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
Motifs in the James Bond film series next film to be produced was also usually named, in the format "James Bond will return..." or "James Bond will be back", although these were sometimes incorrect: "The Spy Who Loved Me" promised James Bond would return in "For Your Eyes Only", but after the success of "Star Wars", the producers decided to make "Moonraker" instead and "For Your Eyes Only" followed in 1981. The first Bond film, "Dr. No", included the introduction of the character of James Bond. Bond was introduced in an exchange near the beginning of the film in a "now-famous nightclub sequence featuring Sylvia Trench", to