Reportedly, Sellers stood transfixed like a deer in the headlights, then turned and left, never to return. Welles boomed out a welcome and encouraged everyone to give Mr. One day, Welles arranged to have a spotlight hit Sellers when he entered the purposely darkened soundstage. He had already developed a habit of arriving late on the set, something that not only wasted money and kept both cast and crew needlessly waiting, but angered co-star Orson Welles, a consummate professional when working on other people's movies. Sellers, boosted to international stardom by the Pink Panther films, was a difficult talent to deal with. Originally, he had intended a more serious film before realizing that the only way to go was with a spoof. He was sent on his way.Īt Columbia he was given a $5 million budget, quite healthy for the day. Saltzman and Broccoli, fearing the competition, relented and tried to make a deal but Feldman's terms were too demanding. Very quickly, Feldman had a green light from Columbia. He'd made a deal with United Artists, the distributor that released all of the Bond films, but Saltzman and Broccoli threatened to pull their series if the deal went through. He attempted to negotiate a deal that would allow him to produce the film with Saltzman and Broccoli, but they weren't interested. After the colossal success of Thunderball (1965), which had box office grosses in the range of James Cameron's Titanic, Feldman thought to jump on his option. Feldman, an enterprising independent producer who knew a good thing when he saw one, wanted in on the Bond phenomenon. Instead, it fell into the hands of former agent turned producer Charles K. When Harry Saltzman and Albert Broccoli bought the rest of the series this was the one that got away (until fairly recently when it was finally brought into the fold). debut, and a live television version was broadcast later that year on October 21 with Barry Nelson as Jimmy Bond and Peter Lorre as Le Chiffre. The screen rights had been acquired in 1954, the year that the novel made its U.S. The story begins, of course, with Ian Fleming's novel. No matter what opinion one may hold about the movie, it is remarkable that it was made at all.

On one viewing it can seem fresh and outrageously funny, on another, labored, forced, drawn out. See more files at The James Bond SourcebookĬasino Royale (1967) is a sort of love/hate proposition. The James Bond Sourcebook: Casino Royale (1967) The movie The Thunder Child Science Fiction and Fantasy

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