Press Release - The Making of Casino Royale
http://www.telos.co.uk/product/the-making-of-casino-royale-1967-telos-movie-classics-2/
The sixties James Bond spoof Casino Royale was a psychedelic multi-storyline extravaganza of improvisation and the constant rewriting of various screenplays, brought about after negotiations between producer Charles K Feldman, Eon Productions, United Artists and Columbia Pictures failed to bring about a co-production. Realising that he would have to proceed without Bond actor Sean Connery, Feldman crammed his picture with as many famous names as possible: Peter Sellers, Woody Allen, David Niven, Ursula Andress, Orson Welles, Deborah Kerr, Daliah Lavi, Joanna Pettet, Barbara Bouchet, William Holden and Jean Paul Belmondo to name but a few. The cast also included several unbilled cameos such as: Peter O’Toole, Caroline Munro, Dave Prowse, John Le Mesurier, Fiona Lewis and ex- Formula 1 racing driver Stirling Moss.
All aspects of the production are explored, including the origins of Ian Fleming’s novel and subsequent screenplays, the casting choices, pre-production, filming at three British film studios, location filming in England, Ireland, Scotland and France, plus publicity and merchandising. This gives an overall picture of how this strange psychedelic pop art movie was assembled from several different storylines that involved no fewer than seven directors, working from a screenplay credited to three writers, although known to have input from at least nine other people including Peter Sellers and Woody Allen. The book also pieces together what material was filmed and then discarded from the movie, by using reference sources such as production stills, portions of scripts and anecdotes about the making the film. Overall this outlines the story of a major blockbuster movie, which got out of control to become one of the most complicated productions filmed and the most bizarre James Bond film ever.