The sign for the Le Cercle club, where we first meet James Bond in Dr. No (1962)
I’m not sure you could dream of a more perfect way to introduce the world to secret agent James Bond, 007. From the start, an indirect request at a club entrance for James Bond, and a casual discreet walk through the casino until we end up in a seemingly high intensity baccarat game. The sexual tension is obvious and the facial expressions are memorable. We owe Trench, Sylvia Trench a debt of gratitude for teaching Bond, James Bond how to properly introduce himself in future movies. It truly is a scene all other James Bond movies would be well advised to replicate.
James Bond (Roger Moore) and Q (Desmond Llewelyn) load the Identigraph 3D generated image system in For Your Eyes Only (1981)
Q Branch’s Identigraph machine from For Your Eyes Only (1981) has been updated with the latest in AI technology to perform as a chatbot. Ask it anything related to the world of James Bond!
Query: Create a poem about James Bond’s love for martinis.
Q enters your query into the Identigraph in For Your Eyes Only (1981)
A martini, shaken not stirred,
A drink that Bond, forever preferred.
A symbol of his suave and style,
A drink that always made him smile.With a twist of lemon, or a pearl of olive,
Bond’s martini, always had a certain finesse.
A sip, a taste, and a subtle nod,
Bond’s love for martinis, always in the spotlight.Whether in a casino, or in a spy chase,
Bond’s martini, always in the right place.
A drink of class, a drink of grace,
Bond’s martini, a love story without a trace.So let us raise a glass, to Bond and his martini,
A love story, that will forever be mini.
A drink that defined a spy, a legend,
A drink that will forever, be remembered.
Answers generated by ChatGPT. 🙂
Casino Royale (TV – 1954) is the first on-screen portrayal of the James Bond character, before the first official movie, Dr. No, was released in 1962. Set as an episodic entry in the CBS TV show Climax!, it stars Barry Nelson as an American (!) secret agent ‘Jimmy’ Bond who is tasked with bankrupting a Soviet villain, Le Chiffre, at a baccarat game (plot sound familiar?) It’s short in length (~50 minutes) and relatively forgettable, aside from a few choice quotes and its notoriety of being “the first.”
Aside from that, its production value is relatively low, with several stuttered lines and blatant sound/mic issues. It was 1954 after all, but it did star successful actors Peter Lorre and Linda Christian.
Although most of the lines and quotes from the movie can be found in its transcript, while transcribing, I noticed that one exchange between the main villain Le Chiffre (played by Lorre) and his henchmen Zuroff (played by an uncredited actor) is totally indecipherable.
At around 18 minutes and 40 seconds into the movie, the scene cuts to a conversation between Le Chiffre, Zuroff and Valerie Mathis (portrayed by Linda Christian), and we can see Zuroff and Le Chiffre’s mouths moving and Valerie’s move at least to say on word, but no audible voices are heard.
Here is a clip of the exchange:
And the portion of the transcript, just before and after the lost lines are seen:
James Bond: Look, uh, what you said about the police. I’d like them to keep close watch on me until after tomorrow night’s game.
Chef de partie: I will give instructions immediately, Mister Bond.
James Bond: Thanks, goodnight.
Chef de partie: Goodnight, Mister Bond.
— INAUDIBLE EXCHANGE BETWEEN LE CHIFFRE, VALERIE MATHIS AND ZUROFF —
Le Chiffre: So many, so many ways. Always been able to protect myself. Now they choose Mister Bond to take me on and, and your Mister Bond is very lucky and…and Mister Bond has card sense and I don’t like it. Tell me, uh, does he still love you, Valerie?
Valerie Mathis: Of course he doesn’t. Not now.
The movie was jointly released as bonus material for a special edition DVD of another unofficial James Bond movie, the 1967 spoof Casino Royale, but subtitles aren’t available for the bonus material.
Does anyone know what the missing lines are for this scene?
George Lazenby definitely looked the part…he was a sharp James Bond!
