"Casino Royale" is a live 1954 television adaptation of the 1953 novel 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, Linda Christian, and Michael Pate. Though the lead character is based on the literary Bond, Nelson's character is played as an American spy working for the "Combined Intelligence Agency" rather than as British and working for the United Kingdom′s foreign intelligence service, MI6.
The dramatization was largely forgotten for decades until a mostly complete copy was located by film historian Jim Schoenberger in 1981. The conclusion and credits were found later. Both copies are black and white kinescopes, but the original live broadcast was in color. The episode has since lapsed into the public domain in the United States and countries that apply the rule of the shorter term due to not having its copyright renewed.
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Plot
"Combined Intelligence" agent James Bond comes under fire from an assassin. He dodges the bullets and enters Casino Royale. There he meets his British contact, Clarence Leiter, who remembers "Card Sense Jimmy Bond" from when he played the Maharajah at Deauville. While Bond explains the rules of baccarat, Leiter explains Bond's mission: to defeat Le Chiffre at baccarat and force his Soviet spymasters to "retire" him. Bond then encounters a former lover, Valerie Mathis, who is Le Chiffre's current girlfriend; he also meets Le Chiffre himself.