55th Anniversary Cinematic Special
Goldfinger
Directed by Guy Hamilton
Starring Sean Connery, Honor Blackman, and Gert Frobe
Premiered September 17, 1964 (UK); December 21, 1964 (US)
1965 Academy Award for Best Effects, Sound Effects (Norman Wanstall); 1965 Grammy nominee for Best Original Score Written for a Motion Picture or Television Show (John Barry)
Wiki said:
Goldfinger is a 1964 spy film and the third installment in the James Bond series produced by Eon Productions, starring Sean Connery as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. 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 the iconic 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.
Goldfinger was the first Bond blockbuster, with a budget equal to that of the two preceding films combined. Principal photography took place from January to July 1964 in the United Kingdom, Switzerland and the United States.
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, an extensive pre-credits sequence that stood largely alone from the main storyline, multiple foreign locales and tongue-in-cheek humor. Goldfinger was the first Bond film to win an Oscar and opened to largely favorable critical reception. The film was a financial success, recouping its budget in two weeks.
OK, just reading the film's Wiki page prior to watching it helped me to appreciate everything this film had going for it at the time. I'd still tend to think that it's just a tad overrated. I can see why it was the film that really exploded the series into a phenomenon at the time, though I still don't quite understand it's enduring appeal with so many more Bond films under the bridge. Maybe I'm just a Bond hipster...inclined to be more cynical about it because it's so popular.
As with the other early Bond films, the plot is closely based on the source novel. In this case, where the film deviates from the novel, it actually improves the story...most notably the nature of Goldfinger's scheme. That scene where Bond is going into the details of how impractical it would be to steal the gold over mint julips is actually criticizing the novel, in which that was actually what Goldfinger was trying to do, via train!
This is the first Bond film with
a pre-credits sequence that actually features the real Bond in action. I think that the circular ceiling in the drug lab is a set piece from
Dr. No. Bond taking off his drysuit to reveal a tuxedo underneath is a cool-to-iconic moment.
Following that, we get the first credits sequence to use a title song instead of an instrumental--Shirley Bassey's "Goldfinger" (charts Jan. 30, 1965; #8 US; #2 AC; #21 UK):
Cec Linder kicks off the trend of recasting Leiter for nearly every appearance, using vastly different actor types. Jack Lord didn't match the description of the character in the book, but was more believable as an opposite number of Bond's. Alas, it was because Lord wanted more money and a higher billing that they recast the character. Linder's Leiter comes off a little more like a local cop than a fellow secret agent. Austin Willis, who plays Simmons, the guy that Goldfinger is cheating at cards, was originally in line for the role. He's similar in type to Linder, which shows that they were definitely going for a different type than Lord.
Jill Masterson, though she was in the book, is the beginning of the three-girl formula for the films. IIRC, in the book she survived in the short term, and Bond learned of her fate from Tilly later. "That's as bad as listening to the Beatles without earmuffs." Goldfinger was gonna let Bond and Jill go, but 007 didn't reckon with Oddjob being a huge Beatlemaniac.
Fun fact: Margaret Nolan, who plays Bond's masseuse Dink, appeared as the "golden girl" in advertisements and the opening credits sequence.
I wonder if Colonel Smithers from the Bank of England (Richard Vernon) told Bond and M about that time recently when he shared a train compartment with a certain group of long-haired musicians. Bond clearly wasn't very fond of them either.
While Major Boothroyd had appeared in both of the previous films, and had been played by Desmond Llewelyn in
From Russia with Love, it's the Q/Bond scene in
Goldfinger that establishes the humorously antagonistic relationship that will become a beloved feature of the series:
While Bond's DB Mark III in the book had a bit of lower-key gadgetry going on, the Aston Martin DB5 takes the gadgetry of the films to a new level, which will become increasingly outlandish in future installments. The larger scene includes an odd reference to Q having retired Bond's Bentley. In the books, the Bentley was Bond's personal car, not one assigned by Q Branch.
Still another trendsetter for films to come:
Harold Sakata's Oddjob as the seemingly superhuman chief henchman. There's an amusing exchange in the book in which Goldfinger is boasting that Oddjob knows X number of ways to kill Bond with one blow, and Bond retorts that he only knows X-2 ways to kill Oddjob with one blow.
Tilly Masterson (Tania Mallet) is girl #2 in the formula. She was in the book, but contrary to the film formula she survived longer, and was involved in the gold heist with Bond.
I'm gonna go out on a limb here and assert that while the DB5 is indisputably the iconic Bond car, its potential is wasted on the car chase sequences in this film, which are dark, claustrophobic, and backlot-ish. Compare and contrast to the Lotus chase in
The Spy Who Loved Me--shot on beautiful seaside cliffs in broad daylight, with a helicopter involved in the chase, and continuing underwater! The chase sequence in TSWLM outdid the one in
Goldfinger on every level.
I read that lasers didn't exist at the time of the book in 1959. There, Goldfinger threatens Bond in a much more trite fashion--with a buzzsaw! So they were still pretty new-fangled when used in the film...hence Dr. Evil's use of air quotes in the Austin Powers films.
Note that in a practice common for the Bond villains earlier in the series, Goldfinger's lines are dubbed by a separate voice actor, in this case Michael Collins. So credit where credit is due for the delivery of the iconic "No, Mr. Bond, I expect you to die!" line.
The film seems to "open up" for me in the second half...which starts with
the introduction of Pussy Galore.
Wiki said:
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 called "Miss Galore" or "Goldfinger's personal pilot".
The book included an angle only vaguely hinted at in the film, that Pussy was a lesbian, as was Tilly. Tilly lived long enough in the story to become smitten with Pussy, and Bond's seduction of Pussy was an example of the outdated notion that all Pussy needed was to meet "the right man". Under the circumstances, the filmmakers definitely did the movie a favor in ditching that bit of business.
Note that there's mention of Bond's attaché case having been damaged when examined. I've always assumed that it was a
From Russia with Love model. Bond coolly describing to Pussy what her gun would do to the plane is a good Connery moment.
The audible reactions of the hoods to Goldfinger's planning room transformation still make me cringe--they seem a bit too comic booky / radio show-ish. As I recall, in the book Goldfinger was actually recruiting the underworld types to help him pull off the gold heist scheme, as he needed their manpower and resources. The purpose of his demonstration to them in the film is a lot more vague. One could rationalize that he wanted to share the brilliance of his scheme with others who might appreciate it before he kills them to keep them from talking. The problem with that is that for the audience's benefit, he doesn't share with them the true nature of his scheme.
IIRC, Mr. Solo (Martin Benson), who drops out of the scheme in the film and is subsequently killed by Oddjob and crushed inside the car, was a character in the book. Fleming apparently had a liking for that name, as he reportedly also came up with the name of Napoleon Solo when offering some basic ideas for
The Man from UNCLE.
After
Bond escapes from his cell, you can hear Gert Frobe's actual voice while Bond is eavesdropping from under the model of Fort Knox.
I read that Pussy's role was rewritten to make use of Blackman's knowledge of Judo from
The Avengers.
Bond figuratively fencing with Goldfinger while his prisoner is enjoyable.
In the Fort Knox sequence, it stretches credibility that everyone was able to play dead so convincingly, particularly given the lack of serious accidents that one would expect if so many people were suddenly killed.
The filmmakers weren't allowed to see the inside of the depository, so its depiction in the film was purely a product of production designer Ken Adam's imagination.
Wiki said:
In fact, the set was deemed so realistic that Pinewood Studios had to post a 24-hour guard to keep the gold bar props from being stolen.
The contribution of Ken Adam to the look and feel of the films can't be overstated. He'll later be giving us the iconic SPECTRE volcano lair and Stromberg's supertanker--for which a new stage had to be built because there wasn't an existing stage large enough to house it! The stage in question was named the
007 Stage.
The final scene with a surviving villain taking one last shot at Bond is another trendsetter for the films. IIRC, this sequence was also adapted from the novel, though I don't think Bond was going to see the President in the book.
Wiki said:
Ian Fleming visited the set of Goldfinger in April 1964; he died a few months later in August 1964, shortly before the film's release.
THE END
OF
"GOLDFINGER"
BUT
JAMES BOND
WILL BE BACK
IN
"THUNDERBALL"
_______
This is such a great song. The first time I heard it I remember thinking, well, looks like the Stones aren't going to stand pat like I thought they would. Shelter had a different sound, to me. It was pretty far removed from their signature "3 chord" rock. Shelter was slinky and melodically interesting in a way I had not noticed about Mick and Keith's previous songs. Throw in Merry Clayton's impassioned gosplely backing vocals, the kind of thing you didn't hear from hard rock songs back then, and you have a masterpiece, IMO.
No argument here. This and "You Can't Always Get What You Want" have me questioning if I should include such exceptional album tracks in my weekly playlists, which are based on charting singles. It's a shame to let such songs pass without inclusion in the weekly shuffle, but I'm not sure what methodology I'd use for inclusion. Even if I narrowed it down to the topmost positions on the album chart, albums can sometimes linger even that high much longer than the usual charting life of a single.
Another great one. I thought this album put the Stones firmly on their own path, independent of Lennon/McCartney. I guess many would say they were probably always on a different path, though His Satanic Majesty's whatever, appeared to be the band's attempt to keep up with the Beatles. But this album set them up to mmove into the 70's on their own.
There's actually a quote...on the song's Wiki page I think...where Mick said something at the time about doing a song similar to "Hey Jude" for their next album, so I think they were sticking to their "dark shadow of the Beatles" schtick here. But they're certainly going to have to fend for themselves and find their own identity in the '70s.
Another great song, although I'm still reeling from the revelation that it wasn't a response to "Let It Be."
It's possible that the Stones knew that the Beatles had a song called "Let It Be" in the can when they were making this album. The
Get Back /
Let It Be sessions had been back in January of '69.
Hmm, maybe. I don't remember that being particularly controversial, but I could be wrong.
The boys were used to having a male doctor and were funny about letting a female doctor examine them; and the same in reverse for the girls with a male doctor. Even Carol overreacted to the boys' doctor paying a visit to the girls' room, not realizing who he was.
That's a ways off yet. We've still got about seven or so good years to go.
Closer to eight, but it's hanging there, waiting for us. History tells us exactly what the new decade has in store.
I should probably be making a bigger deal out of the '60s ending in 50th Anniversaryland, but (a) there'll be a lot of leftover '60s business going on in 1970, and (b) 55th anniversary retro kinda takes the bite out of it.
Now that's a defining artist of the era.