The problem, though, is that it’s just not that great. However, it does form an essential part of the Bond universe, and I’m sure that most hardcore Bond fans would have watched it at some point in time. Indeed, this Casino Royale is not technically a part of the Bond movie franchise, as it wasn’t made by Eon Productions. When I mentioned to my James Bond obsessed partner that I was watching the 1967 version of Casino Royale for this blogathon, his immediate response was, “But it’s not canon!!!”. Only this time, it’s completely ridiculous, and a slight trainwreck. Casino Royale very loosely follows Ian Fleming’s book of the same name, where Bond must defeat the mysterious Le Chiffre (Orson Welles) at the elegant game of baccarat. However, when the political powers of the world visit and ask him to come out of retirement in the face of a new threat, he proposes that they train up other spies to be as skilled as he is in spying, drinking, card playing, and in responding to the many and varying needs of women. In Casino Royale (1967), a blatant spoof of a certain famous secret agent and his adventures, James Bond (David Niven) has retired from arduous work to live a comfortable life in a giant mansion. I wrote this review of Casino Royale (1967) for the blogathon, and there have been lots of great posts on some of the most classic Bonds so far.

If you love James Bond as much as I do, you have to head over to MovieRob post haste, where a most excellent blogathon is taking place – the 007 December Blogathon.

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