Casino Royale (1967)

Director: Ken Hughes, John Huston, Joseph McGrath, Robert Parrish, Val Guest
Starring: Peter Sellers, Ursula Andress, David Niven

Synopsis:
Sir James Bond is called out of retirement to save the world's espionage organs from the depredations of SMERSH.

Impressions:
It's funny that the same story that was used to kick off the grittier Daniel Craig era of Bond films was used for an off-brand parody when the Bond film franchise was kicking off. The movie grossed well when it was released but critical reception at the time was mixed and time hasn't been particularly kind to it. It feels like it was written with a shotgun. It tries to get its laughs in by throwing just about anything at the wall to see if it sticks. Most often, it doesn't. Actually, I found more humor in the incompetence of its attempts at humor than anything else. I liked David Niven as Sir James, very much an aversion to your image of James Bond, and Orson Welles was amazing as Le Chiffre. (The torture sequence was one of the highlights of the movie.) Woody Allen is kinda funny too. One of the real disappointments was Peter Sellers, who certainly isn't at the top of his game (and was apparently quite the jackwagon on set). Ironically, there may well be more cheesecake in this movie than most mainline Bond films. That may or may not be incentive enough for some viewers. It's not that good of a movie, but it was interesting enough to warrant a watch in my book. Maybe you'll think the same.

Rating:
50/50