A look back at the 1954 television version of Casino Royale
08-Dec-2006 • Bond News
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This is Bond before the myth, before the glamour and before the girls. Yet, this proto-Bond embodies the very best traits of Bond - suave class, elegant style, and dashing derring-do. Barry Nelson may not have worn the mantle long enough or publicly enough to be known as well as the other Bonds, yet just like Marion Trelawney, the 12th Phantom, he has as much right to the name, and it's attendant fame.
In light of the recent version of Casino Royale, which reboots the Bond storyline, it is instructive to look at what made the first version a Bond film in it's own right.
James Bond is a very American agent, working for 'Combined Intelligence', and supported by Clarence Leiter of Station S. He has authority over Leiter, and evidently carries 00-status, although this is not referred to.
Miss Valerie Mathis, the Vesper Lynd stand-in appears earlier in the film, giving it a greater gravitas, and the Le Chiffre story takes primary stage. There are few subplots, and less of the global intrigue, save the fight against global Communism. James Bond enters the scene as a card sharp, but soon enough, he is evidently someone who lives 'more dangerously'. He identifies Miss Mathis as a Le Chiffre pawn almost instantly, displaying none of the naivete exhibited by the newer incarnation. She is evidently a long-time love, or at least familiar.
Much like an intricate mystery, we know the bad guys and the villains even before the second act of the plot commences. This might be simplistic in one sense, but given our foreknowledge of the later Bond, it gives us a sense of foreboding and sinister danger. Make no mistake, this is not a great film, or even a very good film. Barry Nelson is much too wooden, and the action staged, but the characters are all fell creatures, the events follow on each other with breathless rapidity, and the threat never eases.
Le Chiffre is the self-important trade union organizer the book makes him out to be, and shows up at the critical baccarat game with Miss Mathis on his arm. Soon after this, James receives a not very veiled threat to throw the game to save her life, putting him in a pensive mood at the start of the game. The stakes rise rapidly, with Bond on the losing side, and as we all know, James Bond is best with his back to the wall. He turns the tables and wins the game, but the winnings bring with it villainous greed and danger.
Le Chiffre appears in his dark splendor to discuss 'matters of mutual interest' and to reveal the French antecedents of Miss Mathis. Peter Lorre does a marvelous job as Le Chiffre, and has the best lines. ("If he protests, hit him again, but only a little at a time,") Act III introduces James Bond to the dangers of his profession, beginning with the bathtub, followed by 'torture to the edge of madness',
The torture, and the quintessential Bond-style rebound are perhaps the best part of the film, and Bond thankfully ignores the glimmer of a romantic interlude to face down the sinister villain, who recognizes much of himself in Bond.
The film was satisfying in many respects, creating a character who went on to save the world from numerous threats, and a fan-following of millions. One's expectations are exceeded, but that is perhaps because of what lay ahead, rather than what one derived from the present film. In that sense, for this reviewer at least, the invention of Bond was far more satisfying than the reinvention of Bond.
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