Bond movies have many virtues, but given the tight formula and franchise demands, dramatic surprises are not high on that list. But the film critic Roger Ebert probably nailed it when he called it “a definitive example of what can happen when everybody working on a film goes simultaneously berserk”. But that needs to be set against a nonsensical plot featuring David Niven as Sir James Bond and a host of stars – among them Peter Sellers, Woody Allen and Ursula Andress – impersonating 007 and indulging in madcap adventures, culminating in a nuclear explosion. In its defence it did earn an Oscar nomination for Bacharach and David’s beautiful The Look Of Love.
It is best understood as an unholy mess, although, incredibly, it was also a hit. The original Casino Royale – not to be confused under any circumstances with the Daniel Craig version – was produced outside the official Bond franchise by the enigmatic lawyer-agent Charles Feldman, who had acquired the film rights to the novel years earlier and then spotted an opportunity to cash in.
