Casino Royale (Climax!)

"Casino Royale"
Climax! episode
Barry Nelson as James Bond
Episode no.	Season 1 Episode 3
Directed by	William H. Brown, Jr.
Written by	Antony Ellis Charles Bennett
Based on	Casino Royale by Ian Fleming
Presented by	William Lundigan
Featured music	Leith Stevens Jerry Goldsmith
Original air date	October 21, 1954 (1954-10-21)
Running time	50 minutes
Guest appearances
Barry Nelson as James Bond Peter Lorre as Le Chiffre Linda Christian as Valerie Mathis Michael Pate as Clarence Leiter
Episode chronology
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"Casino Royale" is a live 1954 television adaptation of the 1953 novel of the same name by Ian Fleming. An episode of the American dramatic anthology series Climax!, the show was the first screen adaptation of a James Bond novel, and stars Barry Nelson, Peter Lorre, and Linda Christian. Though this marks the first onscreen appearance of the secret agent, Nelson's Bond is played as an American spy working for the "Combined Intelligence Agency".

Most of the largely forgotten show was uncovered by film historian Jim Schoenberger in 1981, with the ending (including credits) found later. Both copies are black and white kinescopes, but the original live broadcast was in colour. The rights to the program were acquired by MGM at the same time as the rights for the 1967 film version, clearing the legal pathway and enabling Eon Productions to make the 2006 film of the same name.