Casino Royale (1967)

Ian Fleming published the first James Bond novel, Casino Royale, in 1953. It brought a new super spy to book shelves and became a massive success in the United Kingdom. Sales were a little slower in the United States, but the book would soon find success there as well. A year after the release of the book, CBS optioned a television special based on it. More books came out, more success followed. Eventually, it led to a film franchise that began with 1962’s Dr. No. A decade after the release of the first book, there was a successful film franchise to support it.

The James Bond franchise by Eon productions churned out film after film following the success of Dr. No. There was one noticeable absence, however. There was no Casino Royale film. In the 1950s, the rights to adapt Casino Royale had been sold to Gregory Ratoff, who didn’t work with Eon. He never made a film from the book. When he died, his representatives got the rights. They saw the success that Eon was having and decided to make their own version of James Bond. This resulted in 1967’s Casino Royale.

James Bond (David Niven) was brought out of retirement to form a team of spies who would each work to stop the evil SMERSH. The team included Evelyn Tremble (Peter Sellers), Vesper Lynd (Ursula Andress), Mata Bond (Joanna Pettet), The Detainer (Daliah Lavi), Miss Moneypenny (Barbara Bouchet), and Coop (Terence Cooper). Along the way, the team crossed paths with Jimmy Bond (Woody Allen), Le Chiffre (Orson Welles), and Lady Fiona McTarry (Deborah Kerr). It was a James Bond film with an ensemble cast, like all James Bond films. Right?

There were five directors for Casino Royale, and it very much felt so. Each director was given a segment of the film’s script to work with. They filmed their portion and headed off to their next project. It was up to one person to put each part of the film together and they never really fit together in a cohesive way. The movie ended up being a mess because of how it was assembled. Characters would be in one place then all of a sudden be somewhere else. How they got there wouldn’t make a lick of sense. Other characters acted without motivation, which also made no sense. Everything was a mess.

That included the tone of the film. For the most part, Casino Royale was a spoof. It was a comedic take on the James Bond stories that people already knew and loved from watching the Eon films. The introduction of James Bond included David Niven sitting on what looked like a giant accordion, slowly lifting and lowering himself. Someone got abducted in a flying saucer. There was a game that involved throwing giant rocks, which resulted in a bunch of strong men injuring themselves while David Niven was perfectly fine. Things were being played for laughs as much as possible.

The laughs stopped whenever Evelyn Tremble was on screen. Each of his scenes took a much more serious tone. They felt more akin to the Sean Connery movies that Eon was putting out, even though Evelyn Tremble wasn’t as gruff as Sean Connery’s Bond. It wasn’t farcical, aside from one notable shot where Evelyn got into a racecar and said some goofy joke before driving off. It was played straight. He was recruited by MI6, played baccarat against Le Chiffre, got tortured, and that was his story. There weren’t too many jokes in there, aside from the James Bond jokes that are standard in the Eon productions. It was like watching a Bond film within a Bond spoof, which made it stand out in an odd way.

Many of the problems in the disconnect between different sections of the film and the tonal shifts could be attributed to Peter Sellers’s work on Casino Royale. From accounts online, it seems like he didn’t want to play the movie as a comedy. He did whatever he could to make his scenes more serious, closer to the tone of the books and other movies. The script was made to be a farcical spy movie, but Sellers improvised to get the movie closer to what he wanted. It led to some behind-the-scenes disputes with directors, with one notable instance involving a fist being thrown. This is all hearsay based on what I’ve read online, though.

There were other issues that Peter Sellers brought to Casino Royale as well. He was a major trouble to the production. I saw something that said he was the person who got Orson Welles to join the film. However, there was some tension that came between the two, leading to scenes having to be shot around them not wanting to be in the same room. Sellers would also disappear for days at a time, eventually just walking off the film without finishing his work. His absence led to some editing issues as the editors had to work around it without any new scenes being added. The pacing was already a mess because of five directors working separately. The loss of a star without any rewriting only made those issues worse.

Casino Royale was a messy movie. The intentions to make something interesting were there. In the planning process, it was meant to be a spoof of the popular James Bond movies being released by Eon. That shined through in a few moments. But the way it was put together, along with the troubles that the cast caused, meant that Casino Royale wasn’t cohesive at all. It felt like a bunch of disparate parts instead of a satisfying whole.

There was no sequel to Casino Royale. The Eon franchise would go on, but the spoof series would end at one movie. It was an interesting attempt at trying something a little different. However, it didn’t quite work the way it was intended. People didn’t want another messy half-spoof. They wanted more of the James Bond that had already been a success. And they got more. They got over fifty years more. Sure, there was another competing James Bond in the 1980s, thanks to all the Kevin McClory stuff. It was Eon productions that outlasted them all, though. There’s even a new movie coming out this week.

The James Bond franchise has come a long way since Ian Fleming wrote the novel Casino Royale at the Goldeneye estate in 1952. There have been over twenty movies, with even more books. People kept the series of novels going well after Fleming’s death. Over that time, there have been a few takes on the material while it was adapted. Some focused more on realism, others on spectacle, and others yet on comedy. The different ways people interpreted the material helped it become everlasting. There’s something for everyone. There’s a version of James Bond for everyone.

It’s time for a few notes before we head out:

• One of the directors of Casino Royale was Ken Hughes, who directed Sextette (week 141).
• Caroline Munro had a small role in Casino Royale. She was also in Starcrash (week 1) and Slaughter High (week 279).
• John Hollis returned to Sunday “Bad” Movies in Casino Royale after appearing in Flash Gordon (week 81) and Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (week 403).
• Peter Brace, Eddie Powell, and Terry Richards were all in Flash Gordon (week 81) and Casino Royale.
• Anjelica Huston made a quick appearance in Casino Royale. She could also be seen in The Ice Pirates (week 128).
• George Raft has appeared in Casino Royale and Sextette (week 141).
• Rocky Taylor has appeared in two Sunday “Bad” Movies that were both James Bond movies. They were Die Another Day (week 153) and Casino Royale.
• Vladek Sheybal has finally returned to Sunday “Bad” Movies in Casino Royale. It has been a while since he first showed up in The Apple (week 196).
• Finally, Casino Royale featured Burt Kwuok, who was in I Bought a Vampire Motorcycle (week 203).
• Have you seen Casino Royale? What did you think? Was it as messy as I made it out to be? Messier? Let me know on Twitter or in the comments.
• You can use the comments or Twitter to suggest movies I should be watching for Sunday “Bad” Movies. I’m always looking for movies I might not otherwise know that would fit into the blog.
• Head over to Instagram to check out more Sunday “Bad” Movies fun. Trailers, clips, posters, and some other stuff sometimes.
• It’s time to look forward to what’s coming up in Sunday “Bad” Movies. Next week is the first week of October, which means we’re getting into some horror. Things are kicking off with some 1980s horror. Specifically, things are kicking off with 1981’s Graduation Day. Come back next week and I’ll have some words about it. See you then!