CASINO ROYALE (1954) - "I'm the fella that was missed"



Barry Nelson as James Bond.

New Year's resolution, whatever.
The first stop in the slightly-delayed Year of Bond is the 1954 television version of Casino Royale. Produced for the anthology series Climax! broadcast on CBS, it was the result of Ian Fleming selling the rights to the first Bond novel to the network for $1,000. It is also interestingly weird for anyone used to the films i.e. residents of the planet Earth.

The film starts with an introduction from the series' host William Lundigan, who takes the time to explain what a baccarat shoe is, but declines to elucidate on the actual rules of the game. The show begins with a title sequence shot down the barrel of a television camera, which adds an appropriately Bondian feel.

The play - and it is a play - begins with someone attempting a drive-by on James Bond of the American Combined Intelligence Service as he arrives at Casino Royale, which he foils by hiding behind a pillar, and then meeting with his contact, British agent Clarence Leiter. Already it seems like we have jumped head-first into a parallel existence. One can understand Bond becoming American, having an awful haircut and even swapping the nationalities, but Clarence? Really? Matters are not helped by his enormous Adam's apple, which looks like he's swallowed an egg.

Barry Nelson was cast as Bond, but may be better known for his supporting role as Ullman, the manager of the Overlook Hotel who interviews Jack Nicholson and shows his family around in The Shining. He's a capable Bond, but looks ill at ease, and fails to give much indication of the man's personality. In fairness to him, the script gives him little with which to work, and even in the book Bond is incredibly taciturn.

He's supposed to be facing the
other way, and walking to the left.

The live nature of the production is betrayed by the action scenes. The opening play for Bond's life is incredibly stagey, and the use of wide angles quickly saps any tension. This will be a recurring problem. There is the first sign of neat writing, with the first meeting of Bond and Leiter starting to actually explain the rules of the game, whilst dropping a few more mindbenders. Apparently, Card Sense Jimmy Bond is a bit of a celebrity, pre-empting the world-famous spy of the later Roger Moore films.

As they repair to the bar to remember their next lines, Peter Lorre is introduced as Le Chiffre. He is perfect casting, looking more like a Bond villain than should be humanly possible, and he has in his employ Valerie Mathis, an old flame of Bond's. Again, there is some deft writing in combining two characters from the book to create something new, while seemingly fulfilling the film noir trope of the girl in the villain's employ taking a shine to the hero. We can already guess that the twist at the end of Fleming's book, that Vesper Lynd was working for the Russians all along, will perhaps be somewhat different here.

Bond and Leiter get acquainted, with Leiter briefing Bond under cover of the latter explaining the game. However, some of the over-the-shoulder shots of Leiter are marred by the sight of Bond's huge neck bulging over his shirt collar, while Leiter notes that Bond won't have to kill Le Chiffre, "if you play your cards right". You get nothing for a pair in this game, so Bond is to clean out Le Chiffre, who is paymaster for Soviet spies in Western Europe.

Even the book says he looks like a toad.

Le Chiffre even has his own Bond villain trademarks, keeping three razor blades on his person as weapons and being constantly accompanied by three bodyguards. Unfortunately, the one called Basil isn't the one who looks like John Cleese. Valerie introduces herself to Bond, who tries to smooth it out in a Cary Grant style as they go to her room. After catching up on a little lip action to some deafening Chopin, Bond reveals that he knows she's working for Le Chiffre and that he's listening in, and tries to turn her to their side while the toad-faced Commie and his cadre of cads try to listen in upstairs.

As Leiter collects the money for tomorrow night's game, there's some amusement to be had at the colossal, paperback book-sized banknotes. One of Le Chiffre's men tries to mug him, when the phone next to them rings. When the manager reaches to answer the phone, Leiter says that it's for him, oh and by the way, could you hold onto this money for Mister Bond? Thank you so much.

Bond picks up the money and proceeds to the game. A call comes through threatening Valerie's life if Bond wins, but he is not to be put off, and settle down at the table. Then we finally break for the first commercial, nearly halfway through the play. Remarkably, everything so far has been played out live and in real time. The only stumble I noticed was when the shadow of a boom microphone follows Bond to the lift.

He's black now, but they didn't find
it necessary to change his name.

The staging of game sequence is disappointingly artificial in the camerawork, with the director favouring long, static medium shots in favour of anything more dynamic. This may simply be a symptom of how television was produced at the time, but the atmosphere is helped by the near total silence, broken only by the croupier's perfunctory dialogue and the occasional gasp from the watching extras. Lorre's performance is perhaps a little too theatrical here, as he favours big movements in sliding the cards around.

Chiffre. Lorre's exit from the table is marvellous, casually saying to Bond, "Well...", and smiling before standing up and barging his way through the observers. The Cleese-alike uses the distraction to poke his cane into Bond's back, revealing it to be a gun, and says he will shot Bond in the spine if he doesn't hand the money over. Bond shoves himself away from the table and gets away, but Valerie has been kidnapped by Le Chiffre's two remaining men.

Bond picks up the cheque for his winnings and secrets it in his room by unscrewing the number plate on his door and squeezing it in behind that. He is helped in this by the enormous spotlight that shines over his shoulder. Le Chiffre arrives moments later, revealing that he knows Valerie work for the Deuxieme, the French Secret Service.

Another commercial, and Bond's been roughed up, but still refuses to give in. You know what that means? They put him in the bath and take off his shoes and socks. Ooookay. Then Le Chiffre pulls out a pair of pliers. What happens next occurs just out of frame, but it seems like pretty tough stuff for the early 50s. Bond is typically intransigent, even if he sounds more like a hard-boiled PI than the famous Simon Templar.

Be honest. You're glad it's not the bit with the knotted rope.

Somewhat carelessly, Le Chiffre has left his cigarette case in easy reach, and Bond uses the razor inside to cut himself and Valerie free. His escape starts to get ridiculous as he fights Basil in the most unconvincing fight in TV history, effectively slapping his arm until he falls down. Le Chiffre follows to investigate and is shot twice. He slumps in a chair, palming the razor from his hat. Bond tells Valerie to call the cops and then...

Um, we go to the end credits. There appears to be part of this missing, especially as the third henchman was sent to intercept Leiter and never comes back. I imagine that Bond wins, though frankly I wouldn't be surprised if he dies of toe injuries.

The real first James Bond. Although
he'd have been a great George Smiley.

The production as a whole is reasonably effective, and makes use of few sets and actors. For its time, it seems an entertaining 50 minutes, and its only with 50 years of film adventures between then and now that something feels wrong. The changes made to the text for timing are understandable, but it's the odd switches in characterisation and tone that stick out. The story ends up feeling more like an am dram film noir than any other incarnation of Bond; even the novel has a more pessimistic European tone. An oddity, and an interesting one, but not necessarily worth your time.

JAMES BOND WILL RETURN IN "DR. NO"