Casino Royale - Trivia, Questions and Fun Facts

[discussimdb]

Fan of Casino Royale or just want to share your movie knowledge? This topic is dedicated to all trivia and questions related to Casino Royale

[terry]

Some biographies of Peter Sellers suggest that he took the role of Bond to heart, and was annoyed at the decision to make the film a comedy as he wanted to play Bond straight. This is illustrated in somewhat fictionalised form in The Life and Death of Peter Sellers (2004), based on the biography by Roger Lewis, who has claimed that Sellers kept re-writing and improvising scenes himself to make them play seriously. This story is in agreement with the observation that the only parts of the film close to the book are the ones featuring Sellers and Orson Welles.

[nicholas]

Known to have officially used 3 of Britain's then 4 biggest movie studio complexes - various sequences used Pinewood Studios, Shepperton Studios, and/or the huge soundstages and standing set streetscapes on the backlot of the (since demolished) MGM-British Studios, close to the then 4th major studio facility, the officially unused ABPC/EMI's Elstree Studios in Borehamwood.

[sara]

Ian Fleming received three offers for the film rights to his "Casino Royale" novel in 1954. Producer/director Gregory Ratoff bought a six-month option to the rights in May 1954 for $600. Ratoff took it to CBS, which produced it and broadcast it as [Climax!: Casino Royale](/category/7250/casino-royale) (1954). CBS then purchased the rights for $1,000. John Shepridge negotiated the sale of the film and television rights in 1954. Before the sale, the novel had not been successful, and was retitled and Americanized for its paperback issue. Twelve months later, after the TV episode, Ratoff bought "Casino Royale" outright in perpetuity for an additional $6,000. Fleming later said he regretted both sales because he sold them so cheaply, but he needed the money at the time. With the money from the larger sale, Fleming bought a Ford Thunderbird for £3,000. Ratoff died on December 14, 1960. In 1961 his widow sold the rights to Charles K. Feldman for $75,000. Instead of a straight James Bond film, Feldman shot it as a parody. In 1999, Sony paid MGM $5 million to settle a $40 million lawsuit that MGM had brought against Sony over the Bond rights, due to Sony's intentions to remake "Casino Royale". Sony agreed to hand over all of its rights to the Bond character and "Casino Royale". In an ironic twist of fate, Sony bought MGM in 2005. In 2006, they released their own serious adaptation, Casino Royale (2006).

[carl]

Though this film is not part of the EON Productions official series, a number of compilation albums and CDs of James Bond film music actually often incorporate one or both of two tracks from this film, "The Look of Love" and "Casino Royale", in their compilations.

[gerald]

When Peter Sellers arrives at MI5 headquarters to be kitted out by Q, all of the soldiers are from the Intelligence Corps; the peaked caps have cypress green bands. The Intelligence Corps began to wear cypress green berets as regimental headdress in 1977. The soldier who knocks himself out when saluting is wearing the Intelligence Corps cap badge.

[albert]

Director Joseph McGrath was fired and replaced by Robert Parrish.

[clayton]

Woody Allen was inspired to direct his own films after experiencing the chaotic production of this film.

[clayton]

When Mata Bond swings into action, the background music is "Bond Street" also scored by this film's composer, Burt Bacharach. The real Bond Street can be seen in the later James Bond movie, Octopussy (1983).

[jamie]

The Bond / Casino Royale / Pink Panther connection: David Niven, Peter Sellers, and Roger Moore have all played James Bond and appeared in Pink Panther films, and their characters in The Pink Panther films had possession of the Pink Panther Diamond at one time or another. Roger Moore and Peter Sellers have both played Inspector Clouseau. Animator Richard Williams directed the opening credits for Casino Royale (1967) and The Pink Panther Strikes Again (1976).

[victoria]

This film was originally intended to be released on Christmas in 1966, but because the shoot ran several months over schedule it was not released until April of 1967.

[edgar]

John Bluthal was to play more roles but Peter Sellers had him sacked.

[sophie]

Though the movie has little in common with the original Ian Fleming James Bond novel, a tie-in book was released, complete with the film's tattooed girl movie poster on the cover. The tagline read: "From: M. To: 007. IMMEDIATE ACTION. Have just seen Charles K. Feldman's film of this book - Only one thing in common - Both brilliant. Investigate and report."

[steve]

Prior to the release of Tomorrow Never Dies (1997), The Times did a dedication of its newspaper for an entire week to the world of 007. This was the only film to be given a bad billing. Opinion was divided as whether the best mistake was "the producers for funding it or the audience turning up to see it!"

[sandra]

The opening sequences were filmed in County Wicklow, Ireland. Director John Huston was an Irish resident at the time.

[fred]

Peter O'Toole and Daliah Lavi had previously appeared together in Lord Jim (1965).

[amber]

In addition to the credited writers, Woody Allen, Peter Sellers, Val Guest, Ben Hecht, Joseph Heller, Terry Southern, and Billy Wilder are all believed to have contributed to the screenplay to varying degrees.