Casino Royale (1967)

This came up on ITV1 recently, so recorded it as I hadn't seen it since seeing it in the cinema way back in 1967, and have to say what on earth did I go to see it for then, for it hasn't travelled well at all, and is typical of it's time with a mish-mash of trendy effects, and a disjointed comedy script, but what do you expect from 10 script writers and 5 directors.

Despite being a big fan of Peter Sellers, I found Woody Allen the funniest (in the few scenes he was in), so what with him and oodles of gorgeous dolly birds, it was just about worth my time.

**EDIT Forgot to mention the theme tune, written by Burt Bacharach and played by Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass, which is quite jaunty and a catchy ear-worm.

It's a mess but a good looking mess imo. I love the surrealist visuals of the long Ronnie Corbett, Mata Hari scene. If it had continued more like that instead of the Woody Allen inspired chaos it became it could have been a really good film but wouldn't have been a Bond spoof. As it is it's a mish mash of different styles, making it hard to sit through. For Sellers it marked the beginning of his (even more) difficult to work with phase as he stormed off the set before his part was done. 👏

Quote: Alfred J Kipper @ 24th September 2023, 9:46 AM

For Sellers it marked the beginning of his (even more) difficult to work with phase as he stormed off the set before his part was done. 👏

View original

Yes, he became a tad big-headed and demanded much, which he put down to what he saw in his eyes, mediocrity, which he would not tolerate; BUT he went a bit over the top, so much so, that Orson Welles refused to act with him, and so the casino scenes were shot separately with stand-ins for each actor as they spoke their parts.

My son has now downloaded a Blu-ray copy of "What's New Pussycat", from two years previous, this time written entirely by Woody Allen, which had Sellers in it and a couple of others from this film.

This is also a film I went to see at the cinema when it was first released, so I'll see if it was funnier than Casino Royale.

WNP is even more insane if that's possible. Again I quite like it, mainly because of the smouldering Romy Shneider, and Sellers and O'Toole seem to be having fun together. But it was ridiculed by the critics and you probably know there's an injoke reference to how bad it is in Casino Royale when O'Toole reappears for a very brief cameo and the title song from WNP comes through a sewer manhole.

AFAIK or have read in past, WNP set Sellers the perfectionist against Allen the mad experimentalist as he was then and they never got on from there. Of course others have stated it had more to do with Sellers' mad jealousy over the popularity of this new rival in comedy, wearing his own trade mark black framed glasses, stealing the limelight, and that was the main reason he flounced off Casino Royale. Either way a pivotal juncture in the colourful life story of Peter Sellers.

Has anyone noticed Peter Sellers and David Niven were in several films together, The Pink Panther, Casino Royale and Murder By Death? possibly coincidence.

As for Casino Royale it is perhaps the Bond spoof I think of most, even though it's crazy and everything I still enjoy it.