Movies and posts on this blog

Latest on Masala Punch

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Casino Royale (1967) – Its raining Bonds, halleluja!

It is James Bond on weed – i.e., a Bond movie made entirely by a cast and crew who were high on weed! Its psychedelic, its wackadoo, AND has almost as many famous cameos/guest appearances as Deewangi deewangi! There is no coherent plot and nothing makes any sense. And yet, strangely enough, its a lot of fun while it lasts. It really must be seen to be believed, but I’ll try my hand at describing what I recall from my first viewing, yesterday.


The original 007, now Sir James Bond (David Niven) has long retired. The franchise, however, has been kept running by the MI-6 - they needed the respect that only a 007 could bring to the service! Unlike the garden variety Bond that MI-6 has introduced to the service, the original was a “member of a select and immaculate priesthood, vocationally devoted and sublimely disinterested”. Sir James strongly disapproves of the “sexual acrobatics” and “wretched gadgets” of his current successor, and tells M (John Huston) so, when the latter visits him along with the heads of 3 other great espionage agencies – Ransome of CIA (William Holden), Smernov of KGB (Kurt Kaszner) and Le Grand of Deuxième Bureau (Charles Boyer). Turns out the espionage agencies have been losing agents right, left and centre (pun intended) and want Sir James to help. When he refuses, his home is blown up on M’s orders. M is also killed.
Cut to SMERSH headquarters where “Plan B” is put into action: M (or MacTarry, to give him his full name) had a castle in Scotland which is now occupied by SMERSH agents, one of whom - agent Mimi (Deborah Kerr) – pretends to be M’s widow Lady Fiona.
Sir James proceeds to MacTarry Castle to condole with “Lady Fiona” and is amazed to find the castle choc-a-bloc with nubile teenagers who all claim to be M’s daughters, and insist on bathing and undressing him! Sir James resists all advances, and even refuses to give the widow her due (a ceremonial night in her bed!). The angry Lady Fiona gets him to “wassle” – a game of passing-and-breaking-the-ball that is played with STONE footballs! Sir James acquits himself so well that Mimi/Fiona falls for him. There follows a bizarre grouse shoot where the grouse attempt to kill him, and then Mimi decides to take the veil when Sir James refuses to reciprocate her affections.
Unfazed by all the drama, Sir James starts off for London. En route, he foils more attempts on his life. Once in London, he takes over as head of MI-6 and orders an AFSD (anti female spy device) to fight SMERSH’s platoon of female spies. Moneypenny (Barbara Bouchet) vets all presentable spies for their attractiveness to females. The lucky candidate – Cooper (Terence Cooper) – is named Bond 007 and trained in the art of resisting female seduction.
So now we have three Bonds – Sir James, the AFSD Bond, and Sir James’ goofy nephew Jimmy Bond (Woody Allen). I forgot to mention Jimmy didnt I? There was just so much going on, its hard to remember everything! Anyway, three Bonds arent enough - one to run the MI6, one to resist the female-spy invasion, and one to goof off. We still need more to save the world! Enter Evelyn Tremble (Peter Sellers), a treasury clerk who knows how to gamble. Vesper Lynd (Ursula Andress) is deputed by Sir James to seduce recruit Evelyn for gambling against SMERSH sponsored gambler Le Chiffre (Orson Welles). Once recruited, both Vesper and Evelyn also become Bond 007s. So the Bond count is now up to 5.
But wait… I am forgetting another important Bond - Mata Bond (Joanna Pettet). In case you havent guessed from the name, she is the daughter of Sir James Bond and Mata Hari! She is brought in for – I forget… By this point, I gave up even my half-hearted attempts to keep up with the non-existent plot or keep track of the number of Bonds in there (there were several Bonds-in-training at the 007 Bond Training School, too). I just went with the flow and wallowed in the cheesy craziness that was The Royale.
There were bizarre stunts, sets that beat any 70s villain-lair in their over-the-top craziness and splendor, and all sorts of people kept popping up. Much of the craziness was explained in the special features section – the movie was directed by at least 5 different directors and the script was re-written (several times) to accomodate the directors’ whims, the major actors’s whims (Peter Sellers was apparently the most difficult of the lot), as well as give a part to any other famous actor the directors could rope in for a cameo/guest appearance! No wonder nothing made sense!!!! Well, it may be a lesson in how NOT to make a movie, but its a fun ride and definitely worth a watch. Just remember to check your brain at the door before you step into Casino Royale!
And because I'd hate to waste all my screencaps, here’s some of the bizarre and the beautiful from the film:

14 comments:

  1. Oh, goodness (or should I say 'badness'?). I've never seen this, though of course I've heard of it - as starring David Niven. I never knew it also had Holden, Boyer, Kerr, Sellers etc in it. I suppose they had to compensate for the non-existent cast somehow!
    Perhaps, at a later date, I might get around to seeing this... as it is, I'm not much of a James Bond fan. But that cast features some of my favourites; I may watch it just for them!

    ReplyDelete
  2. As we discussed, I couldn't finish this. I'm a little sad about that, because I never got to the clearly fabulous pink future, but...bleh. Couldn't do it. I think your suggestion of having a drinkawatchalong is the right idea.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hee Hee. Your screencaps are the best! Hee Hee.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I am one of those who never watched Bond until Pierce Brosnan came along and then, all of a sudden, I was a bond fan (however, I still didn't quite get the oldies). I didn't even know that there was anyone before Connery. Anyway, this movie looks kind of like a crazy eye feast. Love your screen caps, as usual.
    Hope you are feeling better!!!

    ReplyDelete
  5. dustedoff, I should edit my description. This one isnt really a James Bond film inspite of a total lack of plot, lots of beautiful and scantily clad women, fancy toys, bizarre hapenings, etc. - all the hallmarks of 007 films, in fact! I think this one is meant for oldies fans like us who do NOT like James Bond.

    Beth, I am amazed I liked it too - its definitely not my kind of film. Maybe I just needed a dose of my favorite 40s actors, which this one has in spades.

    Shalini, glad you enjoyed them. It was the most cracktastic Hollywood film I've ever seen and I collected more screencaps than I knew what to do with!

    Shell, this one isnt before Connery, its during his Bond period. It sets out to poke fun at him, or rather his Bond, but doesnt quite manage it. And I am not big on Bond either, inspite of Brosnan AND Connery AND Roger Moore (all such yummy actors! ;-D).

    ReplyDelete
  6. "I think this one is meant for oldies fans like us who do NOT like James Bond."

    Okay. Am off to try and find it!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Count me in on the drinkwatchalong!!! I watched this a long time ago, but I totally *heart* Peter Sellers.

    ReplyDelete
  8. As i turn nineteen, I wholeheartedly sanction a drinkwatchalong! I loved this movie simply for spotting out the crazy cameos and ogling at Peter Sellers and even Niven who aged very well! But i would watch this just for the king of my tortured artist dil ORSON WELLLESSS! I just love him in this!

    ReplyDelete
  9. I hat eBond films, therefore I should like it.
    It looks like as if Monty Python's attempt on James Bond.
    Should find the DVD soon. Ahem... in December, after Florence and after reading The Englishman's Cameo.
    David Niven is a hoot

    ReplyDelete
  10. dustedoff, hope you enjoy it as much as I did (cultivating an appreciation for David Niven might help)!

    memsaab, done! The movie doesnt have a lot of Sellers though he is billed as the biggest star - there is far more of Niven actually.

    Rum, I WAS surprised to see Orson Welles in this insane-fest. Thought he was "serious" actor with a Capital S!

    harvey, you do not appreciate all the pretty (of both sexes) in Bond films? ;-) Thats the only reason why I watch them! And wow! Florence!!! Lucky you. Its been my dream destination forever...

    ReplyDelete
  11. A differing view point from the general trend of comments here - not necessarily on the movie that has been reviewed here though.

    I liked Bond movies very much when I was in Uni and used to watch all of them esp the ones with Roger Moore and some of Sean Connery. The fast action and lovely locales were key attractions for me as a teenager! Funny we used to be the only girls in the theatre full of men (attracted by posters of bikni clad babes in Bond movies) in India.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Anonymous, I watched all the Sean Connery and a couple of the Roger Moore Bond films, too! But I watched too many of them in too short a time (one of the channels had a Bond week and I saw all the Sean Connery ones within a week) and realised that the only difference between the films was that Connery's hair got sparser with each instalment! I am amazed that there werent more women watching the Bond films - its criminal to pass up an opportunity to ogle Connery! ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  13. This site is amazing. nice topic you have there.


    There is also a site is bounded by Casino En Ligne.
    and you can also play in there.

    ReplyDelete