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
James Bond in film also the result of a long-standing promise from Broccoli and Saltzman for the opportunity to direct. Hunt also asked for the position during the production of "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang", and he brought along with him many crew members, including cinematographer Michael Reed. Hunt was focused on putting his mark, saying, "I wanted it to be different than any other Bond film would be. It was my film, not anyone else's". "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" was the last film on which Hunt worked in the series. Screenwriter Richard Maibaum, who worked on the first four Bond films, returned as