Goldfinger

Goldfinger
280px
Caption:	Goldfinger movie poster
Bond:	Sean Connery
Writer:	Ian Fleming
Screenplay:	Richard Maibaum, Paul Dehn
Director:	Guy Hamilton
Music:	John Barry

Composer:	John Barry Leslie Bricusse Anthony Newley
Performer:	Shirley Bassey
Distributor:	United Artists
Released:	December 22, 1964
Runtime:	112 min.
Preceded by:	From Russia with Love
Followed by:	Thunderball
Budget:	$3,500,000
Worldgross:	$124,900,000
Admissions:	130.1 million
Imdb id:	0058150

Goldfinger is the third film in the EON Productions James Bond series, and the third to star Sean Connery as British Secret Service agent, Commander James Bond 007. Released in September, 1964, the film was produced by Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman, and was the first of four to be directed by Guy Hamilton.

The film is one of the most critically acclaimed of all the James Bond films; for many, critics and fans alike, Goldfinger set the blueprint, the character archetypes, and the standard that the rest of the films of the series would follow.

In 1965 Norman Wanstall received an Academy Award for Sound Editing for work on the film. The American Film Institute has also honoured the film four times ranking it #90 for best movie quote ("A martini. Shaken, not stirred."), #53 for best song ("Goldfinger"), #49 for best villain, and #71 for most thrilling film.

Goldfinger was the first James Bond film to be shown on U.S. television, which occurred on September 17, 1972 on ABC. At the time, it garnered the highest Nielsen Ratings of any film broadcast on television with 49% of all viewers.

Plot summary

In the pre-title sequence, Bond destroys the base of a drug lord with plastic explosives, and defeats a thug in a bathroom brawl (electrocuting him in a bathtub with an impromptu lamp-toss, in a foreshadowing of Oddjob's demise). The film proper begins in Miami with Felix Leiter contacting Bond with a message from M to watch Auric Goldfinger. Bond foils Goldfinger's scheme to cheat at gin, by distracting a girl, Jill Masterson, who is watching the card game through a pair of binoculars and reporting to Goldfinger his opponent's cards. After foiling Goldfinger and forcing him to lose, Bond and Jill consummate their newfound relationship. Afterwards, as Bond goes into the kitchen to get some fresh champagne, he is knocked unconscious by a neck chop from Goldfinger's Korean henchman, Oddjob. When Bond regains consciousness, he discovers that Jill has been covered with gold paint and has died of epidermal suffocation.

Later in London, Bond finds out that his real mission is in fact to determine (at the request of the Bank of England) how Goldfinger (a jeweler and international businessman) is shipping his gold between countries, and determine if he is doing it illegally. Bond meets Goldfinger socially on a golf course (it is unclear at the time if Goldfinger knows of Bond's role in his cardgame loss). Bond plays a high-stakes round of golf with Goldfinger, with Oddjob caddying, luring him with the prospect of obtaining a rare Nazi gold bar from World War II. Goldfinger cheats and is caught by Bond. Instead of calling him out, Bond allows this to continue, but switches Goldfinger's ball and forces Goldfinger to lose, as they are playing strict rules of golf. After settling the bet, Goldfinger gives Bond a warning (letting him know he recognizes him), and having Oddjob throw his lethal steel top hat to decapitate a statue. When Bond wonders about damage to golf club property, Goldfinger notes that he owns the club.

Bond installs a homing device on Goldfinger's automobile and follows him to Switzerland. While there, he meets Tilly Masterson, Jill's sister. Tilly tries to shoot Goldfinger with a sniper rifle, almost hitting Bond instead. As Tilly attempts to flee the scene in her Ford Mustang, Bond slashes her tires with a spike that extends from his Aston Martin DB5 wheel hub. Bond subsequently gives her a ride to a service station.

Later that night, Bond reconnoiters Goldfinger's plant. He learns that Goldfinger has foundry capability and is casting parts of his Rolls-Royce in 18 kt. gold (explained as white gold in the novel) and using the car to smuggle the gold. He also overhears Goldfinger talking to a Chinese agent about Operation Grandslam. While there, he comes upon Tilly trying to shoot Goldfinger again and accidentally triggers an alarm. During their attempted escape (in which most of the special features of the Aston Martin DB5 are employed), Bond is captured. Tilly is killed by Oddjob with the metal hat.

Following is arguably the most famous scene in this film and in any Bond film: Bond is secured to a golden table underneath an enormous laser, the beam from which is slicing the metal table in half very slowly, between Bond's legs, and which will soon intersect Bond's crotch. Goldfinger explains the laser, a novelty at that time (Goldfinger admits enjoying lecturing people he is about to kill; this will also work as a plot device in the Grandslam briefing). Without interrogating Bond, Goldfinger sentences 007 to death by laser. "Choose your next witticism carefully, Mr. Bond; it may be your last."

:Bond: "Do you expect me to talk?"
:Goldfinger: "No, Mr. Bond! I expect you to die."

This scene differs from the corresponding scene in the novel: Goldfinger, using a buzz saw in what is known as "the pressure room", spares Bond's life, not because he claimed knowledge of Goldfinger's plan, but in acceptance of Bond's offer to work for him. In the movie, Goldfinger temporarily puts Bond's execution on hold, after being convinced that Bond is being watched, and his disappearance or death will trigger involvement in the case of a new "00" agent. By his use of the term "Operation Grandslam," Bond also manages to bluff Goldfinger about his knowledge of Goldfinger's plans.

File:GertFrobe007.jpg

Gert Fröbe as the film's titular character Auric Goldfinger. Note that since Goldfinger is here impersonating a U.S. Army Major General in his last scene, this is one of the few scenes in which he is not wearing a yellow or golden item of clothing (save for the stars, of course). He does, however, carry a golden revolver.

Later, Bond is put "on ice." He wakes aboard Goldfinger's private jet, a Lockheed JetStar, piloted by Goldfinger's personal pilot, Pussy Galore. She informs Bond that they are flying to Baltimore en route to Goldfinger's ranch in Kentucky, near Fort Knox. At one point she holds a pistol on Bond after mentioning that they are flying at 35,000 feet (10700 m), and Bond lectures her about a .45 bullet through an airplane hole causing explosive decompression and passengers "sucked into outer space." Bond manages to activate a homing device in the heel of his shoe. Felix Leiter picks up the homer's signal and informs M of Bond's whereabouts.

After they land, Bond is taken to Goldfinger's Kentucky stud farm. Goldfinger is holding a meeting with the representatives of several U.S. mob families, who have delivered the materials he needs. Bond is taken to a cell, but manages to disable his guard and escape. He eavesdrops on Goldfinger's mob meeting, finding out that Goldfinger intends to spray the troops guarding Fort Knox with nerve gas, then (supposedly) rob the gold depository. After the lecture, Goldfinger kills the mobsters with the nerve gas (a memorable scene includes one early-leaving mobster's body left inside a car reduced to a metal cube by a giant automobile wrecking compactor). As for Bond, he is captured by Galore and returned to his cell with multiple guards ordered to keep him under constant watch.

Later, Bond discusses the details of Operation Grandslam with Goldfinger. Bond notes that given the weight of the gold, and even if the entire garrison of the fort is killed as planned, Goldfinger would still need a small army, 500 trucks and a week's time to remove the gold from the fort; in the meantime, the U.S. military would learn of the attack and move to stop the theft within two hours. Goldfinger informs Bond that he does not intend to remove the gold, but instead he plans something he considers much more feasible: raid the fort just long enough to place an atomic bomb, supplied by the Chinese government, in the fort's main storage vault. The resulting blast would irradiate the entire gold supply of the United States, rendering it useless for 58 years and multiplying the value of Goldfinger's own supply by at least ten times. As a side-effect, the entire economy of the Western world will be disrupted.

File:Gold8.jpg

Pussy Galore's Squadron / Goldfinger.

As the operation begins the next day, Pussy's squadron of female pilots sprays the area around Fort Knox, seemingly killing thousands of soldiers as well as Felix. Actually, Bond had seduced Pussy Galore, leading her to contact Leiter, who substitutes a harmless gas; the soldiers faked their deaths. (Ms. Galore had been told by Goldfinger that it was sleeping gas, not nerve gas, so she hadn't been planning mass murder anyway.) Goldfinger and his men blow up the main gate with a Bangalore torpedo and use the laser to break into the vault building, where Goldfinger has Bond handcuffed to the bomb. Outside, the U.S. Army "revives" and engages Goldfinger's forces in a fierce gun battle. During the battle, Goldfinger manages to escape by impersonating an army officer. Bond battles and kills Oddjob in the vault (the unique metal hat finally and appropriately settles Oddjob's fate, by acting as an electrical conductor to kill him.) As Bond tries vainly to deactivate the bomb, an expert enters the vault with Leiter and switches off the bomb, with seven seconds to spare (the indicator shows 007).

Afterwards, Bond is honored with a personal meeting with the President of the United States, but during the flight back in a business jet (again a Lockheed JetStar, but painted differently), finds out that Goldfinger has hijacked the plane and is planning to fly to Cuba. After a struggle onboard, Goldfinger's pistol is fired, breaking the window, and Goldfinger is subsequently sucked out of the plane. The plane then crashes, but Bond and Pussy Galore, who was piloting, manage to parachute out in time and land on a tropical beach.

Cast

The women of Goldfinger

Picture	Name	Actress
100px	Pussy Galore	Honor Blackman	The lead Bond girl of Goldfinger. Ms. Galore is Auric Goldfinger's personal pilot, and she is also a leader of a troupe of female pilots called Pussy Galore's Flying Circus. The risque nature of her name had producers considering changing her name to Kitty Galore. Although the public took the pun of the name with little controversy, her name, incidentally is not mentioned in the movie's trading cards and several other toys tied in with the movie. Pussy set a tradition of Bond females with sexually suggestive names.
100px	Jill Masterson	Shirley Eaton	In the novel, Jill's last name was Masterton. She dies "offscreen" rather than on. The picture of her golden corpse remains one of the series' most indelible images, and she virtually became the symbol of the film. Jill has the honor of the being the first of a long line of female sacrificial lambs in the Bond films.
100px	Tilly Masterson	Tania Mallet	The revenge seeking Tilly Masterson, in the novel, was revealed to be a lesbian who had an attraction toward Pussy Galore. In the book, she survived a lot longer, up to the raid on Fort Knox. In both book and film, Tilly was killed by Oddjob's flying hat. Like her sister Jill, Tilly is among a long line of short-lived Bond girls.
100px	Dink	Margaret Nolan	Model Margaret Nolan was tested for the part of Jill Masterson before the producers found Shirley Eaton. So Nolan ended up with the bit part of Dink, Bond's masseuse. Despite her brief role in the film, it is Nolan who is the golden girl, not Shirley Eaton, on the film's advertisements, posters, title sequence and end credits.
100px	Bonita	Nadja Regin	Serbian-born actress Nadja Regin made her second appearance in a James Bond film as the flamenco dancer Bonita, who was to lure Bond into a trap where he would be killed. Regin had previously appeared in From Russia With Love as Kerim Bey's mistress.

Crew

Directed by: Guy Hamilton
Written by: Ian Fleming
Screenplay by: Richard Maibaum, Paul Dehn
Produced by: Albert R. Broccoli, Harry Saltzman
Music composed by: John Barry
Film editing by: Peter R. Hunt
Cinematography by: Ted Moore
Production design by Ken Adam

Soundtrack

Goldfinger is the first of three James Bond films with a theme song sung by Shirley Bassey. Though she only performed three out of the many Bond film theme songs, her strong, brassy style became a Bond theme trademark. "Goldfinger" was written by John Barry and Anthony Newley. The theme was originally recorded by Newley, but was rerecorded with Bassey for the film and the soundtrack. Newley's version was later released in 1992 as part of the 30th Anniversary of James Bond on film in the compilation collectors edition The Best of Bond...James Bond. Bassey's theme sold over a million copies in the United States awarding her a Gold album. In the United Kingdom the theme reached number 21 on the charts.

The film's soundtrack was composed by John Barry, marking this as his second credited James Bond film soundtrack. The last four tracks were not released on the original soundtrack and were first released on the 30th Anniversary compilation, The Best of Bond...James Bond. They were also later released on the remastered Goldfinger soundtrack in 2003.

Track listing

"Goldfinger" - Shirley Bassey
"Into Miami"
"Alpine Drive / Auric's Factory"
"Oddjob's Pressing Engagement"
"Bond Back in Action Again"
"Teasing The Korean"
"Gassing The Gangsters"
"Goldfinger" - (instrumental version)
"Dawn Raid on Fort Knox"
"The Arrival of the Bomb and Count Down"
"Death Of Goldfinger, The End Titles"
"Golden Girl"
"Death Of Tilly"
"The Laser Beam"
"Pussy Galore's Flying Circus"

Vehicles and gadgets

Main article List of James Bond gadgets

Aston Martin DB5

Aston Martin DB5 - The most famous of James Bond's company cars. It was his first company car in the films, and is equipped with all of Q Branch's usual refinements (carried from adventure to adventure), including bulletproof front and rear wind screens, oil slick dispenser, smoke screen burner, front wing machine guns, rotating licence plates and, most famously, passenger ejector seat (which would again be used in Die Another Day, but in an Aston Martin V12 Vanquish). While being the most recognised Bond car, it's actually only appeared in four Bond films: Goldfinger and Thunderball starring Sean Connery, and GoldenEye and Tomorrow Never Dies starring Pierce Brosnan (not counting his The World is Not Enough, where all the car's scenes bar a thermal satellite image were cut). The silver-grey DB5 would also be driven by George Lazenby in the 1983 made-for-TV film The Return of the Man from U.N.C.L.E.: The Fifteen Years Later Affair and by Roger Moore in the 1981 spoof The Cannonball Run. And it makes a return appearance in Casino Royale (2006) starring Daniel Craig. This makes Timothy Dalton the only official Bond actor who has yet to be shown driving the DB5.
The wetsuit that doesn't wet. In 1964 there existed "dry suits" which a diver could wear which would not allow water into the suit (for very cold water dives), but a dry suit is always distinguished by its rubber neck-seal, which the diver must poke a head through. No drysuit simply zips all the way to the neck, as Bond's wetsuit does. However, Bond's perfect white tuxedo is none the worse from water in the famous opening sequence of the film, despite a cover-suit which would be very hyperthermic out of water, if it worked. The nonwetting wetsuit in this film is half-way between "gadget" and "technical mistake."
The Tilly Masterson character drives the then all-new Ford Mustang in a duel with the gadget-laden Aston.
Oddjob's steel-rimmed top hat, thrown in the movie notably like a Frisbee (a toy that had debued in name in 1958). This is a steel-rimmed bowler hat in the novel.
Goldfinger rides in a 1937 Rolls-Royce Phantom III, which has become famous in its own right from appearance in the film. The license plate (AU 1) includes the "Au" letters which are the chemical symbol for gold. The expiration sticker is for "AUG 64", another reference to gold (and the year of the film).
Homer - Bond is issued two homing devices by Q Branch. The first, the larger, is used by Bond to track the villain's Rolls-Royce automobile to his base. The second is the smaller and allows MI6 to track Bond's whereabouts; it is hidden in the secret compartment in the heel of one shoe. He later slips it onto the person of Mr. Solo who is taking his leave of Goldfinger's Fort Knox scheme; Bond hopes MI6 can then follow and capture Solo and question him about where he got the device. Unfortunately, the tracer is destroyed when Solo is murdered and his body crushed in a car-crusher along with the car he was in.
The car-ferry airplane is an Aviation Traders Carvair, an aircraft that was built for transporting automobiles and well-off passengers. Only 21 Carvairs were ever built and therefore it is relatively unknown. Modern viewers may not be surprised at this airplane, which may superficially appear from the nose-bulge to be the well-known 747. However the 747 was not conceived until 1965, and did not fly commercially until 1970. [1]
Goldfinger's "private" jet. The first Lear Jet was still unsold when this film was released, and the Lockheed JetStar used in the movie as both Goldfinger's jet and the government's jet, was still very new, so the idea of a business jet or private jet was quite novel in 1964.
The giant laser. Lasers did not exist in 1959 when the book was written, and they were a novelty in 1964 in the movie; this may be the first film appearance of the device (it is even referred to as an "industrial laser", which surely did not exist yet in 1964). The Bond set uses a scaled-up prop which visually suggests the original 1960 Theodore H. Maiman ruby-crystal laser, complete with coiled external flashlamp (see laser for history), and the beam is red. However, in the movie the laser beam is continuous, which is never the case with the 1960 flashlamp design. Reportedly the film prop actually used a low-powered helium-neon continuous beam gas laser, but the beam didn't show on the film, so it had to be added as an optical special effect. The effect on the table is simulated by a welder cutting through it from below with an oxyacetylene torch.
The Chinese bomb. China was known to be working to become a nuclear power in the early 1960s, despite withdrawal of all Soviet assistance in 1960. However, China did not explode its first nuclear weapon until October, 1964 (see 596 (nuclear test)), which was after this film's screenplay and release (September 17 1964). Thus, the Chinese bomb, like the industrial laser, is a soon-expected but not-yet-realized device, in this film.

Locations

Film locations

Miami, Florida
London, England
Stoke Poges Golf Club, Buckinghamshire, England
Geneva, Switzerland
Fort Knox, Kentucky
Baltimore, Maryland
Washington, DC

Shooting locations

Pilatus Aircraft Factory, Stans and Furka pass (compare the pictures on [2])

Awards

Year	Result	Award	Recipients
1965	Won	Academy Award for Sound Editing	Norman Wanstall
1965	Nominated	Grammy Award for Best Score for a Motion Picture	John Barry
1965	Nominated	BAFTA for Best British Art Direction	Ken Adam

Miscellanea

File:007Connery.jpg

Sean Connery in Goldfinger Promotional photo.

The villain's name was borrowed from Fleming's neighbor, architect Ernő Goldfinger, and his character bears some resemblance. Erno Goldfinger consulted his lawyers when the book was published, prompting Fleming to suggest renaming the character "Goldprick", but eventually settled out of court in return for his costs, six copies of the book, and an agreement that the characters' first name Auric would always be used.

Goldfinger is typically a German-Jewish name, and the protagonists of the novel Goldfinger know this, but neither Bond nor Du Pont think Goldfinger is Jewish. Instead Bond pegs the red-haired blue-eyed man as a Balt, and indeed Goldfinger proves to be an expatriate Latvian.

In the film, Goldfinger’s ethnicity is moved to Teutonic, with Gert Fröbe's heavy German accent (which eventually required dubbing) and dyed red-blond hair. Fröbe was chosen for the villain's role because producers Saltzman and Broccoli had happened to see his performance in a German thriller named 'Es geschah am hellichten Tag' ('It happened in broad daylight', 1958), which is based on the story Das Versprechen (literally The Pledge) by Friedrich Dürrenmatt. In that movie, Fröbe performed the role of a psychopathic serial killer named Schrott, who lets out his frustrations about his overly dominating wife on helpless children. Broccoli and Saltzman had watched the movie and decided to get this 'big bad German' for the role. In the film, a new Goldfinger fascination with Nazi gold history is revealed when he is tempted by Bond into betting high stakes against a lost historical Nazi bar of gold, something that doesn’t happen in the novel (the game there is for a mere large amount of cash).

All of this didn't help when the film was temporarily banned in Israel due to Gert Fröbe's connections with the actual 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.

The novel identifies Goldfinger as a SMERSH operative; this detail was left out in the film.

Ian Fleming wrote the novel on which the movie Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is based, and there are many connections between the films (see "The Bond Connection" in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang). These include the use of Gert Fröbe in both films, and the fact that both movies feature techno-magical cars.

In the novel, Goldfinger has a yellow-jacketed pornographic book and gold-painted prostitutes, golden food and drink, a yellow-painted car, a blonde secretary, and even a ginger-colored cat (which is eaten by Oddjob for dinner after Bond uses it in a ruse). He employs Korean servants who are repeatedly referred to as "yellow-faced." The film keeps the color of auto and secretary’s hair, but not the insensitive material (although Oddjob and many henchmen remain Korean). In compensation, the film adds many similar motifs, by giving Goldfinger himself red-blonde hair, and all other Goldfinger female henchmen (henchwomen?) in the film are red-blonde or blonde (including all of Pussy’s crew) save Goldfinger's Asian personal jet plane stewardess (both Tilly and Pussy have black hair in the novel). Goldfinger also sports yellow or golden items of clothing in every film scene, including a golden pistol when disguised as a Major General. Goldfinger's factory henchmen all wear yellow sashes, Pussy wears a gold vest, and Pussy's crew wear yellow sunburst stars. A bit of Goldfinger's homage to gold ("I love its color, its brilliance, its divine heaviness.") is one of few dialogue lines from the novel to be kept relatively intact in the film.

Ian Fleming himself liked the color of gold enough to own a gold-plated typewriter, on which he wrote some Bond novels. In the mid-1990s this machine was purchased by the 5th official Bond actor, Pierce Brosnan, in Jamaica.[3]

The gold-painted girl in the opening credits is actually Margaret Nolan, who also plays Bond's Miami masseuse, Dink.

Theodore Bikel, who played Capt. Von Trapp in the original Broadway version of The Sound of Music, screen-tested for the role of Goldfinger.

Scenes from the film are shown during the opening credits sequence, although footage from the helicopter chase in From Russia with Love and the explosion on Crab Key from Dr No are also featured. This is also the first opening credit sequence to show the face of the actor playing James Bond; this would not happen again until The Spy Who Loved Me.

For an unknown reason Jill and Tilly's surname was changed from Masterton to Masterson for the film.

Sean Connery never traveled to the United States to film this movie. Every scene where Bond is in America was shot at Pinewood Studios in London. The scene where Bond flicks the lightswitch down to turn on his apartment light in discovering the dead golden Jill, is due to use of an English-style lightswitch on an English soundstage.

The film's opening teaser sequence is based on the novel's opening where Bond is in the Miami Airport lounge thinking about the recent killing of a drug smuggler.

The iconic slow aerial shot that follows the opening credits is that of the Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami Beach, which still stands. The big band piece accompanying the shot is John Barry's "Into Miami."

The golf club scene was shot at Stoke Poges Golf Club in Buckinghamshire. When Oddjob decapitates the statue, the statue's head falls onto its arm causing it to move and miraculously reposition. Later, when Bond switches on his car's radar scanner, the Golf Club's actual location is correctly show on the screen.

Concerned about censors, the film's producers thought about changing Pussy Galore's name to "Kitty Galore". 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 Amazonian lesbian acrobats (called "abrocats") in the novel, but the connection and the other complications did not survive to the screen adaptation.

Ian Fleming also contributed to the original draft screenplay for The Man from U.N.C.L.E. television series, in which one of the heroes was named "Napoleon Solo". That name originally came from the novel: Napoleon Solo is one of the crime bosses Goldfinger invites to participate in his scheme to steal the gold from Fort Knox. However, the character appearing in the film is a gangster referred to only as "Mr. Solo" (coincidentally "Mr. Solo" was a working title for The Man from U.N.C.L.E.); he exits the story due to "a pressing engagement." In the film he is shot in his car and taken to a junkyard and crushed in a car compactor.

Ford Motor Company supplied the 1964 model Lincoln Continental for the compactor scene (creating much anguish for American audiences), in return for film's showcasing of the all-new Ford Mustang in the Swiss mountain driving sequence. However astute viewers may note that this auto's hubcaps have switched to 1963 Continental hubcaps in the crush sequence (the V8 engine of the 63 Lincoln was also removed). During the crushing of the car the crew remained totally silent in awe of what they were doing.

In order to simulate the sound of crumpling metal in compactor, sound effects editor Norman Wanstall used the noise of crumpling beer cans. The film has the compactor car-cube returned to Goldfinger so he can "separate" his gold from the "late Mr. Solo." Oddjob has a pickup truck (a 1964 Ford Falcon Ranchero) available to remove the compacted cube, so there is a plan to return the cube to Goldfinger. There, Goldfinger tells Bond he must now separate his gold from the late Mr. Solo, but this scene's purpose appears to be to give Bond a chance to pun on Solo's "pressing engagement." The audience is not supposed to notice that Goldfinger could have saved himself the whole problem, by simply having Oddjob remove the briefcase of gold bullion before the car is crushed. (Note the gold weight is ignored here as well: it would be possible to carry $1 million in gold bullion in a suitcase at today's prices, but wouldn't have been possible, even for Oddjob, at any exchange rate from 1964).

In the end sequence, when the atomic bomb is defused, the original ending countdown shown was "003" seconds remaining to detonation. When the film was released in the U.S., the producers changed it to 007 seconds, but the dialogue line remained: "Three more ticks and Mr. Goldfinger would have hit the jackpot". Of course, the timer actually clicked more than once per real-time second, so it could have actually been around three more seconds to detonation.

For security reasons, the filmmakers were not allowed to film inside Fort Knox. All sets for the interior of Fort Knox were designed and built from scratch. However, a letter from a real-life Fort Knox controller complimented Ken Adam and the production team on their vivid imaginations.

The 3D map Goldfinger used during his mission briefing is now on display at Fort Knox.

Script co-writer Paul Dehn would later be hired to write most of the entries in the Planet of the Apes film franchise, in part due to his work on Goldfinger.

Fleming visited the set of Goldfinger, but died in 1964 shortly before it was released, so he never saw the film.

Myths

Although James Bond films are not known for their technical accuracy, but rather for outlandishly plausible action, two incidents in this film bear special examination: skin asphyxiation, and bullet-induced airplane explosive decompression.

Asphyxiation argument

File:LifeGoldfinger.jpg

Life cover : Goldfinger

In one scene, the villain's girlfriend, Jill Masterson, is murdered by "skin suffocation." She is painted with gold paint and died, because her skin is unable to breathe. According to urban legend, the concept was based on the death of a Swiss fashion model who painted herself and asphyxiated. Another urban legend in Europe involved Italian children who were painted gold as part of a religious parade, and died.

Though this is a plausible explanation for this unusual method of killing, it has been argued whether or not it is possible. Humans, being mammals, achieve respiration via their mouths and nostrils to fill their lungs with air. The only animals that breathe through their skin are amphibians, insects and worms. In fact, were it true that people breathe, in auxiliary fashion, through their skin, it would, therefore, be impossible for people to engage in extended bathing, mud baths, scuba diving and, indeed, body painting - activities requiring extended covering of the skin. If one did try murder via gilding, the victim would die of heat stroke, but only after a long period and not in the manner shown in the movie. The gold paint would clog the pores and prevent perspiration, rendering the body unable to properly regulate its temperature. Dying in this fashion, however, would take several days and is a very inefficient manner of killing.

The Discovery Channel series, MythBusters has twice attempted to prove or disprove whether skin suffocation due to paint was possible. In both experiments one of the hosts of the series was covered head-to-toe in gold paint. The first experiment was called off when the subject began experiencing breathing and blood pressure problems. In a follow-up experiment, a different subject was covered but this time showed no ill effects [4].

A different urban myth (similar to the permanent marker myth) is that there is (or was) a chemical in metallic paints that is toxic and can be somehow absorbed through the skin, causing illness and eventual death; this has yet to be proven, but it may be plausible. A third myth is that painting your skin will not kill you, but it will cause skin problems if you don't wash the paint off properly; this may also be plausible.

Explosive decompression airplane window argument

In a 2003 episode of Discovery Channel's MythBusters, the mythbusters attempted to recreate a scene in several movies (including Goldfinger) in which a window in a jet at high altitude is broken by a bullet, resulting in a passenger being sucked through the window hole by the force of the decompression. The popular idea that this was a realistic possibility almost certainly dates from the Goldfinger book and film (Bond in the film claims a .45 bullet fired at 35,000 feet will cause people to be sucked into "outer space"), and it had settled into the national consciousness firmly enough to be mentioned in the 1970 film Airport (where a character tells of seeing this happen).

MythBusters' attempted a recreation of the phenomenon by over-pressurizing a commercial airliner sitting on the ground to a differential of 8 p.s.i. (the normal pressure difference between inside and outside a commercial airliner at cruising altitude), then firing a handgun at the window. They were unable to re-create any kind of window blowout or sudden cabin decompression, using a firearm (instead, a small hole merely appeared in the plastic). Even when explosives were used to blow a window out entirely, a dummy passenger near the window stayed in the cabin. A claim was later made by the MythBusters team in a Skeptic Magazine interview, that the U.S. government had sought data from this particular segment, since federal agencies and their contractors had been seriously contemplating the same sort of tests, in relation to its armed sky-marshal program, after the events of the September 11, 2001 attacks. Fortunately, today's airliner windows apparently do not behave in the same way as the window in the Lockheed JetStar used to represent a jet at 35,000 ft in the film.

Technical and shooting mistakes and bloopers

Quite apart from the major plausability arguments, a list of technical mistakes and scene shooting bloopers is given at www.mi6.co.uk.

As an example of a technical problem, the 5500+ lb 1964 Lincoln Continental (not including the gold still in the trunk) would still weigh the same after being compacted, and could not possibly be transported in Oddjob's Ford Ranchero pickup, with a maximum carry weight of 1000 lbs.

External links

The James Bond films

Unofficial films
Casino Royale (1954 TV) | Casino Royale (1967 spoof) | Never Say Never Again