001. The story
James Bond must stop metallurgical megalomaniac Auric Goldfinger – who handily has a penchant for gold – from irradiating the world’s largest gold supply in Fort Knox, thus driving up the price of the shiny stuff and making the title character a very wealthy fiend indeed.
002. The villains
Gert Frobe’s Goldfinger is one of the franchise’s most colourful and memorable villains. Like a teddy bear with grudge, he’s a cuddly-looking foe with a resolve of steel and, of all villains, probably comes closest to killing dear 007.
To this day his lackey Oddjob is one of the quintessential henchmen, perhaps eclipsed only by a certain toothsome giant. And as for his henchwoman Pussy, well…
003. The girls
Honor Blackman is the indelible Pussy Galore, queen in the pantheon of Bond girls, and one of the few in 007 history to come across as more than a match for Bond rather than a damsel in distress.
Shirley Eaton as Jill Masterson is little more than sexy death-bait, but her demise is so iconic that she’s more memorable dead than alive. So visually distinctive is her death that it would be repeated in an oilier fashion in 2008’s Quantum of Solace, and feed many an urban legend about death by skin suffocation.
004. Best moments
There’s enough great scenes to fill Fort Knox: Bond taking off his wetsuit (complete with decoy bird headgear) to reveal a tuxedo underneath in the pre-title sequence, the discovery of Jill Masterson’s gold-painted corpse, Oddjob’s demonstration of murderous millinery on a statue, Bond almost getting his nuggets melted by a laser, and of course, the most famous Bond/villain dialogue exchange in the entire franchise.
005. Trivia
» Goldfinger features the first appearance of a laser beam in a movie. The burning effect was created by using a blowtorch positioned underneath the table.
» In fact, it’s a movie filled with firsts for the Bond franchise: the first appearance of the Aston Martin and Q’s lab, the first opening credits sequence to feature James Bond, the first pre-titles sequence to actually feature Bond (it was a SPECTRE agent in From Russia with Love), and it’s the first Bond film to win an Oscar (Best Sound Effects).
» Honor Blackman was 37 at the time of filming, making her the oldest ever Bond girl.
» Gert Frobe spoke so little English that his voice was dubbed by uncredited actor Michael Collins.
» Fancy playing a round on the golf course that Bond and Goldfinger play on? It’s Stoke Poges in Buckinghamshire, not far from Pinewood Studios. It even has a James Bond-themed bar.
006. Quotes
» Bond: “Auric Goldfinger… sounds like a French nail varnish.”
» Bond: “You expect me to talk?”
Goldfinger: “No, Mr Bond, I expect you to die!”
» Pussy Galore: “My name is Pussy Galore.”
Bond: “I must be dreaming…”
» Q: “I never joke about my work, 007.”
» Bond (after electrocuting a chap in the bath): “Shocking. Positively shocking.”
007. The verdict
A shiny fixture of the franchise, 1964’s Goldfinger is rightly regarded as one of 007’s best outings. Less troubled by Cold War politics than the previous films, it consequently feels a bit more fun and more of what a modern audience is used to from Bond. Connery is clearly at home in the role in his third outing, and has perfected the blend of smooth viciousness that would win him so many fans, while Gert Frobe is a worthy adversary (on and off the golf course) as Goldfinger.
With a swagger as confident as Shirley Bassey’s brassy theme tune, Goldfinger smelts together iconic moments one by one and then pours them into a mould that almost every Bond film would follow: explosive opening, gadget-laden car, the Q-lab, sexy Bond girls, a ‘boo-hiss’ villain, distinctive henchman, and more quotable lines than you can shake a gold brick at. Bond doesn’t get much better than this.
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