When Ian Fleming sold the rights of his first novel, Casino Royale, to CBS, it started an interesting story, which resulted in this film. CBS made a one-hour television adaptation of the novel as part of their Climax! series in 1954, starring Barry Nelson as Bond.

The next year Fleming sold the rights to Michael Garrison and Gragory Ratoff. Ratoff tried to sell the rights to 20th Century Fox, but died and his widow sold the rights to Charles K. Feldman. After the succes of the Bond-series with Sean Connery Feldman decided to offer Casino Royale to Broccoli and Saltzman as a collaboration. They accepted Feldman's terms and agreed to produce it following On Her Majety's Secret Service, which was originally scheduled after Goldfinger.

However, at the same time, Kevin McClory offered them Thunderball, and the producing team considered it a better source for a film, so they pushed OHMSS after Thunderball. It proved to be a big success, but having made one collaboration they were hesitant to make another.

Feldman now decided to take the matter into his own hands, and approached Connery with an offer to star in his production of Casino Royale. Connery, tiring of the Bond role, set his salary at $1 million, which Feldman denied. Feldman thought that he couldn't compete with the Bond-series, so he decided to make a spoof in the style of his hit film "What's New, Pussycat?"

Feldman first approached Peter Sellers and offered him the role of Bond. Seller declined, but instead devised the role of Evelyn Tremble, a stand-in for Bond in the Casino. David Niven became Bond. Feldman wanted famous stars, so he got such actors for the film as Orson Welles (playing LeChiffre), Ursula Andress (as Vesper Lynd), Woody Allen and Deborah Kerr. George Raft, Jean-Paul Belmondo and Peter O'Toole took cameo roles, but had top billing. The production proved to be troubled. Five different directors worked on the film, directing different parts, leaving Val Guest to make these parts into a whole film. The budget also caused problems, as the initial cost of $6 million ballooned to $12 million, one of the biggest budgetst of his time. Peter Sellers also caused problems, as he began a feud with Orson Welles, and walked off the production. This caused big problems for the film makers. The entire sequence where Tremble is kidnapped was missing, so it was left out of the film. They also had to alter existing footage to give the production some cohesivness. Although a lot of film was shot, a hugh amount of footage is missing from the film, making it seem chaotic. The finale, a knock-down drag-out fight featuring three James Bonds, flying saucers, the french foreign legion and cowboys and indians (!) was directed by stuntman Richard Talmadge. The film's score was composed by Burt Bacharach and his song "The Look of Love," sung by Dusty Springfield became a hugh hit. Despite universally negative reviews, it was a success, and the third highest grossing film in North America in 1967, with a gross of more than $22 million and a worldwide gross of more than $41 million.

Original Trailer

Fake Trailer in the style of Casino Royale 2006

Cast:

• David Niven as Sir James Bond
• Peter Sellers as Evely Tremble
• Ursula Andress as Vesper Lynd
• Orson Welles as Le Chiffre
• Woody Allen as Dr. Noah
• Barbara Bouchet as Miss Moneypenny
• Deborah Kerr as Agent Mimi
• Jaqueline Bisset as Miss Goodtights
• Joanna Pettet as Mata Bond
• Daliah Lavi as The Detainer
• Terence Cooper as Cooper
• Bernard Cribbins as Carlton Towers
• Anna Quayle as Frau Hoffner
• Ronnie Corbett as Polo
• John Huston as M
• Geoffrey Bayldon as Q
• Derek Nimmo as Hadley
• William Holden as Ransom
• Charles Boyer as Le Grand
• Kurt Kasznar as Smernov
• George Raft as Himself
• Jean-Paul Belmondo as a french foreign legionnaire

Directors:

• Val Guest
• Ken Hughes
• John Huston
• Joseph McGrath
• Robert Parrish
• Richard Talmadge

Screenplay:

• Wolf Mankowitz
• John Law
• Michael Sayers

Music:

• Burt Bacharach

Cinematography:

• Jack Hildyard

Editor:

• Bill Lenny

Production Design:

• Michael Stringer