Initially they considered making the film with Cary Grant, with directing to be by Howard Hawks and a script by Leigh Brackett. The producer, Charles K Feldman bought the movie rights in 1960 from the widow of Gregory Ratoff. Its troubled history started years before a single frame of film was shot. It has some touches of brilliance (only touches mind you) it has an eclectic cast ranging from the sublime to the truly incomprehensible. Joe Emery recently expressed his dislike for this film, and yet I have a certain affection for it. The 1967 version of Casino Royale has gone into history as an expensive folly of a film, with an overblown budget and a troubled shoot. Casino Royale is either going to be a classic bit of fun or the biggest fuck-up since the Flood.
