Casino Royale was a made-for-TV movie produced in 1954. It was shown on CBS network as one of the movies shown on CLIMAX!, their new weekly movie spotlight. The movie starts out with an introduction by William Lundigan (I have no clue if that guy was famous at the time, but it seemed like he might be, since they made a big deal out of him being the host.) He briefly explains what a "shoe" is. It is that card holding devise you see in many James Bond movies. It prevents cheating, or at least it is supposed to. He explains that the shoe has made "beggars of many, and millionaires of a few." He continues to explain that "tonight's game is played for the highest stakes of all. A man is going to wager his life." The screen goes black, and the movie starts. This movie was divided into three acts, presumably where the commercials originally broke up the movie.
     The plot of the movie is very simple, which I guess is necessary for the short time span the movie was allotted. Essentially, the plot boils down to one game of baccarat. The villain, Le Chiffre stole 80 million Francs from the Soviets, and is trying to win it back by gambling. James Bond's mission is to beat Le Chiffre at baccarat to bankrupt him. The Soviets will then eliminate Le Chiffre for stealing their money. Simple right? The only problem is that Le Chiffre's goons have kidnapped Bond's old girlfriend, Valeri, and threatened to kill her if James wins. James does win, and with a little help gets Valeri free. That's not the end, however, since Le Chiffre gets the drop on James Bond and Valeri. Le Chiffre proceeds to torture Bond until he reveals where he has hidden the eighty million francs. Bond doesn't fold under the torture, but Valeri tells to prevent from being hurt any more. Bond escapes with Valeri's help, and beats up a few of Le Chiffre's goons. He finally shoots Le Chiffre. The movie ends with Bond calling the police to take Le Chiffre away.
     All in all, this movie was pretty good. It didn't have the huge action that comes standard in all the official Bond's, but it was entertaining, and the plot flowed well. Also, if you've ever wondered how baccarat is played, it is explained in good detail in this movie. Bond changed (or rather changed back) for Dr. No, to the agent we know and love today. In Casino Royale, Bond is an American working for Combined Intelligence Agency, while Clarence (not Felix as usual) Leiter is the British secret agent.

My grade: B+  A satisfactory first attempt to capture James Bond in a movie.

Best Moment: James Bond is being systematically tortured, but he does not crack. He never reveals where he has hidden the money. I think this is a great scene to demonstrate the absolute toughness of James Bond. To hear a little of this scene, click on the first sound clip.

Also notable: Another notable scene is the baccarat game between Bond and Le Chiffre. I think that in no other movie is Bond's skill at cards portrayed as strongly as it is here. To hear a little about Bond's skill at cards, click on the second sound wave.