Casino Royale

I saw a commercial on TV a few days ago for the movie Casino Royale, the 2008 version that is. It brought back the memory of the first James Bond movie I saw back in the late 60's of the movie with the same above title, along with other spy stuff that originated from the Bond films. For years, the guys at school told me about the Bond films they saw in that little dive of a theater at the Fleetwood Fire Company. Back in the day if you didn't see a movie, it didn't show up a week later like today on DVD after it was gone from the theater and sometimes many years before it would even show up on TV. A reference was made to the Bond films when I went with the guys to see "Batman, the Movie", with the same actors from the TV series in that era. The one kid said during the intro to the Batman movie, it looks like something from the openings on the James Bond movies.

As timing would have it, the next Bond film released after that Batman movie, was Casino Royale. I was expecting good old Sean Connery and looking forward to a nice spy adventure like I was told about for the last few years. During those first few years of James Bond, it spawned a lot of interesting ideas for TV and merchandise. TV series like the Man from U.N.C.L.E. (Robert Vaughn and now starring on NCIS, David McCallum), I Spy (Robert Culp and Bill Cosby), the spy spoof Get Smart and later of all things The Wild Wild West with government agents working in the guess where? The wild, wild west. The spy thing was even featured for a few episodes of the Beverly Hillbillies, where Jethro (if any of you are familiar with his character on the series), decided to go into the spy business as a "double naught" spy. Double naugth in his southern lingo, meaning double zero like James Bond. As far as merchandise, I remember a Christmas gift in 1966, way before the film Casino Royale was ever a thought called "The Secret Sam Attache Case." It was filled with all kinds of spy gadgets, a periscope to see around corners, an opening in one end of the case that shot plastic bullets and other things I have long forgotten. I also had the Aston Martin car model kit, the car used in the movie Goldfinger (spring loaded ejection seat and all). I also had model kits from the Man from U.N.C.L.E. It came in two separate kits with a stone wall that when joined together, made on nice long display with the Nopolean Solo (Robert Vaughn) and Illyia Kuryaken (David McCallum) in action.

Now back to Casino Royale. I finally went along with the guys I was expecting to see Sean Connery and looked forward to seeing all the good adventures they bragged about seeing in all those good James Bond movies from previous years. The guy was not in the film at all. After all the hype, the spy stuff I grew up with, the toys, the models and stuff I ripped off of mom and dad to pay for all this, the TV shows about spies, guess who I see? David Niven (great actor, not who I expected there) as a retired James Bond, Peter Sellers (who did a great job in the film Dr. Stangelove, but didn't fit in this movie) and of all people, Woody Allen, both also as James Bond. Why Woody Allen? I have no idea. I never liked the guy in any movie he was ever in. Kind of like the Will Farrel of today, more annoying than funny. What a farce. I hated that movie so bad. In hindsight, I rate that movie as low as Paint Your Wagon and Mrs. Doubtfire, maybe even less if that is possible. I have no idea why they spoiled the James Bond series of movies with that one. It was as disgusting as the men's bathroom at the theater I was watching it from. The urinal was long porcelaine trough about six feet in lenght to pee in. On top was a water pipe the ran the lenght of it with water flowing continuously from the ten or twelve holes from it to flush down the pee and keep the urinal clean. There was nothing in the lobby to drink so you had to fill up before you got to the movie. So if you got thirsty, you were up the creek. Sort of why I now refer to the place as a dive. It fits the description. There was no sink to even wash up, no way to get a drink from a sink so if you got thirsty during the movie, you had to make due with any kind of water vessel you could come up with and we guys used to go into the bathroom and fill up with the water trickling from the pipe keeping the urinal flushed. Sharing that to express under those conditions the water was better than the film. There is one plus side to the film, the theme played by Herb Alpert and His Tijuana Brass. Herb and his trumpet was popular in 60's.

Gotta love the good old days. Hated the movie, but the water tasted fine.

If any of you ever get the chance to see the old Casino Royale movie from 1967, don't.....lol. Just kidding. Seriously if you do, keep my story in mind while you see it. I don't ever plan to see it ever, but if any of you are curious, give it a look.

Love you all.