Goldfinger (1964)

"Do you expect me to talk?" -James Bond
"No, Mr. Bond. I expect you to die." -Goldfinger

Night 3 of 25.

Moving forward, Goldfinger is actually a fun movie. It's a little silly -and miles more sexist than its predecessors, but at least it aims high.

On the whole, I was actually kind of astounded at the plot.  Irradiate all the gold in the Fort Knox reserve, raising the price of gold around the world and impoverishing the USA. For how ludicrous that sounds, the underlying economic principles are valid if we subscribe to a bit more mercantilist theory. I wonder if Nixon saw this film and decided to take the USA off the Gold Standard as a matter of national security. -We may never know.  But, I find the idea of a Bond villain simply toying with the underlying assumptions of a neo-liberal economy to be most keen.

Yes, this is the Bond with Pussy Galore. Oh, and I didn't know she had a flying circus of blonds in mod onesies. Beyond the name, what irked me was that James Bond basically forces himself on her and then due to his sexuality and masculinity she switches sides.  Yup. That's what happens. And sadly, in terms of her character-if she didn't have the name she would be absolutely forgettable.

As to the gadgets and tech.  The big plot device in Goldfinger is the introduction of a tracking beacon, which while now passe and taken for granted was revolutionary in 1964. It led to a lot less confusion as to where our characters are for the audience and allowed for cuts across story lines.  Nifty.  Unfortunately, it also confused me as to the final ruse. I thought they didn't find the note, thus was unsurprised but bewildered by the finale of theater put on by the the US army. Yes, I want my Aston Martin to have an ejector seat, oil, guns, smoke, and spinning spurs of death that come out of the rims. -Obviously.

Finally, on an artistic note, I preferred the overture credit sequence of Goldfinger to FRwL or Dr. No. Bright colors dancing/jiggling are ok, but I like the statuesque gold. In fact, I think the silent parts of Goldfinger are in fact the best. The silent fight with Oddjob looks/sounds fantastic.

On a scale of cheating at Gin to cheating at The Game of Life, I give Goldfinger 3.3 out of 5 stars.