A Quick Look: CASINO ROYALE (1967 - color)

 
   The one Fleming story EON didn't posses the rights to when they began making the books into a film franchise was the very first Bond story, Casino Royale. Instead, another company used the story as the base for a wild spoof of James Bond and the spy genre in general, resulting in 1967's CASINO ROYALE. David Niven plays Sir James Bond, the greatest spy to ever live. Sir James is a moral man, and none too thrilled that his name and number have been passed on to the promiscuous hero currently fighting the forces of evil. With the enemy organization SMERSH on the verge of taking over the world, M and some of his peers beg Sir James to come out of retirement and take charge. When an explosion kills M, Sir James must take control of MI6. His first move is to name all field agents James Bond 007, even the girls, in order to confuse the enemy. An amazing cast is assembled, which includes the likes of Peter Sellers, William Holden, Orson Wells, and Ursula Andress. Multiple directors and a slew of writers parody every aspect of international espionage and intrigue, but this gives the film great unevenness. While there are a few amusing bits sprinkled throughout, the bulk of the film is an unfunny mess. (An example of the film's humor -and actually one of the more amusing bits- is that Sir James stutters through the first few reels. When he takes control of MI6, he tells Moneypenny that he doesn't have time to stutter anymore, and speaks perfectly well for the rest of the picture.) The best the movie offers are some amazing special effects and the marvelous sets for SMERSH's underground headquarters. But it's all too random to really be very entertaining. The film flopped. On the plus side, Barbara Bouchet played Miss Moneypenny, as seen standing next to Sir James in the photo. "CASINO ROYALE is too much for one James Bond!" screamed the ads, parodied by OPERATION KID BROTHER's previews "Neil Connery is too much! OPERATION KID BROTHER is too much, for one mother!" Because of the slew of actors playing "James Bond" in CASINO ROYALE, ads for YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE proudly screamed "Sean Connery IS James Bond!" Around the turn of the century, EON finally secured the rights to the novel, and used a much straighter version of CASINO ROYALE to introduce Daniel Craig as the new 007.