Casino Royale

I've given up counting the number of times I've tried to make it all the way through this film, and now that I finally have I didn't hate it. There's a nefarious plot gripping the world and "M" (John Huston) has convinced his opposite numbers in France, Russia and the United States that there's only one way to thwart this dastardly plotting. Enter the original, newly knighted, "Sir James Bond" (David Niven) who undertakes the task of heading up the new "007" division and tracking down the criminal mastermind behind "SMERSH"! What now ensues is split into segments and each involves a separate strand in their search. It's not that these aren't entertaining enough, up to a point, it's that they are all just bit contrived to maximise the faux-menace whilst providing us with as many cameos as the five directors behind this over-long project can squeeze in - even Peter O'Toole must have had a bar bill to pay. Peter Sellers and original "Bond" girl Ursula Andress help to keep Niven and the ship afloat and for me, the "Le Chifre" (Orson Welles) scene at the gambling tables steals what there is to show. I think it does quite successfully parody the worst excess of the kitsch, the jingoistic and the kaleidoscopically coloured 1960s, rife with sexism and chauvinism and Niven seems to be very much in on the joke. No, it's not good and it's portmanteau style misses more than it hits but it's of it's time and still just about worth a watch.