WELLESNET MESSAGE BOARD

I just received my copy of the 40th Anniversary Edition dvd and wanted to report that the image and sound are the same as the MGM dvd release of 2002. The only thing different is the extras in which the new version has a commentary which would be interesting to hear when the scenes of Orson shows up in the casino with Peter Sellers.

I would say that must have been the most fun film shoot of all time!

I saw a Peter Sellers doc a few years ago and they posited an interesting view that he had a 'thing' about Welles. Either he was intimidated by him or he didn't like him, but he got kind of funny when Welles was about.

Has anybody else heard this story?

In one book i did read about Peter Sellers it talks about Peter getting "bad vibes" from Orson and that being with Orson was "bad luck". Also Peter was not in a good mood during the shooting of the movie and did leave before the film was done making the producer Charles K Fieldman angry with him.

Reportedly, Sellers insisted his "side" of the scenes he shared with Welles be shot when Welles was not on the set, so they were seldom in the same room together. Not only did Feldman and Welles know each other well (they worked together twenty years earlier on MACBETH) but Welles was quite friendly with screenwriter Wolf Mankowitz. I imagine Sellers might have felt like a real outsider around Welles. I don't find his lack of professionalism becoming, but Sellers was right to distrust the whole enterprise - it was a mess.

Peter Sellers was notoriously paranoid and superstitious. His condition worsened as he grew older, and probably contributed to his early death. He resented anyone whom he feared might be considered superior to himself.

If so during the shooting of CASINO ROYALE, Welles may not have been to blame in any fashion for Sellers' demands and attitudes on the set.

Glenn

DVD TALK has the review of the dvd. The reviewer does talk about the Welles/Sellers scenes or lack of it.

MartynH wrote:I saw a Peter Sellers doc a few years ago and they posited an interesting view that he had a 'thing' about Welles. Either he was intimidated by him or he didn't like him, but he got kind of funny when Welles was about.

Has anybody else heard this story?

The version I heard said it started when Princess Margaret visited the set. Sellers was excited, and as the hot kid of British comedy, expected to be star for the visit. But Welles and Margaret were old friends; she'd been a guest at his villa in Spain. So she came on set and went right to Welles and greeted him warmly, leaving Sellers standing there.
For the rest of the shoot Sellers refused to be on set when Welles was being filmed; I don't think there's a frame of them together.
One of those movies where the about part is more interesting than the movie itself.

On the upcoming UK Blu-ray release of Casino Royale i have read a few posts that Final Cut Entertainment uses old masters and maybe the old MGM/Fox transfer from 2011? Will wait for the reviews first and besides i do have the MGM Blu-ray.

atcolomb wrote:On the upcoming UK Blu-ray release of Casino Royale i have read a few posts that Final Cut Entertainment uses old masters and maybe the old MGM/Fox transfer from 2011? Will wait for the reviews first and besides i do have the MGM Blu-ray.

According to the order page: Playback: 2K Blu-ray: Region B (A, C untested)
Region A: North, Central, South America, Japan, Korea, and Southeast Asia.
Region B: Europe (EU), Africa, Middle East, Australia, and New Zealand.
Region C: Russia, India, China, and the rest of the world.
I'd wait and see a local review before I ordered it.

Niven as James Bond? When the trailers first appeared in England, it was advertised as "the film that was too big for one James Bond." Hence the inclusion of Woody Allen as "Jimmy Bond" and many others including cameos by William Holden, George Raft spinning his coin, and Legionnaire Jean-Paul Belmondo!

Sean Connery vs Orson Welles in "Casino Royale".
Fun little mash-up.
https://youtu.be/LIKXTMtc5N0