The plot basically has a decimated MI5 renaming all of its agents 007 to confuse the enemy. Unusually cooperative, considering his estate has been destroyed by McTarry (John Huston), a very affable and charming David Niven recruits his own illegitimate daughter (who if her mother was Mata Hari should be at least 50) to figure out the SMERSH - Le Chiffre connection, while supercriminal and literal mankiller Vesper Lind recruits cardplayer Evelyn Tremble to snooker Le Chiffre at the baccarat table.

The movie spends perhaps five minutes developing this tale, and devotes the rest of its time goes to elaborate and sometimes aimless side plots that are often amusing on their own. The film is really a closet stinker, whether or not one is amenable to the Hellzapoppin', Mad World kind of anarchy. in 1967 we roared with delight over thin gags like an appearance of Frankenstein's monster along with the other movie star cameos; and we had to have it explained to us who the heck George Raft was. Only later on did recognizing a brief appearance by Jackie (Jacqueline) Bisset become an added thrill.

Other references will be lost to new viewers: a particularly surreal bit has Mata Bond plucked from outside Buckingham palace by a ceremonial Guardsman, whose steed carries her right up the ramp into a flying saucer landed in Trafalgar Square. A popular but idiotic television commercial at the time had a white knight who rode around zapping people's clothes white with his lance ... I guess you had to be there.

In his interview, Val Guest explains that clueless producer Charles K. Feldman just turned loose his main directors to go off and shoot pieces of various scripts that really couldn't be tied together. When none of it worked (Duh), Guest stayed on for months to engineer more interstitial nonsense to give it at least a hint of coherence. John Huston's rather pointless Scottish segment really doesn't fit, but Guest tries to make it seem intentional by bringing back Deborah Kerr in a quick blackout later on.

When Kerr re-appears, she's only seen with Niven in over-the-shoulder shots where a double could have been used. Casino Royale has a lot of material that looks as if it were fudged to accomodate difficult-to schedule actors.

Val Guest explains that Feldman's spoken instructions were to make the film 'psychedelic', which the director wisely interpreted as: 'Senseless farce, plus glitzy visuals'. Richard Williams' animation and montage effects are captivating, and appear to use cut scenes. The movie can seem moderately brilliant, and then revert to doltish idiocy. What we remember are the captivating moments, as when Evelyn Tremble decks a French custom agent, just because it's what James Bond is supposed to do. Other nonsensical gags, like Le Chiffre's assassins coming through a tv monitor to attack him, are great.

Disorganized observations:

A fun embarassment, Casino Royale is still sufficiently amusing to be rewatched, and especially re-heard, again and again. Bond spoofs were so common in 1966-67 that dumb humor became as important to the idea of a spy film as semi-naked women and violence; not long thereafter the official Bond series itself transformed into a spoof-athon almost as broad as this picture. 007 maintained his popularity, if not his self-respect.

MGM's DVD of Casino Royale is a beauty, with a very handsome 16:9 transfer that brings out all of the film's eyepopping color and widescreen vistas of beautiful girls. The audio has been remixed in 5.1, and although it sounds better, changes in the mix seem odd to these ears. Where previously the music stayed at top volume, now it wraps and dips around the effects track a bit more. Nothing serious, but retaining a mono original would have been a thoughtful extra. Wrong! There is a mono soundtrack choice. Thanks to Stuart Galbraith for pointing this out!

The handsome docu-interview with Val Guest uses the psychedelic theme to give logic to an illogical production, and is a must-see. Guest properly refuses to talk out of school about his co-creators, but the only conclusion to be made is that producer Feldman interpreted the new Mod freedom of the screen as the freedom to make a movie without a real script or concept. Practical jokers like John Huston were only too happy to take his money and run. A journeyman (or repairman?) on this farce, Guest made his biggest mark earlier with a number of classics - Expresso Bongo, the Quatermass films, The Day the Earth Caught Fire.

As an added treat, the disc includes the Climax Theater presentation of the 1954 Barry Nelson version of Casino Royale, which is fascinating. The not-bad-looking kinescope is from a live presentation from the Golden Age of TV where entire acts were performed and broadcast live, without editing or interruptions. The show is fairly sophisticated in its camera movement and blocking, at least part of the time. The actors work hard to keep things running smoothly, and it's fun to see Peter Lorre's oily Le Chiffre ad-libbing and back-pedaling to keep the show on the rails. Nelson is awful as a dimestore American Bond, with Australian Michael Pate (Major Dundee) as Felix Leiter. MGM usually doesn't put public domain material out on disc, so this is a happy exception. When and if (don't hold your breath) the studio puts out the limp Operation Kid Brother, with Neil Connery, all of the semi-official Bond films will be on DVD.

On a scale of Excellent, Good, Fair, and Poor, Casino Royale rates:
Movie: Good
Video: Excellent
Sound: Excellent
Supplements: featurette, trailer, 1954 television version.
Packaging: Keep case
Reviewed: October 15, 2002