Young’s picnic Russia With Love is not in Ian Fleming’s novel.
Young’s picnic begins when Bond and his current lover Sylvia Trench are punting in a boat on /River Cherwell in Oxford. It’s summer. They are tied up in the shade, dressed in bathing suits, and comfortably reclining on cushions. There is food, but what we see best is an ice bucket, a martini shaker, and wine glasses. At the end of the cord, Bond is carefully holding a bottle of Tattinger (vintage unknown).
Bond and Sylvia are about to make love when Moneypenny calls and asks where he is. Bond replies he’s on an important assignment. Sylvia wines, there’s no time to eat. She complains about the call, and Bond tells Moneypenny he’ll return to the “office” in an hour and a half when they need to finish their lovemaking. It’s inconsequential, shaken but not stirred.
Featured Image: Sean Connery as James Bond and Eunice Grayson as Sylvia Trench
See Terrence Young. From Russia With Love (1963). Screenplay by Richard Malbaum and Joanna Harwood is based on Ian Fleming’s novel (1957). Ian Fleming. From Russia, With Love. London: Jonathan Cape, 1957