A One Mann’s Movies review of “Goldfinger” (1963).
Astonishingly, “Goldfinger” is 60 years old and on selected re-release in cinemas. It was terrific to see this up on the big screen again. Because, for me (and I know other opinions are available) this is peak Bond.
Bob the Movie Man Rating:
Plot Summary:
While investigating a gold smuggling operation by the eccentric Auric Goldfinger (Gert Fröbe), James Bond, agent 007 (Sean Connery) uncovers a much more sinister plot that takes him all the way to Fort Knox in Kentucky.
Certification:
UK: PG; US: ‘Approved’. (From the BBFC web site: “Contains mild sex and violence”.)
Talent:
Starring: Sean Connery, Gert Fröbe, Honor Blackman, Shirley Eaton, Tania Mallet, Harold Sakata, Bernard Lee, Lois Maxwell.
Directed by: Guy Hamilton.
Written by: Richard Maibaum & Paul Dehn. (Based on the book by Ian Fleming.)
Twitter Handle: #Goldfinger.
Running Time: 1h 50m.
“Goldfinger” Summary:
Positives:
- Connery is immaculate as Bond before acting the part really got tiresome for him: mean, moody and magnificent.
- A great villain in the form of the bowler-hat tossing henchman Odd Job (Harold Sakata).
- One of the best ever Bond girls in the form of Pussy Galore (Honor Blackman).
- A superb soundtrack by John Barry and a belting title song from the great Shirley Bassey.
Negatives:
- Sexist and horribly mysoginistic: it really is a film of its time!
- Tania Mallet as Tilly Masterson: one of the most excruciatingly terrible bits of acting in any Bond film in history.
Review of “Goldfinger”:
The third Bond film I saw
So, my personal history with Bond started at the age of 12 in 1973 when my older brother David took me to see the newly released “Live and Let Die”, Roger Moore’s debut as Bond. I simply loved it, and had to get more. At the time it was common for cinemas to play double features of Bond films back-to-back and the first of these I saw was “Diamonds are Forever” with “Goldfinger”. This was a very different Bond: harder, rougher, more handsome. Someone who moved like a cat and felt more like the character you imagined from Ian Fleming’s books.
This success all comes down to Sean Connery’s suave performance which is simply superb. “My name is Pussy Galore” purrs Honor Blackman. “I must be dreaming” replies a dazed Bond with a look of half lust and half amusement on his face!
As well as Connery’s performance, the direction of the film by Guy Hamilton is top notch and the action doesn’t let up for a minute. Watching “From Russia With Love” on the big screen again a couple of years ago, I was struck by how clunky some of it was in terms of direction and particularly editing (although both films were done by Peter Hunt). There is none of that here and it comes across as an extremely professional affair. Hamilton would go on to direct three more Bond films: “Diamonds are Forever”, “Live and Let Die” and “The Man With The Golden Gun”.
When the Gizmo’s stepped up their game.
This was the first film to feature Desmond Llewelyn in the role of ‘Q’. (“Really?” you say. “Don’t I remember him giving Bond the tricksy suitcase in “From Russia With Love?”. “Ah yes” I reply smugly. “But in that film he is cast as ‘Boothroyd’, not ‘Q’”. Ten points to Gryffindor!). “Goldfinger” was really the film where Q-branch stepped up their game. The in-shoe tracker is neat. But it was the Aston Martin DB5 that made every schoolboy (including me) head straight for their nearest Corgi stockist! What a car! The scenes of the Aston (cleverly sped up by director Guy Hamilton) zooming around the tight alleyways of Auric Enterprises are nerve-shredding. (Even if the end crash makes you think “why didn’t he just pull up and stop??!”)
A great ensemble cast
Look at any ranking of Bond girls and the late Honor Blackman is up there. As Pussy Galore she is unusual in 60’s films in being a strong confident woman who is never flustered; she’s an airline pilot and always in charge. Blackman plays her perfectly.
A notably strange Bond villain is Auric Goldfinger played by the German actor Gert Fröbe. Famously, Fröbe could speak virtually no English, so all of his lines you hear on screen, including the famous “No Mr Bond, I expect you to die!”, are dubbed by the British actor Michael Collins.
Another classic character is the Korean henchman Odd Job, played wordlessly by Harold Sakata. Sakata was an American of Japanese descent and both an Olympic weightlifter and professional wrestler. He was wickedly spoofed in the first Austin Powers film as ‘Random Task’ and played by Joe Son.
Rounding out classic characters is Shirley Eaton as Jill Masterson. Not only is Eaton one of the most beautiful of Bond girls, for the brief period we see her, but she certainly made the biggest impression. After helping Bond turn the tables on a cheating Goldfinger poker game, Bond is knocked out (why didn’t they just kill him?!) and finds Masterson dead on the bed; naked and entirely painted in gold. Eaton never had much of an acting career after Goldfinger, but contrary to urban myth she did NOT die of paint asphyxiation from the filming! In fact, from Wiki, it appears she is alive and well and approaching her 90’s.
Worth a Razzie if they’d had them back then
Faring less well in the acting stakes is the actress playing Jill Masterson’s sister, Tilly. Played by Tania Mallet, in her one and only big screen appearance, we first meet her chasing Bond along alpine roads. In these brief scenes, she doesn’t exactly convince, but is at least passable. Unfortunately, a later scene of her being confronted by Bond on a hillside above Goldfinger’s German factory is an utterly excrutiating bit of acting. Along with Madonna in “Die Another Day” it’s well into the top 3 worst Bond performances of all time imho. Mallet died in 2019, so thankfully is not going to read this. (A curious fact though is that she is a cousin of Helen Mirren.)
John Barry’s music rocks
Another star of the film is the soundtrack by John Barry. If he was getting into his Bond stride with “From Russia With Love”, he really came out swinging with “Goldfinger”. The opening of this film, with its exciting pre-title sequence, the rollicking opening titles song by Shirley Bassey and then Barry’s jaunty “Into Miami” theme really make you go “Wow!”.
Would I have rated it a 5-star film if it came out in 2024?
This is a film of its time and if it had been released now I would have certainly lambasted it for its sexist and mysogynistic views and for its attitudes towards LGBTQ+. I mean, Pussy Galore is obviously a lesbian (“I’m immune” she states to Bond) but with a quick roll in the hay Bond manages to “cure” her!! This hay-barn scene is actually the most troubling in the film since it is exceedingly ‘rapey’: the pair fight and Bond forcibly pins Pussy down and kisses her against her will. It’s very uncomfortable to watch with 2020’s-vision.
So, the answer to my title question would be a “no”. But I think you have to view cinema through the lens of the social conditions when the film came out – not by today’s standards. So I stick by my 5* rating.
Summary Thoughts on “Goldfinger”
For all of its dubious sexism, this is still a classic movie. It was wonderful to see it again on the big screen and I had so much fun doing so.
Where to Watch it (Powered by Justwatch)
Trailer for “Goldfinger”:
The trailer is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MA65V-oLKa8 . Ha! The old school trailer where you barely needed to see the film!
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