Bondathon #1: Casino Royale (1954)
The first iteration of James Bond wasn’t in Dr. No, but in the 1954 TV Special, Casino Royale. The full movie is available on YouTube in OK quality, but not on DVD/Blu-Ray. Two days ago, in preperation for No Time to Die, I will review every single James Bond movie (including the Non-EON films: Casino Royale (1954), Casino Royale (1967) and Never Say Never Again), as there are some James Bond movies that I haven’t seen. Let’s start with the one that started it all — Jimmy Bond (Barry Nelson).
I don’t really have lots to say about the movie, per se. It tells the story of Jam — ahem; Jimmy Bond, an American Spy working for the “Combined Intelligence Agency”, tracking down an enemy in a Casino, Le Chiffre (Peter Lorre). As soon as Bond enters the scene, assasination attempts are made at him. However, he dodges them all. Le Chiffre, however, isn’t someone to be taken lightly as he threatens his “girlfriend”, Valerie Mathis (Linda Christian), saying that he will kill her if Bond wins the game of baccarat and defeats Le Chiffre.
Yes, the movie does distance itself from the Fleming Novels and decides to Americanize James Bond. I will say that Barry Nelson does a pretty good job as James Bond, but there’s a big problem with him: he’s stiff as a log. Nelson hasn’t an ounce of charisma — everything about him that’s “charismatic” feels extremely forced. The so-called “ounce of machismo” he has when he plays baccarat feels forced and comes out as incredibly stiff. But his line delivery is convincing, especially when he and Clarence Leiter (yes, not Felix Leiter, played by Michael Pate) don’t know where Valerie Mathis is.
However, the reason why you’re watching the 1954 version of Casino Royale isn’t because of Barry Nelson as Bond, but for Peter Lorre as Le Chiffre. His performance is one for the ages, and the best iteration of Le Chiffre ever put to screen. He has a calming demeanor, every time he is on screen, but he also incredibly menacing and threatening. He doesn’t need to do a whole lot to BE menacing, and this is where the film becomes incredibly interesting: the confrontations between Bond and Le Chiffre. Because of Lorre, these scenes elevate the otherwise highly mediocre film into watchable territory. Out of every villain performance Peter Lorre has done, this is his ultimate one. It’s a shame that the film’s quality is mediocre, because Lorre’s performance deserves to be immortalized.
As for the rest of the movie, it’s fine. Everything is watchable, but everything is also inherently clichéd. You know exactly where the relationship between Bond and Mathis will go, without being able to predict what’s going to happen, because it happens so fast & quick, that you don’t need to predict. The film’s structure is American; late 50s, formulaic and predictable. A suave man defeats the “menacing” villain (who dies like a total pussy, in some of the series’ worst action sequences) and gets the girl. I will say that the baccarat sequence is quite thrilling. Who would’ve thought that a card game that I can’t really understand (even if it’s explained rather well) would be transposed so brilliantly on screen?!?
A film to see, only because of Nelson, Lorre and the fantastic Second Act: The game of baccarat. Otherwise, skip to Dr. No.
✯✯✯
