Goldfinger (1964)

Goldfinger (1964)

In director Guy Hamilton's (and Eon Productions') first Bond spy-action thriller (the first of Hamilton's four films), it was the third James Bond film in the long-running series, and considered one of the very best in the Bond franchise series; it was based upon Ian Fleming's 7th novel, published in 1959.

In the film's plot, nefarious Auric Goldfinger's (Gert Frobe) scheme was to infiltrate Fort Knox's treasury in Kentucky stocked with gold bars; the bullion would be irradiated to make it worthless, in order to manipulate world economies and cause a financial meltdown. Goldfinger's own gold would be increased in value.

Sean Connery was the definitive Bond in peak form in this film (his third), with the perfect mix of plot, stunts, bad guys, vehicles (including the first appearance of the Aston Martin DB5 with lots of nifty gadgets), etc. Trademark elements included gadget-guru Q (Desmond Llewelyn), the pre-title credits sequence, and suggestive Bond girl names.

With a budget of 3ドル million, the classic film grossed revenues of 51ドル.2 million (worldwide). It won its sole Academy Awards nomination for Best Sound Effects.

• in the pre-title credits opening scene, non-chalant 007 agent James Bond (Sean Connery) removed his wet-suit gear (after setting charges along a set of NITRO tanks) and was revealed to be wearing a white dinner jacket with a red flower
• shortly later, Bond met up with Jill Masterson (Shirley Eaton) - the pretty blonde mistress-escort of the film's gold-obsessed villain Auric Goldfinger (Gert Frobe); he caught her assisting her boss in cheating at cards, and forced Auric to lose 15ドルK in his game, or threatened to call the local Miami police
• the free-spirited female was impressed by Bond's charm ("I'm beginning to like you, Mr. Bond...More than anyone I've met in a long time, James"), and he later bedded down with her in his hotel suite with room-service catering for an order of Dom Perignon '53 champagne; however, he was knocked out from behind in the room
• when Bond revived, he staggered into the bedroom, finding Jill as an unfortunate victim of skin suffocation by gold paint as retaliation for her betrayal; she was sprawled naked and dead on his hotel suite bed - a victim of Goldfinger's revenge; it was a striking image; she had become an unfortunate victim of skin asphyxiation or suffocation by gold paint as retaliation for her betrayal of Auric; Bond described her death:
  • "She's covered in paint. Gold paint"
• Bond
• at Goldfinger's golf club, to impress Bond, Goldfinger's Oriental mute henchman Oddjob (Harold Sakata) (who served as Goldfinger's chauffeur, golf caddy, and assassin) showed off his razor-sharp, lethal steel-rimmed boomeranging bowler hat
• Tilly (Tania Mallet), the ill-fated sister of Jill Masterson, went on a killing spree to avenge her sibling's death; she eventually admitted to Bond her vengeful intent to kill Goldfinger: "I want him dead. He killed my sister"; as Bond and Tilly fled from Auric's Korean henchmen, he demonstrated his amazing Aston-Martin DB5 vehicle with a smoke screen and oil slick; it also had machine guns and passenger ejection seat; then, as she ran for cover in the woods, she was hit in the neck by Oddjob's lethal-rimmed bowler hat and instantly killed
• the captured Bond was strapped down and lying spread-eagled on a gold tabletop with an industrial red laser beam inching towards his crotch to bisect him, as Bond quipped about the torture:
  • Bond: "Do you expect me to talk?"
  • Goldfinger: "No, Mr. Bond, I expect you to die!"
• Bond was introduced to Goldfinger's improbably-named colleague named Pussy Galore (Honor Blackman), who made a memorable entrance by blurringly appearing above him - he had been tranquilized, but was awakened on Goldfinger's jet on its way from Europe to Baltimore enroute to Kentucky:
  • - Bond: "Who are you?"
    - Pussy: (purring) "My name is Pussy Galore."
    - Bond: "I must be dreaming. (pause) I thought I'd wake up dead."
• she told him to quit being so forward, hinting at her lesbian-leanings: "You can turn off the charm. I'm immune." Pussy was the personal pilot and blonde henchwoman for Goldfinger, who led a five-person team of all-female pilots, Pussy Galore's Flying Circus; when she bragged about training the other flyers, Bond complimented: "You're a woman of many parts, Pussy!"
• Goldfinger's plan was to have Pussy and her five-person fleet of planes spray deadly, invisible Delta-9 nerve gas (in gas canisters) over Fort Knox (a life-sized replica of the real thing) to induce unconsciousness for 24 hours; Goldfinger's ultimate plan was to destabilize the western economy and aid Red Chinese agents
• during a tour of Goldfinger's Kentucky stud farm compound, Bond wrestled with Pussy in the hay in one of the horse stables, eventually she succumbed and he was able to lower himself down on her and kiss her

• during the climactic Fort Knox assault. Bond engaged in a one-on-one fight with Oddjob in the locked gold vault inside of the depository
• Oddjob met his 'shocking' demise inside Fort Knox's vault when he grabbed for his bowler hat stuck in metal bars and was electrocuted ("He blew a fuse")

• in the film's final action sequence, Goldfinger death was sucked out of a shot-out airplane window in the depressurized jet cabin; in the cockpit, Bond joked with Pussy that gold-obsessed Goldfinger was "playing his golden harp"
• in the predictable conclusion, after Goldfinger died in a hijacked plane piloted by Pussy, she couldn't bring the plane under control, so the two parachuted together to safety before it crashed due to rapid decompression; on a tropical island, Bond told her that she shouldn't signal for help from a search helicopter as he pulled her onto the ground: "Oh no, you don't! This is no time to be rescued" - he covered the two of them with the parachute - for privacy's sake, for more kisses