GOLDFINGER

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GOLDFINGER (director: Guy Hamilton; screenwriters: from a novel by Ian Fleming/Richard Maibaum/Paul DehnIan; cinematographer: Ted Moore; editor: Peter Hunt; music: John Barry; cast: Sean Connery (James Bond), Gert Frobe (Auric Goldfinger), Honor Blackman (Pussy Galore), Harold Sakata (Oddjob), Shirley Eaton (Jill Masterson), Tania Mallett (Tilly Masterson), Cec Linder (Felix Leiter), Bernard Lee (M), Lois Maxwell (Miss Moneypenny), Desmond Llewelyn (Q), Bill Nagy (Midnight), Martin Benson (Solo); Runtime: 112; MPAA Rating: PG; producers: Albert R. Broccoli/Harry Saltzman; United Artists; 1964-UK)
“One of the more amusing Bond films.”

Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz

Vintage gadget-filled early 007, the third of the money-making franchise Bond films that starts to get excessive, campy and move full-steam ahead with double-entendre jokes. It’s capably directed by Guy Hamilton (“Live and Let Die”/”Diamonds Are Forever”/”The Man with the Golden Gun”) and written with some wit by Richard Maibaum and Paul DehnIan. It’s based on a novel by Ian Fleming.

The thin plot has a shady bullion dealer, Auric Goldfinger (Gert Frobe), suspected of being an international gold smuggler and the target of spy operatives in Britain and in the States. James Bond (Sean Connery) is assigned to keep tabs on him, getting help from CIA operative Felix Leiter (Cec Linder). The trail takes us from Switzerland to Kentucky, where 007 uncovers Goldfinger’s plan to break into Fort Knox and detonate an atomic bomb, given him by the Red Chinese, inside the USA’s gold reserve, thus for the next 58 years the gold will be contaminated by radiation and Goldfinger’s own gold supplies will now be worth at least ten times more on the world market and the Reds will be happy that America is weakened financially.

Bond, with the help of femme fatale Pussy Galore (Honor Blackman), saves the day in the centerpiece fantasy climax featuring an all out attack on Fort Knox by the baddies. Froebe and Sakata make for oversized fun villains, the fast pace keeps the hokum moving along with little reason to give the story much thought and Connery makes for an appealing iconic macho man. It’s a lively diversion as comic strip pulp for the grown up boys, and one of the more amusing Bond films.

REVIEWED ON 4/3/2007 GRADE: A-

Dennis Schwartz: “Ozus’ World Movie Reviews”

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