CBS had paid Ian Fleming $1,000 (about $10,000 today) in 1954 to adapt the book into a one-hour TV special, with its screenplay adaptation being written by Charles Bennett, who was known for his collaborations with thriller director Alfred Hitchcock. In the process, he saves his former lover, Valérie Mathis (a mix of Vesper Lynd and René Mathis), who was posing as Le Chiffre’s girlfriend, and the two escape–a much less grim ending than Fleming’s novel.Ĭasino Royale 1954 arrived only one year after the novel’s release, thus beginning the slew of James Bond actors and adaptations that would follow over the next 70 years. Rather than a SMERSH assassin killing Le Chiffre, 1954’s Casino Royale has Barry Nelson’s James Bond take out the villain himself. The live television episode marked the first on-screen appearance of the iconic 007, following American agent James “Jimmy” Bond as he gambles against Soviet spy Le Chiffre in an attempt to make his leaders “ retire” him.

The first official adaptation of Casino Royale wasn’t on the big screen, but rather as a 50-minute television installment of the anthology series Climax! in 1954.