20 Things You Didn't Know About From Russia With Love (1963)
5. "Where There’s Smoke, There’s Fire."
The boat chase between James Bond, Tania, and SPECTRE did not appear in the original novel and was added to give the film a more dramatic finale. It was filmed at various locations in western Scotland, as well as in Pinewood Studios' Paddock Tank, as the camera boat shooting the sequence in The Bosporus sank.
However, it was still an incredibly dangerous sequence to film.
During location scouting for a day’s shooting in Argyll, Scotland, Terence Young was coordinating from a helicopter, which crashed in 40 to 50 feet of water. Young was trapped underwater for several hours in an air pocket in the helicopter canopy with art director, Michael White and a cameraman before being rescued.
Harry Saltzman was concerned about completing the film on time and on budget and considered replacing Young with Sir David Lean, but his co-producer, Cubby Broccoli insisted that Young be given the chance to finish the film. Shortly after being rescued, Young was back behind the camera, ready for the full day’s shooting with his arm held in a sling.
Moreover, Daniela Bianchi was involved in a car accident whilst travelling to the set and the bruises that she sustained had to be covered up with make-up during filming. As if that wasn't bad enough, she was also seasick during the boat chase.
Lastly, whilst filming the explosion that consumes the SPECTRE boats on the Paddock Tank at Pinewood, the fire got out of hand, seriously injuring three stuntmen and burning actor, Walter Gotell’s eyelids. Gotell overcame his injuries and later returned to the Bond franchise in the separate role of KGB chief, General Alexis Gogol, which he played throughout the 1970s and 1980s.