[Led2]

On this day 4th June 1963 shooting began for the greatest movie catfight of all time, the gypsy girl fight in Ian Flemings From Russia with Love. Martine Beswick and Aliza Gur, we salute you !

[Dario]

Great and hot fight, a gem for allí us.
Sadly, the fight had just one problem. 5 seconds more to see Aliza's victory.

[JT Edson]

Thanks for sharing that.

[wasteland1952]

That was one of the greatest movie catfights.  I only wish 007 had wanted the catfight to continue after the attack on the gypsy camp.  He missed a golden opportunity!

[Led2]

That was one of the greatest movie catfights.  I only wish 007 had wanted the catfight to continue after the attack on the gypsy camp.  He missed a golden opportunity!

"Just the sight of 2 women fighting like that at close quarters was a big turn on to everybody on the set including Sean Connery who seemed to be having a ball." Martine Beswick. LA. November 12, 1977. I think that just about answers it, yes he would if he'd had his way !

[Led2]

Wondering how many of us catfight enthusiasts got hooked by that scene all over those 60 years 

Absolutely. I was already aware at a very young age that catfights were a turn on, but this fight was most definately a game changer.

[DottiD]

From a females point on it , it was by far the best movie catfight ever and still the best, I agree the fight should have been finished even thought Bond “ married both” , I also think they should have marked the girls cheeks a bit to represent the finger drags as claw marks to emphasize their deep jealous hate for one another. Or maybe after the attack the wagons move to find a new camp and during a stop the two girls go at it again harder with no interruption. Just my creative thoughts on it

[lumberjack66]

If I remember right, in the original novel Bond ends up bedding both of them.  Poor Gypsy prince... has two gorgeous women competing for his affections... leaves town for a bit... hears that the two have finally come to blows agreeing the victor gets him... returns to town to learn that the fight was left undecided as a gun fight erupted and that both women have now been bedded by some english bastard and both women are no longer interested in him.

[DKBfb1]

From a females point on it , it was by far the best movie catfight ever and still the best, I agree the fight should have been finished even thought Bond “ married both” , I also think they should have marked the girls cheeks a bit to represent the finger drags as claw marks to emphasize their deep jealous hate for one another. Or maybe after the attack the wagons move to find a new camp and during a stop the two girls go at it again harder with no interruption. Just my creative thoughts on it

From this male point of view it is still far and away the most incredible and breath-taking turn-on I've ever known. There isn't even a close second. I knew it was 60 years ago but didn't know the exact date. Now I do.

I remember it from my formative days and have absolutely no idea how many times I've seen it since then. It's a lot though. Despite being forever grateful that it was made in the first place I do also find myself rather disappointed that there has been nothing like it since. I mean when you really think about it, 60 years is a hell of a long time to still be thinking about, and talking about, a few brief minutes of a movie. I'm sure Martine Beswick, Aliza Gur and Terence Young would have never expected it to still be so famous decades after filming. Or, the other way of looking at it is it is unmatchable. I wonder if it will still be the benchmark in another 60 years. Not that it will make any difference to me.

I would have loved there to have been at least a few attempts at remakes over the intervening decades. Maybe my memory is playing tricks on me but I was sure some years ago that I seen somewhere that an exact re-enactment had been done. That was probably wishful thinking as I've never come across it. I'm sure if such a thing did exist I'd have seen it by now. It's may actually be impossible to recreate such a masterpiece. The atmospheric setting, the musical score building the intensity for the viewer, the underlying story, and of course the explosive ferocity the girls explode at each other with. And the scratching!!! I've never known that in my life. I hated myself for loving it but loved it more than it made me hate myself. That last bit is probably gibberish to most people. It's gibberish to me.

I like to imagine that once a decade (in an alternate reality) two actresses agree to fight on camera in a similar fashion and setting to pay tribute to the original. So if Aliza Gur vs Martine Beswick was in the '60's then here are a couple of suggestions for the following decades.

1970's Diana Rigg (the famous Mrs Emma Peel) vs ?? (I don't know who her opponent should be yet).
1980's Catherine Bach vs Lynda Carter. (They could dress as Daisy Duke and Wonder Woman if they wanted to).
1990's Kate Beckinsale vs Catherine Zeta Jones.
Which leaves the 2000's, 2010's and the remainder of this decade.

And before I forget to say, your creative thoughts are awesome!!!

[Bear]

I would agree that this fight was definitely a game changer.  Here was a feature film, not a B Flick, with a full fledged catfight.  IMHO the build-up is really what makes this fight special, as do the two beauties involved.  I remember watching the film (prior to reading the book) and thinking, "Is this really going to happen?"  For once, I wasn't disappointed. 

As far as it being the best catfight ever -- I would argue that the second fight in the movie "The Amazons" aka "Warrior Princess," which was filmed a few years later, is much better.  In fact, I'd take the first fight in that film over "From Russia With Love." 

Still without "From Russia" we probably would not have had "The Amazons."

[Canadian Fight]

Frankly we find the account of the fight in the original novel even more intense.  I finishes with one woman about to end the other with teeth to her rivals throat before the whole fight gets interrupted.