!

It's always gonna be Grant for me, because yes he's a henchman, but he is much smarter than any other henchman in Bond history. For me that puts him a cut above the generalized henchman category. And he monologues. That's also something traditionally reserved for the main villain.

To me The Movie villian is Rosa Klebb, blofeld was an unknown at the time and Grant was the muscleman and Kronsteen the brains?! The video game FRWL seemed to pump up Red Grant as the villian or main baddie

Aaah, Lotte Lenya... who played Jenny in the premiere of The Threepenny Opera in 1928, and in the 1931 movie! Main villain or not, she will always be my favourite James Bond Girl! Dont be fooled by the severe appearance of her character, she has had quite a romantic life!

There was a second Man With the Golden Gun poster that featured previous Bond foes. For From Russia With Love, the image was Klebb and Grant (and the Telly Savalas version of Blofeld).

I'll just copy my post from the community tab poll on the topic here: I would argue that there isn't one. A main villain is either the one with the most screen time, the most interaction with the protagonist(s), the final boss who has to be defeated at the end of the climax, or the mastermind behind the plan that the protagonist(s) has/have to overcome. Most Bond films follow the formular that combindes the first two and last aspect into one character, with the main henchman then being the one who acts as a final boss that has to be overcome at the end of the climax. This makes it easy to determine who the main villain is. In this film that's basically impossible. Blofeld is out right from the start. He might be the Big Bad who looms in the background and is the main villain of the SPECTRE arc but if we just focus on this movie, he's almost a non-entity to the overall plot and narrative. Kronsteen fills the role of the mastermind but he has only slightly more screentime than Blofeld and less than Klebb and Grant nor does he ever interact with Bond. I don't know who has the exact more screen time, Klebb or Grant, but I tend towards Grant and he also has the most interactions with the main protagonist of the story, Bond. Meanwhile, Klebb is the final boss who is killed at the end of the climax, and she has the most interactions with the secondary protagonist, Tatiana. This makes both the potential best candidate for the role but the presence of Kronsteen and Blofeld throughout the film basically ruins them as such. In Marvel's The Avengers, it's relatively easy to make out Loki as the main villain, even though he's not the Big Bad. Thanos is only teased and has one appearance at the end. Loki has by far the most screen time of the villains, interacts with the heroes the most, appears to be in charge of the invasion, and is the final boss of the film. If Thanos had popped up throughout the movie to talk with Loki, it would have confused matters because it would have undermined Loki's role as the main villain since he would instead have been portrayed more as a henchman. A role he was playing anyhow but he was not presented as such. Meanwhile, Klebb is kinda presented as Blofeld and Kronsteen's henchwoman and Grant is clearly her henchman. She's obviously not meant to be seen as the main villain in control of what is going on, nor can Grant be seen as such. Despite having very little screen time and relative little prominence, which disqualifies both Kronsteen and Blofeld for being the main villain, it is enough that they can also disqualify Klebb. TL;DR: From Russia with Love might be the one Bond film that actually lacks a real main villain.

Tis a tricky one. Kronsteen assembled the pieces, Grant did most of the work, but even then he was little more than a henchman to me. Klebb... is the most iconic villain from that film, and was the one involved in the final confrontation with Bond. She also hired Grant, and manipulated Romanova into place for the final shot to be fired. Push comes to shove, I might go with Klebb.

In the film; it’s Rosa Klebb. In the novel; it’s Tatiana Romanova.

SMERSH was active from 1943 to 1946, eleven years before Fleming wrote FRWL. Ian Fleming's information may not have been as up-to-date as he claimed ....

So we have many multi villain bond movies so here how it goes 1. From Russia with love - rosa kleeb(main), red garnt(henchmen), kornsteen(sub main - planning), bloefled(the boss waiting for results) 2. Thunderball :- Largo(main), bloefled(same for FWRL) 3. On her majesty's secret service :- bloefeld(main), irma burnt(secondary) 4. Octopussy :- berkoff(main), Kamal Khan(secondary) 5:- the living daylights :- koskoff(main), Whittaker( Final boss), necros(henchmen) 6:- Goldeneye:- alec(main), ourumov(sub- Main) 7:- the world is not enough :- Elektra(main, -planning), renard(main, - execution). 8:- no time to die:- bloefled(main), safir(main).

As I'm about to do my own review of the film for my channel, I was prepared to justify my view of Klebb as the main villain. However, you've done such a great job detailing the reasons I would have cited that I'm tempted just to send viewers your way. Wonderful job, Calvin.

Grant for me. He’s the main force bond fights and the plot revolves around him. And he’s a evil bond in many ways also the movie opens with him

Rosa Klebb is the main villain of the film but I think Red Grant is more than a henchman as he's Bond's nemesis in the film. When it comes to this film I'm willing to split hairs when it comes to the pair of them as villains. As for The World is Not Enough it's easy, Electra is the main villain and Renard is the secondary antagonist.

Reynard couldn't feel Electra. He ends up playing with a Parker Pen refill in the sub. Of all the Bond villains in a chav boiler suit he gets the sympathy vote.

I didn't vote as when I saw the question, I realised how long it had been since I saw the film. I didn't feel qualified to judge but now I've seen your video, I agree that it's Klebb.

I've always liked the idea that the main villain of FRWL is SPECTRE itself. Blofeld, Kronstein, Kleb and Red Grant all represent different functions/levels of hierarchy within the organization. Blofeld is the supreme leader who controls the overall direction of the organization Kronstein is the organization's strategist/mastermind. Klebb is a tactician/middle manager type who implements the organization's grand strategy through the use of SPECTRE's many assets/field agents. Grant represents the Organization's muscle and carries out the Organization's plans on the ground.

I would argue for the organization as main villain -- SMERSH in the book, SPECTRE in the movie.

I think Red Grant because even though Klebb sent Grant after Bond, he mainly operates on his on and bested Bond. He feels like a constant threat throughout. He even saves Bond when he easily could have killed him at the gypsy camp. He's a cat toying with a mouse, entertaining himself till he ready go make the kill.

For me it’s always been clear. Klebb’s the main villain of the film and Grant is the henchman.

2:47 I listed FRwL as my second-favorite Fleming novel. However, that's based entirely on the strength of its second and third acts. And the first act kept it from reaching the top spot.

If Klebb is the Henchwoman to Blofield in From Russia With Love then you would have to consider Largo to be a Henchmen in Thunderball.

My favorite thing about SPECTRE in FRWL and Thunderball is that lower-ranked members of the organization don't really read as "henchmen" in the same way that someone like Oddjob or Jaws does. Red Grant is a proper antagonist in his own right, not simply a vicious lackey without the capacity for independent thought. The same is true of Fiona Volpe (and Fatima Blush, for that matter). They may be assisting the higher-ups in the organization, but they are formidable intellectual opponents who really could work just as well in the role of main villain. This aspect is sadly lost in the later SPECTRE adventures once Blofeld becomes the undisputed main heavy, though Irma Bunt does hold her own much better than the lower-ranking agents in YOLT and DAF.

I'd go with Blofeld, Klebb doesn't really give off the same sense of autonomy that Dr. No or Largo did. The scene where she reports in terrified to Blofeld establishes the pecking order and nor is she Bond's main threat with Grant on the scene.

Gosh Calvin, you need a parental guidance warning for that remark at 3:37 😄

hi Calvin. i believe i,o that SPECTRE as an organisation overall is the REAL main villain of FRWL because that sets up the films that come afterwards.

To me Klebb(book and movie) was a tool for the main organization to achieve its main goal. The same can be said about Largo but instead of being in the background he had a more active role.

Ultimately Spectre head Blofeldt. I quess you've got a double villain in Kleb an Robo. Wish we got just a touch more Sheybel. It's one of the most real Bonds.

My issue with Klebb is that she's, as you said, middle management. I can see two schools of thought in defining the main villain for this movie. It's either the guy that's kind of Bond's equal and has most interaction with him, or the boss that's behind it all. Klebb is neither. I would go for Grant for this one. If it's not him because his rank is too low, why stop at Klebb and not take it all the way up to Blofeld? One defining metric is who Bond has to fight in the climactic battle, where the stakes are highest. That's Dr. No and Largo in the other films that have Blofeld as a background figure. Here, it's Grant. The mission is to get the macguffin and the girl out of Eastern Europe, and Grant is the one standing in Bond's way. The train fight is the climactic battle. The one direct confrontation Klebb has with Bond is a last-ditch effort to save a plan that has already failed. They are already in Italy at this point, the mission is accomplished. To me, that's a classic "henchman survives the climax and tries to enact revenge after the main plot is solved" situation. Although that trope probably wasn't invented yet in 1963.

I think The Living Daylights was written the same way, maybe as a throwback to FRWL. I've often heard people cite the lack of a main villain in TLD as a reason it wouldn't make their top ten but it's nice to have a couple of films that break the mould. Necros wasn't even a henchman, from some of the dialogue it's clear he's there for his own interests of armament or something ("my friends depend on me")

I never saw Grant as the main villain, because we see him take direct orders by Klebb multiple times, and doing some dirty work like other henchmen in the series, so he instantly slotted in the henchmen category for me.

Bond is the main villain. He tries to make me feel guilty every time I drink red wine with fish.

If From Russia with Love has to have ONE Bond villain, then it would be Rosa Klebb. She stays in the back, orders her henchman (Red Grant) to do the fighting and only at the last minute confronts Bond. Blofeld is too obscure and mysterious, has too litle screen time and is never actually seen to be the main villain. And Kronsteen is merely a planner in the back, just like General Gogol is a trainer in the back. OTOH, isn't it rather a good thing that FRWL doesn't fully fit a formula. And it is the greatest Bond film anyway.

In Disc 2 of the ultimate edition dvd, it’s her image next to Bond’s that strikes through the screen on the opening of the menu

Another excellent video on a niche subject which Bond fans love to debate. Great work as always.

Might as well add my 2 cents into this. A lot of people who simply dismiss it as simply “she’s a henchmen” to the point of demoting Le Chiffre from “Casino Royale”, but like I have said for when it comes to Bane from “The Dark Knight Rises” or Elsa from “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade”, there is more to what makes a character the main antagonist than whoever is charge or on top. There is the whole concept of which villain is the plays the biggest challenge to heroes’ journey if you've read Joseph Campbell's “Heroes of a Thousand Faces”. For example, with “Casino Royale”, while Le Chiffre is working for higher ups, he is the villain who has the most developed rivalry with Bond in that film and contributes to developing the main hero more than any other villain within the film. Plus, the general plot of “Casino Royale” was mostly organised by Le Chiffre, he might have worked for a big organisation, but still organised the poker tournament and a lot of the terrorist acts beforehand for his own gain and to save his own skin. You could see either Rosa Klebb or even Red Grant as the main villain of “From Russia with Love”. But I still lean more towards Rode because while technically stealing the Lektor decoding device was not her originally idea since it was technically Tev Kronsteen, her position as Number 3 of SPECTRE was to push the plan forward as well as recruit and manipulate the likes of Tatiana Romanova to hep Bond steal the device and her idea to send Red Grant to kill him and recover it. Rosa is also the villain with most personal stakes in all this because similar to Le Chiffre after Blofeld kills Tev for the failure of the mission, she essentially have to finish the job to save her own skin. There is also the fact that "Villain" is a subcategory of the antagonist archetype, and both are often used interchangeably to describe a force that drives the conflict. As such, the main antagonist role can often be bestowed upon more than one character if the narrative permits it. In the case of many Bond films that involve SPECTRE, Blofeld can be considered an overarching antagonist but not the main antagonist if he has little bearing upon the plot (“From Russia with Love”, “Thunderball”, “Casino Royale”, “Quantum of Solace” and retroactively “Skyfall”). In the case of “The World Is Not Enough”, the main antagonist role is split between Elektra and Renard, like “Octopussy” and “The Living Daylights”

As a kid, I did not question that Klebb was the main villain. In fact, pre-Internet, I feel like the general consensus of the media was that Klebb was the main villain. Kid me thought she was really scary because she seemed like someone's granny, but she could kill you very easily (unless you had a chair handy). For the longest time I would name Klebb as my favorite Bond villain. She's a lot more memorable than Dr No, Goldfinger, Largo, Blofeld etc., who are - to some extent - largely the same type of character. It wasn't until we got to Kananga and Scaramanga that the villains started being a bit different, but then we went right back to evil corporate geniuses. Lotte Lenya puts in an amazing performance too, and manages to stand out in a film full of very good performances. These days, I'd put Rosa Klebb at #2 on my list of Bond villains, behind Sanchez, although Elektra King and Drax would not be too far behind. I realized my ranking of villains is mostly down to the actor's performance rather than any specifics of their character. As much as I like Scaramanga and Christopher Lee, there's something about the writing or the performance that lowers him from the top spot a little.

Hahaha, I rewatched From Russia with Love today and when I posted my review on Letterboxd this video was recommend to me. Definitely shouldn't have ordered red wine with fish.

Rosa Klebb. Always thought that.

I consider Red Grant to be magnificently and memorably evil, and yet I do not consider it a demotion in the slightest to consider him a great henchman, while Rosa Klebb is more properly the villain here.