Naturally, that created some confusion, to say the least. Unfortunately, Allen probably didn’t realize that Feldman would use as many as six directors all shooting at the same time without consulting one another. The controversial but undoubtedly talented Woody Allen, who was primarily a writer and standup comedian, signed on to play Jimmy Bond in Casino Royale after his successful experience with Feldman on What’s New, Pussycat. (Eon's failure to lock down exclusive rights to Thunderball resulted in the non-canon Never Say Never Again, but that's another story.)

Ever since, Eon has been famously protective of the rights to Ian Fleming's work, lest some other inferior version of the secret agent make it to the big screen. Eon productions, the company headed by the Broccoli family that is responsible for the Bond cinematic canon, was horrified by the tarnishing of the James Bond brand. It was painful to watch at the time (as contemporary reviews make clear) today it's kitschy fun for the dated visuals and verges on so-bad-its's-good.

So instead, Feldman, coming off the major success of the purposely incongruous, “What’s New, Pussycat,” went the spoof route for his swing at 007.Ĭasino Royale was a star-studded debacle - not an unsuccessful film, owing probably to its A-list cast, but not a classic. Feldman secured the rights from Ian Fleming but failed to rope in any of the major players. The ‘67 Casino Royale in no way resembles a James Bond film because it really isn’t one. Unless, of course, you’re talking about Casino Royale” that starred Woody Allen, David Niven, Peter Sellers, Ursula Andress, and Orson Welles as opposed to Sean Connery or Daniel Craig.

Bond, James Bond, the seductive secret agent with no equal, never encountered a situation without a pun at the ready.

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