CONNERY BOND THREE: GOLDFINGER

Sean Connery golfs with the villain in Goldfinger YEAR: 1964

For some people... one in particular, pictured below and mentioned later in a very special, personal family tragedy tribute... the main problem with GOLDFINGER is simple enough: James Bond is captured throughout most of the story. But that’s also what sets the third film apart from every other Connery vehicle. Taking a prolonged look inside the villain’s process, we get to see how he really ticks...

In the title role, Gert Fröbe underplays what would become gloriously fantastical by the likes of Blofeld and other world-dominating, monologue-spouting drama kings. He's surely the most subtle Ian Fleming inspired heavy in the 007 canon. Some of the best sequences occur before Bond goes on his caged sabbatical. The golf match between he and Goldfinger has its own rhythm, purpose and agenda: A beginning, middle and end... And a chance to enjoy our resilient hero as a free man, playing a gentleman's game with mischievous tricks under his sleeve.

Goldfinger Artwork

In many Bond films, the villain’s henchman trumps the big boss himself, and it’s no different here. Odd Job, the killer Korean with his decapitating boomerang hat, provides this meticulous vehicle some fun and pulpy fare. As does the third of three “Bond Girls”, Pussy Galore (Honor Blackman), and her aerial troop of killer blondes...

Galore’s connection with Bond injects a tinge of humanity that ruled the entire FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE, which was less daring and dashing than the groundbreaking DR. NO, and more realistic than GOLDFINGER – unintentionally comical during the final heist on Fort Knox as a myriad of American troops are rendered unconscious, or pretend to be… Quite badly, either way.

Shared A Bond

So while the potential of the first act… also including Bond thwarting Goldfinger’s gambling ruse in Florida, a nifty chase inside the first-time Aston Martin and Q’s roomful of gadgets… is slightly derailed once the tables turn, we get to experience a sly sense of our dashing hero moving forward by giving in completely.

PERSONAL MEMORIAL TRIBUTE: This post is dedicated to an awesome nephew, who died recently, at 28-years-old, and while he was not a huge fan of GOLDFINGER for the fact Bond was imprisoned for so long, there was a three-decade debate, particularly endearing for his young age back in the early 1990's, and unceasing as we would sporadically discuss the movie... and just last week, sitting in the Bella Terra, Huntington Beach, California theater we both frequented, we caught a trailer during their Classic Series promotion, and thus planned on catching GOLDFINGER on the big screen, which sadly, never happened... But the 007 franchise was a mere drop in the pop culture bucket, ranging from Orson Welles to Jack Kerouac to Charles Bronson to Led Zeppelin to Judd Nelson to Kurt Cobain to Reservoir Dogs, connecting Nephew with Uncle, and vice versa. So Rest in Peace, Austin Tavolara, you're already missed... and then some.