Goldfinger (1964)
d. Guy Hamilton, 110 minutes

See also an alternative, more detailed writeup at http://www.filmsite.org/goldfinger.html.

Opening Credits, Title Sequence

Following the gun-barrel opening (with stuntman Bob Simmons), there was a long pre-title credits action sequence of Bond completing a previous mission in Latin America. Gun-barrel Sequence (reused from Dr. No (1962)): Designed by Maurice Binder Main Title Sequence: Designed by Robert Brownjohn Title Song: "Goldfinger" (sung by Shirley Bassey)

Film Plot Summary

The pre-title credits sequence was set in an unnamed Latin American country, where James Bond (Sean Connery) swam in a wet suit with snorkel (and helmet with a decoy seagull on top) to the dock of the Ramirez Export Company. [Latin American drug-lord Ramirez was "using heroin flavored bananas to finance revolution."] He scaled a wall with a grappling hook gun, knocked out a guard, tripped a switch on a large silo, and entered a large room. From his waist, he removed a string of plastic explosives that he applied to red tanks of NITRO, then set a detonation-timer synchronized to his Rolex watch.

He exited, and non-chalantly removed his wet-suit to reveal a white-dinner jacket with red flower in the lapel. Bond entered a bar-cantina and watched sexy dancer Bonita (Nadja Regin). When the bomb exploded, the patrons cleared out, and he followed Bonita to her room for some "unfinished business" - there he found her emerging from a bathtub. As he kissed her (# 1 tryst), he saw the reflection of sneaky, drug-smuggling thug Capungo (Alf Joint) in her eye. He spun her around, and Bonita was struck and knocked out. Bond then electrocuted the killer in Bonita's bathtub with a round electrical heater fan (# 1 death, # 1 Bond kill) (Bond noted: "Shocking, positively shocking") before he took a flight to Miami, Florida.

At the Fountainbleau Hotel in Miami, CIA agent Felix Leiter (Cec Linder) interrupted Bond's pool-side massage from blonde Dink (Margaret Nolan) to deliver a message from "M" (Bernard Lee) of the British Secret Service in England, to "keep an eye" on rich, greedy, gold-smuggling villain Auric Goldfinger (Gert Frobe), staying at the same hotel. Goldfinger was engaged in a card-shark scam against a gin-rummy opponent named Simmons (Austin Willis). The ploy was discovered when Bond entered Auric's hotel suite and found pretty blonde assistant/escort Jill Masterson (Shirley Eaton) reclining on the balcony using binoculars to report on his opponent's cards through an earpiece. He cautioned her: "You're much too nice to be mixed up in anything like this." Bond threatened cheater Auric to lose $15K or he would call the local Miami police. Caught in the scam, Goldfinger in rage broke his pencil in two.

The free-spirited Jill then encouraged Bond: "I'm beginning to like you, Mr. Bond...More than anyone I've met in a long time, James." He invited her to "the best place in town" for dinner - and then Bond romanced-seduced Jill on the balcony and later bedded down with her in his own hotel suite (# 2 tryst) with room-service catering, including chilled Dom Perignon '53 champagne. The couple were interrupted when he received a call from Felix Leiter for dinner, and Bond declined: "Something big's come up," agreeing to a 9 am breakfast instead. As Bond laid on top of Jill and commented: "It's lost its chill," he was referring to the champagne bottle on ice near the bed. When he went to the refrigerator to get another freshly-cooled bottle of "passion juice," he was knocked out from behind with a karate-chop to the neck - delivered from a shadowy figure wearing a bowler hat. It was the signature look of Goldfinger's mute, formally-dressed Korean henchman Oddjob (Harold Sakata).

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 dead on the bed (# 2 death), a victim of Goldfinger's revenge. He phoned and notified Felix ("She's covered in paint. Gold paint"), and then flew to London, England for a briefing with "M" (Bernard Lee). After bypassing secretary Miss Moneypenny's (Lois Maxwell) usual flirtations, he was told at dinner by Colonel Smithers (Richard Vernon), a Bank of England representative, about Goldfinger's holdings - he had gold bullion (worth 20 million pounds) on deposit in Zurich, Amsterdam, Caracas, and Hong Kong. As a legitimate bullion dealer and international jeweler, he also operated legitimate and "modest metallurgical installations" for melting down gold. British intelligence needed to learn how Goldfinger transferred (or smuggled) his gold overseas - legally or illegally. Bond was to arrange a social meeting with Goldfinger. He would bring one bar of gold bullion worth 5,000 pounds (recovered from the Nazi hoard at the bottom of Lake Toplitz) as "bait."

The next morning at Q-Branch, Bond was given a new vehicle, Aston-Martin DB5 (with various modifications and gadgets) by Q (Desmond Llewelyn). At a golf club in England, Bond challenged Goldfinger (with Oddjob as his caddy) to a wagered game of golf, revealing his 1940s Nazi gold bar as the wager during the last two holes of play. After the 17th hole, Bond switched golf balls on his cheating opponent to outfox him - and then at the conclusion of the game, because they were playing by strict rules, Bond noticed that Goldfinger had played the wrong ball, and thereby Bond won the 18th hole and match. Goldfinger threatened Bond to not interfere further in his affairs (demonstrated by Oddjob decapitating a marble statue's head with his lethal steel-rimmed hat) -- and soon departed in his Rolls-Royce (license plate AU1) to the airport for cargo plane transport (with the vehicle) to the continent (Geneva, Switzerland) after writing a check for 5,000 pounds to Bond as the wager. 007 put a tracking-homing device in the car's trunk to follow closely.

Bond pursued Goldfinger and Oddjob, tracking them through the Swiss countryside on curving single-lane roads, where he was passed by a pretty but impatient blonde female - Tilly Masterson (Tania Mallet) - in a convertible. Parked higher up on a winding, hairpin turn mountain road, she fired a sniper rifle at Goldfinger way below, missing her target and almost striking Bond in the foreground. After a cat-mouse driving challenge against Tilly, who was driving behind him, Bond pulled up alongside her car and used a hubcap-wheel device from his Aston-Martin DB5 to shred her tires. As he feigned assistance and drove her to a nearby garage, she suspiciously said her name was Tilly Soames (her attache case was initialed TM), to which Bond queried: "Here for the hunting season?" She claimed that her wooden case contained her ice skates, although it was summertime. She refused any further help, saying she could take care of herself when he dropped her off.

Bond continued his pursuit of Goldfinger, locating him at the buildings of Auric Enterprises. That evening, Bond spied upon the building from a nearby forested area, and then surreptitiously infiltrated the area, noticing Goldfinger's Korean henchmen disassembling his Rolls-Royce, and melting down its 18K gold bodywork into ingots - his means of smuggling gold. Bond overheard Goldfinger speaking to a Chinese man named Mr. Ling (Burt Kwouk) about a plan nicknamed 'Operation Grand Slam'. As Bond left, he spotted a dark-hooded assassin in the woods. He foiled the sniper's fire to kill Goldfinger with a second attempt, but an alarm wire was tripped. It was Tilly again (T.M. = Tilly Masterson) who admitted vengefully: "I want him dead. He killed my sister" - they both fled to Bond's Aston Martin DB5. Goldfinger's Korean thugs gave chase after them - Bond activated the car's gadgets: the smoke screen caused the first car to crash into a tree. The oil slick forced the second of three cars (with four occupants) off a cliff where it crashed and burned (# 3-6 deaths, # 2-5 Bond kills). Bond stopped his car with the deflective rear armor plate up, and shot one of the henchmen dead (# 7 death, # 6 Bond kill). As Tilly ran for cover in the woods, she was hit in the neck by Oddjob's hat and instantly killed (# 8 death). Bond ran to her side where he was quickly taken prisoner. Captured, he was allowed to drive his own car back to Goldfinger's compound, when he suddenly took off in a different direction and activated the ejector seat button, sending his guard-passenger into the air. He then sped away through many alleyways within the factory compound while firing his vehicle's machine guns, but eventually was fooled by a giant mirror (and blinded by his own reflected headlights), and he crashed into the side of a building. He was knocked unconscious.

When Bond awoke, he was spread-eagled on a gold table, ready to be tortured with an industrial laser beam inching towards his crotch. He quipped: "Do you expect me to talk?" and the villainous gloating Goldfinger gave his famed reply: "No, Mr. Bond, I expect you to die!" But at the last second, after Bond faked knowing about his Operation Grand Slam, Goldfinger changed his mind: "You are worth more to me alive." Bond was shot with a tranquilizer gun by henchman Mr. Kisch (Michael Mellinger), and when revived again, he found himself on Goldfinger's Lockheed jet plane flying 35,000 feet above Newfoundland, on its way to Baltimore, enroute to Kentucky. Above him stood Goldfinger's personal pilot and blonde henchwoman Pussy Galore (Honor Blackman). She introduced herself, purring with a straight face: "My name is Pussy Galore." Bond replied: "I must be dreaming." He was offered a drink from stewardess Mei-Lei (Mai Ling), and ordered: "A martini, shaken not stirred." As Bond changed his clothes, Mei-Lei kept an eye on him through various peepholes, but he continually blocked her view to frustrate her. He placed his small homing device in his shoe to alert MI6 to his new whereabouts. As they were about to land, Pussy threatened with a gun: "Do you want to play it easy or the hard way?" The jet landed and entered a hanger with a banner: "Pussy Galore's Flying Circus" - lesbian-leaning Pussy led a five-person, all-female aerial troupe with Piper planes. She bragged about training the flyers - Bond complimented her: "You're a woman of many parts, Pussy." They arrived at Goldfinger's Kentucky Stud Farm base where Bond was incarcerated in his "quarters" - a dungeon cell.

Goldfinger briefed a large contingent of rival Mafia ("hoods") members from across the US, who had all made contracted deliveries of materials for his operation. Goldfinger admitted he owed each of them $1 million in gold bullion. With a trick pool table, Goldfinger displayed a black and white wall aerial photo of the Gold Depository at Fort Knox, holding $15 billion dollars - the entire gold reserve supply of the US. He then opened a hole in the floor, and a miniature replica of the Fort Knox facility rose up on a hydraulic platform. Although it was surrounded by 41,000 troops, his "foolproof" plan, named Operation Grand Slam, was to somehow infiltrate the impregnable bank structure.

After escaping, Bond (hidden under the small-scale model) overheard Goldfinger as he explained in detail his plan for the following day - the spraying (from gas canisters) of invisible, lethal Delta 9 nerve gas over Fort Knox and its military guards, inducing "complete unconsciousness for 24 hours." The Flying Circus would spray the aerial nerve gas prior to the dawn raid. The electrical gate surrounding the Fort Knox Depository would be dynamited before a task force of his Korean thugs attacked and entered the locked vault where the gold bullion bars were stored. One disgruntled hoodlum, Mr. Solo (Martin Benson), wanted his $1 million immediately, and was led away, while the others were sealed into the room and killed by gas (# 9-19 deaths), administered by henchman Mr. Kisch (Michael Mellinger). Bond was apprehended by Pussy and led back to speak briefly to Goldfinger before being reimprisoned. They met the villain as he was escorting Solo to a Lincoln Continental, where Goldfinger claimed there was a "pressing engagement." The vehicle was driven by chauffeur Oddjob, presumably toward the airport, but Mr. Solo was shot and killed with a silencer gun on the way (# 20 death) - and the car was taken to a metal/scrap-iron wrecking yard and crushed into a cube, with the corpse still inside. The square metal cube was dropped into the back of a pickup, driven by Oddjob back to the Stud farm, where Goldfinger soon extracted his gold bars ($1 million payment) stored in the trunk.

Goldfinger summoned Bond from his cell, while instructing Pussy to make Bond as happy as possible - she changed into something "more suitable." Bond was "well-informed" about the Delta-9 gas, claiming it was fatal and would uselessly kill 60,000 people. And Bond was unsure that the gold bars, weighing 10,500 tons, could easily be transported. Goldfinger explained more about his plan - it wasn't to steal the bars, but to irradiate the gold bars by a dirty bomb - to make them inaccessible for 58 years within Fort Knox. His Red Chinese compatriot, agent Mr. Ling, who was a specialist in nuclear fission, had perfected and supplied him with a radioactive ("dirty") cobalt/iodine atomic bomb device that would be detonated inside the vault. That tactic would increase the value of Goldfinger's own gold (about 10 times) and cause economic chaos in the West, to the delight of his Communist Chinese supporters. Goldfinger was coy about where the bomb would be detonated -- if thwarted or threatened, he speculated other places it might be exploded: the Polaris submarine pens at New London, Connecticut, or at Cape Kennedy, or near the White House.

To "entertain" Bond, Pussy (a judo expert) led him to a horse stable where she wrestled with him in the hay. Their tussle seemed to convince her of the appeal of his manly ways and heterosexuality as he lowered himself down on her and kissed her (# 3 tryst). The next morning, Pussy Galore's Flying Circus (five planes) took off and sprayed the nerve gas over the Fort Knox area. Due to its predicted effects, military personnel and others on duty fell to the ground. Disguised as military forces, Goldfinger's men led by Mr. Kisch assaulted the complex by blowing up the front entry gate and entering the Fort Knox Depository itself by laser-cutting its massive steel door. After gaining entry to the locked vault where the gold bars were stored, Mr. Ling set the timer on the atomic device and the countdown began. Suddenly, it was shown that Goldfinger's plan was about to be foiled. The CIA had been alerted and everyone who appeared unconscious was only playing dead - Pussy had presumably fallen for the virile Bond and changed allegiances, notifying Washington. The US military took precautions to ensure that the bomb would be neutralized before offensive fire commenced. Oddjob had handcuffed Bond to the trolley holding the bomb, after which Bond was lowered to the ground floor of the vault. Outside, the real US military counter-attacked against Goldfinger's Korean henchmen. Hearing gunfire, Goldfinger rapidly sealed the vault with Kisch, Bond and Oddjob still inside, and removed his coat to reveal a US Army uniform. Pretending he was on the other side, Goldfinger shot Mr. Ling at point-blank range (# 21 death) with his golden pistol, and then machine-gunned five unsuspecting soldiers in the back (# 22-26 deaths) before escaping.

Inside the vault, when Kisch tried to remove the fuse from the counting-down atomic device, Oddjob prevented him - and threw him off the balcony to his death to the ground floor below (# 27 death) where Bond was located. Fortuitously, Bond removed the handcuff keys from Kisch's pocket and unlocked his restraints, but then faced the threatening Oddjob, and could not defuse the bomb. During a tense one-on-one fight as the device timer ticked down inside the besieged Fort Knox, Bond struggled against Oddjob and avoided being hit by Oddjob's lethal bowler hat. The errant hat severed a live electrical power line behind Bond. When Bond attempted to kill Oddjob with his own hat, it became jammed and stuck between steel gate bars. When Oddjob reached for his hat, Bond touched the severed live wire of thousands of volts to the gate bars, electrocuting him in a shower of sparks. He died with outstretched arms as he fell forward to the floor (# 28 death, # 7 Bond kill). Goldfinger's henchmen were retreating and dying in large numbers both outside and inside the Depository and in the opened vault, as time was running out on Bond's attempt to deactivate the bomb. An atomic scientist saved Bond from death by easily flipping a switch on the device, with only 007 seconds to spare. Bond was told that Pussy had switched the gas in the canisters to make them powerless, while everyone faked their deaths - Bond surmised: "I must have appealed to her maternal instincts."

Bond was driven to the airport and boarded another Lockheed Martin Jetstar plane, a chartered trip bound for Washington, DC for a special lunch at the White House with the President, so he could be thanked personally. However, Goldfinger had tied up the plane's three-person crew in the hangar and coerced ex-personal pilot Pussy Galore to hijack the plane and fly him to Cuba. When Bond learned of the plan, they struggled together after Auric held his gold-plated gun on him - the revolver discharged and blew out one of the plane's windows, causing a drastic loss and decompression of cabin air pressure. Bond held on tightly as Auric flew through the air and was sucked legs-first out of a tiny broken window (# 29 death, # 8 Bond kill). In the cockpit where Pussy struggled to gain control of the aircraft, Bond told her that gold-obsessed Goldfinger was "playing his golden harp." They parachuted together to safety from the crashing jet plane to 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 their parachute - for privacy's sake (# 4 tryst), as they kissed.

Film Notables (Awards, Facts, etc.)

The first official blockbuster Bond film, and the second Bond film to use a pop star (Shirley Bassey) to sing the theme song "Goldfinger" during the titles.

The third film in the series. This was the first of four films directed by Guy Hamilton.

Also, the first Bond film to be nominated (and win) an Academy Award: Best Sound Effects.

This was the first Bond film, of many, featuring the Aston-Martin DB5 (in this case with pop-out machine guns, tire shredders, a bullet-proof shield, a radar homing device or GPS (the first in a film), and an ejector seat). It was also the first film with a villain independent of SPECTRE.

Villainous Korean manservant Oddjob's steel-brimmed bowler hat was outfitted with a razor-sharp edge, designed to be lethal (to both objects and humans). He also wore an ill-fitting suit over his bulging muscles.

The film introduced the not-so-subtly named Pussy Galore (Honor Blackman). Honor Blackman was one of the oldest Bond girls in the franchise's history, at 39 years of age.

Its iconic image was Jill Masterson (Shirley Eaton) dying after being painted in gold.

With a production budget of $3.5 million, and gross revenue of $51 million (domestic) and $125 million (worldwide).

Set-pieces: the pre-credits sequence, the shadowy menacing entrance of Oddjob, the shocking death of Jill Masterson by suffocation from gold paint, the climactic Fort Knox assault and the one-on-one fight between Bond and Oddjob in the sealed gold bullion vault.

Bond Villains: Bonita (Nadia Regin), Capungo (Alf Joint), Auric Goldfinger (Gert Frobe), Oddjob (Harold Sakata), Kisch (Michael Mellinger), twelve Mafioso hoods (various), Mr. Ling (Burt Kwouk)

Bond Girls: Dink (Margaret Nolan), Jill Masterson (Shirley Eaton), Tilly Masterson (Tania Mallet), Pussy Galore (Honor Blackman), Mei-Lei (Mai Ling)

Number of Love-Making Encounters: 4

Film Locales: Unnamed Latin American country (pre-credits sequence), Fountainbleau Hotel, Miami Beach, Florida, USA, London, England, Stoke Poges Golf Club, Buckinghamshire, England, Geneva, Switzerland and the Swiss countryside, 35,000 feet above Newfoundland, Friendship Airport at Baltimore, Maryland, Auric's Stud Farm at Bluegrass Field and Fort Knox, Kentucky, Washington DC

Gadgets: seagull-decoy snorkel wet-suit, grappling hook gun, battery-operated detonator-timer, gadgets in Q's lab and in the modified Aston-Martin DB5 vehicle, Oddjob's lethal steel-rimmed bowler hat, Goldfinger's giant laser, Goldfinger's golden pistol

Vehicles: modified, gray Aston Martin DB5 car with small and large (magnetic) homing devices displayed audio-visually on dashboard (range of 150 miles), also with bullet-proof windshield and windows, revolving license (number) plates, homing device display on dashboard, smoke screen, oil slick deployer, rear bullet-proof glass armor-shield, left-right front-wing machine guns, passenger ejector seat (activated with red button under top of gear shift), and hubcap tire shredder, yellow/black 1937 Phantom-III Rolls Royce (Sedance De Ville), British United Airfarers Carvair cargo plane, light yellow Ford Mustang (convertible), Goldfinger's Auric Enterprises' Lockheed Martin VC-140B Jetstar plane, single-engine Piper planes, Lincoln Continental

Number of Deaths (Bond Kills): 29 (8)