Needless to say, the book was Casino Royale. Desperate to flee the country, he prayed that if he made it to Athens safely, he would buy a copy of Time magazine and use the stolen money to purchase the rights to the first book he read a review of. According to screenwriter Lorenzo Semple, Jr., who co-wrote the screenplay for another unofficial Bond film, Never Say Never Again, Ratoff had been in Egypt acting in a film and ended up stealing an extremely large sum of cash from the Italian producers.

It is puzzling as to why Ratoff would take such interest in a book series which, up to that point, had been completely ignored by the film industry. He subsequently sold them in 1955 to producer Gregory Ratoff for $6,000. You are now James Bond.”Īs my IQ started dropping during the one and only time I sat through this in its entirety, I was left clutching onto one coherent thought, “I am never watching this movie again…”įollowing the forgettable release of the 1954 Casino Royale teleplay, the film rights to the novel reverted back to Ian Fleming, who had merely lent them temporarily to CBS for a fee of $1,000. Story Locations: London (England), Scotland, India, Berlin (Germany), Franceīudget: $12 million (2015 inflation: $84.8 million)īox Office: $41.7 million (2015 inflation: $294.8 million)īest Line: “The enemy won’t know which way to turn. MI6 Personnel: John Huston as M/McTarry, Barbara Bouchet as Moneypenny, Geoffrey Bayldon as Qįilming Locations: England, Ireland, and Scotland The Allies: Peter Sellers as Evelyn Tremble/James Bond 007, Joanna Pettet as Mata Bond, Terence Cooper as Coop/James Bond 007, Duncan Macrae as Inspector Mathis Supporting Girls: Deborah Kerr as Agent Mimi/Lady Fiona McTarry, Daliah Lavi as the Detainer/James Bond 007, Jacqueline Bisset as Miss Giovanna Goodthighs, Angela Scoular as Buttercup Noah/Jimmy Bond, Anna Quayle as Frau Hoffner, Ronnie Corbett as Polo, Vladek Sheybal as the Auctioneer

The Girl: Ursula Andress as Vesper Lynd/James Bond 007 Title Song: “ Casino Royale” by Burt Bacharach, performed by Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass Screenplay by: Wolf Mankowitz, John Law, and Michael Sayers, suggested by the novel be Ian Fleming The seventh one is going to a place where it’s terribly hot.”ĭirected by: Ken Hughes, John Huston, Joseph McGrath, Robert Parris, and Val Guest They came to save the world and win a gal at Casino Royale.

1967 casino royale poster background