Casino Royale
Dir: Richard Talmadge, Ken Hughes, Robert Parrish, Val Guest, Joseph McGrath, John Huston
1967
**
In 1955 Ian Flemming sold the film rights to his novel to Gregory Ratoff. After Ratoff's death five years later, successful producer Charles K. Feldman then bought the rights from Ratoff's widow and in turn approached Cubby Broccoli with the idea of adding it to Eon's Bond roster. After brief deliberation it was decided that Casino Royale wasn't quite right for the series and Feldman was turned away. I can't help but think money was a key factor but undeterred Feldman made his film but decided it best to film it as a spoof rather than compete with what was quite an opponent. 1967's Casino Royale is an eclectic mess of unfathomable nonsense and poor attempts at humor. Spoof comedies have changed a lot over the past few decades, not always for the better but you can always date them. Casino Royale has 1960's experimentation all over it. I've heard people say that Austin Powers was a much better spoof of James Bond but surely it spoofed Casino Royale just as much as 007's serious side. It's production issues are now quite famous, how do you put a film together that has been directed by six different people? It's not without its successes though, I actually loved the final scene and Peter Sellers, Woody Allen and David Niven are on top form. It's a bizarre example of cinemas experimental but hectic history, in many ways I'm probably quite upset that we'll never see this kind of film again although why the studios would want to avoid such a repeat experience is quite clear and probably for the best. An odd side-step for the world's greatest spy indeed.