Le Chiffre James Bond Villain: Who Plays Him and What He Does

Le Chiffre is a banker to terrorists and the villain of Casino Royale (2006), directed by Martin Campbell, in which Mads Mikkelsen plays him opposite Daniel Craig as James Bond. He is a financier rather than a field soldier, which makes him an unusual entry among the james bond villains: his danger comes from money, nerve and a poker table. Casino Royale (2006) is part of the official EON series, and Mikkelsen is billed third, behind Craig and Eva Green. It took $606 million worldwide on a $150 million budget.

Le Chiffre appears in one official EON film, Casino Royale (2006); outside the official series, Orson Welles played him in the 1967 spoof Casino Royale. The first is Casino Royale (1967), a spoof made outside EON Productions by producer Charles K. Feldman, who owned the rights to Ian Fleming's novel. It was directed by Val Guest, Ken Hughes, John Huston, Joseph McGrath and Robert Parrish, and Orson Welles plays the SMERSH financier. The 2006 version is the one most people mean when they search for him, and it belongs to the official series on the james bond movies hub.

The dates differ by market. Casino Royale (2006) had a reported UK premiere on 16 November 2006 and a US release on 17 November 2006. Casino Royale (1967) had a reported UK premiere on 23 April 1967 and a US release on 28 April 1967. The US dates are confirmed.

The credits list him only as Le Chiffre, with no second name or alias. For the people around him, see the james bond cast page.

In Casino Royale (2006), Le Chiffre loses a warlord's money when Bond foils his Miami airport plot, stakes his recovery on a poker tournament in Montenegro, and tortures Bond for an account password after losing the big pot. The story starts in Prague, where Bond earns his double 0 license by killing a traitorous MI6 section chief and his contact. He then chases a bomb maker until the trail reaches Le Chiffre, who funds terrorists.

Next comes the failure that drives everything else. Bond stops Le Chiffre's plan to blow up a prototype airliner at Miami airport, and Le Chiffre loses a fortune he was holding for a warlord named Obanno. A banker who has lost a client's money has to find it again quickly, so he organizes a Texas hold 'em tournament at the Casino Royale in Montenegro. MI6 stakes Bond in the game, and Treasury agent Vesper Lynd travels with him carrying the buy in.

The table is the centerpiece. Le Chiffre reads Bond's tell and takes his stake, CIA agent Felix Leiter backs Bond with more money, and Bond wins the pot. With the money gone, Le Chiffre kidnaps Vesper and tortures Bond for the account password. That answers what Le Chiffre did to Bond in Casino Royale: he took his stake at the table, lost the big pot to him, and then turned to torture. Mr. White, a figure from a larger organization, arrives, kills Le Chiffre and lets Bond and Vesper live.

The 1967 spoof plays the same meeting for laughs. Evelyn Tremble, a baccarat expert, is sent to a casino to beat Le Chiffre at cards. He wins by exposing Le Chiffre's cheating, and is then captured and tortured.

In Casino Royale (2006), Le Chiffre is connected to James Bond (Daniel Craig), Vesper Lynd (Eva Green), Steven Obanno (Isaach de Bankolé), Felix Leiter (Jeffrey Wright), Mr. White (Jesper Christensen) and M (Judi Dench). With Bond it is a duel of nerve that runs through the table, the tell and the torture. Vesper Lynd is the Treasury agent holding Bond's buy in, and she becomes leverage when he kidnaps her to get at Bond.

Obanno is the warlord whose money Le Chiffre loses, which explains why he needs the tournament at all. Leiter is the ally who keeps Bond in the game with a second stake. Mr. White is the figure from the larger organization who ends Le Chiffre. M is the one whose service sends Bond to beat him. The hero's own file is on the james bond character page.

In the 1967 film the line up changes. Ursula Andress plays Vesper Lynd, Peter Sellers plays the baccarat expert Evelyn Tremble, and David Niven plays Sir James Bond. TCM's production history notes that Sellers and Welles never filmed together.

Le Chiffre dies at the hands of Mr. White in Casino Royale (2006), not at the hands of Bond. The man who loses a warlord's fortune and then loses the poker pot is finished by someone from the larger organization above him, and that same visitor spares both of his prisoners.

For Le Chiffre, the film's story ends with that one act. Everything afterward is Bond's and Vesper's. Bond recovers, quits MI6 and plans a life with her, until the winnings disappear and he decides she sold him out. In Venice, gunmen corner her in a building that is sinking into the canal. She shuts herself in a lift cage as it goes under and drowns, while Mr. White walks away with the money. M then explains that Vesper had been forced into double agent work to protect the man she loved. Bond follows White to an estate on a lake in Italy, shoots him in the leg and gives his name.

The 1967 spoof leaves its banker behind much sooner. The plot summaries trace Le Chiffre only through the baccarat game with Tremble. The closing mayhem belongs to Dr. Noah, who is Bond's nephew Jimmy Bond, and to a casino that explodes.

Le Chiffre's best moments in Casino Royale (2006) are the Texas hold 'em tournament in Montenegro, the torture scene, and his death at the hands of Mr. White. In my opinion, the smartest thing about him is that his plan has already failed before the film's biggest set piece begins. The Miami airport sequence is where the job really starts, because Bond stops the attack and Le Chiffre loses a warlord's money. The tournament is therefore a repair job, not a conquest. Compare that with Auric Goldfinger's plan in Goldfinger (1964) to make the gold at Fort Knox radioactive, or Hugo Drax's scheme in Moonraker (1979) to wipe out humanity from a hidden space station. Those villains want the world, and Le Chiffre only wants to stay alive, which, I think, is what lets a card game carry the middle of a 144 minute film.

Why does the poker game work as a set piece? The poker game works as a set piece because each hand changes who holds the money: Le Chiffre takes Bond's stake, Felix Leiter's second stake brings Bond back, and Bond wins the pot. The villain then has no plan left except force.

The torture scene works for a similar reason. It could be argued that it lands because Le Chiffre wants something specific, an account password, rather than a speech. Perhaps that practical goal is why Mr. White's arrival hits so hard: the story shifts from one man's debt to an organization that is bigger than him.

If you are new to the character, start with Casino Royale (2006) and then read the james bond characters index for the people he crosses.