For completeness’ sake, I watched the 1967 spy spoof Casino Royale, which features several James Bond type characters and more than one director. It’s stuffed with familiar actors: Orson Welles, David Niven, Peter Sellars, and Woody Allen. To call this film bizarre is an understatement (it’s a “psychedelic comedy”). I found it particularly surreal to watch after the recent, way serious, Casino Royale starring Daniel Craig as Bond.

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My quest to watch all the James Bond films continues, and Dr. No was the first, starring a young Sean Connery who is a bit rough around the edges and looks almost thuggish. But the main elements are in place and it’s a bit stunning to see that much of what people expect from a Bond film today, was present right out of the gate back in 1962.

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