Goldfinger (1964)

Sixty years, this might have very well been released as THE first franchise blockbuster.  It was the third entry in the James Bond franchise (adapted from a series of best-selling spy novels authored by Ian Fleming) which had been rapidly growing in popularity around the world.  Helmed by then up-and-coming British director Guy Hamilton, it featured the return of James Bond, Agent 007 of the British Secret Service, once again played by the late great Sir Sean Connery.  This time around, he's on a unique mission mostly set within the United States, trying to investigate and eventually take down a plot by the titular Auric Goldfinger (Gert Frobe) to potentially take control of the worldwide gold market....and it just gets crazier from there with henchmen named Odd Job, mysterious women named Pussy Galore, and a spanking new Aston Martin DB5 featuring lots of cool new gadgets. :) 

Host: Geoff Gershon
Edited By Ella Gershon
Producer: Marlene Gershon

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Transcript

GOLDFINGER – 1964

Directed by Guy Hamilton

Starring Sean Connery, Gert Frove, Honor Blackman, Harold Sakata, Shirley Eaton, Tania Mallet, Bernard Lee, Martin Benson, Cec Linder, Austin Willis, Lois Maxwell, Bill Nagy, Richard Vernon, and Desmond Llewelyn

Genre: Spy Action Thriller (Audio clip)

It's shocking...positively shocking that this still holds up as THE first franchise blockbuster but that it is: coming just a year after From Russia With Love which was rushed, cobbled together, and a bigger hit beyond just the UK than any one expected...THIS was the big daddy with a big budget, at least six months of advance hype, a way bigger scale than the previous two, merchandising tie-ins, the works! To hear my mother tell it when this came out it, the hype and awareness of it was simply "unavoidable" and this pretty much set the template for not only Bond sequels to follow but also blockbuster sequels for decades to come. 

It's no accident that both Steven Spielberg and Chris Nolan - at points in their careers when they were first taking off - both lobbied to direct Bond sequels and when they couldn't, just ended up taking their ideas and applying those to other blockbuster franchises....for Spielberg, the Indiana Jones trilogy and for Nolan, his Dark Knight trilogy....and Inception...and Tenet. 🙂
 But ignoring the legacy, is the film still good? To say otherwise would be like listening to The Beatles without earmuffs...yeah it's damn good - Connery in his PRIME hurling witticisms, looking sharp in a gray three piece suit, playing a pretty even-handed game of chess trying to outsmart Gert Frobe's slick Auric Goldfinger. 

Beyond that, Frobe is also a kick to watch as this film’s titular villain.  He's having fun playing a greedy schemer with a one-track mind but just can't resist stopping periodically to relish how clever that plan is...he's increasingly exasperated by Bond but JUST can't cut him loose because he's enjoying watching as his foil too much. Decades before the "monologing villain" became an overused trope, Frobe's Goldfinger kinda has you buying it because it seems pathological to him to keep Bond alive to the end. 😉 Honor Blackman also shines as Pussy Galore and her character is given a surprising amount of agency for an earlier "Bondgirl" – she does technically serve as a love interest for Bond but she’s as much of a foil for him, an initial rival

Overall just a fun rewatch with WAY too many highlights - Bond GENUINELY sweating that laser on the table when being questioned by Goldfinger, the tricked-out Aston Martin, the absurdity of seeing hundreds of soldiers being dosed around Fort Knox, those dueling mob gangs from around the US (the West Coast ones are all wearing sunglasses, get it?)all watching Goldfinger's presentation on Operation Grand Slam - to delve into that you'll find it's just no time to be rescued from its charms. 😉

Best Needledrop (best song cue or score used throughout runtime of film): 

This is simply an all-time, likely one of the Top Five GREATEST songs to be featured on film’s soundtrack EVER.  This song is SO iconic that it has not only come to symbolize James Bond movies but also movie title songs AND opening credits sequences.  It’s a banger in every sense with booming brass, clanging symbols, an escalating tempo, and of course…..those pipes, HER pipes of course.  I’m referring to the Welsh pop singer LEGEND….born in Cardiff…..and she’s STILL with us no less and still singing at 87 years YOUNG…..SHIRLEY BASSEY!  (Audio clip) 

Of course we first hear it during a very memorable but deceptively simple opening credits sequence…..just a series of snippets of the movie to come projected on to portions of gold statues of women.  Just a very playful way to set the tone for what’s to follow, there had not been an opening sequence QUITE like this before.  And then we hear instrumental callbacks to the song throughout the film all beautifully integrated into John Barry’s inventive score which REMAINS one of his best. (Audio clip) 

And what’s it about? The lyrics are ALL about the villain of course….so repeatable, you just can’t help but wanna try to belt them out themself (Audio clip) ….yeah I clearly can’t do it justice, also kind of hurts your throat to try.  But seriously, I would say that as good as Frobe is in this title role, it’s THIS song which has given his character legs all of these decades later….for the movie too.  Even if you haven’t seen the movie nor ANYTHING else related to James Bond, you PROBABLY have heard this song.  It became an instant worldwide smash in ’64 and would also go on to the first of three Bond themes also performed by Bassey….one of them to be featured in a review soon to come.  Bassey herself has also gone on to be MORE than just a Bond-theme maven…..she has sold more than 140 million albums and in ’99, she was knighted as I believe THE first black Dame in the history of the UK.  Bottom line, Bassey’s considered one of the most influential singers of the modern pop era….even Aretha Franklin would refer to her as a key influence.  All things equal, this likely remains her most popular song and for good reason….you already know the name, you know the title, it’s GOLD-FINGA! (Audio clip)   

Wasted Talent (most under-utilized talent involved with film):

As much fun as the Pussy Galore character is, unfortunately the most problematic part of the movie is one of her VERY awkward interactions with Bond...and I'll leave it at that. It's not defensible but it's also featured in a movie which came out 60 years ago....gratefully we're all (hopefully) evolving in the time since then.

Trailer Moment (scene or moment that best describes this movie):

Ok I doubt I would be the first person to cite this one as it remains one of the most iconic scenes in the history of the franchise - this would be roughly about a half hour into the movie as our hero has not only been surveilling Auric Goldfinger in Miami but having some fun with him….including most notably sabotaging the villain’s efforts to cheat at gin  It’s all pretty playful and Bond just seems to be having a BIT too much fun with this mission, even taunting Goldfinger from the hotel window overlooking this game.  It’s there that he hooks up with Goldfinger’s remote accomplice Jill, winningly played by Shirley Eaton. (Audio clip) 

And as their night together in her hotel room progresses….suddenly things get a bit more dangerous.  Bond is knocked out cold from behind by a mysterious figure and when he wakes up….what he finds not only shocks him AND the audience but also takes this franchise to new levels of danger.  It’s all cannily filmed in a way that you DON’T see as much as you think you do….but just enough, the terrified expression on Connery’s face sells it REALLY well as does the prickly string-laded score from Barry during this scene….a melody which would be eventually be sampled more than 30 years later by the Sneaker Pimps no less.  (Audio clip) It’s Jill’s naked corpse laid out on the bed….covered with gold.  The imagery, the score and Connery’s performance all combine to make this a genuinely haunting moment which raises the stakes for the remainder of the story. (Audio clip)

MVP (person or people most responsible for the success of this film):

This is a no-brainer…..for this to succeed as a truly prototypical entry in this franchise, setting the tone for decades of future Bond films, you need THE prototypical 007.  And that’s Sir Sean….he’s got the menace, the wit, the action chops, he’s WEARING those suits, and he’s almost EFFORTLESSLY selling all of the ridiculousness around him on-screen.  There’s always one truly sublime sequence about 2/3 in which just says it all…..James is being held captive underground in a cell at Goldfinger’s lair.  There’s one stone-faced goon sitting just outside staring at the opening in his door…..and we see our hero quietly mosey back and forth to the door JUST so that can smile out at the goon….he does this three times.  And the third time, he then smiles out the little opening and then just gleefully crouches down as if he’s doing that goofy elevator trick that folks do when they’re pretending to do that “elevator” trick behind a couch or table.  It’s kind juvenile but he still manages to make it look cool…..and of course it works as he draws that goon to open up his cell door to check things out….only to find Bond propping himself in the rafters above, then knocking him out and escaping.  (Audio clip) 

For truly cementing James Bond as the iconic character he would remain six decades later, Sean Connery is the MVP. (Audio clip) 

Final Rating: 4.25 stars out of 5 

Happy 60th Anniversary to not only the prototypical James Bond sequel but also THE original franchise blockbuster….and even with ALL of the good stuff it contains, it tops out at 110 minutes no less, BRAVO!

Streaming on Apple TV

And that ends this SHOCKING POSITIVELY SHOCKING…review!