April 13, 1967 –
A very silly film, loosely based on the first James Bond novel by Ian Fleming, Casino Royale, opened in London on this date. It was directed by John Huston, Ken Hughes, Robert Parrish, Joe McGrath , and Val Guest. The film starred Peter Sellers, Ursula Andress, David Niven, Woody Allen, Joanna Pettet, Orson Welles, Daliah Lavi, Deborah Kerr, William Holden, Charles Boyer, Jean-Paul Belmondo, George Raft, and John Huston.
Producer Charles K. Feldman originally intended to make the film as a co-production with official Bond series producers Harry Saltzman and Albert R. Broccoli, with Sean Connery as James Bond and Shirley MacLaine as Vesper Lynd. Saltzman and Broccoli had just co-produced Thunderball with Kevin McClory, and didn’t want to do it again. United Artists supposedly offered Feldman $500,000 for the rights to Casino Royale in 1965, but the offer was rejected. Forced to produce the film on his own, Feldman approached Connery to star as Bond. Feldman was unwilling to meet Connery’s $1-million salary demand. He decided to turn the film into a spoof. Feldman cast David Niven as Bond. After the film went through numerous production problems and an exploding budget, Feldman met Connery at a Hollywood party and reportedly told Connery it would’ve been cheaper to pay him the $1 million.
The Haus of Dcaligari 