Pel·lícula Casino Royale [1967]

Casino Royale, pel·lícula d'espionatge britànica-americana, estrenada el 1967, que és una paròdia de la primera novel·la de James Bond de Ian Fleming (1953). Plagada per una producció caòtica, la pel·lícula destaca per ser en gran part incoherent.

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Bond (interpretat per David Niven) viu en opulència després de retirar-se del MI6. No obstant això, després dels misteriosos assassinats d’agents de diferents països, el seu antic cap, M (John Huston), i altres oficials d’intel·ligència internacional són tornats al servei. Bond s’assabenta que un dels objectius de la investigació és un jugador de riques anomenat Le Chiffre (Orson Welles), que en realitat és un operatiu superior d’un sindicat de delictes conegut com SMERSH. Bond decideix confondre els seus enemics alistant nombrosos agents a adoptar el nom de James Bond. Utilitza els serveis de l'agent Vesper Lynd (Ursula Andress) per seduir Evelyn Tremble (Peter Sellers), el jugador més gran del món. Tremble accepta presentar-se com a James Bond i desafiar a Le Chiffre a un partit d’alta participació al famós Casino Royale, que és un front per a les operacions de SMERSH.Tremble guanya el partit, provocant que Le Chiffre perdi una enorme quantitat de diners dels sindicats del crim, un error que es tradueix en la mort de Le Chiffre. Quan Lynd és segrestada del casino, Tremble es precipita per rescatar-la. Tanmateix, ell descobreix massa tard que ella és una doble agent i ella el mata.

Meanwhile, the real Bond succeeds in confronting the secret head of SMERSH, Dr. Noah, who is actually his nephew Jimmy Bond (Woody Allen). Jimmy has devised a series of incredible schemes, including the elimination of all men taller than him and the development of a time-release atomic bomb concealed in a pill. A British agent (Daliah Lavi) surreptitiously slips one of the pills into Jimmy’s champagne, turning him into a walking atomic time bomb. Meanwhile, a wild battle ensues in Casino Royale, with MI6 and its allies (including U.S. agents dressed as cowboys and Indians) fighting the forces of SMERSH. No one emerges as a winner, however, because Jimmy’s bomb explodes, killing everyone in the casino.

The film is loosely based on Fleming’s Casino Royale, the only Bond book for which producers Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman did not hold the rights. Rather than try and compete with the popular Sean Connery movies, the filmmakers decided to shoot the novel as a spoof. However, the production quickly spiraled out of control with five directors working simultaneously but never in conjunction with each other. Eight writers (most uncredited) also worked on the screenplay, including Billy Wilder, Joseph Heller, and Ben Hecht. In addition, there were problems with the performers, most notably Sellers, who reportedly did not get along with Welles and refused to shoot scenes with him. Eventually, Sellers left the production. The resulting film is disjointed and nearly impossible to follow. However, with an all-star cast, an outstanding production design, and a soundtrack that included Burt Bacharach and Herb Alpert, Casino Royale was a box-office hit, and it later became a cult classic. A second big-screen adaptation of Casino Royale was released in 2006 to great acclaim; a dramatic version of Fleming’s novel, it starred Daniel Craig.

Production notes and credits

• Studio: Columbia Pictures

• Directors: Val Guest, Joseph McGrath, John Huston, Ken Hughes, and Robert Parrish

• Producers: Charles K. Feldman and Jerry Bresler

• Writers: Wolf Mankowitz, John Law, and Michael Sayers

• Music: Burt Bacharach

• Running time: 131 minutes

Cast

• Peter Sellers (Evelyn Tremble)

• Ursula Andress (Vesper Lynd)

• David Niven (Sir James Bond)

• Woody Allen (Jimmy Bond)

• Orson Welles (Le Chiffre)

Academy Award nomination

• Song (“The Look of Love”)