**YOU ARE NOW ENTERING SPOILERTOWN**
Plot: Goldfinger wants to raid Fort Knox and irradiate the gold inside with a dirty bomb so his own gold holdings increase in value.
Foiled by: Bond gets Pussy to realize AG is going to kill thousands of people, so she switches the gas canisters and calls the Army.
Intriguing Setting(s): Miami | Switzerland | Fort Knox
Bond: Sean Connery
Villain(s):
- Auric Goldfinger – “No Mr. Bond, I expect you to die!”
- Oddjob – the hat-throwing beheader that inspired Random Task of Austin Powers.
Bond Girl(s):
- Pussy Galore – The name says it all
- Jill Masterson – While one of the briefest to grace the screen, she left the most lasting image (she’s the one painted gold)
HL’s Hot Take: I really do love this one, and it is easily my favorite pre-Dalton Bond. The evil plot twist (he’s not stealing the gold! He’s nuking it!) is solid even if the Army-playing-dead thing is ridiculous.
Head Librarian Rank: 4/24
Critical Rank: 1/24
TRIVIA SECTION!
Odds & Ends:
- Despite a budget equal to the first two films put together, this first true blockbuster in the franchise recouped those costs in record time.
- First time a “laser” was used in a Bond film, still a novelty in 1964.
- Producers originally wanted Orson Welles to play Goldfinger, but couldn’t afford him.
6 Degrees Cameos: Goldfinger (Gert Frobe) plays Baron Bomburst in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang which is based on the novel by, you guessed it, Ian Fleming.
Gadgets: The car has most of them, including an oil slick, an ejector seat and machine guns.
Cars: The ubiquitous Aston Martin DB5
Awards: Oscar Winner! – Best Sound Effects making it first Bond film to be nominated or win an Academy Award
Release Order: 3/25 (1964)