The real James Bond (David Niven) became an espionage legend during WW I.

The film couldn’t use Connery but it has an elegant solution: Connery’s a phony.

This isn’t a bad idea, except spoofs have to be funny. Rather than compete head to head with Eon Films, Feldman turned Casino Royale into a spy spoof. Ian Fleming sold off the movie rights to Casino in 1955 but nothing came of that until producer Charles Feldman bought them. When I wrote my book on the Bond films, I knew I wanted to include the three non-EON movies: Never Say Never Again, with Sean Connery back in the role Operation Kid Brother, an Italian “spaghetti spy film” with Neal Connery as “the brother of secret agent 00-something” and the 1967 Casino Royale (plus the 1954 TV adaptation). Despite all the talent, Casino Royale isn’t just bad, it’s tedious. Let’s see, we have David Niven, Deborah Kerr, Peter Sellers, Woody Allen, Orson Welles and William Holden behind the scenes there’s Wolf Mankiewicz’s writing and Val Guest and John Huston, among others, directing. In the end, it's for the best it didn't go forward or the James Bond movie franchise as it exists now probably wouldn't have happened.Few movies have wasted as much talent as the 1967 film adaptation of Casino Royale. CBS eventually scrapped the idea and its unknown if Nelson would have returned for the show. In an alternate universe Climax's! Casino Royale could have led to a James Bond CBS series, which the network commissioned and Ian Fleming even started developing episode outlines for. The episode is obviously lacking a lack of the familiar tropes of later movies too, including the gadgets, the vehicles and the Walther PPK, and in the case of the latter, he's seen wielding an FN Model 1900.Ĭlimax's Casino Royale is also of note for Barry Nelson's Jimmy Bond ordering a scotch and water instead of a vodka martini, and it was one of famed composer Jerry Goldsmith's very first gigs. Overall, Barry Nelson isn't bad as Bond but making the character American was a mistake, and by the actor's own admission there wasn't much charm to the spy as he was presented on the show. Screen legend Peter Lorre ( M) also played Le Chiffre in the Climax! Casino Royale, with the infamous torture scene reimagined as the villain removing Bond's toenails offscreen.

Climax episode casino royale