Everything has to start somewhere. Long before the idea of filming Ian Fleming’s James Bond novels was a twinkling in the eyes of “Cubby” Broccoli and Harry Saltzman, Bond made his on-screen debut on the October 21, 1954 live television broadcast of the CBS anthology Climax! in a one-hour adaptation of the first (and, at the time, only) Bond novel Casino Royale.
Admittedly, this James Bond was a far cry from the iconic character everyone knows from the 20+ movies produced since then. For starters, he was played by American actor Barry Nelson (best known for light comedy roles both on Broadway and in movies and television). Accordingly, Bond was Americanized into a CIA agent known in the trade as “Card Sense Jimmy Bond”. (It takes a lot of getting used to hearing Bond constantly referred to as “Jimmy.”)
In addition, Bond’s American counterpart, government agent Felix Leiter, was changed to a British operative named Clarence Leiter (well played by suave character actor Michael Pate who might have made a good Bond himself). The characters of Bond’s allies with shifting loyalties, Vesper Lind and Rene Mathis, were combined to become the show’s female lead Valerie Mathis (making actress Linda Christian the first “Bond girl”).
The show’s best casting was reserved for the villain, Soviet spy Le Chiffre (based by Fleming on British occultist Alistair Crowley): The first Bond villain ever was played by the great Peter Lorre. (In fact, it can be argued that, with the possible exception of Max von Sydow, Lorre still remains the single most talented actor to play a Bond heavy.) And as a bonus for classic comedy buffs, the role of Le Chiffre’s bodyguard Basil, the first Bond strong-arm goon, was played by Gene Roth (best remembered as the bad guy in many Three Stooges shorts from the Shemp era).
Casino Royale was directed by William H. Brown, Jr. and scripted by Anthony Ellis and Charles Bennett. (Bennett was certainly no stranger to the thriller genre having written several of Alfred Hitchcock’s early pictures.) In spite of the limited running time and technical primitiveness, this turned to be the most faithful rendition of the Fleming’s story. (It’s a sad comment on modern audiences’ lack of sophistication that the producers of the recent Daniel Craig version felt they had to change the crucial card game from baccarat to poker “Texas hold ‘em” style.)
After an introduction by host William Lundigan, Casino Royale opens with a brief scene that anticipates the “cold opens” of the later Bond films: As Bond walks toward the outdoor entrance of the casino, he is shot at (and missed) by an off-screen assassin. After entering and being profusely apologized to by the casino staff, Bond is approached by Leiter.
Leiter:"Aren't you the fellow who was shot?"
Bond:"No, I'm the fellow who was missed."
Introducing himself, Leiter tells Bond about the mission his superiors would like him to undertake. It seems that La Chiffre has been gambling with Soviet money and losing badly. The game plan is for Bond to play against La Chiffre at baccarat and win, thereby preventing him from recouping his losses and repaying his KGB employers.
At the baccarat table, Bond meets La Chiffre, his companions and his mistress Valerie. After a few rounds, it looks like Bond is succeeding, but in a reversal, La Chiffre ends up cleaning out Bond. After the game, Bond and Vesper (who were once romantically involved) meet. Valerie is actually a double-agent working for French intelligence who also want to put La Chiffre out of business. She stakes Bond to enough Francs to buy back into the game.
This time around, Bond successfully wipes out all of La Chiffre’s holdings. As Bond collects the check for his winnings, La Chiffre and his henchmen quickly clear out. Bond looks for Valerie to thank her, but she is nowhere to be found. In his hotel room, Bond receives a call from Valerie who says she is being held prisoner by La Chiffre.
Bond arranges for La Chiffre and his gang to bring Valerie to his room. Before they arrive, Bond, suspecting a trap, hides the check. As it turns out, Bond was right: Valerie was only pretending to be a hostage and was forced to betray Bond. Determined to regain the check, La Chiffre has his goons rough Bond up and drag him into the bathroom. With Bond tied up in the bathtub, La Chiffre threatens him in the mock apologetic tone that Peter Lorre specialized in.
Le Chiffre:"All right, Mr. Bond... Where is that money? Look Mr. Bond, as you should know by now I... I'm quite without mercy and if you continue to be that obstinate, I... I'll have to torture… you'll be tortured to the edge of madness. Believe me. You have no hope whatsoever. You hear? None!... Nor has she."
At this point in the novel, when Bond refused to surrender the check, he was stripped naked and beaten on the genitals, but this was changed for fairly obvious reasons. So in the TV version, as La Chiffre stands by, Basil goes to work on Bond’s bare toes with a pair of pliers…
Climax!: Casino Royale is available on Netflix’s Watch Instantly service.
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