This retained the essential streak of sadism in Fleming's Bond stories (and the subsequent films), a surprising inclusion considering the bland TV standards of the fifties. The more intense scenes, in this version's favor, come about in the 3rd and final act, when Le Chiffre employs a tool of torture (below the bottom of the picture, off-screen) on a couple of Bond's toes I guess he breaks them - actor Nelson gasps in pain convincingly. Bond (Nelson) gains the upper hand over Le Chiffre (Lorre) after only a couple of hands in the 2nd act and it's all over.

Here, though a static game of cards seemed suitable for a TV episode, the solution was to make the scenes as short as possible. Filmmakers always seem to despair when given the task of making a card game exciting on film, but the potential is there - 'The Cincinnati Kid'(65) is a good example and the 2006 version of 'Casino Royale' also did a good job. The script follows Fleming's premise: Bond's mission is basically to outplay the main villain at cards (baccarat, in this case) and take his money this remained the major plot point of the new film version in 2006. What brief fight scenes there are, towards the end, are somewhat crude and awkward, not surprising since it is a live broadcast. It's typical, however, of the limitations of the live television format from the fifties: two or three different small sets (rooms) are used for the entire show the action is slow, driven mainly by dialog, and it has the feel of a stage play, in three acts. Yep, we've definitely entered a Twilight Zone-type warped version of the Bond mythology. Completing the reversal on Fleming's original concept, Bond's buddy Leiter is a British agent (always an American CIA agent in the future films).

In footage nearly lost, reflected in the muddy black-and-white presentation, we witness an historic first - the first TV or film incarnation of James Bond. Let's enter a dim, bygone alternate universe where James Bond was an American agent, strolling through a low-budget TV production adaptation of the Ian Fleming novel.

Casino royale 1954 in color