In the movie, Sir James Bond played by Niven has retired to Mereworth Castle, where he spends his time playing Debussy on the piano and growing black roses. Peter Sellers, as James Bond, being fitted out with a tele-communicating watch by Q's assistant, John Wells Rumour has it O'Toole's appearance fee was a case of Champagne.

He was later to play Darth Vader in Star Wars. There's even an appearance by David Prowse as Frankenstein's monster. There are also a number of stars who make brief appearances just for the sake of being in the movie and whose presence has absolutely nothing to do with the plot.Īmong them are Peter O'Toole, Jean-Paul Belmondo, veteran gangster actor George Raft and racing driver Sir Stirling Moss. The heads of the Secret Service agencies played by John Huston, Charles Boyer, Kurt Kasznar and William Holden gather at Mereworth Castleīritish character actors John Le Mesurier, Bernard Cribbens, Geoffrey Bayldon (later Catweazle) John Wells, Duncan Macrae and Richard Wattis are all involved. Jacqueline Bisset appears in one of her first major roles as Miss Goodthighs. Orson Welles is another baddie, while Deborah Kerr, Charles Boyer, Terence Cooper, Ronnie Corbett, Derek Nimmo and William Holden also feature. Jewish comedian Woody Allen is that arch-villain known as Dr Noah. More glamour was provided by Barbara Bouchet as Miss Moneypenny, Joanna Pettet who plays Bond's daughter Mata Bond, and by Daliah Lavi as The Detainer, who is the agent that successfully despatches the arch-villain in the end. Andress had already appeared in the 'real' Bond movie Dr No. There was Niven as Sir James Bond, Peter Sellers as Evelyn Tremble who becomes Bond's replacement, Ursula Andress as seductress Vesper Lynd.

Sir James Bond (David Niven) playing Debussy inside the dome of Mereworth Castle The list of stars reads like a who's who of the film world of the time. However, there is no doubt everyone wanted to be in the movie, the filming for which started 56 years ago to the day, on January 11, 1966. Critics of the day called it either hilarious, mesmerising and psychedelic – the in-word in 1967– or alternatively, daft, ridiculous and 'a disaster'.

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