Casino Royale (1967) - IMDb IMDb There was an error trying to load your rating for this title. Some parts of this page won't work property. Please reload or try later. X Beta I'm Watching This! Keep track of everything you watch; tell your friends. Error In an early spy spoof, aging Sir James Bond comes out of retirement to take on SMERSH. Directors: From $9.99 (SD) on Amazon Video ON DISC a list of 25 titles created 25 May 2011 a list of 43 titles created 16 May 2012 a list of 26 titles created 05 Nov 2012 a list of 26 titles created 21 Jul 2013 a list of 42 titles created 02 Jul 2015 Search for " Casino Royale " on Amazon.com Connect with IMDb Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Use the HTML below. You must be a registered user to use the IMDb rating plugin. Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 3 nominations.

See more awards » Photos A SPECTRE agent has stolen two American nuclear warheads, and James Bond must find their targets before they are detonated. Director: Irvin Kershner A playboy who refuses to give up his hedonistic lifestyle to settle down and marry his true love seeks help from a demented psychoanalyst who is having romantic problems of his own. Directors: Clive Donner, Richard Talmadge Stars: Peter Sellers, Peter O'Toole, Romy Schneider James Bond woos a mob boss's daughter and goes undercover to uncover the true reason for Blofeld's allergy research in the Swiss Alps that involves beautiful women from around the world. Director: Peter R. Hunt A resourceful British government agent seeks answers in a case involving the disappearance of a colleague and the disruption of the American space program. Director: Terence Young A diamond smuggling investigation leads James Bond to Las Vegas, where he uncovers an evil plot involving a rich business tycoon. Director: Guy Hamilton Agent 007 and the Japanese secret service ninja force must find and stop the true culprit of a series of spacejackings before nuclear war is provoked.

Director: Lewis Gilbert James Bond heads to The Bahamas to recover two nuclear warheads stolen by SPECTRE agent Emilio Largo in an international extortion scheme. Director: Terence Young James Bond is led to believe that he is targeted by the world's most expensive assassin while he attempts to recover sensitive solar cell technology that is being sold to the highest bidder. Director: Guy Hamilton James Bond willingly falls into an assassination ploy involving a naive Russian beauty in order to retrieve a Soviet encryption device that was stolen by SPECTRE. Director: Terence Young 007 is sent to stop a diabolically brilliant heroin magnate armed with a complex organization and a reliable psychic tarot card reader. Director: Guy Hamilton James Bond investigates the hijacking of British and Russian submarines carrying nuclear warheads with the help of a KGB agent whose lover he killed. Director: Lewis Gilbert A fake Fabergé egg and a fellow agent's death lead James Bond to uncover an international jewel-smuggling operation, headed by the mysterious Octopussy, being used to disguise a nuclear attack on N.A.T.O. forces. Director: John Glen Edit Storyline After the death of M, Sir James Bond is called back out of retirement to stop SMERSH.

In order to trick SMERSH and Le Chiffre, Bond thinks up the ultimate plan. That every agent will be named James Bond. One of the Bonds, whose real name is Evelyn Tremble is sent to take on Le Chiffre in a game of baccarat, but all the Bonds get more than they can handle. Written by simon Casino Royale is too much for one James Bond! See more » Genres: 28 April 1967 (USA) See more » Also Known As: Charles K. Feldman's Casino Royale See more » Filming Locations: 70 mm 6-Track (Westrex Recording System) (70 mm prints)| Mono (35 mm prints) Color: Black and White (archive footage: Keystone Cops)| Color (Technicolor) Aspect Ratio: Cameos by Frank Sinatra , Sophia Loren , and Barbra Streisand were planned. See more » Goofs When the pod from the flying saucer "drives" up out of the water in the underground dock, the cable pulling it is plainly visible near the bottom of the screen. See more » Quotes Sir James : [In Mata's room] Who are all these people?

Mata Bond : They're the high priests of the temple. Okay, Fred, up it! [a priest gets up and bows as he leaves] Sir James : What an extraordinary performance. They seem to treat you like some kind of goddess. Mata Bond : Well, I am the celestial virgin of the sacred altar. See more » Crazy Credits The opening credit animation by Richard Williams parodies illuminated manuscripts with cartoon-style calligraphy. It sets the tone for the film as a psychedelic "knight's tale" of Sir James Bond. See more » Connections "Too many cooks spoil the broth". 5 October 2005 | by Galina (Virginia, USA) – See all my reviews What a mess of the royal proportions - such a great cast (Peter Sellers, David Niven, Orson Welles, Woody Allen, Ursula Andress, Deborah Kerr, and Jean-Paul Belmondo), the James Bond's story, plenty of beautiful (and I mean it) girls, the music by Burt Bacharach, most famous sets - but the movie is almost totally unwatchable.

It started funny enough - at Sir James Bond's (David Niven) home where he was approached by four international agents that forced him to come out of retirement and head up the operation against the evil organization SMERSH. His mission is to destroy Topple LeChiffre (Orson Welles} at the baccarat tables where he never loses and wins a lot of money to supply SMERSH. Then, the movie becomes silly, stupid, pointless, and (what is the worst) not funny. Only Woody Allen, (as Bond's incompetent nephew, Jimmy Bond) brilliant as usual has appeared in two scenes and made them silly and hilarious. I think that "Casino Royale" (the way it was made) illustrates the fact that bigger is not always better - overlong and overblown, written and directed by five or more writers and directors, it brings to mind an old saying, "Too many cooks spoil the broth". OT: the abbreviation SMERSH really existed during the WWII. It means "Death to the Spies" in Russian. 49 of 70 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you?

Yes Casino Royale (Versions) | James Bond Wiki | Fandom powered by Wikia Novel — Film — Soundtrack — Song — Characters — Location Casino Royale is Ian Fleming 's first James Bond novel. It paved the way for a further eleven novels by Fleming himself, in addition to two short story collections, followed by many "continuation" Bond novels by other authors. The story entails James Bond, Agent 007 of the "Secret Service", travelling to the casino at Royale-Les-Eaux in order to bankrupt a fifth-columnist, Le Chiffre, the treasurer of a French union and a member of the Russian secret service. Bond is supported in his endeavours by Vesper Lynd, a member of his own service, as well as Felix Leiter of the CIA and René Mathis of the French Deuxième Bureau. Since it was first published on 13 April 1953, Casino Royale has been adapted for the screen three times. The first was a 1954 episode of the CBS television series Climax! with Barry Nelson as CIA agent "Jimmy Bond".

The first Casino Royale film was a 1967 spoof with David Niven playing "Sir James Bond", with the second being the twenty-first official film in the Eon Productions film series with Daniel Craig as James Bond, released on 17 November 2006. Versions Casino Royale (2006) - The twenty-first film in the Eon James Bond film series and the first to star Daniel Craig as fictional MI6 agent James Bond . Directed by Martin Campbell and written by Neal Purvis, Robert Wade and Paul Haggis, the film marks the third screen adaptation of Ian Fleming's 1953 novel of the same name, which was previously produced as a 1954 television episode and a 1967 satirical film. Casino Royale is set at the beginning of Bond's career as Agent 007, just as he is earning his licence to kill. After preventing a terrorist attack at Miami International Airport, Bond falls for Vesper Lynd, the treasury employee assigned to provide the money he needs to bankrupt terrorist financier Le Chiffre by beating him in a high-stakes poker game. The story arc continues in the following Bond film, Quantum of Solace (2008).

Casino Royale (1967) - A 1967 comedy spy film originally produced by Columbia Pictures starring an ensemble cast of directors and actors. It is set as a satire of the James Bond film series and the spy genre, and is loosely based on Ian Fleming's first James Bond novel.The film stars David Niven as the original Bond, Sir James Bond 007. Forced out of retirement to investigate the deaths and disappearances of international spies, he soon battles the mysterious Dr. Noah and SMERSH . Casino Royale (1954) - The 1954 television adaptation of the novel of the same name by Ian Fleming. The show is the first screen adaptation of a James Bond novel and stars Barry Nelson and Peter Lorre . Though this marks the first onscreen appearance of the character of James Bond, Nelson's character is played as an American agent with "Combined Intelligence" and is referred to as "Jimmy" by several characters.

A Look At All The Actors Who Have Played 007 A Look At All The Actors Who Have Played 007 By Starpulse.com November 13, 2008 Like Starpulse on Facebook This Friday, Sir Ian Fleming's James Bond is back in theaters. Daniel Craig has brought a brute anger to the role that has not quite been seen before. In the very least, as we learned in the 2006 version of Casino Royale , he certainly does not care any longer how his martini is served. Craig is under contract for one more Bond film after Quantum of Solace , but what if he does not return after that twenty-third film? What will his post Bond career look like? Let's take a look at all the actors who have played 007 -- rouge film, or not -- and what their post Bond careers looked like. Barry Nelson - Casino Royale (1954) That's right, Sean Connery was not the first actor to portray James Bond. EON later bought the rights to all of Ian Fleming's novels, except for Casino Royale which, until 2006, created some rouge Royale films.

Nelson, an American no less, played Bond in this adaptation airing live as an hour long special on CBS. A television series was rumored but never materialized. Nelson went on to have a successful stage career but is probably best remembered for playing the hotel manager in The Shining. VERY ORIGINAL CASINO ROYALE Sean Connery - Dr. No , From Russia With Love , Goldfinger , Thunderball , You Only Live Twice , Diamonds Are Forever , Never Say Never Again (1962-1967, 1971, 1983) Sean Connery is, arguably, the quintessential James Bond. He was the first (with all apologies to the late Barry Nelson) and, many will say, the best. He had the intensity of future Bonds such as Timothy Dalton and Daniel Craig , but could find humor in his situation as well as Roger Moore ever could. In 1967 Connery left the role, only to return in 1971 after the producers offered him a hefty fee to return for Diamonds are Forever. Unfortunately, "hefty" is also is a good adjective to describe the physical condition Connery was in when he showed up on the set.

He returned once more to the role of James Bond in the renegade Never Say Never Again, which, due to a contract loophole, was just an updated version of Thunderball not produced by EON and is not considered part of the series. After Connery left the role of James Bond he was never heard from again. (Unless, of course, you count the Oscar he won for The Untouchables or count the leading roles he had in The Presidio , The Hunt for Red October , Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade or The Rock.) David Niven - Casino Royale (1967) Another result of EON not getting the rights to Casino Royale, was this 1967 satire starring the legendary David Niven as the ageing spy. Obviously not part of the official James Bond series, this version of Royale does mark the only time the character of James Bond dies during the coarse of the film. Niven, whose great roles were mostly behind him -- but still managed to appear in twenty-two more films, including two cameos in the Pink Panther films -- is best remembered, post Casino Royale, for his Academy Awards appearance in 1974 when, appearing as a presenter, a man streaked the stage behind him.

Unfazed, Niven quipped,"Isn't it fascinating to think, that probably the only laugh that man will ever get in his life, is by stripping off and showing his shortcomings." George Lazenby - On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969) Sean Connery had played James Bond five times and had tired of the role. Future Bond's Timothy Dalton and Roger Moore both declined for separate reasons, leaving the role open for Lazenby. A point could be made that Lazenby paved the road for Roger Moore by absorbing all of the scorn associated with replacing a beloved actor. Critics will defend On Her Majesty's Secret Service as the most faithful representation of an Ian Fleming novel, but audience reaction was so divided that after Lazenby, unbelievably, left the role, producers jumped at the chance to get Connery back for the next film, Diamonds Are Forever , at the price of an astronomical salary, for the time, of $2 million. As noted, Lazenby left the role on his own free will; James Bond, other than a few bit parts, remains his only role of note.

Roger Moore - Live And Let Die , The Man With The Golden Gun , The Spy Who Loved Me , Moonraker , For Your Eyes Only , Octopussy , A View to a Kill (1973-1985) If you're a child of the 1980's, this is most likely, for better or worse, your 007. Moore was serviceable as the British super spy; starring in a record seven consecutive James Bond films. From the very good -- The Spy Who Loved Me; to the absolute absurd -- Moonraker. Moore let his license to kill expire after 1985's A View to a Kill, when he was pushing 60(!) -- a fact not lost upon critical viewers (at least we got a good Duran Duran song out of it). Post Bond, Moore had made occasional appearances in film, including a role on Alias and what may be the only redeemable part of the Cuba Gooding Jr. vehicle, Boat Trip . More importantly, Roger Moore has been heavily involved in charity work; most notably UNICEF, in which he became a goodwill ambassador in 1991.

Timothy Dalton - The Living Daylights , Licence To Kill (1987-1989) The famous story goes that Pierce Brosnan could not get out of his contract with Remington Steele, so the part of Bond was given to Dalton. Technically this is true, but, Dalton was offered the part before Brosnan and he turned it down at first because of a prior comitment. Remember, Dalton was offered the part way back in 1969 so the producers were always trying to get him on board. Daulton made one really good Bond movie, The Living Daylights, and one pretty bad one, License to Kill. Regardless, just like the Bonds before him, it was his choice to leave the role after a few delays on what eventually became GoldenEye. After leaving, Dalton has had a succesful stage career along with periodic film roles including The Rocketeer, Hot Fuzz and, well, unfortunately, The Beautician and the Beast. Pierce Brosnan - GoldenEye , Tomorrow Never Dies , The World Is Not Enough , Die Another Day (1995-2002) Officially, the last "former" James Bond.

Brosnan in an interesting case because he may be the only Bond to not leave on his own accord. Somewhere, in the course of negotiations for a fifth film, talks broke down and Brosnan walked away from James Bond. Perhaps a failed negotiation strategy, it's not entirely known; what is known, is that the four Bond movies Brosnan starred in are, by far, the highest grossing Bond movies in the history of the franchise -- only eclipsed by the 2006 version of Casino Royale . Brosnan continues to star in critical favorites such as The Matador and box-office hits like Mamma Mia! in which he absolutely butchered ABBA's S.O.S.; that is, butchered it all the way to the bank! So, Daniel Craig , it looks as though your future, if history repeats, includes: An Oscar, a naked man, some stage work and, finally, the movie adaptation of Cats. Casino Royale - 45th Anniversary Edition Soundtrack (1967) 92:21 From the Manufacturer Quartet Records is proud to present its most ambitious release yet with an expanded 2-CD presentation of Burt Bacharach 's swinging' cult score for Casino Royale .

Written for Charles K. Feldman's ambitious comedy spoof starring David Niven, Ursula Andress, Peter Sellers, Woody Allen and Orson Welles. The film is a far cry from Ian Fleming's tense spy thrillerbut it was never meant to be taken seriously... After the death of his boss, Sir James Bond (Niven) decides to battle its nefarious enemy SMERSH through confusing the heck out of them. By renaming all of its operatives to James Bond (including the girls), Sir James launches numerous parallel storylines with various characters dubbed as 007. Baccarat expert Evelyn Tremble (Sellers) is given the task to bankrupt the villainous Le Chiffre (Welles)he is introduced to the world of espionage and love by the more experienced Vesper Lynd (Andress). In the meantime, Sir James' illegitimate daughter Mata Bond (Joanna Pettet) breaks off her sabbatical in an Indian temple to investigate a strange organization in East Berlin, discovering the most shocking auction ever.

Another relative of Sir James named Jimmy (Allen) wrecks havoc as an incredibly incompetent agent, but he is ready to surprise his uncle when all the plotlines converge in Casino Royale for a huge brawl where cowboys, Indians, legionnaires and even monkeys participate in the largest slapstick scene ever filmed. The convoluted plot is the direct result of a nine month shooting period that ate up five (credited) directors, countless screenwriters and many changes in lead actors. The disagree-ments between co-stars Peter Sellers and Orson Welles lead to a major halt in production, then the entire plot was re-written and organized around David Niven's elderly secret agent, who'll have none of the modern shenanigans or gadgets at hand. The original adaptation was thus turned into an episodic adventure, where every single plotline is going in a different direction, then finally somehow ends up at Casino Royale (except the stories that go nowherethose are just there for fun). Alternatively described as the "anti-auteur work of all time" and "a testament to wastefulness in the bigger-is-better cinema," Feldman's mammoth comedy stood the test of time and became a cult phenomenon referenced in everything from Austin Powers to Family Guy .

One of the most lasting aspects of the film is its score, provided by Burt Bacharach who had previously worked with Feldman on What's New Pussycat? (also release by Quartet Records the past year, and now sold out). His infectious main theme performed by Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass is just the starting point of an epic comedy ride that includes such highlights as the unforgettable "The Look of Love" by Dusty Springfield or the epic fight music at the end of the film. Produced by record industry legend Phil Ramone, the original soundtrack LP offered selected highlights of the program, expertly edited to showcase the best parts of the entire score. Thanks to the legendary sound quality of the stereo copies, this record became one of the most highly sought after collectibles of the entire industry. But Burt Bacharach 's score deserves even more than that, so Quartet Records gave this decade-defining score a deluxe treatment to highlight all the versatility and humor the composer put into this immense spoof monument.

To commemorate the 45th anniversary of the film (as well as the 50th anniversary of the 007 franchise), we dug deep into various archives to unearth previously unavailable treasures and put together the definitive edition of the score. We found two diferent DME's in MGM's vaults and although the music stems were in mono, they were in very good condition except for the obligatory volume shifts in mixing. By carefully editing and remastering the tapes with top sound engineer Josï¿½ Luis Crespo (who frequently works together with Alberto Iglesias), we managed to create a program of the complete score in the better possible sound. In addition, we have created an convincent stereo image in Pro-tools, and mastering with the most advanced CEDAR tecnique. Every single note recorded by Bacharach for the film is herewe even removed some of the more glaring micro-edits to make Disc 1 of our collection not only complete, but aesthetically pleasing. The Disc 2 holds our second surprise for fans of the soundtrack.

Although the original stereo LP of Casino Royale is a highly sought after collector's item for its excellent sound quality, previous CD editions of the music didn't satisfy audiophiles because of the corrupted tapes that were used for those releases. There have been numerous attempts to ratify this mistake (including the Kritzerland issue the past year, and his effort to present this soundtrack from mint condition vinyl), we found something even better. We have been fortunate to find a 1/2 15 i.p.s stereo tape in the vaults of Sony Music Spain, which were used for the release of RCA Victor's Spanish release of the album in March 1968. Although this was not a first generation tape (which had been irrevocably damaged), it's a good alternative and with out subtle equalization to minimize the inherent flaws, this is possibly as good as Casino Royale is going to sound in the digital domain. The coincidental discovery of these two treasures within 2 months prompted us to put together this exclusive package, which includes a double-CD, an 8-page full color booklet and a separate 64-page full color book with notes by Bond music specialist Gergely Hubai.

The author discusses production history, analyzes the music, provides track-by-track rundown, compares the two programs and discusses the release history in addition to the eye-popping and shagadelic illustration that includes rare stills, poster artwork and other cinematic paraphernalia. There is currently no review for this soundtrack. If you are interested in contributing one, please contact us . Casino Royale (1967 film) | James Bond Wiki | Fandom powered by Wikia Casino Royale (1967 film) Share Ad blocker interference detected! Wikia is a free-to-use site that makes money from advertising. We have a modified experience for viewers using ad blockers Wikia is not accessible if you’ve made further modifications. Remove the custom ad blocker rule(s) and the page will load as expected. Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass (Composers, performers) Running Time: 131 minutes Casino Royale is a 1967 comedy spy film originally produced by Columbia Pictures starring an ensemble cast of directors and actors. It is set as a satire of the James Bond film series and the spy genre, and is loosely based on Ian Fleming 's first James Bond novel .

The film stars David Niven as the original Bond, Sir James Bond 007 . Forced out of retirement to investigate the deaths and disappearances of international spies, he soon battles the mysterious Dr. Noah and SMERSH . The film's slogan: "Casino Royale is too much… for one James Bond!" refers to Bond's ruse to mislead SMERSH in which six other agents are designated as "James Bond", namely, Baccarat master Evelyn Tremble ( Peter Sellers ), millionaire spy Vesper Lynd ( Ursula Andress ), Bond's secretary Miss Moneypenny ( Barbara Bouchet ), Bond's daughter with Mata Hari , Mata Bond ( Joanna Pettet ), and British agents "Cooper" ( Terence Cooper ) and "The Detainer" ( Daliah Lavi ). Charles K. Feldman , the producer, had acquired the film rights and had attempted to get Casino Royale made as an EON Productions Bond film; however, Feldman and the producers of the Eon series, Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman , failed to come to terms. Believing that he could not compete with the Eon series, Feldman resolved to produce the film as a satire.

[1] Contents Plot Overview The story of Casino Royale is told in an episodic format and is best outlined in "chapters". Val Guest oversaw the assembly of the sections, although he turned down the credit of "co-ordinating director". [2] Opening sequence Evelyn Tremble/James Bond 007 ( Peter Sellers ) and Inspector Mathis meet in a pissoir (public urinal), where Mathis presents his credentials—in a shot suggesting a display of Mathis' genitals, and setting the tone of the film by satirizing the dramatic opening sequences in the Eon Bond films. Plot summary Sir James Bond , a legendary British spy who retired from the secret service 50 years previously, is visited by the head of British MI6 , M , CIA representative Ransome, KGB representative Smernov, and Deuxième Bureau representative Le Grand. All implore Bond to come out of retirement to deal with SMERSH who have been eliminating agents: Bond spurns all their pleas. When Bond continues to stand firm, his mansion is destroyed by a mortar attack at the orders of M, who is, however, killed in the explosion.

Bond travels to Scotland to return M's remains to the grieving widow, Lady Fiona McTarry. However, the real Lady Fiona has been replaced by SMERSH 's Agent Mimi. The rest of the household have been likewise replaced, with SMERSH ’s aim to discredit Bond by destroying his "celibate image". Attempts by a bevy of beauties to seduce Bond fail, but Mimi/Lady Fiona becomes so impressed with Bond that she changes loyalties and helps Bond to foil the plot against him. On his way back to London, Bond survives another attempt on his life. Bond is promoted to the head of MI6. He learns that many British agents around the world have been eliminated by enemy spies because of their inability to resist sex. Bond is also told that the 'sex maniac' who was given the name of 'James Bond' when the original Bond retired has gone to work in television. He then orders that all remaining MI6 agents will be named "James Bond 007", to confuse SMERSH . He also creates a rigorous programme to train male agents to ignore the charms of women.

Moneypenny recruits "Coop", a karate expert who begins training to resist seductive women: he also meets an exotic agent known as the Detainer. Bond then hires Vesper Lynd, a retired agent turned millionaire, to recruit baccarat player Evelyn Tremble, whom he intends to use to beat SMERSH agents raid Le Chiffre's base and kill him for his failure. Daliah Lavi, captured by Dr. Noah. In London, Mata Bond is kidnapped by SMERSH in a giant flying saucer, and James and Moneypenny travel to Casino Royale to rescue her. They discover that the casino is located atop a giant underground headquarters run by the evil Dr. Noah, who turns out to be Sir James's nephew Jimmy Bond. Jimmy reveals that he plans to use biological warfare to make all women beautiful and kill all men over 4-foot-6-inch (1.37 m) tall, leaving him as the "big man" who gets all the girls.

Jimmy goes to check on The Detainer, and tries to convince her to be his queen, she apparently agrees, but foils his plan by poisoning him with one of his own atomic pills, which will cause him to hiccup till he explodes. Sir James, Moneypenny, Mata and Coop manage to escape from their cell and fight their way back to the Casino Director's office where Sir James establishes Vesper is a double agent. The casino is then overrun by secret agents and a battle ensues. Eventually, Jimmy's atomic pill explodes, destroying Casino Royale along with everyone inside. Sir James and all of his agents then appear in heaven and Jimmy Bond is shown descending to hell. Cast & Characters John Huston (scenes at Sir James Bond's house and scenes at Scottish castle) Joseph McGrath (scenes with Peter Sellers, Ursula Andress and Orson Welles) Robert Parrish (some casino scenes with Peter Sellers and Orson Welles) Richard Talmadge (uncredited as co-director of the final sequence) Early screenplays Ben Hecht's contribution to the project, if not the final result, was in fact substantial. The Oscar-winning writer was the first person whom Feldman recruited to produce a screenplay for the film.

He created a number of complete drafts with various evolutions of the story incorporating different scenes and characters. All of his treatments were “straight” adaptations, far closer to the original source novel than the spoof which the final production became. The first, from as early as 1957, is a direct adaptation of the novel, albeit with the Bond character absent, instead being replaced by a poker-playing American gangster. [4] Later drafts see vice made central to the plot, with the Le Chiffre character becoming head of a network of brothels whose patrons are then blackmailed by Le Chiffre to fund Spectre. The racy plot elements opened up by this change of background include a chase scene through Hamburg's red light district that results in Bond escaping whilst disguised as a lesbian mud wrestler. New characters appear such as Lili Wing, a brothel madam and former lover of Bond whose ultimate fate is to be crushed in the back of a garbage truck, and Gita, wife of Le Chiffre.

The beautiful Gita, whose face and throat are hideously disfigured as a result of Bond using her as a shield during a gunfight in the same sequence which sees Wing meet her fate, goes on to become the prime protagonist in the torture scene that features in the book, a role originally Le Chiffre's. [4] Hecht never produced his final script though, dying of a heart attack two days before he was due to present it to Feldman in April 1964. Time reported in 1966 that the script had been completely re-written by Billy Wilder, and by the time the film reached production almost nothing of Hecht's screenplay remained. The one thing that did endure, and indeed became a key plot device of the finished film, was the idea of the name “James Bond” being given to a number of other agents.

In the case of Hecht's version, this occurs after the demise of the original James Bond (an event which happened prior to the beginning of his story) which, as Hecht's M puts it “not only perpetuates his memory, but confuses the opposition." [4] Peter Sellers hired Terry Southern to write his dialogue (and not the rest of the script) in order to "outshine" Orson Welles and Woody Allen. [5] Budget The studio approved the film's production budget of $6 million, already quite a large budget in 1966. However, during filming the project ran into several problems and the shoot ran months over schedule, with the costs also running well over. When the film was finally completed it had run twice over its original budget. The final production budget of $12 million made it one of the most expensive films that had been made to that point. The previous Eon Bond film, Thunderball , had a budget of $11 million while You Only Live Twice , which was released the same year as Casino Royale, had a budget of $9.5 million.

The extremely high budget of Casino Royale caused it to earn the reputation as being "a runaway mini-Cleopatra," [6] referring to the runaway and out of control costs of the 1963 film Cleopatra . The film was due to be released in time for Christmas 1966 but premiered in April 1967. Feud The film is notable for the legendary behind-the-scenes drama involving the filming of the segments with Peter Sellers . Supposedly, Sellers felt intimidated by Orson Welles to the extent that, except for a couple of shots, neither was in the studio simultaneously. Other versions of the legend depict the drama stemming from Sellers being slighted, in favour of Welles, by Princess Margaret (whom Sellers knew) during her visit to the set. Welles also insisted on performing magic tricks as Le Chiffre, and the director obliged. Director Val Guest wrote that Welles did not think much of Sellers, and had refused to work with "that amateur". Some biographies of Sellers suggest that he took the role of Bond to heart, and was annoyed at the decision to make Casino Royale a comedy as he wanted to play Bond straight.

This is illustrated in somewhat fictionalized form in the film The Life and Death of Peter Sellers , based upon a biography by Roger Lewis , who claims that Sellers kept re-writing and improvising scenes himself to make them play seriously. This story is in agreement with the observation that the only parts of the film close to the book are the ones featuring Sellers and Welles. [7] In the end, Sellers' involvement with the film was cut abruptly short. Missing footage Sellers left the production before all his scenes were shot, which is why Tremble is so abruptly captured in the film. Whether he was fired or simply walked off is unclear. Given that he often went absent for days at a time and was involved in conflicts with Welles, either explanation is plausible. [7] Regardless, Sellers was unavailable for the filming of an ending and of linking footage to explain the details, leaving the filmmakers to devise a way to make the existing footage work without him. The framing device of a beginning and ending with David Niven was invented to salvage the footage. [1] Val Guest indicated that he was given the task of creating a narrative thread which would link all segments of the film. He chose to use the original Bond and Vesper as linking characters to tie the story together.

Guest states that in the originally released versions of the film, a cardboard cutout of Sellers in the background was used for the final scenes. In later versions, this cardboard cutout image was replaced by a sequence showing Sellers in highland dress, inserted by "trick photography". Signs of missing footage from the Sellers segments are evident at various points. Evelyn Tremble is not captured on camera; an outtake of Sellers entering a racing car was substituted. In this outtake, Sellers calls for the car, à la Pink Panther , to chase down Vesper and her kidnappers; the next thing that is shown is Tremble being tortured. Out-takes of Sellers were also used for Tremble's dream sequence (pretending to play the piano on Ursula Andress ' torso), in the finale (blowing out the candles whilst in highland dress) and at the end of the film when all the various "James Bond doubles" are together.

In the kidnap sequence, Tremble's death is also very abruptly inserted; it consists of pre-existing footage of Sellers being rescued by Vesper, followed by a later-filmed shot of her abruptly deciding to shoot Tremble, followed by a freeze-frame over some of the previous footage of her surrounded by bodies (noticeably a zoom-in on the previous shot). [1] So many sequences from the film ended on the cutting room floor that several well-known actors were cut from the film altogether, including Mona Washbourne , Ian Hendry and Arthur Mullard . [1] Final sequence Jean Paul Belmondo and George Raft received major billing , even though both actors appear only briefly. Both appear during the climactic brawl at the end, Raft flipping his trademark coin and promptly shooting himself dead with a backwards-firing pistol, while Belmondo appears wearing a fake moustache as the French Foreign Legion officer who requires an English phrase book to translate Template:' merde!' into 'ooch!' during his fistfight. [3] Raft's coin flip, which originally appeared in Scarface (1932), had been spoofed a few years earlier in 1959's Some Like It Hot .

At the Intercon science fiction convention held in Slough, England in 1978, Dave Prowse commented on his part in this film, apparently his big-screen debut. He claimed that he was originally asked to play "Super Pooh", a giant Winnie The Pooh in a superhero costume who attacks Tremble during the Torture Of The Mind sequence. This idea, as with many others in the film's script, was rapidly dropped, and Prowse was re-cast as a Frankenstein -type Monster for the closing scenes. The final sequence was principally directed by former actor and stuntman Richard Talmadge . [1] Rights Columbia Pictures distributed this version of Casino Royale. In 1997, following the Columbia/MGM/ Kevin McClory lawsuit on ownership of the Bond film series, the rights to the film reverted to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (whose sister company United Artists co-owns the Bond film franchise) as a condition of the settlement.

[8] Years later, as a result of the Sony / Comcast acquisition of MGM, Columbia would once again become responsible for the co-distribution of this 1967 version as well as the entire Eon Bond series, including the 2006 adaptation of Casino Royale. However, MGM Home Entertainment changed its distributor to 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment in May 2006, and MGM Television started to self-distribute again. Sony still controls the 2006 adaptation and theatrical rights to this version. Alongside six other MGM-owned films, the studio posted Casino Royale on YouTube . [9] Release and reception The "chaotic" nature of the production was featured heavily in contemporary reviews, while later reviewers have sometimes been kinder towards this. Roger Ebert said "This is possibly the most indulgent film ever made," [10] and Variety said "it lacked discipline and cohesion." [11] Some later reviewers have been more impressed by the film. Andrea LeVasseur, in the Allmovie review, called it "the original ultimate spy spoof", and opined that the "nearly impossible to follow" plot made it "a satire to the highest degree".

Further describing it as a "hideous, zany disaster" LeVasseur concluded that it was "a psychedelic, absurd masterpiece". [12] Robert von Dassanowsky has written an article on the artistic merits of the film and says "like Casablanca , Casino Royale is a film of momentary vision, collaboration, adaption, pastiche, and accident. It is the anti-auteur work of all time, a film shaped by the very zeitgeist it took on." [13] Writing in 1986, Danny Peary noted, "It's hard to believe that in 1967 we actually waited in anticipation for this so-called James Bond spoof. It was a disappointment then; it's a curio today, but just as hard to get through." Peary described the film as being "disjointed and stylistically erratic" and "a testament to wastefulness in the bigger-is-better cinema," before adding, "It would have been a good idea to cut the picture drastically, perhaps down to the scenes featuring Peter Sellers and Woody Allen. In fact, I recommend you see it on television when it's in a two-hour (including commercials) slot.

Then you won't expect it to make any sense." [14] Despite the lukewarm nature of the contemporary reviews, the pull of the James Bond name was sufficient to make it the thirteenth highest grossing film in North America in 1967 with a gross of $22.7 million and a worldwide total of $41.7 million [15] ($291 million in 2012 dollars). Orson Welles attributed the success of the film to a marketing strategy that featured a naked tattooed lady on the film's posters and print ads. [3] Since its release the film has been widely criticised by a number of people. For instance, Simon Winder called Casino Royale "a pitiful spoof", [16] while Robert Druce described it as "an abstraction of real life". [17] In his review of the film, Leonard Maltin remarked, "Money, money everywhere, but [the] film is terribly uneven - sometimes funny, often not." [18] Conversely, Romano Tozzi complimented the acting and humour, although he also mentioned that the film has several dull stretches.

[19] References DVD Savant Review: Casino Royale (1967) Collector's Edition Collector's Edition MGM Home Entertainment 1967 / Color / 2:35 anamorphic 16:9 / 131 min. / Street Date October 21, 2002 / $19.98 Starring: Peter Sellers, Ursula Andress, David Niven, Orson Welles, Joanna Pettet, Daliah Lavi, Woody Allen, Deborah Kerr, William Holden, Charles Boyer, John Huston, Kurt Kasznar, George Raft, Jean-Paul Belmondo, Terence Cooper, Barbara Bouchet, Angela Scoular, Gabriella Licudi Cinematography Second Unit Director: Richard Talmadge Additional camera: Nicolas Roeg Written by Wolf Mankowitz, John Law, Michael Sayers and uncredited, Woody Allen, Val Guest, Ben Hecht, Joseph Heller, Terry Southern, Billy Wilder, Peter Sellers Produced by Charles K.

Feldman, Jerry Bresler, John Dark Directed by Val Guest, Ken Hughes, John Huston, Joseph McGrath, Robert Parrish Reviewed by Glenn Erickson "Charlie Feldman said, "You've done so much on this picture for me, I'm going to give you an extra credit title: Coordinating Director." And I said well if you do that Charlie, I'll sue you! "What do you mean?" I said, people are going to look at this and say, "This was coordinated?" --Co-director Val Guest If you think we have movie fads now -- Indiana Jones, Batman, Harry Potter -- they were nothing like the Bond mania that swept the world in the 1960s. The Beatles may have been the number one sensation but from approximately 1964 to 1969, Ian Fleming's James Bond reshaped the film landscape into big letters reading, "007." As embodied by Sean Connery, a handsome bruiser with a lady-killing smile, Her Majesty's dashing Cold Warrior held the center of international attention. Spies were suddenly big business.

Dozens of filmic imitators rushed to compete with the four or five official Bond movies: serious espionage stories, cartoonish escapism, silly comedies, and knock-offs from every country with a film industry. Even after television got into the act, the market stayed bullish for secret agents. The absolutely craziest Bond was a bona fide production with a strange pedigree. The film rights to Ian Fleming's first 007 novel Casino Royale had been sold very soon after publication, and several years later they were acquired by the legendary agent-turned-producer Charles K. Feldman. But what could Feldman do with them? The public image of James Bond was Sean Connery, and competing directly with Harry Saltzman and Albert Broccoli's official United Artists series was seen as an unwise move. Yet the ability to make an authorized 007 movie from an official Ian Fleming book made it easy for Feldman raise money -- a LOT of money. "All remaining agents and trainees will be known as James Bond 007, including the girls.

The enemy won't know which way to turn." -- Sir James Bond (David Niven) MGM's Casino Royale Collector's Edition is an update of the 2002 DVD release, but with extras that tell the full story of perhaps the most out-of-control production of the Mod Sixties. Feldman's Bond spoof cost eleven million 1967 dollars, enough to produce an epic like Doctor Zhivago. The film was begun without a complete script, with pieces being added as it went along. Producer Feldman signed enough big stars to float eight or nine pictures, and none of them knew exactly what they were getting into. Writer Wolf Mankowitz's first script was more or less abandoned in the rush to make Casino Royale more like a free-form party than an organized film. Feldman fired director Joseph McGrath in an attempt to placate million-dollar star Peter Sellers, who often disappeared from the set and refused to act with Orson Welles. Replacement Robert Parrish lasted all of two weeks, while director and actor John Huston blew the budget by moving his episode (one of the few from the original script) to his home base of Ireland, and filming for months instead of weeks.

The movie is less an adventure than a collection of wild characters. David Niven is Sir James Bond, who must be forced out of retirement to once again deal with SMERSH. Peter Sellers is baccarat cardsharp Evelyn Tremble, hired to win against enemy gambler Le Chiffre (Orson Welles). First among the femmes fatales is Vesper Lind (Ursula Andress), a millionaire with a habit of murdering her lovers. Woody Allen plays Little Jimmy Bond, a neurotic klutz (surprise!) who proves to be hiding a diabolical secret identity. Instead of reining in the costs, Charles Feldman encouraged the film to get bigger, wilder, and more far-out (a sixties term interchangeable with "groovy"). Roles and scenes were expanded to accommodate more actors, more special effects, more gags invented on the set. Feldman wanted a crazy circus with an "anything goes" atmosphere that hadn't been seen since the wild 1941 comedy Hellzapoppin'. Any star within reach was recruited for a cameo -- William Holden, Jean-Paul Belmondo, Charles Boyer, George Raft, Peter O'Toole.

Fourth director Ken Hughes filmed an elaborate East German spy school sequence in full-on expressionist mode, with crazy shadows and distorted sets. As Mata Bond, the illegitimate daughter of James Bond and Mata Hari, Joanna Pettet dances in an elaborate musical number to Burt Bacharach's musical score. Famed second unit director Richard Talmadge directed 1001 gags for the casino battle finale, that includes Keystone Kops, cowboys and Indians and trained seals wearing "007" medallions. Woody Allen was brought on to play Little Jimmy Bond, 007's neurotic nephew. Having seen his screenplay for Feldman's What's New Pussycat? altered beyond recognition, Allen refused invitations to do rewrites, preferring to just maintain control over his own scenes. "Oh. You're Going to Nothing me to death." -- Evelyn Tremble (Peter Sellers) Somewhere along the line Feldman finally realized that a bunch of lavish but uncoordinated scenes do not a movie make, and asked director Val Guest to invent new connective scenes to unify the unwieldy story. The original main star Peter Sellers had been fired before completing his role, leaving a big hole in the story arc.

Guest fashioned a series of interstitial London scenes with David Niven, and put things together the best he could. Characters disappear (Ursula Andress) or make ridiculously arbitrary entrances and exits (Daliah Lavi). A flying saucer lands in Trafalgar Square. Expensive scenes dropped for time are re-purposed as material for psychedelic montages. Coming out at the perfect time in the Bond craze, Casino Royale was a film one had to see. It's a hugely enjoyable mess, one of those movies where one strains to catch the in-jokes and identify all of the guest stars, like Jacqueline Bisset playing a seductress named "Miss Goodthighs". Silly slapstick alternates with rapturous visuals, like a view through a tropical fish aquarium as Peter Sellers and Ursula Andress walk in slow motion to Dusty Springfield's vocal The Look of Love. The Tijuana Brass title theme became an inescapable radio hit. Critics scoffed at the overblown movie but it made plenty of money. Charles Feldman's business acumen was vindicated, if not his crazy production method. The Bond craze did wane, and rather quickly.

By 1969 the public had had its fill of super-spies, with films like Dean Martin's raunchy Matt Helm series devolving into cheap exploitation pix. The official Bonds remained very popular, but the wanna-be imitators quickly disappeared. Nothing in today's industry can compare with the grandiose madness of the original Casino Royale and its galaxy of dazzling film stars. Agent Cooper (Terence Cooper): "Beauty is only Skin Deep." "Lorelei": "How about some skin diving?" Weirdly, this renegade Ian Fleming property was "reunited" with the official Broccoli-Danjaq Bond series in the late 1990s, as part of a court settlement between Sony and MGM. Note that certain Bond trademarks have apparently been reserved for official series entries only. The tattooed Bond Girl figure on the Casino Royale disc cover is not the original artwork, which proudly displayed a psychedelic "007" logo. The disc packaging does not use the 007 designation, either. MGM's Collector's Edition of Casino Royale has apparently undergone a last-minute name change. It's still being listed at Amazon as a 40th Anniversary Edition even though that anniversary passed a year ago.

The beautiful transfer is not appreciably improved over the 2002 disc, but the extras are very different. The 2002 disc offered a short interview with director Val Guest. The Collector's Edition comes with a lengthy, five-part making-of documentary. Surviving crewmembers share their memories along with stars Jacqueline Bisset and Joanna Pettet, assembling a mosaic portrait of the larger-than-life Charles K. Feldman and the absolute chaos of his production. Loud music and distracting graphics -- lots of images flipping and flopping -- make the docu difficult to follow, but its content is always good. Bond craze authors Steven Jay Rubin and John Cork are kept busy on the feature commentary just identifying all the noted actors. They explain who filmed what -- no easy task -- and draw the connections between Casino Royale and shows like What's New Pussycat? and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Rubin and Cork also offer insights on several filmed but unused scenes, telling us that Peter Sellers' visit to the 007 "gadget room" is supposed to be taking place in the basement of Harrod's department store in London.

"This germ, when distributed in the atmosphere, will make all women beautiful and destroy all men over four-foot-six" -- Doctor Noah, alias Little Jimmy Bond (Woody Allen) The disc includes the original trailer -- which uses the original 007-tattooed Bond Girl graphic, and a still photo gallery. Not listed among the extras but included in the package is a set of miniature character cards, which are derived from artwork used as "door panel posters" to decorate the glass doors of theaters showing Casino Royale. Should you already own the original 2002 disc edition, don't throw it away. It contains the entire original 1954 Climax Theater TV presentation of Casino Royale featuring Barry Nelson as an Americanized Bond and Peter Lorre as Le Chiffre. It's an early live TV production: when cues are missed, we get to watch Lorre do some fast-thinking improv work. Perhaps when MGM gets around to releasing a Blu-ray disc of Casino Royale, the extras of both editions can be combined.

On a scale of Excellent, Good, Fair, and Poor, rates: Casino Royale: 60 years old - Telegraph James Bond Casino Royale: 60 years old Ian Fleming's James Bond novel Casino Royale was first published on April 13 1953 and there is an intriguing tale behind the original screenplay of the 007 film adaptation. Daniel Craig starred in the film adaptation of Ian Fleming's 1963 novel Casino Royale. By Jeremy Duns 8:00AM BST 13 Apr 2013 Sixty years ago, the first 5000 copies of a novel by a new author were printed. The novel was Casino Royale by Ian Fleming, published April 13, 1953. When he took the part of Dr No in the first James Bond film, Joseph Wiseman had no inkling that the franchise would become such a success. As he admitted in 1992, he thought he’d signed up for "another Grade-B Charlie Chan mystery". How wrong.

Last November, 50 years after the premiere of Dr No, the 23rd Bond film was released, directed by Oscar-winner Sam Mendes, co-written by Oscar-nominated John Logan and starring Daniel Craig as the bare-knuckled Bond he debuted in 2005’s Casino Royale. The Bond films have come a long way since 1962. The likes of Mendes, Logan, Paul Haggis and Marc Forster signing up to be involved is worlds away from even a decade ago, when the series seemed to be heading into self-parody. Much of the creative renaissance of the past decade stems from the decision to return to the spirit of Fleming’s novels . Craig’s Casino Royale was an adaptation of Fleming’s first novel. The book merged the traditions of vintage British thrillers with the more realistic and brutal style of hardboiled American writers such as Dashiell Hammett. But Craig’s debut (below) was not the first attempt to film the novel, but the third.

The first was a one-hour play performed live on American television in October 1954: Barry Nelson starred as crew-cut American agent "Jimmy Bond" out to defeat villain Le Chiffre, played by Peter Lorre, at baccarat to ensure he will be executed by Soviet agency Smersh for squandering their funds. Due to the format, this was a much-simplified version of Fleming’s novel, with little of its extravagance or excitement. Related Articles The accidental Bond girl 11 Apr 2013 The book features a wince-inducing scene in which Le Chiffre, desperate to discover where Bond has hidden the cheque for 40 million francs that he needs to save his life, ties Bond naked to a cane chair with its seat cut out and proceeds to torture him by repeatedly whacking his testicles with a carpet-beater. This could clearly not be shown on television, so instead Bond was placed in a bath, his shoes removed, and viewers watched him howl with pain as, off-screen, Le Chiffre’s men attacked his toenails with pliers. The second attempt to film Casino Royale was altogether different.

Also in 1954, Gregory Ratoff bought a six-month film option on the novel, and the following year bought the rights outright. An extravagant bear of a man who had fled Russia at the time of the Bolshevik Revolution, Ratoff was a well-known actor, producer and director – he had directed Ingrid Bergman's first Hollywood film, Intermezzo, in 1939. He was also a close friend of Charles K. Feldman, the playboy producer and super-agent. In January 1956, the New York Times announced that Ratoff had set up a production company with actor-turned-agent Michael Garrison, and planned to film Casino Royale that summer in England, Estoril and San Remo, with Twentieth Century-Fox slated to release it. The article mentioned that Fleming himself had written an adaptation of the novel, but that Ratoff was instead negotiating with a "noted scenarist" to write a new script. Ratoff died in December 1960, and his widow sold the film rights to Casino Royale to Charles Feldman. The long-dormant project soon became a potential goldmine.

In March 1961, Life magazine listed From Russia, With Love as one of John F Kennedy’s 10 favourite books, and the Bond novels rapidly became best-sellers in the United States. Three months later, one of Feldman’s former employees at Famous Artists, Albert "Cubby" Broccoli, formed EON Productions with Canadian producer Harry Saltzman after buying the rights to the rest of Fleming’s novels. In response to the growing popularity of Bond, Feldman turned to Ben Hecht (below) to write a script for Casino Royale. Known as "the Shakespeare of Hollywood", Hecht was a novelist, poet and playwright who had written or co-written several classic scripts, including The Front Page, based on a play he had co-written; Underworld, for which he won the first best screenplay Oscar in 1927; the original Scarface; and Hitchcock’s Spellbound and Notorious. Hecht also worked uncredited on dozens of other screenplays, including Gone With The Wind, Foreign Correspondent and a few other Hitchcock films. The fact that Ben Hecht contributed to the script of Casino Royale has been known for decades, and is mentioned in passing in many books.

But perhaps because the film Feldman eventually released in 1967 was a near-incoherent spoof, nobody has followed up to find out precisely what his contribution entailed. My interest was piqued when I came across an article in a May 1966 issue of Time, which mentioned that the screenplay of Casino Royale had started many years earlier "as a literal adaptation of the novel", and that Hecht had had "three bashes at it". I decided to go looking for it. To my amazement, I found that Hecht not only contributed to Casino Royale, but produced several complete drafts, and that much of the material survived. It was stored in folders with the rest of his papers in the Newberry Library in Chicago, where it had been sitting since 1979. And, outside of the people involved in trying to make the film, it seemed nobody had read it. Here was a lost chapter, not just in the world of the Bond films, but in cinema history: before the spoof, Ben Hecht adapted Ian Fleming’s first novel as a straight Bond adventure. The folders contain material from five screenplays, four of which are by Hecht.

An early near-complete script from 1957 is a faithful adaptation of the novel in many ways but for one crucial element: James Bond isn’t in it. Instead of the suave but ruthless British agent, the hero is Lucky Fortunato, a rich, wisecracking American gangster who is an expert poker player. Screenwriter Lorenzo Semple Jr, who travelled around Europe with Gregory Ratoff, says he didn’t write it, but it seems likely Feldman sent this script to Hecht as a starting point to see what he could do with it. Of the remaining material, two of the scripts are missing title pages and so are undated and without a credit, while the other two are from 1964 and are clearly credited to Hecht. There are also snippets of notes, letters, and three pages of "notes for an outline" dated December 17 1963, which feature scenes in Baghdad, Algiers and Naples and culminate in a raid on a German castle. These pages may have been Hecht’s first stab at coming to grips with the novel. Of all the Bond books, Casino Royale was one of the more problematic to adapt for film.

On the one hand, it’s one of Fleming's strongest novels (Raymond Chandler and Kingsley Amis both felt it his best): intense, almost feverishly so, and richer in characterisation and atmosphere than many of the others. But the novel is also short — practically a novella — with little physical action in it other than the infamous torture scene. Bond also falls in love with his fellow agent on the mission, Vesper Lynd, and even considers proposing marriage to her before he discovers she has been coerced into working for Smersh and has betrayed him. She kills herself, and the novel ends with Bond reporting to London savagely that "the bitch is dead". Although Hecht was tackling the novel 10 years after it had been published, these are all elements it seems hard to imagine in a film adaptation. But these drafts are a master-class in thriller-writing, from the man who arguably perfected the form with Notorious. Hecht made vice central to the plot, with Le Chiffre actively controlling a network of brothels and beautiful women who he is using to blackmail powerful people around the world.

Just as the theme of Fleming’s Goldfinger is avarice and power, the theme of Hecht’s Casino Royale is sex and sin. It’s an idea that seems obvious in hindsight, and Hecht used it both to raise the stakes of Fleming’s plot and to deepen the story’s emotional resonance. This is visible in the surviving pages of two separate undated drafts. Judging from the plotlines and character names, they were written after the December 1963 notes, but before the three drafts from 1964. Hecht wrote to Feldman on January 13 1964 to say he had 110 pages of "our blissful Casino Royale" ready to be typed and sent to him, but that if he could wait three days he would be able to send him 130 pages of what he refers to as a first draft, which will bring it up to its conclusion. As there is no other material dating from January 1964 in his papers, it seems likely that these are excerpts from that time. Hecht also adds that he has "never had more fun writing a movie".

Both draft fragments feature a British secret agent called James Bond who gambles against a Colonel Chiffre, aided by an American agent called Felix Leiter and a French agent called Rene Mathis. In both, Bond falls in love with Vesper Lynd, who betrays him and kills herself. Both drafts stick closely to the atmosphere of the novel, while adding several new plot elements and characters. These include Mila, one of Chiffre’s former brothel madams and a former lover of Bond’s. Surnamed alternatively Vigne and Brant, she is a classic femme fatale, trying to seduce Bond in her night gown. Bond turns her down — just. In one of the undated drafts, Chiffre escapes at the last moment and Bond returns to London following Vesper’s suicide, where M tells him to take a holiday in Jamaica. Bond says he would rather stick around in case M has any errands for him. This suggests Feldman may have been considering slotting the film into Broccoli and Saltzman’s series, as he didn’t have the rights to any other Bond novels. The James Bond in these pages is a deft blend of Fleming’s character and the film version as portrayed by Sean Connery.

The second Bond film, From Russia With Love, premiered in England in late 1963, but the series had not yet solidified: perhaps as a result, there are no vodka martinis or "Bond. James Bond" lines. The 40 pages of the draft dated February 20 1964 elaborated on many of the scenes and ideas in these pages, but add an unusual gimmick. Bond is precisely the same character as he was in the other drafts: suave, laconic, ruthless and predatory. But he is not James Bond. Instead, he is an unnamed American agent called in by M who is given the name James Bond. M says that "since Bond’s death" MI6 has put several agents into operation using his name: "It not only perpetuates his memory, but confuses the opposition." After this scene this agent is indistinguishable from Bond, and doesn’t seem American at all. It may be that Feldman was also considering how to make the film with an actor other than Sean Connery. There are very few logical inconsistencies in Hecht's material – this gimmick sticks out like a sore thumb.

The draft opens with a pre-titles sequence – itself a nod to the Connery films – in which Felix Leiter arrests senior United Nations diplomats and the beautiful prostitutes who have ensnared them in honey traps. Then we cut to M informing his new Bond about the villain he is sending him after. Instead of being a rather small-time agent on the run from Smersh, as he is in the novel, Chiffre is now the head of a massive operation being run by Spectre against the free world’s leaders and scientists, using brothels and honey traps to film them and then extort them for secrets. Bond is assigned to work with fellow MI6 agent Vesper Lynd and sent to Hamburg to check out one of Chiffre’s brothels. Hecht introduces more new characters in this draft, including Lili Wing, a beautiful but drug-addicted Eurasian madam who once had a fling with Bond, and her girlfriend, Georgie, who carries a black kitten on her shoulder.

Many of the scenes are darkly comic, and some of the sexual antics are politically incorrect even for the Sixties, with references to politicians being attracted to children and a car chase through Hamburg’s red light district ending with Bond drenched in mud disguised as a lesbian wrestler. The most significant new character is Gita, Chiffre’s beautiful wife. She and much of this draft returned in the final two surviving sections of script, which are dated April 8 and April 14, 1964. The first has 84 pages, and covers most of the plot. The second is 49 pages long and is an addition to it, indicating which pages are to remain untouched from the draft of a week earlier. Taken together, they form a near-complete story. Taken with the rest of the documents, with gaps in one draft often being filled in by others, these 260 or so pages give a strong sense of what a completed final Hecht screenplay would have been like. The April 8 pages revert to Bond being the real thing. He flirts with Moneypenny, M gives him his mission, and he’s off: it reads just like an early Connery Bond film.

The April 14 draft switches back to the counterfeit Bond idea, but adds to and improves the earlier draft in other ways. The first third of the story follows Bond and Vesper as they track down the incriminating rolls of film that Chiffre has collected for Spectre, which are being transported from a warehouse in Hamburg by a protected van. The Hamburg car chase culminates in Lili Wing being captured by Chiffre’s men and fed into the crusher of a rubbish truck, while Bond uses Gita Chiffre as a shield. She is shot by mistake by Chiffre’s henchmen. Bond commandeers the van and impersonates one of the eye-patched henchmen in the darkness. During a car chase in the Swiss Alps, the van goes over the cliff and explodes with the films in it, Bond escaping at the last moment. As a result of Bond ruining the extortion scheme, Chiffre loses half of his budget allocated to him by Spectre, and sets about trying to win it back. Then we relocate to northern France and the area around the fictional Royale. Vesper gives Bond instructions from M to accompany her to the casino there to finish Chiffre off for good. This is ingenious in several ways.

In the book, Le Chiffre and Bond duel without ever having met each other. Now, Bond is directly responsible for his precarious situation and the reason he sets up the baccarat game, and we have a rematch. In addition, Madam Chiffre, with half her face destroyed by bullet wounds and speaking metallically through a tube inserted in her ripped out larynx, is a classic Bond villain, a sinister presence lurking in the shadows waiting to exact revenge on 007. In undated handwritten notes, Hecht wrote that a man torturing a naked Bond in this way on screen would seem to audiences like he was not only indulging in "a far-fetched and unmotivated type of cruelty", but also a "yelping pansy". The torture scene is faithful in spirit to the novel, but perhaps even more brutal, and contains many of the best lines of dialogue. Chiffre quietly continues to ask a naked Bond the location of the missing cheque while encouraging his wife to thrash him with the carpet beater.

At one point he tells her to stop, adding: "M’sieur Bond may want to change his mind while he is still a m’sieur." Bond refuses, of course, and when asked about the check later, gives the memorable reply "Up your gizzard, you fat pimp." Chiffre also briefly waterboards Bond with whisky in an attempt to get him to talk. Just as it seems that Bond is destined to die he is rescued by Specter’s assassins, who let him go but scar his hand so they can identify him in any future operations, and then shoot Chiffre who has hidden in a cupboard. The "brothel Napoleon", as Bond calls him, dies with silk dresses and negligees draping over his corpse. Bond recovers in hospital, and proposes to Vesper. She accepts, but shortly after confesses she has been working for Spectre all along, then takes her life with cyanide. But just as it seems that the film will end with a grief-stricken and impotent Bond, a doctor prescribes him with testosterone, and a minor character, Georgie, returns and tries to seduce him.

Bond is surprised and delighted to find that his body responds to her advances, and order is restored as he plants two solid kisses on her mouth and we fade out. All the pages in Hecht’s papers are gripping, but the material from April 1964 is phenomenal, and it’s easy to imagine it as the basis for a classic Bond adventure. Hecht’s treatment of the romance element is powerful and convincing, even with the throwaway ending, but there is also a distinctly adult feel to the story. It has all the excitement and glamour you would expect from a Bond film but is more suspenseful, and the violence is brutal rather than cartoonish. On Thursday April 16 1964, Hecht sent a letter to Feldman attaching an article from Time about Bond and saying he would write up a critique of their "current script" on Monday. He added some comments on Bond, including that he felt the character was cinema’s first "gentleman superman" in a long time, as opposed to Hammett and Chandler’s "roughneck supermen". But Monday never came: Hecht died of a heart attack at his home on Saturday April 18 while reading.

At some point, Feldman went to Broccoli and Saltzman and tried to broker a deal to film Casino Royale in partnership with them, but he wanted too large a share and the talks broke down. It seems he also claimed that Goldfinger had plagiarized Casino Royale and threatened to sue – perhaps he felt that the scene in which gangster Mr Solo is crushed at a scrap yard was too reminiscent of Lili Wing’s death. Furious that he had not come to an agreement with Broccoli and Saltzman, Feldman approached Connery to see if he would be interested in jumping ship. Connery said he would for a million dollars, but this was too much for Feldman’s blood and he turned him down. He decided to take a new tack, signing an unknown Northern Irish actor, Terence Cooper, who he kept on salary for two years, and recruited Orson Welles, David Niven, Peter Sellers, Ursula Andress, Woody Allen and several others.

A set report in Time in May 1966 revealed that after Hecht’s "three bashes" at the script, it had been completely rewritten by Billy Wilder, after which Joseph Heller, Terry Southern, Wolf Mankowitz and John Law had all taken their turn at it. Much of the film was improvised on the spot, and Woody Allen also worked on it. Very little of Hecht’s work made it to the screen apart from the idea of calling other agents James Bond to confuse the opposition, which grew into the main theme. Eventually released in 1967, it was a bloated and incoherent comedy that wasted the prodigious talent it had assembled, and the title Casino Royale was indelibly linked with a cinematic disaster rather than Fleming’s novel (below, some of the Bond novels he wrote). Finally, in 2004 EON gained the rights to the novel, and set about filming it with Daniel Craig. The big question raised by Hecht’s material is what would have happened if Feldman had managed to come to an agreement with EON, and Casino Royale had been made with Sean Connery in 1965 or 1966.

Perhaps it would have divided the audience, as Goldfinger took Bond into superspy territory, and even a disfigured villainess might not have been enough for viewers so recently awestruck by the Aston Martin DB5’s ejector seat and Odd Job’s hat, especially if coupled with James Bond watching the woman he loves take her own life. Then again, perhaps it would have deepened Bond as a character and taken the series in a different direction. Casino Royale might even have been regarded as not just a classic Bond film, but as a classic thriller. We’ll never know, but Hecht’s surviving material offers a glimpse into a cinematic genius at work, and an alternate James Bond adventure as rich and thrilling as anything yet brought to the screen. Jeremy Duns is the author of spy novels. You can order his novels at TelegraphBookshop

Question: Who played Sir James Bond in the original version of Casino Royale?
Answer: DAVID NIVEN