Casino Royale (1954)

It's almost April and we're all still stuck in isolation at home, so why not marathon the entire James Bond franchise?  That's right, I'll be spending the whole month of April re-watching the entire James Bond library, in preparation for Daniel Craig's final Bond film, No Time to Die (2020).  Which has unfortunately been pushed back to a November release.

I'm beginning this marathon a day early with a little known episode of the old American show Climax! Mystery Theater, titled Casino Royale (1954).  I will be reviewing all the Bond films, both official EON Productions films and non-official films, in order of release date.

SYNOPSIS:
"Jimmy" Bond (Barry Nelson), American spy, goes to a casino where he's tasked with winning a game of baccarat against the crime boss, Le Chiffre (Peter Lorre).  In doing so, he will prevent Le Chiffre from winning the money he needs to pay off his debts to some dangerous organizations.  But with his life on the line, Le Chiffre will do whatever it takes to get that money...

REVIEW:
Adapting Ian Fleming's first James Bond novel by the same name, it was the first version of James Bond on TV, almost a decade before the first official James Bond film was released.  But being released on an American show, they made some slight changes.  For one, they made him an American and gave him a more American name: Jimmy Bond.  Plus he had an old-timey gangster accent.  His partner went by the name Clarence Leiter (Michael Pate), which is also an Americanized name.  In the original novels, James Bond's CIA counterpart was named Felix Leiter.  But I guess Americans thought Felix was still too British for an American name.

Jimmy Bond and Valerie Mathis

The hour-long episode is all black-and-white and would've been lost to time, if not for the fame that the official James Bond franchise brought to the big screen years later.  This single episode is one of only two that ever made it to video from the old Climax! Mystery Theater show, which ran for 4 seasons (165 episodes).  The rest, if available at all, can either be found as simple audio recordings or grainy home video recordings uploaded to YouTube.

This episode opens with Jimmy Bond being shot at while he's trying to enter the casino.  After the shooter flees, Bond moseys into the casino, joking about how badly some people don't want him to play.  He meets up with Leiter, who recognizes him immediately from his winning streak at the card table.  "Card-sense Jimmy Bond," he calls him.  His reputation has proceeded him.  He asks Bond to teach him how to play baccarat while also briefing him on his mission in private.  Which was a brilliant way to teach the audience the basics of the card game they're about to witness.

The show is relatively loyal to the original novel's story: Bond cleans out Le Chiffre, then finds himself captured and tortured for the money he won.  But the character of Bond is different from the novel, and this will be a common theme for almost all the films.

Bond (left) cleaning out Le Chiffre (right)

Ian Fleming, the original author who created James Bond, was a Commander in the Royal Navy during WWII, working for Naval Intelligence.  After the war, he worked for a major newspaper and would take three months of holiday during the winter to stay in a house he built in Jamaica. He named his home Goldeneye, after Operation Goldeneye that he had been in command of during the war.  At that home is where he wrote all the James Bond novels, using his experiences working in Intelligence and working with commandos in the field, as well as a little imagination.

Ian Fleming at his Goldeneye villa

Ian Fleming's Bond was a blunt instrument.  An extremely dull, uninteresting man whom things happened to.  He was dark and mysterious, cold and ruthless.  He was not witty or charming, nor particularly handsome.  He was interesting to read about, but such a boring man isn't entertaining to watch, so when Bond was transcribed to the big screen, they made a charming, handsome, quick-witted womanizer out of him.  He became a fantasy role for men and a dreamy hunk for women.  He always saved the day and always got the girl.  Novel Bond couldn't maintain relationships because of the horrible type of work he had to do.  He had long hardened himself against love and lived in such a dark, depressing world, love would never seek him out.  Film Bond, on the other hand, was a playboy, bouncing from one girl to the next without a care in the world.  He enjoyed his job and lived for the game of wits, both with his enemies and his women.  Even in a pinch, he always had some witty retort to throw out.

Ian Fleming's sketch of James Bond

And thus, Film Bond went down a much different path than Novel Bond.  So where I may make the occasional references to the books, I don't plan to do a compare/contrast review with this marathon.  Film Bond forged his own path, and most of the films don't share much in common with the books they're based on, except maybe the name and some basic plot details.

RECOMMENDATION:
This show's first taste of James Bond in video form gave the world a sample of what was to come.  You got a witty Bond who was loyal to his job, regardless of whose lives were on the line.  You got a ruthless villain who would do whatever it took to win.  You had a damsel in distress who would do anything for Bond.  And Peter Lorre as Bond's first villain was fun to watch.  He did not have a distinguishing evil feature like many of Bond's villains (although they referred to him as the "toad-faced" man at one point), but he came across as slimy and evil all the same.  This is a great introduction to what James Bond might have been like if he were American.  If you can find this episode, I would highly recommend you watch it! (Hint: It's available for free on YouTube)

Random Trivia: Climax! Mystery Theater was aired live for audiences, so when you do watch this episode, keep in mind that the entire thing was a live stage production, not a film.  It makes the cinematography and acting that much more fascinating, knowing that this was all done in one take.

Outbreak (1995)

I've spent a week in isolation with my wife thanks to the looming threat of the COVID-19 coronavirus outside, so what better way to pass the time than to watch relevant films?  A couple days ago, we saw Outbreak (1995).

SYNOPSIS:
An African village discovers a terrible virus that violently kills anyone infected within 48 hours.  The US government moves to contain the virus before it spreads, but a captured capuchin monkey from nearby is imported to northern California and ends up spreading a more deadly strain of the virus throughout a small town.  Colonel Sam Daniels (Dustin Hoffman) and his medical team, ex-wife Robby (Rene Russo), best friend Casey (Kevin Spacey), and Major Salt (Cuba Gooding Jr.), search desperately for a cure before the infection spreads to the rest of America. Meanwhile, his superior Generals (Morgan Freeman and Donald Sutherland) resist the Colonel's attempt to stop the pandemic, instead choosing to nuke the US city and be done with it.  Col Daniels is in a time crunch to discover a cure before the US military chooses to bomb its own citizens on US soil.

REVIEW:
This film is very loosely based on a novel called The Hot Zone: A Terrifying True Story, by Richard Preston, which itself is a non-fiction account of two extremely deadly African filoviruses (Ebola and Marburg) with no known treatment or cure.  Although the film deviates wildly from the novel, creating a highly-contagious US pandemic that the military seeks to contain via fire and destruction.  In reality, the variant of Ebola that was found spreading through imported lab monkeys in Reston, VA (known as the Reston virus) turned out to be relatively harmless to humans.

Unlike my previous review on the film Contagion (2011), which treats a worldwide epidemic like a serious drama, Outbreak (1995) is a very action-packed 90s film, heavily reliant on a sense of adventure and intrigue and never-give-up attitude.  This film is very clearly a work of fiction, keeping you entertained by all the running around, explosions, military procedures, and fear of the virus escaping into the greater public.  The previous film focused on how people dealt with a widespread virus in the real world; this one is a fantastical race against the clock to stop the virus from getting out in the first place.

Col Daniels and his ex-wife have a sub-plot about their difficult divorce to give a hint of romance to this film, as that was practically required in 90s films.  Their sassy best friend, Casey, seems to be there to keep them focused on their difficult task and not at each other's throats.  There's also Maj Salt, who behaves like a young, immature enlisted kid.  As a military member myself, it kind of broke the illusion to see this bright-eyed, bushy-tailed Major who jumped at the smallest scary thing.  By that rank, officers are usually pretty well-seasoned and mature.  But I digress...

RECOMMENDATION:
If you want a terrifying look at how bad our situation with COVID-19 could've been, I'd recommend watching Contagion (2011).  But if you just want some fun action and edge-of-your-seat excitement, all wrapped up with a happy ending, then maybe Outbreak (1995) is more your thing.  Although I would highly recommend reading The Hot Zone as well.  It was an incredible real-world look into some of the most deadly viruses known to man.  I first read it in 12th grade biology class and it was a captivating read from start to finish.

Contagion (2011)

Since my wife and I are shut in our home for the day (all week in her case! Lucky...), we decided to watch a topical film regarding a viral outbreak: Contagion (2011).

SYNOPSIS:
Beth Emhoff (Gwyneth Paltrow) finds herself sick while returning home from Hong Kong.  But the virus she's infected with is highly contagious and kills most people it comes in contact with.  Before long, there's a global pandemic and the worldwide medical community is racing to find a cure before panic and hysteria sets in.

REVIEW:
With the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) spreading among our worldwide population, it was somehow soothing to see a film tackling the worst-case scenario of an outbreak.  Unlike COVID-19, which has mild cold/flu symptoms and a low risk of death unless you're old and have a compromised immune system, the MEV-1 virus of the film kills quickly, taking 1/4 of all infected people within 48 hours.  You get a chance to see what would happen in the case of a population-threatening outbreak.

The best part is that you get to see this pandemic from all sides.  The film doesn't just follow a team of doctors or researchers trying to find a cure.  You get Beth's husband (Matt Damon) as he deals with her illness.  You follow CDC doctors (Laurence Fishburne and Kate Winslet) attempting to find the source of the virus and develop a working vaccine.  You see a WHO epidemiologist (Marion Cotillard) get kidnapped in China and held for ransom, in order to provide a small village with the vaccine first.  You see the government's military response (Bryan Cranston) as they work closely with the CDC. You get a conspiracy theorist with a popular blog (Jude Law) who accuses the government of creating a bio-weapon and hoarding the cure.  He passes off a homeopathic cure derived from forsythias (a type of flower) as the solution, causing rioting and panic as drug stores are raided for the "cure."

As millions of people continue to die, public panic sets in and civil unrest unfolds.  There's rioting, stealing, murder, and those closest to finding a cure are even targeted.  The film presents itself more like a real-world tragedy than a fantasy story.  There are no zombies, there's not a happy ending for everyone, and for the most part, there are no heroes.  It's an incredible look at how bad it could really be.

The best part is at the very end, where they visually walk you through the origin of the virus and how it got into the human population.  I'd actually seen the end of this film shared around Facebook and Reddit when fear of the Coronavirus started spreading, as an example how easy it is to spread diseases by not washing your hands.  Practice basic hygiene and you'll be a million times safer, people!

RECOMMENDATION:
Depending on the type of person you are, this could either relieve you or upset you more.  I, personally, felt relief about our current pandemic because it's nowhere near as bad as this film presented; just a mild inconvenience for most of us.  But if you're prone to anxiety (like my wife), this film could up your panic levels.  Regardless of which direction you lean, this film is a great insight into the process of dealing with a pandemic and I'd recommend it to anyone.