Rather than adapt the cruelly tragic love story of Vesper Lynd and James Bond, Casino Royale ’54 plays for straight romance, with a happy ending. Nelson’s “Card Sense Jimmy Bond” and Lorre’s Le Chiffre are worthy adversaries, and the dramatic tension in this version is so pulpy and noir, it actually feels closer to Ian Fleming’s works than some of the efforts that would follow. It means 'Death to the Spies' in Russian.While it’s solely focused on James Bond’s time at Casino Royale, and mostly centered around the high stakes Baccarat game against Le Chiffre (Peter Lorre), this Climax! episode does a pretty good job of telling a 007 story without any reference points to go on. OT: the abbreviation SMERSH really existed during the WWII. I think that 'Casino Royale' (the way it was made) illustrates the fact that bigger is not always better - overlong and overblown, written and directed by five or more writers and directors, it brings to mind an old saying, 'Too many cooks spoil the broth'. Only Woody Allen, (as Bond's incompetent nephew, Jimmy Bond) brilliant as usual has appeared in two scenes and made them silly and hilarious. Then, the movie becomes silly, stupid, pointless, and (what is the worst) not funny.

His mission is to destroy Topple LeChiffre (Orson Welles} at the baccarat tables where he never loses and wins a lot of money to supply SMERSH. It started funny enough - at Sir James Bond's (David Niven) home where he was approached by four international agents that forced him to come out of retirement and head up the operation against the evil organization SMERSH. What a mess of the royal proportions - such a great cast (Peter Sellers, David Niven, Orson Welles, Woody Allen, Ursula Andress, Deborah Kerr, and Jean-Paul Belmondo), the James Bond's story, plenty of beautiful (and I mean it) girls, the music by Burt Bacharach, most famous sets - but the movie is almost totally unwatchable.

Climax casino royale cast