Le Chiffre is a villain in the 1967 film Casino Royale, based on the novel of the same name written by Ian Fleming. He was portrayed by celebrated actor Orson Welles.
In French, le chiffre translates as either "the figure" (i.e. "the number") or "the cipher."
Biography[]
Le Chiffre is charged with recovering a large sum of money for SMERSH after he lost it at the baccarat table. He first attempts to raise the funds by holding an auction of embarrassing photographs of military and political leaders from China, the United States and the USSR, but this is foiled by Sir James Bond's daughter, Mata Bond. With no other option, he returns to the baccarat table to try to win back the money.
Later, he encounters baccarat Master Evelyn Tremble, who has been recruited by Bond and Vesper Lynd to stop Le Chiffre from raising the money. Le Chiffre attempts to distract Tremble by performing elaborate magic tricks, but fails to prevent Tremble from winning. Afterwards, he arranges for Tremble to be kidnapped and subjects the agent to psychedelic torture in order to get back the money. The torture session is interrupted when his SMERSH superiors, led by the film's main villain, Dr. Noah, who shoot him dead.
Trivia[]
- Le Chiffre is only a secondary villain in the 1967 satire and appears in the only segment of the film actually adapted from Fleming's book.
- Orson Welles was an amateur conjurer and insisted on adding magic tricks to the role, some of which appear in the film.
- Although he is the main villain in the book, he is arguably the secondary one here after Dr. Noah.
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