You’d think that after two Bond films, producers Saltzmen and
Brocoli would know what they where doing, but it wasn’t until 1964’s Goldfinger that the franchise really
figured out its formula. This film has it all, the cars, the women with vulgar
names, the gadgets, the megalomaniacal villain, more women and laser beams. The
film is basically a dissertation on what it means to be Bond, James Bond.
The film opens with one of
the best images in the Bond series,
it opens on a duck. The duck swims up to a dock and rises out of the water and
we realize that the duck is a model fixed atop a man in a scuba suit. The man
is obviously Bond (Sean Connery), if we didn’t know that right away we’d know it as soon as he
removes the scuba suit to reveal a bone dry, white tuxedo. Only Bond would wear
a tux under a scuba suit, and only Bond would have a girl waiting for him at
the bar next to the factory he just blew up. These pre-credit sequences will now be an obligatory part of the Bond formula and will be copied by plenty of other action films (see: all the Indiana Jones films).
We then get the greatest Bond title sequence of all time, Robert Brownjohn expands his "objectification of pretty girls" concept from From Russia into a much more primal statement of machismo. Over these titles we get the first true Bond-song, The Goldfinger theme, written by John Berry and sung by Shirley Bassey is a large part of the film's personality, and gives the film its own brand name to trade on.
After all the excitement, we follow 007 to Miami where he meets Auric Goldfinger (Gert Fröbe). Goldfinger is a gambler running a cheating operation which Bond breaks up by seducing Goldfinger’s sexy accomplice, Jill Masterson. When Goldfinger kills Masterson in retaliation it can be safe to say that Bond is a bit annoyed (it should be noted that from here on out, sleeping with Bond in the first half of the film is extremely dangerous). Bond get’s a chance for revenge when M (Bernard Lee again) sends him out after Goldfinger for gold smuggling. Goldfinger it turns out, is obsessed with all things gold, his clothes, his cars and even his tan are either gold colored or made from actual gold. The man is seriously into the shiny stuff and will do anything to get more of it, including launching a rather ingenious attack on the U.S. Gold repository at Fort Knox.
Director Terrence Young took a break from the Bond franchise after From Russia With Love (which was by all accounts a troubled and draining production). To replace him, Connery recruited his friend Guy Hamilton. Hamilton brings a sense of confidence to the franchise. I would hesitate to call him an auteur of any kind, but the man has enough flair of his own that the film doesn't feel like a lesser-but-still-good Hitchcock film. Hamilton drops any pretext of reality and allows the film to fully take on the personality of Bond himself. Goldfinger is funny, larger than life and audacious. Also, more than any of the previous films, Goldfinger is concerned with giving it's audience powerful images, more then a few of them have a touch of the surreal (the duck, a gold covered woman, Bond looking out of a tiny model building, etc.).
One of the more memorable images is that of Bond's Car. The Aston Martin DB5 with modifications by MI:6 gadget master Q (Desmond Llewelyn). The DB5 would become almost as big an icon as Bond himself, and it’s easy to see why. It’s a stylish affair with all of sorts of cool toys from machine-guns behind the headlights, to ejector seats and a 60’s version of GPS navigation.
We then get the greatest Bond title sequence of all time, Robert Brownjohn expands his "objectification of pretty girls" concept from From Russia into a much more primal statement of machismo. Over these titles we get the first true Bond-song, The Goldfinger theme, written by John Berry and sung by Shirley Bassey is a large part of the film's personality, and gives the film its own brand name to trade on.
After all the excitement, we follow 007 to Miami where he meets Auric Goldfinger (Gert Fröbe). Goldfinger is a gambler running a cheating operation which Bond breaks up by seducing Goldfinger’s sexy accomplice, Jill Masterson. When Goldfinger kills Masterson in retaliation it can be safe to say that Bond is a bit annoyed (it should be noted that from here on out, sleeping with Bond in the first half of the film is extremely dangerous). Bond get’s a chance for revenge when M (Bernard Lee again) sends him out after Goldfinger for gold smuggling. Goldfinger it turns out, is obsessed with all things gold, his clothes, his cars and even his tan are either gold colored or made from actual gold. The man is seriously into the shiny stuff and will do anything to get more of it, including launching a rather ingenious attack on the U.S. Gold repository at Fort Knox.
Director Terrence Young took a break from the Bond franchise after From Russia With Love (which was by all accounts a troubled and draining production). To replace him, Connery recruited his friend Guy Hamilton. Hamilton brings a sense of confidence to the franchise. I would hesitate to call him an auteur of any kind, but the man has enough flair of his own that the film doesn't feel like a lesser-but-still-good Hitchcock film. Hamilton drops any pretext of reality and allows the film to fully take on the personality of Bond himself. Goldfinger is funny, larger than life and audacious. Also, more than any of the previous films, Goldfinger is concerned with giving it's audience powerful images, more then a few of them have a touch of the surreal (the duck, a gold covered woman, Bond looking out of a tiny model building, etc.).
One of the more memorable images is that of Bond's Car. The Aston Martin DB5 with modifications by MI:6 gadget master Q (Desmond Llewelyn). The DB5 would become almost as big an icon as Bond himself, and it’s easy to see why. It’s a stylish affair with all of sorts of cool toys from machine-guns behind the headlights, to ejector seats and a 60’s version of GPS navigation.
 |
| "You have arrived at the evil lair" |
Film’s like these live and die on the
strength of their baddies. In this respect Auric Goldfinger excels. He spends
more time on screen and much more time squaring off against Bond himself, creating
a more satisfying rivalry. In one scene Goldfinger has Bond tied up with a
laser inching towards, to quote Roger Ebert, the piece of lower anatomy Bond most
requires for the series to continue. Bond asks him: “Do you expect me to talk?,” to
which Goldfinger responds with one of the greatest comebacks of all time
“No Mr. Bond, I expect you to die.”
Goldfinger isn’t the only great villain, the film also has an inspired henchman in the form of Oddjob (Harlod Sakata), the semi-mute, giant with a razor-edged bowler hat that he can use to decapitate people. The other, more famous character is Pussy Galore, Goldfinger’s pilot. Pussy’s character is a bit dated. she’s supposedly a lesbian (a point made more explicit in the novel) and she’s also a strong and independent woman. In other words, she’s everything the 60’s establishment fears and must be destroyed. There is a scene where Bond “tames” her into heterosexual compliance. The whole notion of the scene and it’s execution as a fight that gets intimate will either strike viewers as laughably outdated or outrageously offensive. I personally fall somewhere in between. As problematic as her transformation is from a PC standpoint, she really is one of the strongest of the Bond-girls. She’s clearly a self-made woman, and even though she falls for James (as improbable as that may be considering her sexuality), she never feels subservient to him. Of the 3 Bond-girls we’ve seen so far, she’s the only one who can take care of herself or shoot a gun straight. It also helps that she is played with cool confidence by Honor Blackman who was already a minor star for her stint on the British spy show, The Avengers.
Despite these dated moments, Goldfinger is really the best of the Bond’s, only the recent production of Casino Royale comes close to unseating it. It has one of the better stories, the best images, villains and some of the best action. After its truly massive success, the franchise will be reluctant to tamper with the formula too much. It is a testament to the film that from here on out, there will only be two Bond films, Goldfinger, and film's that are not Goldfinger.
Goldfinger isn’t the only great villain, the film also has an inspired henchman in the form of Oddjob (Harlod Sakata), the semi-mute, giant with a razor-edged bowler hat that he can use to decapitate people. The other, more famous character is Pussy Galore, Goldfinger’s pilot. Pussy’s character is a bit dated. she’s supposedly a lesbian (a point made more explicit in the novel) and she’s also a strong and independent woman. In other words, she’s everything the 60’s establishment fears and must be destroyed. There is a scene where Bond “tames” her into heterosexual compliance. The whole notion of the scene and it’s execution as a fight that gets intimate will either strike viewers as laughably outdated or outrageously offensive. I personally fall somewhere in between. As problematic as her transformation is from a PC standpoint, she really is one of the strongest of the Bond-girls. She’s clearly a self-made woman, and even though she falls for James (as improbable as that may be considering her sexuality), she never feels subservient to him. Of the 3 Bond-girls we’ve seen so far, she’s the only one who can take care of herself or shoot a gun straight. It also helps that she is played with cool confidence by Honor Blackman who was already a minor star for her stint on the British spy show, The Avengers.
Despite these dated moments, Goldfinger is really the best of the Bond’s, only the recent production of Casino Royale comes close to unseating it. It has one of the better stories, the best images, villains and some of the best action. After its truly massive success, the franchise will be reluctant to tamper with the formula too much. It is a testament to the film that from here on out, there will only be two Bond films, Goldfinger, and film's that are not Goldfinger.
Grade: A
Be sure to checkout the rest of the Bondathon (quicklinks bellow) and like our page on Facebook
Bondathon entries:
Dr. No
From Russia With Love
Goldfinger
Thunderball / Never Say Never Again
You Only Live Twice
On Her Majesty's Secret Service
Diamonds are Forever
Live and Let Die
The Man With The Golden Gun
The Spy Who Loved Me
Moonraker
For Your Eyes Only
Octopussy
A View To A Kill
The Living Daylights
Licence to Kill
Goldeneye
Tomorrow Never Dies
The World Is Not Enough
Die Another Day
Casino Royale
Quantum of Solace
Skyfall
Be sure to checkout the rest of the Bondathon (quicklinks bellow) and like our page on Facebook
Bondathon entries:
Dr. No
From Russia With Love
Goldfinger
Thunderball / Never Say Never Again
You Only Live Twice
On Her Majesty's Secret Service
Diamonds are Forever
Live and Let Die
The Man With The Golden Gun
The Spy Who Loved Me
Moonraker
For Your Eyes Only
Octopussy
A View To A Kill
The Living Daylights
Licence to Kill
Goldeneye
Tomorrow Never Dies
The World Is Not Enough
Die Another Day
Casino Royale
Quantum of Solace
Skyfall
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