Trivia: Casino Royale was the only film where James Bond dies until the release of No Time to Die over 50 years later.
Trivia: Despite the long scene where they play each other at baccarat at the casino, Peter Sellers and Orson Welles were never on set at the same time. There are a number of theories ranging from stage fright to their alleged intense hatred of each other. (01:35:00)
Trivia: During the "torture of the mind" sequence, one of the bagpipers stops Peter Sellers and asks him if he is Richard Burton, to which Sellers responds, "No, I'm Peter O'Toole." The piper then says, "Then you're the finest man who ever breathed." The piper in question is Peter O'Toole in a cameo, and the exchange is a two-fold reference to the 1965 film "What's New Pussycat?", which starred both O'Toole and Sellers: first, Richard Burton had a cameo in that film and had a similarly surreal exchange with Peter O'Toole; and second, there is a dialogue between O'Toole and Sellers in that film where Sellers says O'Toole is the "finest man who ever breathed."
Trivia: When Ian Fleming first wrote Casino Royale and many of the subsequent Bond books, he designed the character with the actor David Niven in mind. It wasn't until this movie in 1967, a spoof of Bond no less, that having David Niven as Bond would actually happen. And this was after Ian Fleming had died in 1964, so he never got to see this casting realised.
Suggested correction: Not quite correct. Fleming recommended Niven to play Bond in Doctor No, the first Bond feature film. However, Albert Broccoli thought Niven was too old for the role. Fleming wrote James Bond with several influences in mind: particularly actor Hoagie Carmichael for his appearance, and various servicemen he met during the Second World War for Bond's attitudes and abilities.
Trivia: While filming his first scene with Jacqueline Bisset, Peter Sellers fired a gun into her face. Although the weapon was loaded with blanks, the shards tore open Bisset's skin nevertheless, leaving blood pouring down her face. The noise of the shot also startled her so much that she dropped the champagne bottle she was holding on her foot. Bisset would later call Sellers her worst leading man.
Trivia: Before Patrick Macnee's John Steed became the face of The Avengers, the show's original lead was Ian Hendry as Dr. David Keel. Hendry also appeared in Casino Royale (1967), but nearly all his scenes were cut. His only surviving moment is as the corpse Vesper throws down the chute. It's a meta gag: the original Avengers star literally discarded in a Bond spoof. The Avengers debuted over a year before Dr. No, kicking off the 60s spy craze.
