The Making of Casino Royale (1967) Telos

The Making of Casino Royale (1967) outlines the story of a major blockbuster movie, which got out of control to become one of the most complicated productions filmed and the most bizarre James Bond film ever.

This book is now available to pre-order on the Telos website www.telos.co.uk although it will become available later on both Amazon UK and Amazon USA and there will also be a Kindle version.

The sixties James Bond spoof Casino Royale was a psychedelic multi-storyline extravaganza of improvisation and the constant rewriting of various screenplays, brought about after negotiations between producer Charles K Feldman, Eon Productions, United Artists and Columbia Pictures failed to bring about a co-production. Realising that he would have to proceed without Bond actor Sean Connery, Feldman decided to make a comedy and crammed his picture with as many famous names as possible: Peter Sellers, Woody Allen, David Niven, Ursula Andress, Orson Welles, Deborah Kerr, Daliah Lavi, Joanna Pettet, Barbara Bouchet, William Holden and Jean Paul Belmondo to name but a few. The cast also included several unbilled cameos such as: Peter O'Toole, Caroline Munro, Dave Prowse, John Le Mesurier, Fiona Lewis and ex-F1 racing driver Stirling Moss.

Interesting book you've got there, Mikeie.

Paul

Thanks, this book goes into great detail regarding both the development and production of this film, where what was happening behind the scenes was just as bizarre as the antics in front of the cameras.

Just to give a little more...

I can confirm that you will discover the answers to the following...

1 During development, which James Bond actor was approached about playing the character for what would have been the first time in June 1964?

2 During December 1965, which actress well known for appearing in The Avengers was named in the American press as being lined-up to appear in Casino Royale?

3 For his cameo role in the Scottish Marching Band sequence, what did Peter O'Toole accept as payment?

4 Why did Sarah Miles turn down the role of Meg, one of the McTarry daughters?

5 What did Shirley MacLaine do the week before principal photography was due to commence that stopped production?

6 Why was Blake Edwards turned down as a director for Casino Royale?

7 After suffering the bad experience of having his screenplay constantly rewritten while making the film What's New Pussycat? Why did Woody Allen agree to work with Charles K Feldman again on Casino Royale?

8 What role was Dave Prowse originally going to play in Peter Sellers' nightmare?

All this and more (as the saying goes) in The Making of Casino Royale (1967).

There's just been an interview posted on Jason Whiton's impressive SpyVibe blog, which goes into the background of Charles K Feldman's sixties James Bond spoof and why I was inspired to write this reference work, The Making of Casino Royale (1967) (Follow the link). Hopefully both paperback and e-book examples will be available by the beginning of November, but if you cannot wait until then it can be pre-ordered from the Telos Publishing site.

http://spyvibe.blogspot.co.uk/

An in-depth interview regarding this book can be found on The Nice Rooms blogzine by following the link, or simply go to the site and enter through The Front Room and look at room 26.

http://www.thenicerooms.com/room-26

The Making of Casino Royale (1967) is now available as a paperback on Amazon UK (as well as from the Telos Publishing website).

This news also gives me an opportunity to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a happy 2016.

No.3 Answer. Wasn't it a bottle of Burgundy or something like that?

Watched this last night and marvelled at some of the camera work and sets like the slanted staircase. A brilliant first half hour sequence set in the castle. Must have been Ronnie Corbett's finest acting performance and who was that stunning crumpet as the Marti Harri type spy? The chaos factor made it a bit hard to follow from then on but I saw the potential for a masterpiece it never quite was. If this is still on Kindle I might have a read of that. Although I believe much of it is covered in one of the Sellers biogs I keep meaning to get. I'll have a look.