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Ahoy, squirts! Quint here with today’s installment of A Movie A Day.
[For those now joining us, A Movie A Day is my attempt at filling in gaps in my film knowledge. My DVD collection is thousands strong, many of them films I haven’t seen yet, but picked up as I scoured used DVD stores. Each day I’ll pull a previously unseen film from my collection or from my DVR and discuss it here. Each movie will have some sort of connection to the one before it, be it cast or crew member.]
Our fourth and final film in the second annual AMAD Peter Sellers-A-Thon is today’s CASINO ROYALE, a genuinely odd film jumping off of the very popular James Bond films of the early and mid-60s and actually based on one of Ian Fleming’s books (loosely).
I was going to start this off really cute… talking about how Quantum of Solace was okay, but that I heard it was a direct continuation of CASINO ROYALE and I don’t think Marc Forster did a good job because none of the continuity is the same. Sure, David Niven is dead, but you can still find Woody Allen to reprise his role as James Bond’s idiot nephew and that Vesper Lynd in the flashbacks didn’t look like Ursula Andress. I was going to try to Vern it up a little bit, but then I realized I should leave that stuff to the professionals.
The main aspect of the CASINO ROYALE story is indeed a part of this film… The British Secret Service needs to stop the nefarious Le Chiffre (played here by Orson Bloody-Hell Welles), a brilliant and respected gambler, from winning a huge Baccarat game that could fund his terrorist activities.
That, however, is a small part of this movie. The focus is on James Bond Sr., the original and uptight Bond (played by the great David Niven) who hates that his name and number has been sexed up and misrepresented by a string of James Bond 007s who rely on gadgets and not spy work.
He has a bumbling nephew, played by Woody Allen, who isn’t fit for the title and above that, M has also started employing a slew of James Bond 007s as SPECTRE eliminates agents all over the world. In order to train these new 007s they have to bring the original, chaste and proper Bond out of retirement.
Disjointed doesn’t even begin to describe this movie, with multiple credited directors, screenwriters and varying roaming plot threads that never really tie up. The most interesting subplot is indeed Peter Sellers’ character, who is a well known Baccarat player who is seduced and recruited by Ursela Andress’ Vesper Lynd (who is also a 007). This character isn’t interesting because of any written material, but that Sellers is fucking hilarious, as usual.
What’s really fucking weird about this movie is that it’s a half-spoof. Half of it is just as zany and ridiculous as any of the Zucker Bros movies, but half of it actually tries to stick to telling a James Bond story. CASINO ROYALE is a unique and beautiful butterfly in that respect. You could not make this movie today. The film stock, the filmmaking technique, etc has all evolved and any attempt at doing something like this now would just come off as empty mimicry.
It’s kind of why I have a very big soft spot for JAWS 2. It’s an emptier version of the first movie, but the film stock, locations and actors of the time make it feel like it exists in the exact same universe as the first one.
That is only helped by the addition of Ursula Andress as Lynd. How weird is that? That’d be like them doing a spoof of the Batman films and having Michael Caine show up for a major role.
Woody Allen shines again in this early role. I’d worry about spoiling the movie, but it’s pretty clear when you see Allen show up for 40 seconds at the beginning of the flick and then disappear for an hour and a half that you’ll see him again in the end. He plays Dr. Noah, the evil mastermind of the story with a ridiculous swallowable capsule nuke to get rid of the world’s men so he can finally get laid. I took today’s subhead from this finale which is Allen’s real time to shine.
Niven is likable as always, but honestly felt a little flat here for me. He doesn’t phone it in, but his character doesn’t click for some reason. He almost seems bored or at least just frustrated with how hodgepodge the production was through most of the flick, but he does perk up for a few scenes, the best of which is probably a visit to a Scottish house filled with women trying to seduce him and bust his goodie two-shoes reputation. This involves an explosive flying fake duck, magnet buttons and suspender slingshots.
Oddly enough, scuttlebutt is that Niven was actually Ian Fleming’s original choice to play James Bond… I love the dude, but if his work here is any indicator it’s a good thing Connery got the gig.
If you give this one a spin or a re-watch, keep an eye out for a genuinely funny cameo by Peter O’Toole, a nod the Tom Jones title song from a previous Sellers AMAD title WHAT’S NEW PUSSYCAT? and a cameo by Cato (Burt Kwouk) as a Chinese soldier.
Final Thoughts: The flick is a mess, no doubt about it, but it’s a fascinating mess. The fact that it’s almost James Bond canon in some weird way helps that, but mostly it’s the cast of comedy greats. I especially loved the magician version of Le Chiffre as played by Orson Welles. He goes out way too soon, in my opinion. I don’t know if there’s much value in this outside of a morbid curiocity, but it’s not all bad, just not all good.
Here’s what we have lined up for the next week:
Friday, December 19th: THE STRANGER (1946)
Saturday, December 20th: BROTHER ORCHID (1940)
Sunday, December 21st: THE PETRIFIED FOREST (1936)
Monday, December 22nd: MOONTIDE (1942)
Tuesday, December 23rd: NOTORIOUS (1946)
Wednesday, December 24th: THE INN OF THE SIXTH HAPPINESS (1958)
Thursday, December 25th: THE HIGH COMMISSIONER (1968)
Tomorrow we follow Orson Welles back to the noir thriller THE STRANGER, co-starring Edward G. Robinson! See you folks for that one!
-Quint
quint@aintitcool.com
Previous Movies:
June 2nd: Harper
June 3rd: The Drowning Pool
June 4th: Papillon
June 5th: Gun Crazy
June 6th: Never So Few
June 7th: A Hole In The Head
June 8th: Some Came Running
June 9th: Rio Bravo
June 10th: Point Blank
June 11th: Pocket Money
June 12th: Cool Hand Luke
June 13th: The Asphalt Jungle
June 14th: Clash By Night
June 15th: Scarlet Street
June 16th: Killer Bait (aka Too Late For Tears)
June 17th: Robinson Crusoe On Mars
June 18th: City For Conquest
June 19th: San Quentin
June 20th: 42nd Street
June 21st: Dames
June 22nd: Gold Diggers of 1935
June 23rd: Murder, My Sweet
June 24th: Born To Kill
June 25th: The Sound of Music
June 26th: Torn Curtain
June 27th: The Left Handed Gun
June 28th: Caligula
June 29th: The Elephant Man
June 30th: The Good Father
July 1st: Shock Treatment
July 2nd: Flashback
July 3rd: Klute
July 4th: On Golden Pond
July 5th: The Cowboys
July 6th: The Alamo
July 7th: Sands of Iwo Jima
July 8th: Wake of the Red Witch
July 9th: D.O.A.
July 10th: Shadow of A Doubt
July 11th: The Matchmaker
July 12th: The Black Hole
July 13th: Vengeance Is Mine
July 14th: Strange Invaders
July 15th: Sleuth
July 16th: Frenzy
July 17th: Kingdom of Heaven: The Director’s Cut
July 18th: Cadillac Man
July 19th: The Sure Thing
July 20th: Moving Violations
July 21st: Meatballs
July 22nd: Cast a Giant Shadow
July 23rd: Out of the Past
July 24th: The Big Steal
July 25th: Where Danger Lives
July 26th: Crossfire
July 27th: Ricco, The Mean Machine
July 28th: In Harm’s Way
July 29th: Firecreek
July 30th: The Cheyenne Social Club
July 31st: The Man Who Knew Too Much
August 1st: The Spirit of St. Louis
August 2nd: Von Ryan’s Express
August 3rd: Can-Can
August 4th: Desperate Characters
August 5th: The Possession of Joel Delaney
August 6th: Quackser Fortune Has A Cousin In The Bronx
August 7th: Start the Revolution Without Me
August 8th: Hell Is A City
August 9th: The Pied Piper
August 10th: Partners
August 11th: Barry Lyndon
August 12th: The Skull
August 13th: The Hellfire Club
August 14th: Blood of the Vampire
August 15th: Terror of the Tongs
August 16th: Pirates of Blood River
August 17th: The Devil-Ship Pirates
August 18th: Jess Franco’s Count Dracula
August 19th: Dracula A.D. 1972
August 20th: The Stranglers of Bombay
August 21st: Man, Woman & Child
August 22nd: The Little Girl Who Lives Down The Lane
August 23rd: The Young Philadelphians
August 24th: The Rack
August 25th: Until They Sail
August 26th: Somebody Up There Likes Me
August 27th: The Set-Up
August 28th: The Devil & Daniel Webster
August 29th: Cat People
August 30th: The Curse of the Cat People
August 31st: The 7th Victim
September 1st: The Ghost Ship
September 2nd: Isle of the Dead
September 3rd: Bedlam
September 4th: Black Sabbath
September 5th: Black Sunday
September 6th: Twitch of the Death Nerve
September 7th: Tragic Ceremony
September 8th: Lisa & The Devil
September 9th: Baron Blood
September 10th: A Shot In The Dark
September 11th: The Pink Panther
September 12th: The Return of the Pink Panther
September 13th: The Pink Panther Strikes Again
September 14th: Revenge of the Pink Panther
September 15th: Trail of the Pink Panther
September 16th: The Real Glory
September 17th: The Winning of Barbara Worth
September 18th: The Cowboy and the Lady
September 19th: Dakota
September 20th: Red River
September 21st: Terminal Station
September 22nd: The Search
September 23rd: Act of Violence
September 24th: Houdini
September 25th: Money From Home
September 26th: Papa’s Delicate Condition
September 27th: Dillinger
September 28th: Battle of the Bulge
September 29th: Daisy Kenyon
September 30th: Laura
October 1st: The Dunwich Horror
October 2nd: Experiment In Terror
October 3rd: The Devil’s Rain
October 4th: Race With The Devil
October 5th: Salo, Or The 120 Days of Sodom
October 6th: Bad Dreams
October 7th: The House Where Evil Dwells
October 8th: Memories of Murder
October 9th: The Hunger
October 10th: I Saw What You Did
October 11th: I Spit On Your Grave
October 12th: Naked You Die
October 13th: The Wraith
October 14th: Silent Night, Bloody Night
October 15th: I Bury The Living
October 16th: The Beast Must Die
October 17th: Hellgate
October 18th: He Knows You’re Alone
October 19th: The Thing From Another World
October 20th: The Fall of the House of Usher
October 21st: Audrey Rose
October 22nd: Who Slew Auntie Roo?
October 23rd: Wait Until Dark
October 24th: Dead & Buried
October 25th: A Bucket of Blood
October 26th: The Bloodstained Shadow
October 27th: I, Madman
October 28th: Return to Horror High
October 29th: Die, Monster, Die
October 30th: Epidemic
October 31st: Student Bodies
November 1st: Black Widow
November 2nd: The Ghost & Mrs. Muir
November 3rd: Flying Tigers
November 4th: Executive Action
November 5th: The Busy Body
November 6th: It’s A Mad Mad Mad Mad World
November 7th: Libeled Lady
November 8th: Up The River
November 9th: Doctor Bull
November 10th: Judge Priest
November 11th: Ten Little Indians
November 12th: Murder On The Orient Express
November 13th: Daniel
November 14th: El Dorado
November 15th: The Gambler
November 16th: Once Upon A Time In America
November 17th: Salvador
November 18th: Best Seller
November 19th: The Holcroft Covenant
November 20th: Birdman of Alcatraz
November 21st: The Train
November 22nd: Gunfight At The O.K. Corral
November 23rd: Mystery Street
November 24th: Border Incident
November 25th: The Tin Star
November 26th: On The Beach
November 27th: Twelve O’Clock High
November 28th: Gentleman’s Agreement
November 29th: Panic In The Streets
November 30th: The Hot Rock
December 1st: Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
December 2nd: The Day of the Dolphin
December 3rd: Carnal Knowledge
December 4th: The Cincinnati Kid
December 5th: Pocketful of Miracles
December 6th: Mikey & Nicky
December 7th: Two-Minute Warning
December 8th: The Sentinel
December 9th: How To Steal A Million
December 10th: What’s New Pussycat?
December 11th: Being There
December 17th: The Party
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