GOLDFINGER.
One of the wealthiest men in
the world is Auric Goldfinger (GERT FROBE), whose ruthless greed for gold is exceeded only
by his disrespect for human life. When the British Secret Service learns that he is
probably responsible for a long-term depiction of England's gold reserves through
smuggling, Agent 007 (SEAN CONNERY) is assigned to investigate the secret empire of this
incredible man.
James Bond first encounters his quarry in the glamorous setting of Miami Beach, Florida, where Bond discovers that Goldfinger's greed extends to cheating at cards, using his attractive secretary, Jill Masterson (SHIRLEY EATON) as a confederate in his high-stake gambling. Bond, by uncovering Goldfinger's infallible method of winning, is responsible for the death of this affectionate girl, whom Goldfinger revengefully murders by painting her body with heavy gold paint.
Back in London. Bond learns the
history of Goldfinger's wealth from officials of the Bank of England, He decides to make a
direct approach to the man through his weakness for golf. Bond has the satisfaction of
beating Goldfinger through a trick and wins £5,000 in the process.
Following Goldfinger's Rolls Royce on a hurried flight to Switzerland. Bond notices
another car on the highway that is obviously trailing the eccentric millionaire. Bond
learns that it is driven by Tilly Masterson (TANIA MALLET), sister of the murdered girl,
Jill. Bond thwarts her attempt to kill Goldfinger at his stronghold in the Swiss Alps. In
a battle with the Korean guards, Tilly is killed by Goldfinger's strange man-servant, Odd
Job (HAROLD SAKATA). Captured by Odd-Job after a wild automobile chase, Bond finds himself
a prisoner of Goldfinger who, although he knows Bond's identity as a British agent, cannot
resist the temptation of boasting of the crowning achievement of his criminal career
the robbery of America's gold treasury at Fort Knox.
Drugged by Goldfinger's men, Bond awakes to find himself an airplane, flying across the Atlantic to America. He is the prisoner of an attractive young woman named Pussy Galore (HONOR BLACKMAN), pilot of Goldfinger's private plane. The plane lands hours later at the Kentucky breeding farm where Goldfinger is finalizing his plot for robbing Fort Knox.
With the help of Pussy, who comes to admire the handsome British agent, and with the pre-arranged help of his old friend, CIA Agent Felix Letter (CEC LINDER), Bond is able to overpower Goldfinger and his Korean thugs and to stop the incredible plot to rob America's entire gold reserve.
GOLDFINGER.GOLDFINGER. (A)
SEAN CONNERY HONOR BLACKMAN GERT FROBE
Director Guy Hamilton
Agent 007-James Bond, played by Sean Connery, is assigned to investigate the secret empire of Auric Goldfinger, one of the wealthiest men in the world, whose ruthless greed for gold is exceeded only by his disrespect for human life. The British government learns that he is probably responsible for a long-term depletion of England's gold reserves through smuggling. Bond becomes involved in a host of hair raising situations and meets the beautiful Pussy Galore, all of which culminates in a spectacular climax in the vaults of Fort Knox.
Colour 109 Minutes.
GOLDFINGER(1964 - d. Guy Hamilton). p.c. Eon Productions/United Artists. dist by Derann Films. 4x600 reels. 109 minutes. Colour.
A bird bobbing up and down on the sea turns out to be nothing more than a rubber decoy perched on the head of 007. Disposing of a beach guard, Bond breaks into a large storage tank where he places a quantity of plastic explosives. Outside he removes his rubber wet suit to reveal a white dinner jacket, complete with carnation. After attending a nearby nightclub where the flamenco dancer's routine is disturbed by several loud explosions, Bond visits the dancer's apartment where she is taking a bath. As she rises out of the water, Bond spots the reflection of an assailant in her eye, and, after a quick exchange of fisticuffs he eliminates him by tossing an electric heater into the bath, murmuring: 'Shocking, positively shocking! (Sound Sample 133k)
This pre-title sequence sets the tone for what many collectors consider the finest of the Bond movies - certainly I rank it with Dr No and From Russia with Loves the best of the Sean Connery series.
The plot
of From Russia with Love and Goldfinger
are more plausible than most, added to which, Goldfinger has a particularly good
supporting cast: Gert Frobe as Auric Goldfinger, Honor Blackman as Pussy Galore and Harold
Sakata as Oddjob are particularly effective. In addition there are a bevy of beautiful
girls including the lovely Shirley Eaton, who's unfortunate demise comes rather too soon
for my liking. The film is a bit of a romp and more tongue in cheek than its predecessors,
but the humour is finely balanced and not allowed to take over from the action sequences
(the fate of many later films). The car chase (at Goldfinger's Swiss base, used to smelt
down a Rolls Royce made of solid gold) is the prototype of many to come: Bond's Aston
Martin. equipped with machine guns, bullet-proof shields, smoke screens, oil slick
generators and ejector seat, sees off the opposition in grand, if outrageous style. It
might, on its original release have seemed (excuse the pun) a 'little over the top'; today
it is perfectly acceptable (and still exciting) compared to the rather ridiculous,
unconvincing exploits of later Bond adventures.
The
set designs are more realistic than in some of the later releases - the Fort Knox vault is
not only huge, but entirely convincing. Honor Blackman's Pussy Galore character gave the
producers some concern - they felt it might be cut by the censor (the alternative Kitty
Galore was considered). Publicity pictures. taken at a charity dance of Honor Blackman and
Prince Phillip appeared with the caption: 'Pussy and the Prince'! When nobody objected the
producers went ahead with the name, which was a great hit with audiences: Sean Connery's
pronunciation is delightful -"Pewsie".........!
There is never a dull moment; packed into it are entertaining
sequences like the golf game, the chase in Switzerland with the laser
between-the-legs-lip-biting-incident, Odd Job's trip to the car crusher, 007's encounter
with Pussy in the barn, the exciting raid on Fort Knox and the diving plane climax in
which Goldfinger attempts to nip Bond's career in the bud. So much for the 
content, what of the print
quality? Buck Motion Picture Labs, after much expensive rebuilding of their Peterson
printer (gone are those vertical streaks visible on some prints) have worked nothing short
of a miracle in producing Goldfinger. The existing available 16mm negatives were
in quite bad condition; two of them had to be combined to produce one useable version
requiring extensive re-grading before a print of uniform quality was possible. The
definition is good, though not outstanding and the colour is pleasing, if a little
subdued. The sound is first rate and the opening title music is guaranteed to send tingles
up your spine. Some wear can be seen here and there, and there are a couple of short
passages showing negative repairs. But so effective is the repair work and the masking
properties of Buck's total immersion wet gate printing that there is only very little
evidence of the poor negative condition. Many labs would have declared the negatives
unprintable and that would have been it: no release. Thanks to the efforts of David Buck
and his team (and Derek Simmonds persistence), we can thankfully enjoy this long awaited
film. Having been warned of the state of the negative being used, may I suggest that if you
are considering this release that you consider it sooner, rather than later, as the time
will come when the lab will have to say: 'that's it - no more prints!'. My advise is to
snap it up while the going is good. Give up your summer holiday (don't quote me to your
wives!) and buy this instead. It has got to be more entertaining than those boring old
holiday slides! Quite definitely recommended.
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Distributed by: Derann
Films. I have this film in my collection my rating: Picture Being a James Bond fan, Goldfinger is one of my favourite films. Not too many gadgets, just the right amount of humour from Connery. All in all an excellent release. |
The above review was printed in If you can only use 1200ft reels a little re-cutting of reel two
& three makes a natural break for the reel changes. |
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This page was last updated 02 Dec 2002
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