In 1954, CBS paid Ian Fleming $1,000 ($11,346 in 2023 dollars[96]) to adapt his novel Casino Royale into a one-hour television adventure, “Casino Royale”, as part of its Climax! series.[97] The episode aired live on 21 October 1954 and starred Barry Nelson as “Card Sense” James Bond and Peter Lorre as Le Chiffre.[98] The novel was adapted for American audiences to show Bond as an American agent working for “Combined Intelligence”, while the character Felix Leiter—American in the novel—became British onscreen and was renamed “Clarence Leiter”.[99]
I still have my VHS which was extremely difficult to come by in the mid 90s!
But as a teenager who was a huge Bond fan, I HAD to complete my collection.
It is weird seeing an American named Jimmy as James Bond.
