James Bond #3 - Goldfinger / 1964
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This series has been put out in honor of my favorite action hero - James Bond, Secret Agent 007.
Goldfinger is the third film in the James Bond series and also the third to star Sean Connery as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond.
Released in 1964, it is based on the novel of the same name by Ian Fleming. The film also stars Honor Blackman as Bond girl Pussy Galore and Gert Fröbe as the title character Auric Goldfinger, along with Shirley Eaton as famous Bond girl Jill Masterson. Goldfinger was produced by Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman and was the first of four Bond films directed by Guy Hamilton.
The film's plot has Bond investigating gold smuggling by gold magnate Auric Goldfinger and eventually uncovering Goldfinger's plans to attack the United States Bullion Depository at Fort Knox. Goldfinger was the first Bond blockbuster, with a budget equal to that of the two preceding films combined. Principal photography occurred from January to July 1964 in the United Kingdom, Switzerland and the American states of Kentucky and Florida.
The release of the film led to a number of promotional licensed tie-in items, including a toy Aston Martin DB5 car from Corgi Toys which became the biggest selling toy of 1964. The promotion also included an image of gold-painted Shirley Eaton as Jill Masterson on the cover of Life.
Many of the elements introduced in the film appeared in many of the later James Bond films, such as the extensive use of technology and "gadgets" by Bond and an extensive pre-credits sequence that was not a major part of the main storyline. Goldfinger was the first Bond film to win an Academy Award and opened to largely favourable critical reception. The film was a financial success, recouping its budget in just two weeks and is hailed as the series' quintessential episode, still being acclaimed as one of the best films in the entire Bond canon.
PLOT
After destroying a drug laboratory in Latin America, James Bond—agent 007—goes to Miami Beach. There he receives instructions from his superior, M, via CIA agent Felix Leiter to observe bullion dealer Auric Goldfinger, who is staying at the same hotel as Bond. The agent sees Goldfinger cheating at gin rummy and stops him by distracting his employee, Jill Masterson, and blackmailing Goldfinger into losing. Bond and Jill consummate their new relationship; however, Bond is subsequently knocked out by Goldfinger's Korean manservant Oddjob, who then covers Jill in gold paint, killing her by epidermal suffocation.
In London, Bond learns that his true mission is determining how Goldfinger smuggles gold internationally. Bond arranges to meet Goldfinger socially and wins a high-stakes golf game against him with a recovered Nazi gold bar at stake. Bond follows him to Switzerland, where there is an attempt on Goldfinger’s life by Tilly Masterson to avenge the death of her sister, Jill.
Bond sneaks into Goldfinger's plant and discovers that he smuggles the gold by melting it down and incorporating it into the bodywork of his car, which he takes with him whenever he travels. Bond also overhears him talking to a Red Chinese agent named Mr. Ling about "Operation Grand Slam". Leaving, Bond encounters Tilly as she is about to make another attempt on Goldfinger's life, tripping an alarm as they leave; they attempt to escape, but Oddjob kills Tilly with his hat. Bond is captured and Goldfinger ties Bond to a table underneath a laser, which begins to slice the table in half. Bond lies to Goldfinger that MI6 knows about Grand Slam, causing Goldfinger to spare Bond's life to mislead MI6 into believing that Bond has things in hand.
Bond is transported by Goldfinger's private jet, which flown by his personal pilot, Pussy Galore, to his stud farm near Fort Knox, Kentucky. Bond escapes and witnesses Goldfinger's meeting with U.S. mafiosi, who have brought the materials he needs for Operation Grand Slam. Whilst they are each promised $1 million, Goldfinger tempts them that they "could have the million today, or ten million tomorrow". They listen to Goldfinger's plan to rob Fort Knox before Goldfinger kills them all using some of the "Delta 9" nerve gas he plans to release over Fort Knox.
Bond is recaptured after hearing the details of the operation and tells Goldfinger the reasons why such a plan won't work. However, Bond soon learns from Goldfinger that he has no intention of removing any of the gold from Fort Knox, but to place an atomic device containing cobalt and iodine, which would render the gold useless for 58 years, increasing the value of Goldfinger's own gold and giving the Chinese an advantage resulting from the ensuing economic chaos.
Operation Grand Slam begins with Pussy Galore's Flying Circus spraying the gas over Fort Knox. However, Bond had seduced Pussy, convincing her to replace the nerve gas with a harmless substance and alert the U.S. government about Goldfinger's plan. The military personnel of Fort Knox convincingly play dead until they are certain that they can prevent the criminals escaping the base with the bomb.
Believing the military forces to be neutralised, Goldfinger’s private army break into Fort Knox and access the vault itself. Goldfinger then arrives in a helicopter with the atomic device. In the vault, Oddjob handcuffs Bond to the device. The U.S. troops attack; Goldfinger takes off his coat, revealing a colonel's uniform, and kills Mr. Ling and the troops seeking to open the vault, before escaping himself.
Bond extricates himself from the handcuffs, but before he can disarm the bomb, Oddjob attacks him. They fight and Bond manages to electrocute Oddjob. Bond forces the lock of the bomb, but is unable to disarm it. An atomic specialist, who accompanied Leiter, turns off the device with the clock stopped on "007".
With Fort Knox safe, Bond is invited to the White House for a meeting with the President. However, Goldfinger has hijacked the plane carrying Bond. In a struggle for Goldfinger’s revolver, Bond shoots out a window, creating an explosive decompression. Goldfinger is blown out of the cabin through the window. With the plane out of control Bond rescues Galore and they parachute safely from the aircraft.
CAST
Sean Connery as James Bond (007): A British MI6 agent who is sent to investigate Auric Goldfinger. Connery reprised the role of Bond for the third time in a row. His salary rose, but a pay dispute later broke out during filming. After suffering a back injury when filming the scene where Oddjob knocks Bond unconscious in Miami, the dispute was settled: Eon and Connery agreed to a deal where the actor would receive 5% of the grosses of each Bond film he starred in. It was while filming Goldfinger that Connery also became a fan of golf.
Honor Blackman as Pussy Galore: Goldfinger's personal pilot and leader of an all-female team of pilots known as the Flying Circus. Blackman was selected for the role of Pussy Galore because of her role in The Avengers and the script was rewritten to show Blackman's judo abilities. The character's name follows in the tradition of other Bond girls names that are double entendres: concerned about censors, the producers thought about changing the character's name to "Kitty Galore", but they and Hamilton decided "if you were a ten-year old boy and knew what the name meant, you weren't a ten-year old boy, you were a dirty little bitch. The American censor was concerned, but we got round that by inviting him and his wife out to dinner and [told him] we were big supporters of the Republican Party." During promotion, Blackman took delight in embarrassing interviewers by repeatedly mentioning the character's name. Whilst the American censors did not interfere with the name in the film, they refused to allow the name "Pussy Galore" to appear on promotional materials and for the US market she was subsequently referred to by the title 'Miss Galore' or 'Goldfinger’s personal pilot'.
Gert Fröbe as Auric Goldfinger: Main antagonist. A wealthy man obsessed with gold. Orson Welles was considered as Goldfinger, but his financial demands were too high Theodore Bikel auditioned for the role, but failed. Fröbe was cast because the producers saw his performance as a child molester in the German film Es geschah am hellichten Tag. Fröbe, who spoke little English, said his lines phonetically, but was too slow. In order to dub him, he had to double the speed of his performance to get the right tempo. The only time his real voice is heard is during his meeting with members of the Mafia at Auric Stud. Bond is hidden below the model of Fort Knox whilst Fröbe's natural voice can be heard above. However, he was dubbed over for the rest of the film by Michael Collins.
Shirley Eaton as Jill Masterson: Bond Girl and Goldfinger's aide-de-camp, whom Bond catches helping the villain cheat at a game of cards. He seduces her, but for her betrayal, she is completely painted in gold paint and dies from 'skin suffocation' (a fictional condition Ian Fleming created for the novel. The skin does not actually "breathe"). Eaton was sent by her agent to meet Harry Saltzman and agreed to take the part if the nudity was done tastefully. It took an hour-and-a-half to apply the paint to her body. Although only a small part in the film, the image of her painted gold was renowned and Eaton graced the cover of Life magazine of 6 November 1964.
Harold Sakata as Oddjob: Goldfinger's lethal Korean manservant. Director Guy Hamilton cast Sakata, an Olympic silver medallist weightlifter, as Oddjob after seeing him on a wrestling programme. Hamilton called Sakata an "absolutely charming man", and found that "he had a very unique way of moving, [so] in creating Oddjob I used all of Harold's own characteristics" Sakata was badly burned when filming his death scene, in which Oddjob was electrocuted by Bond. Sakata, however, determinedly kept holding onto the hat despite his pain until the director said "Cut!" Oddjob has been described as "a wordless role, but one of cinema's great villains."
Tania Mallet as Tilly Masterson: The sister of Jill Masterson, she is on a vendetta to avenge her sister, but is killed by Oddjob.
Bernard Lee as M: 007's boss and head of the British Secret Service. This was the third of eleven Eon-produced Bond films in which Lee played the role of Admiral Sir Miles Messervy.
Cec Linder as Felix Leiter: Bond's CIA liaison in the United States. Linder was the only actor actually on location in Miami. Linder's interpretation of Leiter was that of a somewhat older man than the way the character was played by Jack Lord in Dr. No; in reality, Linder was a year younger than Lord. According to screenwriter Richard Maibaum, Lord demanded co-star billing, a bigger role and more money to reprise the Felix Leiter role in Goldfinger that led the producers to recast the role. At the last minute, Cec Linder switched roles with Austin Willis who played cards with Goldfinger.
Martin Benson as Mr. Solo: The lone gangster who refuses to take part in Operation Grand Slam and is later killed by Oddjob and crushed in the car which he is riding in.
Desmond Llewelyn as Q: The head of Q-Branch, he supplies 007 with a modified Aston Martin DB5. Hamilton told Llewelyn to inject humour into the character, thus beginning the friendly antagonism between Q and Bond that became a hallmark of the series.
Lois Maxwell as Miss Moneypenny: M's secretary. Maxwell played Moneypenny in 14 Eon-produced Bond films from Dr. No in 1962 to A View to a Kill in 1985.
Austin Willis as Mr. Simmons: Goldfinger's gullible gin rummy opponent in Miami.
Michael Mellinger as Kisch: Goldfinger's secondary and quiet henchman and loyal lieutenant who leads his boss's false Army convoy to Fort Knox.
Burt Kwouk as Mr. Ling: A Communist Chinese nuclear fission specialist who provides Auric Goldfinger with the dirty bomb to irradiate the gold inside Fort Knox.
Richard Vernon as Colonel Smithers, the Bank of England official.
Margaret Nolan as Dink, Bond's masseuse from the Miami hotel sequence. Nolan also appeared as the gold-covered body in advertisements for the film and in the opening title sequence as the dancing golden silhouette, described as "Gorgeous, iconic, seminal."
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