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Entertainment December 28, 2020

Peter Sellers, Ursula Andress and Orson Welles pictures on a lobby card for 'Casino Royale.' Source: IMDB

The 1967 James Bond comedy Casino Royale assembled one of the greatest cast lists in movie history, including Peter Sellers, Woody Allen, Orson Welles, Ursula Andress, David Niven, William Holden, Barbara Bouchet, George Raft, Deborah Kerr and more. The list of stars makes the poster look like a page out of a phone book -- well, if you look past Robert McGinnis' iconic image of a body-painted pistol-packin' model. This farce, which featured numerous James Bonds and which isn't at all part of the Eon 007 canon (which had kicked off with Sean Connery in Dr. No five years earlier), is the sort of kitchen-sink '60s comedy that tried to be hip but seems incredibly square today. It also tried to be funny, with mixed results.

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SUPPORT ART OF THE TITLE. HELP ART OF THE TITLE KEEP GOING. BECOME A PATRON THROUGH PATREON. Prudence and the Pill. James Bond: 50 Years of Main Title Design. Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery. Belted, Booted and Buckled: B-Movie Title Design of the 1960s. Casino Royale was written by Ian Fleming in Jamaica over a period of around two months, largely from his own experiences and imagination; he also devised the artwork for the cover. 'Within the first few pages Fleming had introduced most of Bond's idiosyncrasies and trademarks,' which included his looks, his Bentley and his smoking and drinking.

Bond, James Bond, the seductive secret agent with no equal, never encountered a situation without a pun at the ready. Unless, of course, you’re talking about Casino Royale” that starred Woody Allen, David Niven, Peter Sellers, Ursula Andress, and Orson Welles as opposed to Sean Connery or Daniel Craig. The ‘67 Casino Royale in no way resembles a James Bond film because it really isn’t one. Producer Charles K. Feldman secured the rights from Ian Fleming but failed to rope in any of the major players. So instead, Feldman, coming off the major success of the purposely incongruous, “What’s New, Pussycat,” went the spoof route for his swing at 007.

Casino Royale was a star-studded debacle -- not an unsuccessful film, owing probably to its A-list cast, but not a classic. It was painful to watch at the time (as contemporary reviews make clear); today it's kitschy fun for the dated visuals and verges on so-bad-its's-good. Eon productions, the company headed by the Broccoli family that is responsible for the Bond cinematic canon, was horrified by the tarnishing of the James Bond brand. Ever since, Eon has been famously protective of the rights to Ian Fleming's work, lest some other inferior version of the secret agent make it to the big screen. (Eon's failure to lock down exclusive rights to Thunderball resulted in the non-canon Never Say Never Again, but that's another story.)

Woody Allen As Jimmy Bond (Dr. Noah)

The controversial but undoubtedly talented Woody Allen, who was primarily a writer and standup comedian, signed on to play Jimmy Bond in Casino Royale after his successful experience with Feldman on What’s New, Pussycat. Unfortunately, Allen probably didn’t realize that Feldman would use as many as six directors all shooting at the same time without consulting one another.

Naturally, that created some confusion, to say the least. Apparently, said confusion delayed Allen’s final day of shooting so many times, he left the set in a huff and flew directly to New York without even changing out of his costume. Such angst was common during Casino Royale. Part of the problem may have laid with the fact that most of the stars had no idea they signed on for a comedy and not a real James Bond movie.

In a hilarious letter penned to a friend, Allen lays out the litany of problems with the film:

I haven't begun filming yet but saw the sets for my scenes. They are the height of bad pop art expensive vulgarity. Saw rushes and am dubious to put it mildly, but probably the film will coin a mint. (Not money, just a single peppermint.) I play the villain (okay to give that out) and also James Bond's bastard nephew (not all right to give that out) and my part changes every day as new stars fall in. ... I would like it emphasized and made quite clear that I am not a writer of Casino. I'm adding a few ad-lib jokes to my own part but that's all. In fact ... we demanded a letter saying my name cannot appear on screen as a writer. This because everyone who contributed a comma is demanding his name on the film.

Peter Sellers As Evelyn Tremble (James Bond 007)

Sellers was another of the actors playing a James Bond (there are at least four) in Casino Royale, and was also alarmed by the chaotic nature of the concept and shoot -- so much so that he hired his own writer, Terry Southern, to write his dialogue so he could outshine Allen and Orson Welles. He also made the executive decision to play it straight, despite starring in what amounted to Monty Python’s version of James Bond.

His decision to not go along with the tone of the film created extraordinary tension between Peter Sellers and Orson Welles as well as director, Val Guest. Allegedly, Sellers and Welles hated each other so much that they couldn't be in the same room together. Their scene at the gambling table had to be shot over multiple days, with doubles standing in for the other actor. Supposedly, the rift between Sellers and Welles started when Princess Margaret, with whom Sellers was familiar, visited the set and completely ignored him to swoon over Welles. Guest, on the other hand, was so sick of Sellers' behavior that he fired him before the actor had even finished all his scenes. Rewrites were required to remove Sellers from the film.

Jacqueline Bisset As Miss Goodthighs

Even more disturbing, Sellers, during one of his serious ad-libs, also shot Jacqueline Bisset in the face with a blank. The gunpowder burned her face and the tiny shards from the round actually made her bleed. As Bisset remembered,

First I thought I had been actually shot and then when I realized it had been a blank, I thought I'd been blinded. My face looked like a shower spout of pinpricks leaking blood. I was panicked whenever I had a scene with Peter Sellers. To get shot in your first scene with a big star, that is a nightmare.

To cap it all off, Sellers punched friend and director Joseph McGrath in the face when he complained about the actor’s behavior.

David Niven As Sir James Bond

Niven was actually Ian Fleming’s first choice for the real James Bond, but was overruled by producers who selected Sean Connery. Niven got his chance, of sorts, to play “Sir James Bond” in what Woody Allen called “a madhouse” of a production. Niven's character is in a sense the 'real' James Bond, a dashing and successful British secret agent who retired 20 years before the film begins but is drawn out of retirement. In the face of an imminent and convoluted threat, Sir James Bond decrees that all MI6 agents be renamed 'James Bond' to confuse the villains (and, unfortunately, the audience).

When considering Casino Royale, it’s better to think of it as an Austin Powers movie rather than an actual James Bond movie. Thanks to the complete chaos involved from top to bottom, it doesn’t really work any other way.

Watch Casino Royale 1967

Joanna Pettet As Mata Bond

As Mata Bond, Joanna Pettet plays the daughter of the legendary femme fatale/spy Mata Hari. Her father, from whom she is estranged, is Sir James Bond (Niven). Bond, a famous ladies' man, finds old habits die hard, even around his own daughter, who tends to dress in skimpy belly-dancing outfits. He's also constantly cracking wise about Mata Hari's sexual aptitude and enthusiasm:

Casino Royale 1967 Art Masterpieces

Mata Bond: Oh! You want me to be a spy - like mum, huh? Well.

Sir James: Family tradition, my dear.

Mata Bond: Do I get an exploding brief case and a secret transmitter?

Sir James: That won't be necessary.

Mata Bond: Well, I have to have some equipment.

Sir James: Your mother wiped out three divisions of infantry and five brigades of cavalry and, well, frankly, she had much less equipment than you have.

Pettet continued to make movies for years after Casino Royale, but never had a hit. She was considered a virtual Sharon Tate lookalike, which is interesting because she and Tate were actually good friends in real life. Pettet was one of the last people to see Sharon Tate alive, having been at the pregnant actress' house the day she was murdered. In Quentin Tarantino's film Once Upon A Time... In Hollywood, Pettet was played by Rumer Willis.

Orson Welles As Le Chiffre

Orson Welles played the evil mastermind, “Le Chiffre” and got the role, ironically, in part thanks to Sellers’ recommendation. Unfortunately, whether it was Princess Margaret’s unintentional snub of Sellers, her fawning over Orson Welles, or Welles' own adamant desire to perform magic in the movie, the two Hollywood heavyweights despised one another almost immediately.

We certainly aren’t taking sides but stories like Sellers demanding a set be taken down because he had a dream in which his mother disapproved of the background, making the animosity understandable. Interestingly, the iconic polymath Orson Welles, director of the masterpiece Citizen Kane, attributed the relative success of the film to an ad featuring a naked tattooed woman.

Ursula Andress As Vesper Lynd (007)

Ursula Andress played Vesper Lynd in Casino Royale and unlike her subsequent movies which earned her the nickname, 'Ursula undress,' did not actually get naked. She did wear a skin color bodysuit that assuredly got many men hot under the collar and likely led to years of research by internet sleuths. Unlike her male counterparts who sparred like wild animals, Andress stirred clear of most of the controversy surrounding the cast of the film. She did, however, manage to get an eye injury while feeding deer at Hampton Court.

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Tags: Cast Lists From Popular Movies David Niven James Bond Orson Welles Peter Sellers Ursula Andress Woody Allen

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CasinoRoyale 1967

• The Facts Rated: PG Official Year: 1967 Number in Series: Unofficial PDF File: Running Time: 131 minutes Budget: $12 million UK Premiere: April 13, 1967 US Premiere: April 19, 1967

  Cast James Bond: David Niven Moneypenny: Barbara Bouchet M: John Hston Q: Geoffrey Bayldon Bond Girl (Vesper Lynd): Ursula Andress Villain (LeChiffre): Orson Welles Henchman (Smernov): Kurt Kasznar

  Crew Writing Credits: Ian Fleming Producer: Charles K. Feldman Producer: Jerry Bresler Director: Val Guest Composer: Burt Bacharach Title Song: Herb Albert & the Tijuana Brass Production Design: Michael Stringer

Peter Sellers was well known for portrayingvarious parts. On the left he mimics a Cary Grant-like pose as James Bond. On the right, he dresses up as artist Toulouse-Lautrec.

McGrath was a Scottish television director andworked with Sellers on shows such as Tempo. Sellers convinced Feldmanthat McGrath was the right choice to direct the film. According to Sellers’biographer, Roger Lewis, McGrath was chosen because Sellers wanted to‘recreate the happy anarchy of his early days on TV’.

In the summer of 1965, Feldman had approachedDavid Niven to play the part of Sir James Bond. After reading the script atFeldman’s home and than witnessing it being locked in a private safe, Nivenagreed to play the part that would have him presiding over the Secret Servicewhile observing a multitude of James Bonds fighting against Smersh.

The cast grew on a daily basis and began toresemble a British version of the film comedy, It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad,World. Ursula Andress is added to the film in the role of Vesper Lyndas well as Orson Welles in the part of Le Chiffre. Followed by Daliah Lavi,William Holden, Charles Boyer, Kurt Kaznar, Jacqueline Bisset, George Raft,Jean-Paul Belmondo, Joanna Pettet, Barbara Bouchet, Angela Scholar, Anna Quayle,Ronnie Corbett, Bernard Cribbins, Tracy Reed, Geoffrey Bayldon, John Wells,Duncan Macrae, Graham Stark, Burt Kwouk, Vladek Sheybal, and Peter O’ Toole. On January 11, 1966, Casino Royale began filming atShepperton Studios, United Kingdom.

From Here On, All Hell Broke Loose

'There’s been nothing like this sinceMichael Todd’s ‘Around the World in 80 Days’,' said one man onthe set. A comment that referred to the large scale production, with an all starcast including David Niven from ten years before. The only difference betweenthe two films would be the adaptations from their original sources. JulesVerne’s novel was faithfully recreated but Casino Royale most likelyhad the late Ian Fleming rolling in his grave. Feldman was aiming to make thebiggest, star-studded, comedy in history and he began it by flooding the screenwith the world’s most beautiful women.

Joanna Pettet ended up portraying the sexydaughter, Mata Bond.

'No background dogs in mypicture,' barked an order from Feldman. 'Get only real beauties.'And with that literally hundreds of Britain’s finest auditioned to play FangGirls, Guard Girls, Casino Girls, Karate Girls, and 12 daughters of ‘M’, allbetween the ages of 16 and 18.

There was a filing system to help avert numbness:Type ‘A’: must have first, personality; second figure; third looks. Type‘B’: first, looks; second, figure; third, no personality. Type ‘C’:those who just get by on all three. Whatever the system, Casino Royalecertainly has the largest of any cast of beautiful women.

Three famous Bond girls. Caroline (TheSpy Who Love Me) Munro, Jacqueline (The Deep)Bisset, and Angela (On Her Majesty's Secret Service) Scoular.

Perhaps the biggest problem behind the scenes wasPeter Sellers. At the time he was married to Britt Ekland, who would later playMary Goodnight in the 1974 Bond film The Man with the Golden Gun. Sellers marriage was on the rocks and he was chasing after her every weekend inorder to save it. He refused to listen to any production assistant who wasin-charge of getting him to the set and reportedly was late to the set daily orwould not arrive at all.

Sellers ego would be his Achilles heel, he wouldreally be annoyed if people did not pay attention to his needs as an actor. Onone occasion, Leo Jaffe, the executive vice president of Columbia, visited theset and made a mistake by thinking Woody Allen was Peter Sellers. 'When youput glasses on them,' said Feldman, 'they do sort of look alike.'Sellers was not amused over this mistake.

During the baccarat scene long time Seller’sfriend, Princess Margaret, visited the set and rushed to meet Orson Welles.Reportedly ignoring Sellers. Welles, who played the part of Le Chiffre, gave asarcastic comment to Sellers concerning his tardiness and causing the film to goover budget. This made Sellers so irate that he insisted that his scenes withWelles be done with a stand-in. Because of this on-set rivalry only one shot isshown during the entire scene with both Sellers and Welles in the same frame.

Orson Welles as Citizen Le Chiffre.

Sellers eventually lashed out against his longtime friend Joseph McGrath and literally disappeared for weeks forcing theproduction to come to a halt. According to Val Guest, Feldman was furious anddecided to terminate Sellers contract, firing him from the picture. Thenhe put plan two into operation and began rewrites and building of newer sets atPinewood Studios and Elstree Studios. Because of Sellers tantrums, Feldmanradically altered Royale’s storyline. This left McGrath irritable and forcedFeldman to hire four more directors, Val Guest, Ken (Chitty Chitty, Bang, Bang)Hughes, Robert Parrish, and John (The Maltese Falcon) Huston. RichardLester was also asked to join but turn down the offer because he was friendswith both Sellers and McGrath. The film would now be directed in four parts'Our concept for this film includes not only multiple stars, but alsomultiple directors,' said Feldman in the March 2, 1966 edition of Variety.

Feldman also hired a small army of writers to‘juice up’ the script. Famous writers and directors such as Billy Wilder,Joseph Heller, Terry Southern, and Michael Sayers added their inputs. Thesituation was too much for McGrath. He left the unfinished film after hecompleted his contractual agreement.

Sellers eventually came back to film other scenes,but kept calling his friend McGrath and begging him to return. 'Please comeback! Charlie will give you a Rolls Royce if you come back. He gave me one!'After a while, Feldman did call McGrath and offered him a Rolls Royce if hewould return. McGrath did not. Two years later, co-producer Jerry Bresler droveup to McGrath in a white Rolls Royce and said, 'I’m driving the carCharlie Feldman was going to give to you if you came back to the movie.'

Biblical Proportions

John Huston was fresh off of finishing the epicfilm The Bible before he was invited to direct a sequence of Royale.He was asked how did he get from King James to Ian Fleming?

'Well, it was broached to me as a lark,which it was. I said, I’ll do it if you let me write my segment of the pictureand shoot it my way.' (New York Times interview June 26, 1966)

Huston went on to say that Robert Morley wasfirst asked to play the part of ‘M’ but was too busy. Feldman then offeredHuston a painting if he would play the part, so he did, bald and with a Guardsmustache. However, he preferred to be paid not by a painting but by a Greekbronze head, which he recently fallen for. Ironically, it turned out to beworthless.

Huston directed his scenes with David Niven atPinewood Studios under the false working title 'The David Niven Story'.Unfortunately, TIME magazine exposed the ruse and wrote, 'Casino Royale isshooting there and from the looks of what’s happening, shooting is too goodfor it.'

John Huston directing a scene at M's castleand Deborah Kerr as a converted double agent.

Actress Deborah Kerr found herself in Royaleby accident. She dropped by to visit her friend, John Huston, and was given achoice guest part that grew from ten days into two months of work. She purchaseda new ‘luxury’ swimming pool she later dubbed ‘The Charles K. FeldmanMemorial Swimming Pool’. Miss Kerr played the part of double agent Mimi andpretended to be the late ‘M’s widow Lady Fiona McTarry. Her part became sooutrageous that in the end she had converted to being a Catholic nun.

'She’s played nuns so often she takes hernun kit everywhere she goes,' said Julie Harris, the film’s fashiondesigner.

Ms. Harris, one of the many unsung heroesbehind-the-scenes, added that Ursula Andress, who plays Vesper Lynd, was excitedabout a circus scene where she would be riding atop an elephant. She had Harriscreate a shocking pink Elephant Boy outfit with pink-blue feathers.

Peter Sellers changed the scene where he andUrsula Andress are riding an elephant and made it into a dream sequence with 104kilted Highlanders. The Elephant Boy costume can be seen worn by Ursula inthe spy control room.

Unfortunately, Peter Sellers had one of hisnightly prophetical dreams where his mother was saying not to do the scenebecause it was dangerous. So the circus scene went away and 104 kiltedHighlanders was born. Ursula was so upset that Feldman created another scenewhere she could wear the Elephant Boy outfit while prancing around her spycontrol room with David Niven. Thus the line from a curious Sir James, 'Whydon’t you wear that on the street?' 'People might stare,' saysVesper.

An expensive solution, but one must feel sorryfor the elephant owner when he arrived with his five-toed pachyderm at theShepperton Studio gates, only to be told from a disgruntled security guard thathe was at the wrong studio.

Director Robert Parrish replaced McGrath and wasperplexed when he was greeted with a huge, bare, white, cylindrical set. 'There was nothing in the script to indicate what it was for. I didn’tknow what to do with it and for a few days I just hoped it would go away. Butthen Peter came up with his dream sequence and those damn pipers.' (NewYork Times interview May 22, 1966)

One of those pipers was actor Peter O’Toole.Feldman paid him a case of champagne for his brief cameo role.

Director Val Guest said in a Scarlet Streetinterview, 'I went on under contract for eight weeks, and I was still undercontract nine months later. Feldman was a madman. There were days when you couldhug him, and then other days when you could throttle him!'

Guest was in charge of directing the scenes withWoody Allen as the evil Dr. Noah. Allen was quoted as saying he would have toleave in the middle of a sentence if this film went on much longer. He had beenin London for months waiting and doing nothing except writing a Broadway play (Don’tDrink the Water), a screenplay (Take the Money and Run), and winningat poker. By the time he actually started work he was on overtime.

Woody Allen as Dr. Noah with his GuardGirls.

'My part has been steadily changed, even upto two days ago,' Allen explained in the November 15, 1966 LOOK magazine.'No matter what anybody brought in to be read at story conferences, theirmaterial was generally received all the way from enthusiastic to wildlyenthusiastic. Then this stuff was never heard from again, in any form whatever.'Allen, who wrote most of his scenes, claimed he had a theory that there was anunseen house writer chained in Feldman’s dungeon. Allen demanded a signedconfession from Feldman that he, Woody, did none of the writing, although hetried.

'Think of the old pyramid builders,'said Allen, 'and you have some idea of what Charlie Feldman is like, lavishin the Egyptian tradition of lavish.'

Director Ken Hughes, who directed the CubbyBroccoli film The Trials of Oscar Wilde, was the last director hired.When he showed up on his first day he was surprised to see that the ArtDepartment had built a $30,000 replica of the Taj Mahal. 'I just wanted asimple backdrop to suggest a temple where Joanna Pettet does her shimmy with allthese swinging monks,' he said. 'Instead, they went and built thisbehind my back. I won’t use it. Take good care of old Ken, Feldman said.'

Top Left: Geraldine Chaplin (Charlie'sdaughter) and Richard Talmadge can be seen as the Keystone Cops. Top Right:Moneypenny and Sir James sneak around Dr. Noah's island hideout from thisdeleted scene. Bottom: Another deleted scene finds two loversembraced during the final battle scene in Casino Royale (Photos courtesyPlayboy).

Legendary stuntman and director Richard Talmadge,was in charge of the second unit. His contribution to the film is the finalchaotic battle scene inside Casino Royale. 'Let’s blow up the wholepicture,' Talmadge said to LOOK magazine. Dubbed Custer’s Last Stand itincluded U.S. Calvary and American Indians colliding with Smersh’s croupiersin a scene that looked as if it had been lifted from an old silent Keystone Copfilm. The entire scene took six weeks to film and featured 200 actors and extras.

Insurance firm, Lloyds of London, was so worriedabout this scene that they suspended the insurance during this portion of thefilm. The main reason was due to Talmadge, who had directed the train wreakscene in How the West Was Won, when one of the stuntmen was crushed underfallen timber. Feldman was gambling on Talmadge’s professionalism and said,'If he had lost, some widows might have owned his picture.

With all the mayhem, Feldman’s health began towane. He suffered a heart attack during the production, which he blamed onSellers. 'I’d be in my grave if I ever started anything like this again.Everyday a new crises with people who have reached a certain point, good or bad,in their careers. Stars are no real insurance for the success of a picture, youknow, except possible for the performance they give. In my grave. . .'

Royale Pain

Columbia Pictures announced that Casino Royalewould open no sooner than Christmas 1966. This would give United Artists’next Bond entry You Only Live Twice some breathing room with six monthsbetween pictures and no competition from a first run film. This probably gavesome solace to producer Cubby Broccoli, who faced competition in another formafter releasing his Oscar Wilde film in 1960 one week after Gregory Ratoff’sversion. Any form of a competing Bond film would spell disaster at the boxoffice. However, Columbia’s commitment came and went and the release date waspushed to mid April 1967.

Three more deleted scenes - Top: Vesper isfound dead on top of the roulette table. Right: Moneypenny evades Dr.Noah's guards by disguising herself in a wetsuit and fake duck (homage toGoldfinger's pre-credit segment). Bottom: Mata Bond, Cooper, Sir James,and Moneypenny try to break out of Dr. Noah's psychedelic maze.

By early January, John Huston walked away fromthe film with scenes still not filmed. He told a surprised Val Guest thathe would be shooting his remaining scenes. Guest was now left alone tofinish the monstrosity. For his dedicated commitment, Feldman offered anadditional credit in the form of Coordinating Director. Guest barked,'This is coordinated? If you do that, I’ll sue you!' A compromisewas reached and Guest received ‘Additional Sequences By’ which is the lastpart of the opening credits.

Heavy publicity followed in the months leading upto the premiere. Columbia Pictures promotional department flooded countlessmagazines with articles such as the Playboy spread called ‘The Girls of CasinoRoyale’ with commentary by Woody Allen. Movie theaters hung huge postersdepicting the actors and a nude, tattooed covered lady. Audio clips would playover their lobby speakers announcing the arrival of the film with the tag line -'Casino Royale Is Too Much For One James Bond' .

Terrence Cooper and Barbara Bouchet workovertime to save the free world.

The war of the Bond movies had reached a pinnaclewhen United Artists began to advertise You Only Live Twice with boldlettering saying 'Sean Connery IS James Bond'. Three campaign posterswould be made depicting Sean Connery being bathed by geisha girls, flying his‘Little Nellie’ helicopter while fighting off SPECTRE’s flying army, andthe interior of Blofeld’s volcano hideout during the final battle scene withConnery hanging upside down from the crater opening. With all the exposurebetween these two films, James Bond was becoming ‘too much for the averagemoviegoer’.

With all the negative morale during theproduction, Feldman was convinced he had a sure winner and proceeded to prove tothe world that his film was the ultimate crowd pleaser.

In New York City, Feldman gave a press party onthe roof of Broadway’s Screen Building. He unveiled a 62' x 100' sign of theclassic tattooed lady and served Hebrew National hot dogs and champagne. Also inattendance was 60's pop icon Twiggy, shown viewing the trailer to CasinoRoyale.

The Cannes Film Festival was hoping to get in onthe fun by having Casino Royale as the show opener. Unfortunately,Feldman was unable to complete the film in time for the festival.

Legend has it that the film almost did not makeit to its April 13, 1967 premiere at the London Odeon Leicester Square theater.Apparently a final cut was being prepared inside the projection room. The U.S.premiere would not happen until Friday, April 28^th.

However, a week later on Saturday night, May 6,1967 in Boston, Massachusetts, a riot broke out outside the Sack Savoy MovieTheater. According to the report, several thousand persons were denied admissionto a 4am screening of Casino Royale. Radio station WRKO had promised freeadmission with doughnuts and coffee or soft drinks to any ‘spy’ who showedup wearing a trench coat. The theater manager, John P. Sullivan, decided to runthe movie two hours earlier because the crowd, mainly youths, had grown to anestimated 15,000.

Before order was restored three hours later, some30 persons had been injured, several stores looted and cars smashed. Fifteenpersons were arrested on charges ranging from drunkenness to unlawful assembly.

As policemen converged on the mob outside, thecapacity crowd inside the theater also became unruly. The theater’s assistantmanager, Frank Dubrawsky, said he kept the film running despite two fires in theseats and a broken fire hose that soaked portions of the audience.

'I was scared stiff to shut the projectordown. They were fighting in the aisles every time someone left his seat,'Dubrawsky said.

Allen Friedberg, General Manager of SackTheaters, said, 'Under no condition will there be another preview of thistype by any Sack Theater. I never dreamed that this situation would haveresulted.'

Despite being a confusing spoof of the Bond filmsand a psychedelic run-up of the 1960s, Feldman’s Casino Royale went onto gross $17.2 million dollars at the U.S. box office. Eon’s You Only LiveTwice would better that by $2 million more. To this date, debatecontinues whether Feldman's film actually did damage to future Bond films. There is no doubt that the 60s spy craze was fading and underground films suchas Easy Rider and Billy Jack were becoming popular. Bondfilms such as 1973's Live and Let Die were still attracting audiences,but not as good compared to Goldfinger or Thunderball a decadeearlier. For it would not be until 1979's Moonraker when Bond wouldbreak new U.S. box office records.

Perhaps the most redeeming part of Feldman's CasinoRoyale is the music score by Burt Bacharach. With lyrics by Hal Davidand the title song performed by Herb Alpert & TheTijuana Brass, the soundtrack became a cult favorite and a highly sought aftercollectible among audiophiles. By the late 1980s the LP record could fetchup to several hundred dollars. The reason behind this was the way therecording studio processed the record. By increasing the volume to nearover-modulation, the sound gave most stereo sound systems a run-for-its-money. When the soundtrack was reproduced for the CD generation, the sound from theoriginal 1/4' tapes was faithfully restored.

On May 25, 1968, Charles K. Feldman died ofcancer. He was 63. His prophetic remark, 'I’d be in my grave if I everstarted anything like this again.', reverberated off the obituary ofthe New York Times. Two years later Casino Royale would premiere onCBS television on September 18, 1970. Unfortunately it would not be a ratingblockbuster the network was hoping. The film would eventually fall intosyndicated broadcast oblivion for the next two decades.

To Bond fans worldwide the 1967 version was aconfusing mess. However, in 2000 the Director of Film Studies at theUniversity of Colorado, Robert von Dassanowsky, wrote a very compelling articleon theartistic values of Casino Royale.

Gone, But Not Forgotten

For years after 1967, the film rights to CasinoRoyale hanged in limbo.

On June 29, 1979, at the New York Museum ofModern Art, producer Cubby Broccoli, director Lewis Gilbert and film criticJudith Crist, answered questions from audience members during a panel discussionon Moonraker and the OO7 films. One question was asked about thefate of Casino Royale and whether Eon owned the rights. 'No, wedon’t own it.' said Broccoli. 'When the first deal was madewith the Fleming estate to make Bond films, that was already sold.' (Bondagemagazine #9)

Ten years later during a visit to a James Bondfilm class, the same question would be asked to Cubby’s stepson andco-producer, Michael G. Wilson.

'United Artist bought out CharlieFeldman’s rights and Columbia owns the rights in common, so they’re in aMexican standoff.' Wilson continued, 'I think it's aninteresting (Fleming) story - whether it's in our style, the right way to gowith Bond, I don't know? It's a very heavy story in a way. To fallin love with a woman who is a double agent and be completely misled after allBond has been through with her is tough. Then have her commit suicide andhave Bond feel good about it - that's kind of a heavy film.' (Bondagemagazine #17)

Wilson shared the forum with Bond fan and futurewriter of the official novels, Raymond Benson. In 1985, Benson proposed toGlidrose (the literary owners of James Bond) that he would write a James Bondstage play based on Casino Royale.

'I wrote the play in 2-3 months and thenheld a staged reading of it in New York City in February 1986, usingprofessional actors.' said Benson during an online interview with John Coxof CommanderBond.net.'The reading went very well and we then had a discussion with the audienceabout what worked and what didn’t. It’s a shame that Glidrose couldn’tattend that reading because the outcome might have been different. Anyway,Glidrose paid me and then they submitted the play to a British theatrical agent.She was very elderly and in my opinion she just didn’t get it. She recommendedthat the play not be produced. After further thought, Glidrose shelved it withthe ultimate decision that a James Bond stage play simply wouldn’t work. Thefilms had Bond in a monopoly and there was no way a play could compete. Idisagreed, but it was their property.'

In early 1997, Thunderball producer KevinMcClory and Sony/Columbia Pictures teamed up to begin work on Warhead 2000,a James Bond film based loosely on a treatment McClory worked on with IanFleming in the late 1950s. Sony/Columbia was looking for a franchise movieseries and McClory was the stepping stone they needed in perhaps the mostoutrageous lawsuit in the annals of Hollywood history.

In short, McClory/Sony/Columbia sued MGM/UA andEon Productions on the grounds that McClory’s story elements from Thunderballhad been exploited in every James Bond film since 1962's Dr. No. A claimthat could yield McClory and Sony millions, if not billions, and the control ofthe cinematic rights to James Bond.

The suit was considered ‘dirty pool’ inHollywood. The thought of undermining the series away from the Broccolifamily, who has made it successful for over 35 years, was pathetic in the mindsof fans all over the world. By late 1999, Sony/Columbia still had nocompeting Bond film. Faced with a negative ruling from a Los Angeles judge, Sonydecided to drop the suit and settle out of court which in turn gave MGM thedistribution rights of Casino Royale. Two years earlier MGM alsowon the distribution rights toMcClory's Never Say Never Again fromTaliaFilms. Now Eon Productions had control of all the Bond theatricaltitles.

And the First Shall Be Last

In 2004, MGM/UA was sold to Sony/ColumbiaPictures. Their entire library of the best loved musicals, comedies and dramaswould now be controlled by the rival studio. The fate of the James Bondfranchise was in question and delayed the start of Bond 21 until 2006. However, on February 3, 2005, after the dust had settled between Sony/Columbiaand MGM/UA, Eon Productions made the announcement that the next James Bond filmwould be Casino Royale. Fans could not have been happier except thatthere was no mention if Pierce Brosnan, the current actor to play OO7, wouldreturn. Other actors such as Dougray Scott, Hugh Jackman, Heath Ledger, CliveOwen and Eric Bana were potential contenders for the role but on October 14,2005, the world was in for a bigger surprise than expected.

Arriving in a military speed boat, actor DanielCraig (clickhere for video), the sixth official actor to play OO7, made his grandentrance in front of the world press. Craig would later reveal that he wasnot interested in the part but was persuaded by producer Barbara Broccoli toreconsider. 'I will not accept the part unless I see the script.'Craig said. After several months and arevised script by Paul Haggis, Craig was more than satisfied.

According to Premiere magazine (November 2006issue), while in Baltimore, Maryland working on his latest film with NicoleKidman called The Invasion, Craig was picking up laundry detergent in theWhole Foods Market aisle when his cell phone rang. On the other end, andliterally on the other side of the Atlantic, was Barbara Broccoli. 'It'sover to you, Kiddo!,' were the words and with that Craig dropped thedetergent and headed to the local liquor store for a bottle of Vodka andVermouth. He obviously did not need to shake it, he already was himself.

He gave his mother a call to tell her the newsand to keep it quiet until after the press conference. Unfortunately, onetabloid reporter called his mother and said, 'The news has broken. What do you think about your son becoming the new OO7?' His mothernonetheless let the cat out of the bag. A cheap trick that anyone wouldhave fallen for it.

Unfortunately, the Royale curse continuedand now had Craig in its grasp. 'He’s too blonde, too ugly.' saidsome Internet outlets. 'He's not tallenough. He looks more like a villain than a hero.' said other presssources.

On the website AbsolutelyJames Bond one disgruntled fan said: 'My god, don't the producershave any brains? Craig is not Bond material. Bond must be tall, dark andhandsome. Or at least two of the three, and he isn't even one!'

Perhaps the biggest news was not Daniel Craig butthe website danielcraigisnotbond. A site endorsed by approximately 50 disappointed fans who feel that PierceBrosnan is the only actor who can play Bond. This immediately attracted theattention of the press and before the cameras began rolling, Craig was the mostunwelcome Bond actor since the early days of George Lazenby.

Negative rumors continued to flood the Interneton a day-to-day basis. Anything from Daniel Craig being unable to drive acar with a clutch, to having his front teeth knocked out during a staged fightscene. Both stories are untrue. Craig, being raised in England, obviouslycan drive a clutch and the teeth incident was merely a capped tooth that hadcome unglued. The headlines obviously disturbed Craig, but the resultswere more positive. He approached the role more serious and more determinethan any other role he had played. He worked closely with the script andsuggested that a scene with a suicide bomber be dropped because the people whodo that for real are divided on religious and political grounds. 'Ifyou are going to show someone setting up a bomb to kill people,' Craig saidto Premiere magazine, 'Then have him walking away with a case of moneyafterwards.' Craig even had input into the music and title song.

Daniel Craig becomes the sixth actor to playOO7. Eva Green as Vesper Lynd and Mads Mikkelsen as Le Chiffre.

As the months rolled on however, photos and newsclips would leak onto the Internet showing a very buff and muscular DanielCraig, who would spend three hours a night working out in the gym. The rest ofthe cast would slowly be announced with Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen playing athin Le Chiffre, Eva Green playing the Bond girl who breaks our secret agent’sheart - Vesper Lynd, and Jeffery Wright playing a black Felix Leiter (previouslyplayed by white actors). By late-summer the majority of fans and non-fans werebeginning to warm up to Daniel Craig as OO7 as the official trailer made its wayonto the Internet. The trailer began in gritty black and white as a young Bondearns his OO agent status. The rest of the trailer is in color and sets up thestory in modern times as Le Chiffre is the big investment banker for the world'sterrorists. Bond, with the aid of Vesper, must defeat Le Chiffre in awinner-take-all poker game at Casino Royale. By the end of the trailer, themajority of Bond fans world-wide were completely satisfied.

Still some fans however have voiced theirconcerns about the grittiness of the film and whether it will be too muchcompared to the rest of the series. Mads Mikkelson said to Premieremagazine, 'We're talking grittiness compared to the other Bond films.That's what we're talking, of course we're not talking gritty gritty. That wouldbe a no-go. The task is to bring this magical universe — it's still a fairytale, he's still Superman, I'm still the baddie — into 2006. That's the kindof grittiness we're talking about.'

Unfortunately when one gambles long enough ladyluck is sure to turn, on July 30, 2006, Pinewood Studios largest stage, TheAlbert R. Broccoli OO7 Stage, burned to the ground. Inside the stage was the remains of a Venetianset. Fortunately the crew had finished filming and production staff werein the process of dismantling the set. This is the second time this stageburned down. The first time was in 1984 during production of Legend. Fortunately, no one was hurt in either accident. The OO7 Stage is wellknown among Bond fans for housing the submarine set in 1977's The Spy WhoLoved Me.

By late September, the main title song by ChrisCornell, 'You Know My Name' leaked onto the Internet. Thesong was met with mediocre results since it lacked a Bondian tune. However,by mid-October a newer version showed up at Cornell's website with fullorchestration. The results were better than the initial release and setthe tone for the November 17th premiere.

Co-Producer Barbara Broccoli sums up the mainreason why Eon finally filmed Casino Royale, 'It was always anambition of theirs (Cubby and Harry Saltzman) to be able to make this story but,sadly, they were never able to. So, when it finally became available to us,we leapt at the chance. I like to think that I'm doing this for my Dad.'

Ironically Ian Fleming’s first novel will behis last officially adapted for the screen by Eon Productions (all of hisOO7 books have been used either by title or by story). Royale is theclosest to any of his Bond novels since 1969's On Her Majesty’s SecretService. However, this film is more about how James Bond became the agent weall know and love than simply about his relationship with Bond-girl Vesper Lynd. On the other hand, the 1967 Feldman version is the opposite. It depicts an agingSir James Bond, forced out of retirement to fight his greatest nemesis - hisnephew. Only to be blown up with the rest of the world in the final moments ofthe climatic battle.

The good news in all of this is that whereFeldman’s version ended with no where to go, Eon’s version will obviouslybegin a new chapter in James Bond’s cinematic life. This will no doubtreverberate from the silver screen at the end of Casino Royale when thewords 'James Bond Will Return'.

Casino Royale 1967 Art Gallery

Casino Royale 1967 Movie Cast