The one pop culture parodies the most.Goldfinger was the third James Bond film and is possibly the most iconic of the series. Part of what made it so good is that it is a shining example of a Pragmatic Adaptation that changed the title villain's rather ridiculous plot to literally rob Fort Knox in Ian Fleming's original novel into a plan that feels honestly and believably ingenious (not to mention changing the book's rather blatant racism, sexism, and homophobia).Has several famous Bond-movie scenes, including Goldfinger threatening to cut Bond in half with a laser...slowly — upward, "No, Mr. Bond, I expect you to die," Bond's high-stakes golf game, and the death of Goldfinger's traitorous employee Jill Masterson, her naked body sprawled across her bed and painted gold.This movie also gave the franchise its first Cool Car. In fact, one of the great virtues of the film is that the gadgets shown, such as the car and the personal tracer, are nearly 50 years old and they still look both believable and neat (and in the case of the GPS-esque tracer, are modern-day consumer goods).Along with the previous entry, From Russia with Love, this one is often considered to be the high point of the franchise.Not to be confused with the ska band of the same name.
Do you expect me to talk?
Action Film, Quiet Drama Scene: When Bond figures out Goldfinger's diabolical plan. Oddly enough, one could almost say this about an action scene in itself, given how the final confrontation between Bond and Oddjob is done sans music and plays out rather methodically.
Badass in Distress: Bond spends a good chunk of the film as this, held prisoner by the title villain. He still manages to keep his wits and succeeds in getting Pussy Galore to betray Goldfinger.
Banned In China: The film was initially banned in Israel, due to Gert Frobe having been a member of the Nazi party. However, it was then revealed that he used his connections to save several would-be Holocaust victims, and everything was cleared up.
Black Comedy Rape: Bond's martial arts sparring and wrestling with Pussy Galore before forcing himself upon her. It's thankfully subverted since she returns his kiss while they're still fully clothed, but it's still uncomfortable to watch.
Bling Bling Bang: Goldfinger's gold plated revolver, which he uses at Fort Knox and later in his own airplane.
Board to Death: Goldfinger and the mobsters who supplied his equipment needs.
Bond One-Liner: "Shocking"; "As you said, he had a pressing engagement."; "Where is Goldfinger?" "Playing his golden harp"; "Where's your butler friend [Oddjob]?" "He blew a fuse."
Bond Villain Stupidity: More or less averted. While Goldfinger does keep Bond alive, it's because he prefers keeping Bond under his thumb rather than MI-6 just sending another agent in Bond's place and wants to trick the good guys into thinking Bond is doing better than he actually is (in reality, had Bond not turned Pussy in the eleventh hour, Goldfinger almost certainly would have won). Goldfinger is also incredibly Genre Savvy for a Bond villain, opting not to underestimate Bond's craftiness.
Bookends: A few minutes into the movie, Bond electrocutes a would-be assassin and with a few minutes left, he does the same to Oddjob.
Cartright Curse: This is the first Bond movie in which a Bond Girl dies. In the forty-odd years to come, many more girls end up following Jill Masterson's example.
Ceiling Cling: Bond, to make a guard think he's escaped and ambush him.
Cheaters Never Prosper: In his first scene, Goldfinger is revealed to be cheating in rummy by Bond, who makes him lose. Later, Bond realizes Goldfinger is cheating in their golf game and again, Bond has him beaten.
Chekhovs Gun: The giant laser is first used as a threat to execute Bond. It is later used to cut through the outer door of Fort Knox.
Continuity Nod: Bond is told that his "attache case" has been irreparably damaged by Goldfinger's men, which he seems a bit affected by. It's easy to presume this is referring to the gadget-loaded briefcase he got in From Russia With Love, and he's realizing how screwed he is without it.
Cure Your Gays: In the book (and possibly the movie as well, it's only hinted at), Pussy is a Lipstick Lesbian until Bond's magic penis makes her reconsider. Honor Blackman discussed this aspect in a 2006 AMC television special, "Bond Girls Are Forever". She thinks that Pussy only believed she was a lesbian because Goldfinger (In the novel, it was her uncle instead) abused her pretty badly, and Bond's charm got her in touch with her actual heterosexuality.
Cut the Juice: The frequently-parodied scene where Bond is about to deal with his Wire Dilemma, whereupon a disposal technician steps over, calmly reaches under a panel on the bomb, and switches it off.
The Danza: Martin Benson as Martin Solo, one of Golfinger's employees at Ft. Knox.
Deadly Gas: The Delta 9 nerve gas used to kill the gangsters and intended to kill the Fort Knox guards.
Dead Man Switch: Bond tells Goldfinger that his death will cause another agent (008) to replace him.
Death by Sex: Jill Masterson, murdered by Oddjob on Goldfinger's orders after having sex with Bond. In the book, her sister Tilly dies because she had become sexually obsessed with Pussy Galore.
In the novel, Goldfinger is revealed to be working for SMERSH (a Soviet counterintelligence organization).
In the movie, Goldfinger obtains his dirty-bomb material from Red China, which views his scheme as an opportunity to create "economic chaos in the West".
After a car drives over a cliff, it explodes in midair.
At the end, a plane immediately explodes upon contact with the ocean.
Evil Genius: Mr. Ling, the Chinese nuclear expert.
Failure Hero: If you analyze well, apart from "converting" Pussy Galore and killing Oddjob, Bond's actions aren't really that effective. Had he not done those two things, though (especially the first), Goldfinger's plan would have succeeded.
Fakeout Escape: Bond tricks the guard into thinking he's escaped, clings onto the ceiling, and then drops down behind him once the guard opens the door.
Oddjob's statue-breaking and later neck breaking of Tilly Masterson.
Bond kills a mook with electricity in the prologue. Guess how he kills Oddjob at the end.]
Bond warns Pussy about the consequences of shooting a gun in an airplane at high altitude. In the climax a gun is fired in an aircraft and blows out a window, causing Goldfinger to be sucked out and fall to his death.
Gas Chamber: Goldfinger turns his office into one for killing the gangsters who have invested on his heist.
Getting Crap Past the Radar: The producers considered renaming Pussy "Kitty Galore", but decided the name wasn't much harmful. And then they took the censor out for dinner... (no, really). It's rumored that Bond's response to her introduction was going to be "I know, but what's your name?"
Go Karting with Bowser: Bond plays a round of golf with Goldfinger (who naturally, cheats). Bond doesn't exactly play fair, either.
Groin Attack: Just barely averted. How do you get Bond to stop cracking wise? Slowly inch a laser closer and closer to his manly parts.
The Guards Must Be Crazy: both played straight and subverted. In this case, one guard is fooled to allow Bond to escape, but he is recaptured and the guards intelligently make sure the spy stays put.
Hand Signals: Goldfinger gives a signal to one of his men to open the vault door.
High Heel Face Turn: Pussy Galore, after being seduced by Bond. This is even crucial to the plot, since it got her to replace the nerve gas in her pilots' planes with a harmless placebo. Though it's implied his magic penis was all that made her turn, it's possible he later appealed to her logic that after having just witnessed Goldfinger murder a room full of powerful men he no longer needed he would have no problem killing Pussy when her job was done. Or he could've appealed to her conscience in that she was willing to participate in an enormous heist, but not commit mass murder. After all she didn't realize the nerve gas was fatal.
Bond uses two gold bars to break open the bomb and throws a gold bar at Oddjob. However, he does seem to have some trouble lifting them.
And the scene in which Bond explains why stealing the gold would be impractical (following which Goldfinger explains his real plan) is probably the most famous aversion in cinema. And also a nod to the book's plot, where it was really Goldfinger's plan. The screenwriters consciously changed it.
You might notice the cube resulted from the crushed Continental lacks wheels, and for something that'd be at least 2 tons (specially for the gold in the trunk), it barely makes a difference for the pick-up truck that receives it.note The film crew actually had to cut the cube in half so the truck could support the weight.
I Am Not Spock: Happened to Harold Sakata, whose name later got credited with "Oddjob" (or sometimes "Odd Job") as a nickname.
Implacable Man: Oddjob takes a thrown gold bar in the chest without flinching. In fact, the only time he appears to be even mildly uneasy in the film is when Bond attempts to use his own killer hat against him.
Goldfinger brags about his plan to his business partners, knowing that he's going to kill them all anyway and that it won't make the slightest bit of difference if he tells them. What Goldfinger doesn't realise is that Bond is listening in on his little presentation; however, Bond misinterprets Goldfinger's plan and thinks that he intends to steal all of Fort Knox's gold, when in actual fact he intends to make it radioactive.
In fairness to Bond, and credit to Goldfinger's intelligence, he is out-and-out lying to his business partners]]; Bond doesn't realize it until he does some mental arithmetic and realizes that it would be impossible to get away with that much gold.
Kick the Dog: In the novel, Goldfinger gives his cat to Oddjob for dinner after it 'accidentally' foils his plot to spy on Bond.
Large Ham: Gert Frobe set the standard for cartoonish supervillainy.
All of Goldfinger's lines are dubbed, as Gert Frobe spoke very poor English. It's really an amazing job, and you'd never know just watching the film.
Curiously, it seems Sean Connery may have had to do the same thing for his character, particularly for his most iconic line "Do you expect me to talk?", as the way he said it in the trailer is completely different from the way he said it in the actual film.
The Nasty Party: Goldfinger explaining his scheme to the gangsters and then killing them.
Nazi Gold: Bond uses it as bait during the golf game.
Near Villain Victory: Goldfinger's attempt to nuke Fort Knox and radiate the gold and make it useless was going very well... That is, he would have succeeded if Pussy Galore didn't have a Heel Face Turn (thanks to James Bond) and replaced the nerve gas in her pilots' planes with a harmless placebo.
Neck Snap: How Oddjob kills Tilly Masterson... with his hat.
Never Mess with Granny: The old lady working as a guard decides to get an MP 40 to shoot the Aston Martin (Alfred Hitchcock told Guy Hamilton it was his favorite scene).
Nice Hat: Nice Killer Hat. Just mind any wiring about.
No Kill Like Overkill: Having been thwarted in his attempt to bisect Bond with an industrial laser, Goldfinger decides to blow him up with an atomic bomb.
No, Mr. Bond, I Expect You to Dine: Pussy Galore tells Bond he's Goldfinger's guest. Later, Goldfinger serves Bond a mint julep, explains his plan and has Pussy give him a tour. Trope namer, more or less.
"Who mentioned anything about removing it?" Also counts as a Wham Line.
Bond gets another one during his fight with Oddjob. The man silently shrugs off a gold bar to the chest and a few whacks to the face with lumber, then tosses Bond around with hardly any effort, all the time with that creepy grin of his.
Later on in the fight, Oddjob gets one of his own when Bond picks up his hat.
Operation Blank: "Operation Grand Slam" is the name of Goldfinger's Evil Plan for Fort Knox, in both novel and film.
Pinball Protagonist: Aside from "convincing" Pussy to switch the gas canisters (and killing Oddjob), Bond actually has very little impact on the plot. It still meant the difference between Goldfinger's plan failing or succeeding.
Pool Scene: Where Bond caught Goldfinger cheating at cards.
Pop the Tires: While driving alongside Tilly Masterson's car, Bond uses one of the Q gadgets in his car to rip open and flatten the tires of Tilly's car, forcing her to stop.
Product Placement: By Aston Martin and Ford (who provided Tilly's Mustang and the Lincoln Continental which gets crushed). Averted when Guy Hamilton thought using the scene Bond's in the bathroom (and uses all he can to hide the "magic eyes") to showcase Gilette products was silly.
Punny Name: Pussy Galore. In the film this was supposed to be lampshaded, with Bond's response to her telling him her name being "I'm sure you are, but what's your name?" but this was considered likely to annoy the censors. Bond's incredulous "I must be dreaming" is lampshading enough.
Rape as Backstory: In the novel, Pussy Galore hints that's why she's not into men.
Reflective Eyes: Bond dodges an attack when he sees his attacker reflected in a woman's eyes.
Rule of Symbolism: The time bomb's clock in Fort Knox is halted at exactly 0:07 seconds.
Same Language Dub: Gert Frobe did not speak English, so he spoke phonetically and was dubbed over.
Scenery Censor: When Bond finds Jill Masterson lying dead on the bed while covered in gold paint, there's a conveniently placed pillow that blocks the audience from seeing her buttocks.
Scenery Porn: The drive through France and Switzerland. The book includes large sections describing the scenery.
Science Marches On: Jill's death by "skin suffocation" was based on an erroneous belief of the time. Basically, she wouldn't have suffocated as long as she could still breathe from her mouth or nose, as obvious as that sounds. MythBusters also got in on the debunking. And even MythBusters didn't get it quite right the first time; they didn't confirm the myth, but Jamie seemed to have a bad reaction to it, so they considered it plausible. Only after doctors contacted them did they do it again (this time with Adam) and get it right.
Sex Face Turn: Pussy Galore, with James Bond. In the book, Pussy was only faking at being a lesbian due to a history of sexual assault and a belief that there were no good men left in the world.
Strapped To A Bomb: James Bond is handcuffed to an atomic bomb and left inside Fort Knox. When the bomb detonates, it will destroy and/or radioactively contaminate the gold supply of the United States, thus causing gold prices to rise and increasing the value of Goldfinger's gold stockpile 10 times.
James Bond: My dear girl, there are some things that just aren't done, such as drinking Dom Perignon '53 above the temperature of 38 degrees Fahrenheit. That's just as bad as listening to the Beatles without earmuffs!
Averted so far considering how the gadgets in this film have aged surprisingly well and still look believable and practical. For instance, the personal tracer looks about the right size that such a device might look right if made today and its hiding place in the heel of Bond's shoe still looks neat.
The aversion has reached its ultimate conclusion and ended up playing the trope straight with the personal tracer in Skyfall doing the same thing, looking very similar, but being smaller, much as tech is when it marches on.
Tempting Fate: Goldfinger's boast to the gangsters that "My plan is foolproof!"
Thrown from the Zeppelin: Goldfinger's crushing response to a gangster's refusal to join him. A pressing engagement, indeed.
This movie, more than From Russia With Love and certainly more than Dr. No, defined the aspects of a Bond movie especially with promoting Q and his arsenal of gadgets.
Bond's Aston Martin DB5 is ruined when Bond runs it into a brick wall.
Also, the Lincoln Continental put in a car crusher (the crew said everyone on set was silent at seeing such a brand new car getting destroyed, and during a screening of the dailies, the projectionist entered the room angry asking if they really did it), They had indeed did so; it drove up, was picked up, and then the crushing started without a single cut. They did, however, cut the resulting cube down so it could fit into the pickup that takes it away.
Wham Line: "Who mentioned anything about removing it?"
Wire Dilemma: Subverted while Bond is trying to deactivate the nuclear bomb. An expert arrives and simply flips the OFF switch on the bomb to deactivate it.
Would Hit a Girl: Or in the case of opening teaser, allow a girl to be hit by someone else. Even though Bond has no qualms about hurting women himself.
Zeerust: Totally averted, at least compared to Bond gadgets in other films. Industrial lasers and radio trackers (although now equipped with GPS) are still common technology. Also one of the first mentions of a 'dirty bomb' in media: Goldfinger even calls his device "small, but particularly dirty."
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