Here are the opening lines of the book Casino Royale: “The scent and smoke and sweat of a casino are nauseating at three in the morning. The world that 007 inhabits may have the veneer of high living-custom martinis, fine foods, expensive cars, tailored clothing, beautiful women-but underneath the surface it’s inhabited by ugly, dark, soulless people who are after power, money, and geopolitical domination, and will use whatever means at their disposal to obtain those. In the unusually faithful 2006 film version of Casino Royale, which marked Daniel Craig’s debut in the role and returned the cinematic 007 to a more grounded approach, you’ll remember that the central set-piece of the movie is not a car chase or a shootout, but a high-stakes game of poker (it’s baccarat in the novel) between Bond and the villain, Le Chiffre, with lots of illicit money at stake.Īlong the way (in both the book and the movie), there are attempts on Bond’s life during and after the game, as well as scenes featuring torture, executions, and suicide. The Bond of Fleming’s first novel is in some ways still very much the 007 of Fleming’s 11 subsequent novels (and assorted short stories), as well as the 25 official movies in the canon (and one outlier), but it’s also remarkable to think that this tough, pulpy, yet inarguably gripping novel was ground zero for a pop culture franchise and phenomenon that has come in many ways to represent-and be associated with-glamour, privilege, wealth, exoticism, and global jet-setting.įleming made a card game the centerpiece of his book

“When I wrote the first one in 1953, I wanted Bond to be an extremely dull, uninteresting man to whom things happened,” Fleming told The New Yorker in 1962, two years before his death.

Fleming’s own habits of drinking, smoking, gambling, and womanizing provided much of the rest.

Fleming had worked as a journalist earlier in his life and s erved extensively in British intelligence during World War II, two aspects of his background that provided lots of context and material for Bond’s exploits. It was 70 years ago last week (April 13, 1953, to be exact) that author Ian Fleming published Casino Royale, the first novel to feature his soon-to-be-iconic British secret agent, James Bond.

Original casino royale cast