20 Things You Didn't Know About From Russia With Love (1963)
13. "Welcome To SPECTRE Island!"
With a larger budget, the filmmakers were able to showcase the resources of James Bond's primary enemy, SPECTRE: the Special Executive for Counterintelligence, Terrorism, Revenge, and Extortion.
The group is initially characterised by its headquarters and training centre, supposedly located on a remote island, which is run by Morzeny (Walter Gotell). It is here that Rosa Klebb inspects and selects Red Grant to be the man to kill James Bond and humiliate MI6.
In reality, the “island” was represented by Heatherden Hall and its formal gardens, which are the centrepiece of Pinewood Studios and form part of its administrative centre. They have featured in many movies over the years, including various entries in the Carry On films, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968), The Great Gatsby (1974), and Batman (1989). However, the second official Bond film marks one of their most famous appearances onscreen.
Terence Young also found a way to be economic with the location: when Morzeny shows Klebb the island’s lethal training facilities, instead of having them enter a new area, he simply had Walter Gotell and Lotte Lenya re-enter the same set from a different angle to make the training area seem larger than it actually was.