Robert von Dassanowsky is a film historian, and I learn from Wikipedia that he has written a fascinating defense of one of the worst films ever made. A lavish, garish and ultimately nightmarish snapshot of creative energies run amok, which Roger Ebert called “a definitive example of what can happen when everybody working on a film goes simultaneously berserk,” “Casino Royale” suggests what we might expect if a Bond villain were ever to get his way, ending with the detonation of an atomic device and most of the characters blown to high heaven. The result is a film of astounding sloppiness, an insult to the Bond name (most likely deliberate) and a dark spot on the resumes of all involved (surely unintentional).

Failing that, he decided to make his own version, attempting to subvert the character itself in a madcap satire with five different directors and one of the starriest ensembles of all time, featuring everyone from Peter Sellers and David Niven (both playing Bond) to Orson Welles and Peter O’Toole to Charles Boyer and Jean-Paul Belmondo, many of them appearing in blink-and-you-miss-it cameos. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman over the years, trying to worm his way into what, until Harry Potter came along, was the most successful film franchise of all time. I’m no film historian, but I picture Feldman running a SMERSH-like extortion racket on Eon’s Albert R. No,” but didn’t bother to exercise them until four Sean Connery films had made Bond an internationally bankable name. In the case of “Casino Royale,” Feldman bought the rights more than a decade before “Dr. Feldman’s “ Casino Royale,” the first of two unofficial 007 pics (the other being “Never Say Never Again”) in which producers who’d acquired the rights to an Ian Fleming novel set out to make a competing entry on their own. Even the worst Eon-backed Bond movie has the distinction of being better than Charles K. French Legionnaire (as Jean Paul Belmondo) In the course of the film, all the Bonds get more than they can handle, especially when the ultimate villain turns out to be Bond's nephew, Jimmy Bond, played by Woody Allen. One of the Bonds, whose real name is Evelyn Tremble (Peter Sellers) takes on Le Chiffre in a game of baccarat. Every agent will use the name James Bond. In order to fool SMERSH and Le Chiffre,īond schemes the ultimate confusing plot device. Tagline: Casino Royale is too much for one James Bond!Īfter the death of M, Sir James Bond (David Niven) is called back out of retirement to stop SMERSH and save the world.

Casino royale 1967 full cast