When talks dissolved, Feldman redefined his approach and decided to satirize the Bondmania that had since gripped the world. Feldman sought to make a deal with the producers of the Bond franchise to film Casino Royale as a faithful entry in the series with Connery in the role (going so far that it was heavily rumored that it would serve as the follow-up to Goldfinger). Having acquired the rights to Ian Fleming‘s novel after it had been filmed as a one-hour one off for the Climax TV show, producer Charles K. Surely this will go down in comedy history – wait, why are there five directors? No‘s Ursula Andress? How could it possibly go wrong? I mean, just look at that poster! Naked tattooed girls and one of the greatest casts ever assembled. A 007 film with David Niven as Bond which also starred Peter Sellers and Dr. You can imagine my surprise when on a visit to the library I happened across Casino Royale for the first time. Both would lead me to other terrific films such as Niven’s The Guns of Navarone (1961) and Seller’s Dr. About the same time, I discovered other films from the era such as Blake Edwards’ comic masterpiece The Pink Panther (1963) starring David Niven and Peter Sellers. Having first seen Never Say Never Again on TV (the other major unofficial Bond film), I sought out the series on VHS and began watching them in order to the best of my ability. Casino Royale (1967)Īs a kid, I loved the James Bond series. For all its faults, plot holes, and euphoric inconsistencies, Casino Royale has a certain charm, with some incredibly inventive set pieces and gags peaking through its constant barrage of inebriated excess. Yet, despite its troubles, there is an accidental brilliance that underlies the whole production. In fact, it’s a damn cinematic miracle that the film was even completed and released. With dozens of directors and screenwriters alternating throughout the film’s production (many, to their luck, uncredited), maddening celebrity feuds, and the top-billed star, Peter Sellers, abandoning the picture halfway through, it isn’t the biggest surprise that it ended up being such a gigantic mess.

Where does one begin with 1967’s Casino Royale? An unofficial spoof of the Sean Connery James Bond series “suggested” by the first 007 novel of the same name (which had already been filmed as a black & white television special in 1954), Casino Royale succeeds as neither a proper spoof or, for that matter, a proper film. If you were to mix every single stereotype of the 1960’s with a who’s who of the biggest stars of the time in a blender with a dash of powerful psychedelics, the resulting sludge, though colorful, would still be more consistent and coherent than what we got instead.

Casino royale 1954 colour