# "At Casino Royale!" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 15, 2003, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-casino-royale/168892 "2003-04-15T15:48:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Dr.Rieux](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Dr.Rieux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Rieux)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2003, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-casino-royale/168892/1 "2003-04-15T15:48:21Z")
In honor of my 700th post, my first ever thread, the **Casino Royale** appreciation thread! **Casino Royale** (1967) is one of those movies which, if it’s on TV, I can’t _not_ watch it–and TCM has shown it twice in the last month. It’s the ultimate 60s comedy, with an all-star cast, five directors (at least!) and more silliness and pure fun than mere humans deserve. This is the movie the _Austin Powers_ series wants to be when it grows up. It manages to poke fun at the excesses of the James Bond franchise while at the same time wallowing in them. Beautiful women, hammy acting, ridiculous plots, funky sets, and non-sequiturs galore. (Peter O’Toole’s cameo actually makes sense _if_ you’ve seen _What’s New, Pussycat?_) I find it more entertaining than at least half of the “official” Bond movies. The whole thing can best be summed up by David Niven’s line, "It’s a pity that the words ‘secret agent’ have become synonymous with ‘sex maniac’. Surely, among the Teeming Millions, there are others who appreciate this neglected gem. Let’s hear from you! ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2003, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-casino-royale/168892/2 "2003-04-15T16:09:17Z")
You forgot the best part of the movie - Herb Alpert’s music! ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2003, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-casino-royale/168892/3 "2003-04-15T16:20:09Z")
I don’t care what people think about it - the last 15 minutes are pure gold. For some reason my DVD player won’t play the other great part of the movie - the UFO landing in Trafalgar Square and kidnapping Bond’s daughter. I took my DVD back to Best Buy three times before I shrugged it off as a bum DVD player. But great movie. Make sure you take the time to watch the “Casino Royale” TV show on the DVD - its entirely different. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2003, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-casino-royale/168892/4 "2003-04-15T16:24:37Z")
“He’s not really such a wonderful spy, but for winning lots of money and with gals he’s a fabulous guy!” ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2003, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-casino-royale/168892/5 "2003-04-15T16:39:53Z")
I have (correctly) pointed out, on multiple occasions, that _Casino Royale_ is the only Bond flick worth a tinker’s damn. It was the pinnacle of Ian Fleming’s life’s work (even if it did depart a bit from the source novel), and I can only wish he had devoted more books to his _real_ contribution to Western Literature: _Chitty Chitty Bang-Bang_. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2003, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-casino-royale/168892/6 "2003-04-15T17:05:39Z")
How can anyone forget Ursula Andress’ slow-motion romp to Dusty Springfield singing “The Look of Love”? It’s merely the most beautifully erotic scene in movie-making, a masterpiece of camerawork and soundtrack contibuting to elevate a scene to perfection. ---
**Author:** ![scout1222](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/34f0e0/32.png) [@scout1222](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scout1222)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2003, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-casino-royale/168892/7 "2003-04-15T17:10:42Z")
I saw it on TCM for the first time ever this weekend. It was great, and now that whole Austin Powers thing makes a little more sense. I see what he was grabbing from now. ---
**Author:** ![Beadalin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@Beadalin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beadalin)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2003, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-casino-royale/168892/8 "2003-04-15T17:52:49Z")
This is a totally bizarre coincidence, but I saw this thread just as my mp3 of Herb Alpert’s _Casino Royale_ came up on my playlist. How cool is that? Needless to say, I am rocking out. ---
**Author:** ![SmoothOperator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3bc359/32.png) [@SmoothOperator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmoothOperator)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2003, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-casino-royale/168892/9 "2003-04-15T17:53:26Z")
The Austin Powers movies pale in comparison to Casino Royale. I loved David Niven in this. But then I think he was a great actor anyway. ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2003, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-casino-royale/168892/10 "2003-04-15T19:14:23Z")
Compare and contrast this thread with[this one](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=157669&highlight=casino+royale). Now, discuss amongst yourselves. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2003, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-casino-royale/168892/11 "2003-04-15T20:00:17Z")
The other thread has it right. Absolutely. Anybody who says that Casino Royale is a 60s drug-fueled incoherent mess has it exactly correct. It does have a few great scenes and a few laughs and some great satiric moments. Mostly, though, I have to feel for the poor editor who had to put together the stuff tossed through the door by five directors working with different scripts, different actors, and different visions and try to come up with a marketable movie. He didn’t succeed because no one could have. But you could have _fun_ in the 60s in a way no other decade ever achieved. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Rieux](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Dr.Rieux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Rieux)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2003, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-casino-royale/168892/12 "2003-04-16T23:33:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jeff Olsen \* > \*\*You forgot the best part of the movie - Herb Alpert’s music! \*\* Composed by Burt Bacharach. Mea Culpa! how could I forget? Didja notice, during the final brawl Burt threw in few bars of “What’s New, Pussycat?”