Producer: Charles Feldman
Director: John Huston
Screenplay: Wolf Mankowitz, John Law, Michael Sayers
Locations: Shepperton Studios, Pinewood Studios, and MGM Studios
Music: Burt Bacharach
Running Time 2 hours, 17 minutes

     In 1967, a spoof was made of Ian Fleming's novel Casino Royale. However, the connection is not very close. Even in the titles it is said that the movie is "suggested" by the novel, not "based on". There are many familiar characters, and the plot is somewhat linked to the plot of the novel. In the movie, the real James Bond is retired, and now Sir James Bond. After his retirement, however, the name James Bond and the number 007 are given to someone else to maintain the idea that the "perfect spy" is still in action. It is hoped that this will be enough to keep SMERSH down. When it is not, the real james Bond is brought out of retirement to deal a blow to them. His goal is to make LeChiffre lose all of his money, so that he can't pay back SMERSH funds that he stole for gambling. That way he will be killed. Before doing this, however, International Mother's Help, a babysitting service that serves as a cover for SMERSH, tries to use M's widow, Mimi, (or her daughters) to seduce and destroy Bond. After Mimi falls in love with Bond and saves his life, Bond decides that they must confuse SMERSH. To do this, another James Bond is created; one who is desirable to all women but totally resistant to their charms. He is the Anti-Female Spy Device. Also, all new trainees are given the name James Bond and the number 007.
      Bond also recruits Mata Bond, the daughter he had with Mata Hari. She stops LeChiffre from auctioning off some of his things to raise the money he needs. This means he will have to play baccarat to get it. Lastly, Vesper Lynd recruits Eveylyn Tremble, who wrote a book on baccarat, and is an expert. After also being named James Bond, he successfully defeats LeChiffre, who is killed. This is not the end, however, as Bond and his companions are captures and taken to the layer of SMERSH head Dr. Noah. Dr. Noah turns out to be Jimmy Bond, James' nephew. He has a germ that will make all women beautiful, but kills all men over 4"6'. This would make him much more desirable. Also, he is replacing world leaders with robots that he controls. Finally, he has a pill that acts like a mini atomic bomb that he will use to assassinate the remaining world leaders. He is tricked into eating one of the pills, and blows up, taking Casino Royale and everyone with him. The movie ends with Sir James and his friends in heaven, complete with wings, while Jimmy ends up in hell.
My Grade- F    Perhaps my problem is that I did not see this movie when it first came out. I'm sure that seeing the movie nearly forty years removed from it own time lessens the effect of the movie. Also, I know that this movie had some praise, and many people like it. This grade is personal. I just don't think it accomplished anything. If it was meant to be a spoof of Bond, it wasn't very good. The only real spoofing I saw was through the character of Sir James Bond, who made fun of the sex-maniac spies who left a trail of dead women "like rose petals" behind them, and who were "joke shop spies" who used far to many gadgets. Also, I think it was amusing that his drink of choice was tea, and not a martini. I also did not find the movie funny. I did not laugh out loud once. I think most of the puns were stupid. I find the quips that Bond says in the real movies funnier than anything in this one. Lastly, some of the parts, such as the torture scene and the scene at the spy school, were weird just for the sake of weird. The long running time of 2 and 1/3 hours did not help either.
Best Moment: With not much to choose from, I would have to choose the scene where Bond has to shoot off exploding ducks that fly at him because of a homing beakon in his button. It was so self-consciously cheesy it almost made me laugh...almost.