Agente 007 - Missione Goldfinger

Could anyone not recognise that line today...and still be clinically alive?

You hear talk about a "hit movie" today...what's that? "xXx" ??? (which itself owes its total existence to this film!) No my friends, "Success" is queuing up down the street to watch a film screening two sessions ahead. GOLDFINGER was such an enormous hit in '64 nothing much else mattered but THE BEATLES and seeing Connery do his thing! and let me add, NO-ONE has ever done the James Bond thing better...as Vin Diesel himself readily admits.

GOLDFINGER was everything that James Bond, action movies and escapism in general ever COULD amount to. Dated it may be, laughable back-projections yes! outrageous jump-suits and hair-styles....but still no one has come up with a better Bond film - and God they've had 18 stabs at it! PLUS a few ring-ins. (CASINO ROYALE, NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN) Much of the credit for this fantastic film must go to the (then) new Bond Director Guy Hamilton, who ushered-in here an acknowledgment that Bond must grow and develop as a character and the ability to be able to send both himself and the series up via some smart dialog. How they ever managed to get away with the name "Pussy Galore" on screen, still staggers me!

The gadgets hit a new high with this third outing which at the box office that year blew most everything else off the screen. At the London theater premiere, they had the famous Aston Martin actually there in the foyer...and you people think the latest Holden Commodore has some meaning???? Gimmee a break guys! Its taken them forty years to make publically available the satellite tracking system used here. THAT'S how far ahead of its time it was!

Was this packed with memorable dialog too? "This is GOLD Mr Bond!" "Lovely sport!" "Oh, he had a pressing engagement," "You don't look like the sort of girl should be ditched!" and the quintessential "I never joke about my work 007" Gert Frobe's villainous Goldfinger has never been improved upon and Harold Sakata's bad-guy Oddjob simply never equalled.

GOLDFINGER had everything. It stands as perhaps THE icon of 60's movie-making and for those lucky enough to have been around then, it remains the most beloved of nostalgic revisitations.

Almost sublime - this James Bond film had it all, from adventure to romance to thrills. It starts with a shocking electrocution and then into the classic saucy gold credits before the scene is set with Goldfinger himself.

Bond, played by dashing Sean Connery for the third time, has to find out what unpleasant gold-smuggling chap named Auric Goldfinger is up to and put a stop to it. He tracks him down first to Geneva then Kentucky in a sparkling sequence of adventures, occasionally involving bumping into Goldfinger's memorable Korean hatchet-man Oddjob with the odd hat. Favourite bits from so many: short-lived girlfriend Shirley Eaton going for gold; polished Bond being dismissive of the brandy at the Bank Of England much to M's pleb puzzlement; the debut of the special Aston Martin and Q's workshop; the narky golf match between Bond and Goldfinger; Bond's close but rather unnecessary laser shave at Goldfinger's HQ; his various encounters with feisty Pussy Galore (Honor Blackman); the gangster with the pressing engagement; and Shirley Bassey's title song was by miles the best Bond song ever.

The whole film is still a joy, maybe improbable and even ludicrous at times yet I watched it rapt all these years later. It portrays back to us a simpler world though we didn't know it at the time, a world I can sometimes relate to better than the beautiful perfect world we have now. You don't need cgi cartoonery, strong sex, extreme violence, so-called realism – or even a sensible story – if you've got the right mix of escapism and personality put together by people who enjoy what they're doing instead of only being in the middle of a franchise.

Every individual James Bond film has some good assets and at least two or three special qualities that make it fantastically entertaining. "Goldfinger", however, exclusively has great assets and special qualities! I think this third entry in the series is almost unanimously – and righteously – labeled as THE best Bond movie of all. It's definitely also the most quintessential title to watch in order to get fully acquainted with the lead character's personality and working methods, as well as with the type of assignments he receives from his employer, his opponents and the hi- tech attributes he gets to help him. You'd expect all this to become clear already in the first film, "Dr. No", but the character created by Ian Fleming was still fairly unknown back then and hence the production values were a lot lower. Barely two years and only one sequel later, James Bond had already become a phenomenon and "Goldfinger" delivered the incredibly high expectations of the fans. It truly also is a terrific film, with an utmost solid script, a top three legendary villain and various highly memorable action & suspense sequences. Personally, I have the bizarre habit of ranking my favorite Bond movies based on the evil- factor and charisma of the villains, and thus "Goldfinger" is quite high up there thanks to the sublime roles of Gert Fröbe as the titular character and Harold Sakata as Oddjob, his silent but deadly henchman who pulverizes golf balls with his bare hands and throws around his killer-hat of steel. The gold-obsessed magnate has thought up an ingenious plan to rob the entire American gold supply from Fort Knox and naturally it's 007's job to prevent this from happening. Therefore Bond infiltrates into Goldfinger's private affairs twice; messing up his game cheating routines and seducing his female accomplices. Auric Goldfinger is undoubtedly one of the most vicious Bond-villains, but arguably also one of the dumbest! Never before or after did 007's opponents receive so many open and easy chances to eliminate him, but Goldfinger decides not to take the risk and kill his disloyal female assistants instead! Many, many sequences in this third Bond film are pure vintage, including the white tuxedo underneath the diving suit, Shirley Eaton's golden corpse, an uncomfortable laser beam moment and – of course – every scene with that awesome Aston Martin!

Forty years after it's initial release, the third 'James Bond' film, GOLDFINGER, remains the quintessential 007 film for many fans, with a level of hysteria upon it's initial release that younger fans may not fully appreciate. It set records at that time as the fastest-grossing film in history (making back it's $3,000,000 production cost in a mere 2 weeks, on only 67 screens), spawned the first massive 007 merchandising 'blitz' (with everything from jigsaw puzzles, dolls, and lunchboxes, to shoes and cologne, and even Aston Martin DB5 automobiles offered as 'collectibles'), launched a whole new genre of 'spy thrillers' to TV and film (with the debut of the Ian Fleming-approved TV series, "The Man from U.N.C.L.E." in America, and the increased popularity "Danger Man" and "The Avengers" would enjoy in Britain), and gave the franchise it's first worldwide #1 hit song, sung by Shirley Bassey. Everyone was crazy about 007, with a resulting pandemonium that rivaled the adoration of the Beatles in it's intensity!

The story, pitting the British secret agent against a megalomaniac whose master plan was to explode a 'dirty' nuclear device at Fort Knox, thus poisoning the American gold supply, and making his own gold reserves infinitely more valuable, would benefit from 'perfect' casting. German actor Gert Frobe (his voice dubbed, as he barely spoke English), was an ideal Goldfinger, a rotund, piggish monster who always 'cheated' to win, at cards, golf, or dealing with adversaries. His 'right-hand man', Oddjob, played by Hawaiian wrestler Harold Sakata, became the prototype of every subsequent villainous henchman; silent, nearly invulnerable, with an evil grin and a steel-edged bowler hat he would toss that could cut the head off a marble statue.

Bond's women were never sexier; Shirley Eaton, 27, created a sensation in a 5-minute appearance as 'Jill Masterson', who betrays Goldfinger for a tryst with 007, and ends up a nude corpse covered in gold paint; and 27-year old "Avengers" alumni Honor Blackman, as the lesbian pilot 'Pussy Galore' (yes, the name DID cause problems with American censors), who discovers the joys of male lovers after Bond pins her in a fight. Sean Connery, at 34, was simply irresistible in his third outing as 007!

Director Guy Hamilton, making his first Bond movie, said that the character of 007 only needed a 'push' to become a Superman, and he provided it, by increasing the humor and ever-present gadgets, most memorably the prototype Aston Martin DB5, complete with armor plating, machine-gun turrets, rotating license plates, and an ejector seat.

Unforgettable moments abound, from the "shocking" pre-title sequence, to the golf match between Goldfinger and Bond (introducing Connery to the sport that would become his lifelong passion), to the famous laser torture scene ("Do you expect me to talk?" "No, Mr. Bond, I expect you to DIE!"), to the climactic fight between Bond and Oddjob (during which Connery was actually injured, and Sakata burned his hand, badly).

007 author Ian Fleming passed away during production, after a last visit to the Pinewood set (although the story takes place in Florida, Switzerland, and Kentucky, nearly all of the film was shot in England). He was very pleased at the success his creation had achieved, thus far, thought Connery made an ideal Bond, and was confident in the future of the series, in the hands of producers Albert Broccoli and Harry Saltzman.

And speaking of the future...A few months later, in Ireland, twelve-year old Pierce Brosnan would view GOLDFINGER (the first Bond film he'd ever seen), and decide to become an actor, fantasizing about playing the spy, someday...

First of all, I must state for the record, Sean Connery is THE James Bond. Even though the first Bond film I ever saw was "For Your Eyes Only" with Roger Moore. I was very young and very much drawn in. I have seen every one of the Bond films and without a doubt, "Goldfinger" is the finest the 007 saga has to offer.

Before I had begun an appreciation of the Connery films, i.e. before I'd seen them, a good friend and cartooning mentor, Ross Paperman, sorted me out. He helped me see how Connery's Bond was suave and sophisticated but also demonstrated a quality the other Bonds do not portray: fear. Not a panicky soil-your-pants kind of fear, mind you. But Connery's Bond actually has a few anxious, sweat-soaked-brow moments. A perfect example is when Bond is strapped to a table as Goldfinger's captive with a laser beam primed to cut him in half. 007 has to think fast. "Do you expect me to talk?" "No, Mr. Bond, I expect you to die!" A famous scene and line from Bond's most enjoyable film.

Perhaps what makes the earlier films more enjoyable is that they had fresh, innovative elements that have now become cliché and gimmicky. The new films are often stale and already covered ground and they don't even appear to be trying anymore.

But it's more than that. Even watching "Goldfinger" today, having seen all the latest in special effects and technology that Hollywood has to offer, it still is riveting and thoroughly entertaining. That is also without the added advantage of being overly nostalgic about "Goldfinger". How could I? I hadn't even been born when it first hit theaters, and it was far from my first 007 experience. The story, the characters and the fun of "Goldfinger" is timeless and if given a chance could probably rope in a whole new generation of fans. It just doesn't seem likely to happen.

Much of the satire from the Austin Powers films is directly derived from the Connery films, especially "Goldfinger" and "Dr. No", proving their lasting effect on popular culture. As well, John Barry's scores from the Connery films are finding their way into the ears of a new generation through pop music as snippets from his soundtracks are sampled by such artists as Robbie Williams, Mono and Curve, to name a few.

But if by some fluke you read this and you haven't seen "Goldfinger" yet, do yourself right and acquaint yourself with the real James Bond. You'll probably be hooked by the time you hear Shirley Bassey's voice in the famous opening theme.