Casino Royale (1967 film) Casino Royale (1967 film) Casino Royale is a 1967 spy comedy film originally produced by Columbia Pictures featuring an ensemble cast. It is loosely based on Ian Fleming's first James Bond novel. The film stars David Niven as the "original" Bond, Sir James Bond 007. Forced out of retirement to investigate the deaths and disappearances of international spies, he soon battles the mysterious Dr. Noah and SMERSH. The film's tagline: "Casino Royale is too much... for one James Bond!" refers to Bond's ruse to mislead SMERSH in which six other agents are pretending to be "James Bond", namely, baccarat master
David Niven on the Bounty" brought him to the attention of independent film producer Samuel Goldwyn, who signed him to a contract and established his career. For Goldwyn, Niven had a small role in "Splendor" (1935). He was lent to MGM for a small part in "Rose Marie" (1936) then had a larger one in "Palm Springs" (1936) at Paramount. His first sizeable part for Goldwyn came in "Dodsworth" (1936), playing a man who flirts with Ruth Chatterton. He was loaned to 20th Century Fox to play Bertie Wooster in "Thank You, Jeeves!" (1936), then had a good part as a soldier