The late Gene Siskel had a
famous litmus test for star-studded movies: Is the film more interesting than a
documentary of its actors having lunch together would be? It's safe to assume
that a filmed nosh shared by the cast of 1967's Casino Royale—David Niven, Peter
Sellers, Orson Welles, Woody Allen, William Holden, Jean-Paul Belmondo, John
Huston, and Deborah Kerr, just for starters—would be one of the most
fascinating documentaries ever made, especially since Welles and Sellers likely
couldn't have had lunch together without a fistfight breaking out. It'd
certainly be more interesting than the film. For his deliriously excessive
James Bond spoof, producer Charles K. Feldman bought a gaudy abundance of
high-priced stars and some of the world's most expensive sets, but he couldn't
buy quality, laughs, or cohesion.
The product of five
credited directors, three credited screenwriters, and a vast army of script
doctors, Casino Royale casts Niven as a retired Victorian version of Ian Fleming's
legendary super-spy, a consummate gentleman who just wants to be left alone so
he can listen to Debussy in peace. Nonetheless, he's called back into action to
thwart a sinister plan perpetuated by an evil organization named SMERSH. To
help achieve his ends, Niven commissions a battery of bogus 007s to fake the
enemy out, most notably a bumbling Baccarat expert played by an uncomfortably
restrained Peter Sellers, who helped sabotage an already-unwieldy,
schizophrenic, elephantine production with his diva antics.
Great care and attention
has been given to nearly every element of the film, from the opulent production
and costume design to Burt Bacharach's jaunty score and Oscar-nominated hit "The
Look Of Love," but the script and plot both feel like hasty afterthoughts. As
such, the ridiculous parade of explosions, slapstick chases, sexy women, huge
stars in bit parts, and towering sets don't make the movie any funnier. Casino
Royale offers
plenty for the eyes and ears, but little for the funnybone. It fails Siskel's
famous litmus test, as well as a more common one for comedies: Is it funny?
Key features: The Making Of Casino
Royale, a
fascinating, candid five-part behind-the-scenes documentary, and a less-riveting
but fairly compelling audio commentary from James Bond scholars Steven Jay
Rubin and John Cork.