Goldfinger (1964)

Genre

Action | Thriller

Director

Guy Hamilton

Country

UK

Cast

Sean Connery, Honor Blackman, Gert Fröbe, Shirley Eaton, Harold Sakata Tania Mallet, Bernard Lee, Cec Linder, Martin Benson, Desmond Llewelyn, Lois Maxwell, Austin Willis, Michael Mellinger, Burt Kwouk, Richard Vernon, Margaret Nolan, Gerry Duggan

Storyline

James Bond (Sean Connery) is back and finds himself investigating Auric Goldfinger (Gert Fröbe), a gold dealer planning to raid Fort Knox and obliterate the world economy.

Opinion

Third chapter of the saga following James Bond's adventures, and less serious than its predecessors, "Goldfinger" is a tremendous spy film that entertains on every level.

The film offers a quite original, and engaging story that - thanks to Guy Hamilton's solid direction - finds the perfect balance between action, suspense, humour and cynicism. Despite the story being great, the character are even better. While Mr. Goldfinger is a rather convincing villain, his right hand man Oddjob is mesmerizing, and, accompliced by his deadly hat, he gives Bond a really hard time. Truly memorable is the unrealistic name of the Bond Girl, Pussy Galore. How can someone forget that!

The 007 formula still works, but the gadgets begins to be a little unrealistic and exaggerated. The Aston Martin DB5 is indeed superb, and I dare anyone to say otherwise, but I liked the super-equipped briefcase better.

Like the other entries in the series so far, this film also has several memorable scenes: from the iconic sequence with James Bond wearing a suit under the wetsuit, to the gold match between James and Mr. Goldfinger, to the famous torture scene, to the fight between Bond and Oddjob.

Charming and ironic as usual, in his third go around as James Bond, Sean Connery keeps on doing a great job. Weird to say it but German actor Gert Fröbe was the perfect casting for Goldfinger, even though he barely spoke English and his voice was dubbed. Honor Blackman does a good job as Pussy Galore, who despite her name is probably the most intriguing of all Bond girl as she's not the typical Bond girl. It's a shame she didn't get more screen time.

Memorable Quotes

James Bond: Do you expect me to talk?

Auric Goldfinger: No, Mr. Bond, I expect you to die!