Review of Goldfinger (1964) by Deb S — 25 May 2011

While on a vacation in Florida, James Bond tangles with the nefarious Auric Goldfinger, a wealthy gold industrialist. Bond discovers Goldfinger is cheating at cards and humiliates the man. This however leads to the death of Goldfinger's beautiful assistant who Bond seduced to help him. She's murdered by gold paint. Later Bond is sent to find out how Goldfinger is smuggling gold out of UK but discovers that Goldfinger (and his metal-tipped derby toting henchman Oddjob) are planning something far more sinister, Operation: Grandslam, Goldfinger's ultimate plan to irradiate the gold in Fort Knox in order to raise the price of his own gold and gain control of the world's economy.

From the moment he emerges out of the water in the pre-credit sequence right up to the very last scene, Connery owns every single scene he's in while pitting wiles against the usual bevy of willing bedmates including Bond's most famous lady Pussy Galore wonderfully played by Honor Blackman.

As always agent 007 is equal to any challenge and comes armed of course, with all the latest gadgetry. The only time he loses his cool is while strapped to a table with a laser beam threatening his manhood. "Do you expect me to talk Goldfinger?" "No Mr. Bond I expect you to die".

Done with flair and style, it goes through the motions with a lively sophistication, presenting each deadly situation with its tongue firmly in cheek. Connery is smooth, Gert Frobe is an amusing villain and Harold Sakata has achieved iconic status as henchman Oddjob whilst Jill Masterson's "golden corpse" is one of the eeriest depictions of death to ever grace the screen.