Casino Royale - 1967
By The Bottom Reel Editorial Team ·
Casino Royale (1967) – The Psychedelic Bond Spoof That Broke Every Rule
Plot
Sir James Bond David Niven, the “original” 007, has been retired 20 years. He’s visited by M John Huston, CIA man Ransome William Holden, KGB man Smernov, and French agent Le Grand Charles Boyer. SMERSH is killing off spies because they can't resist sex. M is killed when his mortar attack on Bond's estate goes wrong.
Bond returns to M's Scottish estate, is made head of MI6, and decides to confuse SMERSH by renaming every remaining agent “James Bond 007” and creating a program to train men to ignore women. He recruits:
Baccarat master Evelyn Tremble Peter Sellers to beat Le Chiffre
Millionaire spy Vesper Lynd Ursula Andress
His daughter with Mata Hari, Mata Bond Joanna Pettet
Agents Cooper Terence Cooper and The Detainer Daliah Lavi
Evelyn is sent to Casino Royale to bankrupt SMERSH treasurer Le Chiffre Orson Welles, who cheats with infrared sunglasses. Vesper steals them, Evelyn wins, then both are kidnapped. Le Chiffre tortures Evelyn with hallucinogens. Vesper kills Evelyn, SMERSH kills Le Chiffre.
Mata infiltrates International Mothers' Help – actually a SMERSH training center in Berlin – and destroys compromising photos of world leaders. Sir James, Moneypenny Barbara Bouchet, Mata and Cooper go to Casino Royale to rescue Mata after she is kidnapped by a flying saucer.
They discover the casino sits atop SMERSH HQ run by Dr. Noah, revealed to be Jimmy Bond Woody Allen – Sir James's nephew. Jimmy plans biological warfare to make all women beautiful and kill all men over 4 ft 6 in, leaving him the “big man.” The Detainer tricks him into swallowing an atomic time pill. The pill explodes, destroying the casino and killing everyone inside. The Bonds ascend to Heaven; Jimmy descends to Hell.
Cast & Crew
Sir James Bond – David Niven
Evelyn Tremble / James Bond – Peter Sellers
Vesper Lynd / James Bond – Ursula Andress
Le Chiffre – Orson Welles
Mata Bond / James Bond – Joanna Pettet
The Detainer / James Bond – Daliah Lavi
Jimmy Bond / Dr. Noah – Woody Allen
Agent Mimi / Lady Fiona McTarry – Deborah Kerr
M / McTarry – John Huston
Ransome – William Holden
Le Grand – Charles Boyer
Miss Moneypenny – Barbara Bouchet
Cooper / James Bond – Terence Cooper
Miss Goodthighs – Jacqueline Bisset credited as Jacky Bisset, early role
French Legionnaire – Jean-Paul Belmondo, Himself – George Raft, plus cameos by Stirling Moss, Peter O'Toole, Anjelica Huston, David Prowse as Frankenstein's monster
Directors: John Huston, Ken Hughes, Val Guest, Robert Parrish, Joe McGrath and Richard Talmadge stunt director
Screenplay: Wolf Mankowitz, John Law, Michael Sayers
Producer: Charles K. Feldman, Jerry Bresler
Music: Burt Bacharach – includes “The Look of Love” sung by Dusty Springfield, Oscar-nominated
Cinematography: Jack Hildyard
Distributor: Columbia Pictures
Runtime: 131 minutes
The film boasts the greatest number of actors to later appear in Eon Bond films, including Ursula Andress, Vladek Sheybal, Burt Kwouk, Angela Scoular and Caroline Munro.
Social Impact & Reception
Production chaos = legend: Charles Feldman bought the rights in 1960 after failing to make a deal with Eon producers Broccoli and Saltzman. Believing he couldn't compete with Eon, he made it a satire. The budget escalated as various directors and writers became involved, and actors expressed dissatisfaction. The original plan was each director would cover a thread and pass the script on.
At release: Released April 13, 1967, London, April 28 US – two months before Eon's You Only Live Twice – it was a financial success despite baffling critics. Burt Bacharach's score was praised.
Critical reception:
Rotten Tomatoes: 26% of 42 critics positive, average 4.6/10. Consensus: “A goofy, dated parody of spy movie cliches, Casino Royale squanders its all-star cast on a meandering, mostly laugh-free script.” Some listings show 27-29% based on 41 reviews.
Metacritic: 48 / 100 from 11 reviews – mixed
Viewer ratings: IMDb 5.2/10, Rotten Tomatoes audience 35%
Critics called it “a pitiful spoof,” “an abstraction of real life,” “so overstuffed with gags, sets, international stars, and mainstream-movie excess that it became something of a legendary folly.”
Rotten Tomatoes ranks it last – No. 27 out of 27 Bond films – and CBR called it “Still The Most Bizarre Spy Thriller Of All Time”.
Social impact: It invented the big-budget Bond parody template later used by Austin Powers. Its psychedelic 60s aesthetic, Ken Adam sets, and Bacharach score became cult touchstones. It also showed the dangers of too many auteurs – a cautionary tale in film schools. Since 1999 rights have been held by MGM, distributor of Eon Bond films.
Budget vs. Profit at Box Office
Budget: $12 million – nearly 12 times the budget of Dr. No (1962) and huge for 1967
Box Office: $41.7 million worldwide $41,744,718 – a solid hit
Performance: With $12M cost and $41.7M gross, it was profitable, plus soundtrack sales. It grossed more than many Eon Bonds of the era. Nominated for BAFTA for Best British Costume and Grammy for Best Original Score.
Ratings
IMDb: 5.2 / 10 from ∼45k votes
Rotten Tomatoes: 26% Tomatometer (42 reviews), 35% Audience Score
Metacritic: 48 / 100
Rating: PG / PG-13 equivalent, 131 min
Bottom line: Casino Royale 1967 is not a James Bond movie, it’s a 131-minute in-joke about James Bond movies made by six directors who weren’t speaking to each other. Watch it for the cast, the Bacharach music, and the moment Woody Allen becomes a walking atomic bomb. Don’t watch it for coherent plotting.