UK TV - `Casino Royale` on ITV, Sunday afternoon

Film: "Casino Royale" (1967)
Channel: ITV1 (UK)
Date: Sunday 1st August 2004
Time: 16:20 GMT

It is perhaps wise not to think of this unwieldy spy caper as a James Bond movie at all. Though nominally based on Ian Fleming's first 007 novel (originally a 1954 TV show starring Barry Nelson), it is in actual fact a proto-Austin Powers spoof, in which Niven's retired Bond rounds up assorted 007 agents (among them Ursula Andress and Peter Sellers) to avenge the death of "M" (John Huston). A surfeit of screenwriters (eight, including Billy Wilder) and directors (five, including Huston) lends the whole a chaotic, disjointed air, but there is much fun to be had along the way. In the all-star cast, Orson Welles plays villain Le Chiffre and Woody Allen appears as James's neurotic nephew, Jimmy.

Thanks to `Ken` for the alert.

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