Casino Royale (DVD, 2009, 40th Anniversary Edition)

There's hardly any reason to discuss the plot of the what is coined, "The Greatest James Bond Show on Earth," because delineating the cast alone reveals why this 1967 motion picture still works even though the plot is utter chaos:

Peter Sellers plays multiple roles as Evelyn Tremble/James Bond/007
Ursula Andress plays multiple roles as Vesper Lynd/007
Orson Welles plays Le Chiffre
Woody Allen plays multiple roles as Dr. Noah/Jimmy Bond James's bumbling nephew
Deborah Kerr plays multiple roles as Agent Mimi/Lady Fiona McTarry
William Holden plays Ransome
Charles Boyer plays Le Grand
John Huston plays multiple roles as McTarry/M
Peter O'Toole makes a cameo appearance &
David Niven plays the original aging Sir James Bond who comes out of retirement to take on SMERSH.

"Casino Royale," (1967) is a sequence of spoofs, comical gags, one-liner classic, oft times political, puns & remarkable visual effects in spectacular scenes. The spoofs are on hippie psychedelic LSD imagery, German expressionism, & certain cold war satire (SMERSH actually stood for "Death to the Spies" in Russian, during WWII).

Surely the more politically enlightened audience finds the greatest amusement in this spastic, truth-exploiting show. However, because the cast delivers such entertaining performances, even a less intellectual crowd would be spellbound by the comical chaos.

This show ranks as a cult classic spy spoof in hindsight because of such scenes as these: Bond (David Niven) is attacked by decoy ducks; Bond's daughter by Mata Hari, Mata Bond (Joanna Pettet), is kidnapped by a UFO; double agent Vesper (Ursula Andress) hides bodies in a deep freezer; counter-agent Mimi (Deborah Kerr) dangles from a Scottish castle's drain pipe . . . & then there's the usual antics I've come to expect of Peter Sellers & Woody Allen! Sellers does his classic bumbling buffoon/faux suave playboy, plus Chinese & Indian caricatures. Allen does his New York Jewish neurotic caricature. Welles does his elder statesman ala "Citizen Kane," adding a cigar & some of his famous magic tricks.

The story, is (ultra) loosely based on Ian Fleming's original 1st James Bond novel, "Casino Royale," published in 1953. This show had 5 directors (including Billy Wilder) & 10 directors.

I imagine each generation that views "Casino Royale" (1967) will recreate the show's meaning(s). That's precisely the magic of it--it's timeless, but a retrospective changling.

So many memorable scenes and groovy music. Funky actors with men being men, women being women and Woody Allen. Of course Peter Sellars steals the show ( as usual ). David Niven's best role.
Daniel Craig resurrected the role later with a different theme and I can't remember anything much about his rendition.

I seen off the Bond films, and this is the best of them all. I know it's not really a true Bond film, but that's why it's the best because they can spoof Bond in so many ways. And the cast, I mean where could you get a cast for that time to come together to do a film like that.

"If you never seen it, go out and rent or buy it".

I love the crazyness of the film,fun to watch the muliple directors,expensive sets and all star cast are just some of the reasons to buy and enjoy the film