Probably the best of the gadget-filled 007 extravaganzas, GOLDFINGER represents the consolidation of the wildly profitable Bond formula. For the first time, the well-loved conventions of the series are all in place, and they jell perfectly--perhaps for the last time.
This third Bond movie pits the hero (Sean Connery) against one of his more memorable adversaries, Goldfinger (Gert Frobe), a gold-hoarding, power-hungry maniac who plans to detonate a small atomic device inside Fort Knox, contaminating its huge gold supply with deadly radiation and making him the
richest man in the world. Bond's attempts to foil Goldfinger's plans take him from Miami to Europe to Kentucky and force him to confront Goldfinger's hare-lipped Korean assistant, Oddjob (Harold Sakata), who kills his victims with a razor-edged bowler hat. Bond also battles and eventually woos
martial arts expert and pilot Pussy Galore (Honor Blackman, who abandoned her spot on the highly successful television series "The Avengers" for this role).
GOLDFINGER contains more crowd-pleasing moments than any other Bond film, including Oddjob's flying bowler, a laser beam that almost emasculates Bond, the lavishly accessorized Aston Martin DB5, and the bizarre murder of Goldfinger's secretary (Shirley Eaton): she's gilded to death. It also
features Shirley Bassey's terrific rendition of the Leslie Bricusse-Anthony Newley title song. Much credit is due director Guy Hamilton, who was able to juggle all the gadgets, wild characters, and strange locations long enough to produce a perfectly balanced, entertaining film that stands on its
own. Later Bond films were to rely too heavily on campy one-liners, expensive sets, and gimmicky effects. leave a comment
