The James Bond A-Z Podcast

Episode 15: Casino Royale - 1967

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Episode notes

James Bond A-Z hosts Tom Butler, Brendan Duffy, and Tom Wheatley take a deep dive into the murky world of 1967's 'Casino Royale'. The farcical comedy which starred David Niven, Peter Sellers, Woody Allen, Orson Welles and a host of other stars who should have known better, is a blot on the history books of 007, and is not considered canon by fans. But the complicated journey of Charles K Feldman's disastrous adaptation of Ian Fleming's debut James Bond novel offers a tantalising glimpse and how badly things could have gone had Eon not acquired the rights for the rest of Fleming's books. This episode covers everything from Barry Nelson as Jimmy Bond in the TV version of 'Casino Royale', the early 'straight' drafts of the script by Ben Hecht, Joseph Heller and more, the film's tortured production with its fistfights, tantrums, and ballooning budgets, right up the film's release. Please rate this podcast and leave a review wherever you listen. James Bond will return... in next week's James Bond's A-Z Podcast.