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Goldfinger (film)

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Goldfinger is the third film in the James Bond series, and the third to star Sean Connery as MI6 agent James Bond. The film 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 centers around James Bond clashing with a gold-obsessed tycoon Auric Goldfinger who plans to detonate a dirty bomb inside the gold depository at Fort Knox, irradiating the gold reserves and thereby increasing the value of his private stocks.

The film is generally regarded as the first official Bond blockbuster as well as being the template for all future Bond films; it is usually credited with triggering what is known as the "James Bond craze".[1] The film made cinematic history when it recaptured its production costs in record-setting time, despite a budget equal to that of the two preceding films combined. Goldfinger was also the first Bond film to use a pop star to sing the theme song, which would follow for every Bond film since except On Her Majesty's Secret Service.[1]

Production

Goldfinger was the first Bond film with the budget to showcase unique technology that became a staple of the film series. Goldfinger had what was then considered a large budget of $3 million dollars, and was the first James Bond film classified as a box-office blockbuster.[1] Richard Maibaum, who had adapted two of Ian Fleming's novels for the first two Bond films – Dr. No and From Russia With Love – returned to adapt the seventh James Bond novel for the screen, accompanied by Academy Award-winning screenwriter Paul Dehn.[1]

File:007Connery.jpg
Sean Connery in the white tuxedo as James Bond in the pre-title sequence

Principal photography on Goldfinger commenced on January 20 1964 in Miami, Florida, at the Fontainebleau Hotel.[1] Sean Connery never traveled to the United States during filming; his entire performance was filmed in Europe - primarily at Pinewood Studios where portions of the Fontainebleau were recreated in April 1964.[1] Fleming visited the set of Goldfinger, but he died a few months later in August 1964 shortly before it was released.[1]

Several scenes were filmed on location; for instance, the golf club scene was shot at Stoke Poges Golf Club in Buckinghamshire in May 1964.[1] The scene in which Tilly Masterson attempts to snipe Goldfinger was filmed near the Pilatus Aircraft Factory, Stans and Furka pass.[1][2] The evening car chase in which Bond uses some of the gadgetry of his Aston Martin was filmed at Black Park, Buckinghamshire.[1]

For security reasons, the filmmakers were not allowed to film inside Fort Knox, though exterior photography was permitted. All sets for the interior of Fort Knox were designed and built from scratch at Pinewood Studios. However, a letter from the real-life controller of Fort Knox complimented Ken Adam and the production team on their imaginations.[1] Principal photography was completed in late August 1964.[1]

Effects

The opening credit sequence, as well as the posters for the advertising campaign, were designed by graphic artist Robert Brownjohn. Actress Margaret Nolan, who was featured in the film as Bond's masseuse at the Fontainebleau Hotel, modeled for many of the posters and was also used as the golden woman in the credit sequence.[3]

Production designer Ken Adam worked with special effects supervisor John Stears to overhaul the prototype of the Aston Martin DB5 coupe for its use in the film.[1] Pneumatic mechanics were used to simulate machine guns hidden behind the front turn signals; smokescreen and oil dispensers were fitted behind the rear signal lights(though they had to be removed to emplace a large bulletproof shield in the rear of the vehicle); revolving number plates were fitted in the front and rear bumpers (a feature developed by the film's director); a tire-slashing apparatus that was meant to extend from a wheel depicted to have been a feature of the actual vehicle, was actually a separate rig filmed in a studio; the front passenger seat was turned into an ejector seat, operated by a compressed air mechanism that could be fired by a hidden button in the gearshift. All of these features were created and installed in the course of six weeks.[1]

Other features – including front and rear projecting overriders for ramming other vehicles, a weapons tray hidden beneath the driver's seat, a nail chamber fitted behind the rear signal lights to dispense clustered spikes, and a radio telephone concealed behind the driver's door paneling – were added to the DB5 but were not used in the film.[1]

Plot

In the pre-title sequence, Bond destroys a Mexican drug lord's base with plastic explosives, and defeats an assassin sent to kill him. The film's story begins in Miami Beach, Florida, U.S.A., with CIA agent Felix Leiter delivering to Bond a message from M to watch Auric Goldfinger. Bond foils Goldfinger's cheating at gin rummy, by distracting his employee, Jill Masterson, who is actually opposing Goldfinger. After foiling the scheme and forcing Goldfinger to lose, Bond and Jill consummate their new relationship in Bond's hotel suite. But when Bond fetches fresh champagne from the kitchen, he is struck unconscious by Goldfinger's Korean manservant Oddjob, while Jill is killed by epidermal suffocation with gold paint.

In London, Bond learns that his true mission is determining how Goldfinger transports gold internationally. He meets Goldfinger on a golf course where they play a high-stakes golf game. Goldfinger cheats, but Bond discovers him and switches Goldfinger's golf ball, forcing his loss. After settling the bet, Goldfinger warns Bond to stay out of his business by having Oddjob decapitate a statue with his steel-rimmed top hat. Bond implants a homing device in Goldfinger's automobile and follows him to Switzerland. Bond meets Jill's sister Tilly Masterson, who attempts to snipe Goldfinger. As she flees, Bond catches up to her and slashes two of her car's tires with a special apparatus on his Aston Martin DB5.

File:007Goldfingerlaserclassic.jpg
Goldfinger intends to kill Bond by having him cut in half by an industrial laser.

Bond reconnoiters Goldfinger's plant and overhears him talking to a Red Chinese agent about "Operation Grand Slam". Leaving, he encounters Tilly as she is about to make a second attempt on Goldfinger's life, but accidentally trips an alarm. During their escape, Oddjob breaks Tilly's neck with his hat. Bond attempts to leave the plant by car, but confuses a mirror image of his own vehicle as that of an enemy about to ram him, and is captured after crashing. Then, Goldfinger has him tied to a gold table underneath an industrial laser, the beam of which is set to slowly slice the table in half. Bond liesto Goldfinger that another Double-O agent (who possesses the same information about Operation Grand Slam that he does) will replace him . Goldfinger realizes that he cannot take on the risk of a new, unknown agent, and will have less trouble if he convinces the Secret Service that Bond is doing well on the mission, meanwhile keeping Bond tranquilized.

Bond awakens aboard a private aircraft, piloted by Goldfinger's pilot Pussy Galore. She tells Bond that they are en route to Goldfinger's Kentucky stud farm, near Fort Knox. In flight, he activates a homing device in the heel of his left shoe; Leiter detects its signal and his allies begin tracking Bond. Upon landing, Bond is imprisoned in the stud farm, where Goldfinger meets U.S. mafiosi to obtain the material he needs for Operation Grand Slam. Bond escapes and spies on the meeting, learning that Goldfinger intends to kill the soldiers of Fort Knox with poison gas; when the discussion ends, a henchman gasses the mafiosi. Pussy Galore and other guards recapture Bond and return him to his cell. Bond and Goldfinger discuss the practical details of Operation Grand Slam; since the gold in Fort Knox would take a long time to steal, Goldfinger intends to irradiate the depository with an "atomic device" so as to render the U.S. gold supply useless for almost 60 years - and to multiply the value of his personal gold holdings.

As Operation Grand Slam begins, the women pilots of Galore's Flying Circus spray gas over Fort Knox from the air onto thousands of soldiers and civilians.[4] Earlier, however, Bond had seduced Pussy Galore, persuading her to contact the CIA, who had already substituted the poison with a harmless gas. Owing to this, the personnel of Fort Knox ingeniously act dead. Goldfinger's Chinese army destroys the depository's electrified gate with explosives, and then uses a laser as well as a stolen combination to open the vault door. Bond is then handcuffed to the atomic device and lowered into the vault. The personnel trap and destroy Goldfinger's forces who are surrounded when attempting to exit, but disguised as a US colonel, Goldfinger escapes. In the vault, Bond unlocks his handcuffs, kills Oddjob, and vainly tries to deactivate the atomic device, but an atomic specialist who accompanying Leiter does it successfully leaving seven seconds; the timer indicates "007".

With Fort Knox safe, Bond is scheduled to meet the President for a personal meeting. Bond's, flight - a government Lockheed JetStar is hijacked by Goldfinger, who plans to escape to Cuba. Bond gets into a struggle with Goldfinger for the latter's revolver, which fires, shattering a window and depressurising the cabin. Bond manages to hang on, but Goldfinger is sucked through the small window by the pressure. The damage causes the plane to plunge downward. Before it crashes, however, Bond parachutes from it, rescuing the pilot Galore, and safely lands on a beach.

Cast

File:Pussygalore.jpg
Honor Blackman as Pussy Galore

Casting

Gert Fröbe was chosen to portray the villain Auric Goldfinger because producers Saltzman and Broccoli had seen his performance as a psychopathic child molester in a German film.[1] Since Fröbe did not speak English, his performance was dubbed over with the voice of actor Michael Collins.[1] Honor Blackman was selected for the female leading role of Pussy Galore partially due to her fame from her role on The Avengers.[1] Concerned about censors, the film's producers thought about changing the name of the character Pussy Galore to "Kitty Galore".[3] They kept the original name when British newspapers began to refer to Honor Blackman as "Pussy" in the lead up to production. Pussy's name is actually connected to her leadership of a circus group of cat-burglar, cat-women, Amazon lesbian acrobats (called "abrocats") in the novel, but that, among other things, did not survive to the screen adaptation.

Director Guy Hamilton had seen Olympic silver medalist wrestler Harold Sakata on a wrestling program and immediately had Sakata in mind for the role of Oddjob.[1] Jack Lord initially was slated to reprise the Felix Leiter role, but replaced by Cec Linder.

Release and reception

Goldfinger was originally released on September 17, 1964, in the United Kingdom, and on December 21, 1964, in the United States. Its $3 million budget was earned back in two weeks, and it broke countless box office records in multiple countries around the world.[3] Goldfinger went on to be included in the Guiness Book of World Records as the fastest grossing film of all time.[3] The film grossed a total of $51,081,062 in the United States.[5] Goldfinger was temporarily banned in Israel due to Gert Fröbe's connections with the Nazi Party. The ban, however, was lifted many years later when a Jewish family publicly thanked Fröbe for protecting them from persecution during World War II.[6]

At the 1965 Academy Awards, Norman Wanstall won the Academy Award for Sound Editing for his work on Goldfinger.[7] Composer John Barry was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Score for a Motion Picture. Ken Adam was nominated for the BAFTA for Best British Art Direction.[8]

The American Film Institute has also honoured the film four times: ranking it No. 90 for best movie quote ("A martini. Shaken, not stirred."), No. 53 for best song ("Goldfinger"), No. 49 for best villain (Auric Goldfinger), and No. 71 for most thrilling film.

Goldfinger is the first James Bond film to be broadcast on U.S. television – on September 17 1972, by ABC.[9] The film, however, was heavily edited by ABC: the gunbarrel sequence was cut out, scenes of violence and sexuality were trimmed down, and the scene in which Oddjob is electrocuted was almost entirely deleted.[9] Nonetheless, it garnered the highest Nielsen Ratings of any film broadcast on television at that time: 49 percent of all viewers. It was recently announced that Goldfinger would be theatrically re-released in the UK on 27 July 2007, distributed by Park Circus Films on new digital prints distributed to approximately 150 multiplex cinemas.[10][11]

Goldfinger's popularity led to the inception of a massive tie-in marketing campaign that spawned a diverse product line including clothing, dress shoes, action figures, board games, jigsaw puzzles, lunch boxes, trading cards, slot cars, and collectible die-cast toy reproductions of the Aston Martin DB5.[3] Parodies of James Bond appeared in the form of "secret agent" comics, television programs, and a spoof of Ian Fleming's first bond novel Casino Royale in 1967. The rest of Fleming's Bond novels also gained popularity as a result of the success of Goldfinger.[3]

The U.S. televison program MythBusters aired an episode regarding the scenario of explosive depressurisation in a plane at high altitudes. Their investigation produced the finding that a sudden depressurisation as depicted in the film would not occur.[12] Mythbusters also twice investigated if death could be caused by full body painting, as was depicted in the film. While this was proved to be possible – likely due to heat stroke and not epidermal suffocation as depicted in the film – it was found that such a death would be very slow, unlike in the film.[13][14]

Soundtrack

Main article: Goldfinger (soundtrack)

Shirley Bassey sang the theme song "Goldfinger", and she would go on to sing the theme songs for two other Bond films as well. The song was composed by John Barry, with lyrics by Anthony Newley and Leslie Bricusse. Newley originally sang the song, but Bassey's recording was used in the film and was featured on the soundtrack. Newley's version was released in the 30th anniversary compilation album The Best of Bond...James Bond. The theme was an international hit single, achieving a spot in the Billboard Hot 100 top five. The album went gold, literally, selling over a million copies in the United States alone; it reached #21 in the UK charts.[3] The film score was composed by John Barry, and he included the "James Bond Theme", also known as "007".

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s The Making of Goldfinger (DVD). MGM/UA Home Entertainment Inc. 1995.
  2. ^ "Auf den Spuren von James Bond: Goldfinger" (in German).
  3. ^ a b c d e f g The Goldfinger Phenomenon (DVD). MGM/UA Home Entertainment Inc. 1995.
  4. ^ Goldfinger had deceived Galore to believe that Delta-9 was an anesthestic, not a nerve gas: she had not planned mass murder and called the gas-dispersion operation "Operation Rock-A-Bye Baby." Bond tells her the truth about Delta-9.
  5. ^ "James Bond Movies". Box Office Mojo. Box Office Mojo, LLC. Retrieved 2007-07-11.
  6. ^ "Gert Frobe - James Bond Actors". 007james.com. Retrieved 2007-07-16.
  7. ^ "Academy Awards Database - AMPAS". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Retrieved 2007-07-16.
  8. ^ "BAFTA Winners: 1960-1969" (PDF). BAFTA.org. Retrieved 2007-07-16.
  9. ^ a b "The ABCs of the James Bond Films". Dr. Shatterhand's Botanical Garden. RaftCove Productions. Retrieved 2007-07-11.
  10. ^ "00-HEAVEN: DIGITAL GOLDFINGER REISSUE IN UK THEATERS". Cinema Retro. Retrieved 2007-07-13.
  11. ^ "Goldfinger". Park Circus Films. Retrieved 2007-07-13.
  12. ^ "Explosive Decompression, Frog Giggin', Rear Axle". MythBusters. Season 1. Episode 10. January 18, 2004. {{cite episode}}: Unknown parameter |serieslink= ignored (|series-link= suggested) (help)
  13. ^ "Larry's Lawn Chair Balloon, Poppy Seed Drug Test, Goldfinger". MythBusters. Episode 3. March 7, 2003. {{cite episode}}: Unknown parameter |serieslink= ignored (|series-link= suggested) (help)
  14. ^ "Myths Revisited". MythBusters. Season 2. Episode 14. June 8, 2004. {{cite episode}}: Unknown parameter |serieslink= ignored (|series-link= suggested) (help)
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