Casino Royale
- Episode aired Oct 21, 1954
- Unrated
- 52m
IMDb RATING
5.6/10
1.6K
YOUR RATING
American spy James Bond must outsmart card wiz and crime boss Le Chiffre while monitoring his actions.American spy James Bond must outsmart card wiz and crime boss Le Chiffre while monitoring his actions.American spy James Bond must outsmart card wiz and crime boss Le Chiffre while monitoring his actions.
Jean Del Val
- Croupier
- (as Jean DeVal)
Herman Belmonte
- Doorman
- (uncredited)
Joe Gilbert
- Casino Patron
- (uncredited)
Frank McLure
- Casino Patron
- (uncredited)
Hans Moebus
- Casino Patron
- (uncredited)
Paul Power
- Casino Patron
- (uncredited)
Paul Ravel
- Casino Patron
- (uncredited)
Cosmo Sardo
- Attendant
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThis "Casino Royale" television movie was lost for twenty-seven years until it resurfaced in 1981 when movie collector and airlines executive Jim Shoenberger discovered a 16mm kinescope print of it amongst some old cans of film. The copies were labelled "Casino Royale" and he thought they were the Casino Royale (1967) James Bond parody. When he realized they were black-and-white prints, he played the reels out of curiosity as the 1967 spoof was a color movie. The 1954 television movie was thence rediscovered and it was screened in a theater, shown on TBS, and released on videocassette. It is now available on DVD.
- GoofsCamera shadow is visible several times in the final scene.
- Quotes
Clarence Leiter: Aren't you the fellow who was shot?
James Bond: No, I'm the fellow who was missed.
- Alternate versionsOriginally broadcast as an episode of "Climax!" (1954). Most prints retain the original Climax opening credits. The DVD release (as a bonus on the DVD for Casino Royale (1967) has added the MGM lion logo to reflect the fact the production is now owned by MGM.
- ConnectionsEdited into The James Bond Collector's Classic (1990)
- SoundtracksPrelude for Piano, Op. 28, No. 24 in D Minor (The Storm)
by Frédéric Chopin
Featured review
Ah Mister Bond You're a Gruff American
I don't think it was until the internet era that I found out an obscure trivia fact and that was the first media appearance of Ian Fleming's James Bond wasn't Sean Connery in DR NO but Barry Nelson in an American anthology series called CLIMAX which adapted CASINO ROYALE . We all know Bond is the most successful film franchise in history and we all recognise the icons , the babes , the exotic locations , the gadgets , the big set piece stunts etc of a franchise featuring a very British fictional hero . Now imagine a James Bond story without any of these icons . Worse than that imagine if he was an American character ? I do apologise I didn't mean to make you faint
Some people have said this live American TV production deserves some credit for at least sticking to the plot of the original novel which is not something you can say about the films that started going their own way even before the end of the 1960s . My own fascination watching this was entirely down to the opposite reason - it's Bond as film noir that shares nothing in common with the film series . Bond played by Nelson wears a tuxedo and smokes too much but that's the only link you'll recognise . Surviving a murder attempt in the opening scene a policeman refers to it by stating:
" They weren't after your winnings then ? "
" Yeah ? They weren't after my autograph either " And that's the closest we get to show stopping one liners as the entire action takes place in a couple of sets shot in a TV studio as Jimmy tries to beat Peter Lorre's villain in a card game
On its own this obscure TV drama come thriller would be totally forgotten if it wasn't for the fact that it's the first on screen appearance of someone playing Ian Fleming's James Bond . In comparison you can see why Bond became an instant legend in the 1960s with the exotic location filming and the sexy and charismatic Sean Connery playing the role with a hard edge . Not to be too dismissive of the 1954 version of CASINO ROYALE it's fascinating to see Bond done as essentially film noir
Some people have said this live American TV production deserves some credit for at least sticking to the plot of the original novel which is not something you can say about the films that started going their own way even before the end of the 1960s . My own fascination watching this was entirely down to the opposite reason - it's Bond as film noir that shares nothing in common with the film series . Bond played by Nelson wears a tuxedo and smokes too much but that's the only link you'll recognise . Surviving a murder attempt in the opening scene a policeman refers to it by stating:
" They weren't after your winnings then ? "
" Yeah ? They weren't after my autograph either " And that's the closest we get to show stopping one liners as the entire action takes place in a couple of sets shot in a TV studio as Jimmy tries to beat Peter Lorre's villain in a card game
On its own this obscure TV drama come thriller would be totally forgotten if it wasn't for the fact that it's the first on screen appearance of someone playing Ian Fleming's James Bond . In comparison you can see why Bond became an instant legend in the 1960s with the exotic location filming and the sexy and charismatic Sean Connery playing the role with a hard edge . Not to be too dismissive of the 1954 version of CASINO ROYALE it's fascinating to see Bond done as essentially film noir
- Theo Robertson
- Jul 10, 2013
- Permalink
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