007: The Royal Casino

This film (drama)Also known asCasino Royale，is aUnited Kingdom, United StatesProducerwomen sex，At1967Released in year 。The dialogue language isEnglish, French，Current Douban rating6.0(For reference only)。

Plot Introduction: The male lead in the film is the retired Sir Bond, who finds himself quite bored when his former boss M is murdered. Bond travels from London to Scotland to visit M's widow, only to find that she attempts to seduce him; after her failure, she becomes a nun. Bond continues to investigate the murderer and encounters a variety of spies, ultimately culminating in a showdown at the Royal Casino. The numerous gimmicks in the film generally lean towards the old-fashioned, but there are still quite a few exciting parts, such as Woody's first appearance escaping from one execution ground to another, the auction of small yellow photos in East Germany, and if you enjoy grand scenes, the final chaotic brawl might satisfy you—a true “free-for-all.” The old 007—James Bond has retired, and now the four heads of agencies like the CIA, KGB, and British intelligence join forces to ask him to come out of retirement to assist in investigating the disappearance and assault of an employee. Old Bond has firmly decided to retire and is unamused; his former superior M simply lights a cigar, and upon seeing the signal, the troops outside shell Bond’s estate. The moment old Bond comes out of retirement, the enemies decide to eliminate this great, morally upright, woman-repelling 007. Upon receiving news of M's death, he goes to pay his respects at M's home, where M's widow and eleven beautiful daughters leave him slightly flustered, and despite the wild celebration at the funeral and the widow's succumbing to the family's tradition, the great 007 does not lose his chastity. M's widow summons some big men to challenge 007 in strength, but the old gentleman easily handles them, leaving her head over heels in love with him. The daughters invite old Bond to go bird hunting, but the arranged missile station is broken by old Bond and the defecting M's widow. Old Bond speeds back to England to his office, learning that most of their intelligence agents have been lost, and only his nephew Jimmy Bond from the Caribbean liaison office has managed to escape from one execution ground to another, with his fate uncertain. Old Bond decides to recruit new blood to deal with the enemy; he instructs his female secretary to find a debonair man and sends his subordinates with a flow of beauties to train him to "stay away from women"; through a female underworld figure, Miss Beth, he finds the inventor of a new gambling technique, Evelyn, and trains him to become another representative of 007. Additionally, old Bond personally seeks out his long-lost daughter, Matt, and wants her to utilize her identity and beauty to infiltrate the enemy's headquarters—the international model training school in East Berlin. Matt's mother originally hailed from this "spy training school," and she manages to get in quickly, soon gathering some secrets and disrupting the auction organized by the enemy agent Xavi, causing chaos at the venue. Evelyn is tasked to bet against Xavi, who is a master at gambling and also performs magic tricks. Evelyn and Beth first switch each other's glasses, then use Evelyn's gambling techniques to secure a great victory. Xavi’s men kidnap the two outside the casino but are executed by the international con artist organization for failing their gamble. Matt and the others are kidnapped by enemy agents, and old Bond gets news from M's widow, leading him to a lonely island, only to be captured by the enemy and taken to the "International Con Artist Building." At this moment, the enemy’s host, Dr. Nova, formally reveals himself to be the short and funny Jimmy Bond. Jimmy informs them that he plans to use a drug to make all women beautiful and poison all men taller than himself, and then control the entire world with clones he has fabricated over the years within five days. Jimmy lavishes attention on the long-admired Beth, who seizes the opportunity to make him take another drug of her own design that explodes continuously inside the body, then escapes from the lab. This con artist building becomes a battlefield, with various heroes bursting in—from intelligence agents from different countries to Western gunslingers, and even Indian warriors make appearances. In the end, the bomb inside Jimmy explodes, turning everyone into angels, while only Jimmy falls into hell. The film was made during the peak of Sean Connery's 007 fame, and subsequently, this "nonsensical" version of 007 emerged after the four official 007 films. In fact, the film is also adapted from the original work by Ian Fleming, the father of 007, and a version was developed eight years before the first 007 film "Dr. No" was released, when 007 was still a small-font character on television. After all, it was a big-budget comedy of that era. While many small details in the film may not be shockingly comedic, they are still substantial works rarely seen in today’s comedies, and the film's parody of the 007 series has inspired many similar works among later generations. For example, when old Bond meets his secretary Mavani and learns after embracing her that she is the daughter of his original secretary, it's likely that the same segment in Stephen Chow's "Chinese 007" is not original. There are many such elements throughout. However, it must be said that the humor in this lavish comedy is either lacking in wit or a bit too old-fashioned and seems somewhat lukewarm by today’s standards. The film's greatest characteristic is its star-studded cast, with five directors, the most famous of whom is the great John Huston, who even made a cameo as M, a character with a short lifespan. Among the stars, old Bond is played by the venerable British gentleman David Niven, the gambling expert Evelyn is played by the British "man of a thousand faces" Peter Sellers, the charming con artist master akin to a magician is the legendary Orson Welles, and young Woody Allen, just starting out, reminds one of Stephen Chow's escape from execution. His grand scheme to control the world also has Woody's typical traits. Therefore, even though the film may seem outdated and out of touch with the times, the presence of these superstar actors is still quite worthwhile to watch.