Goldfinger (1964)

Goldfinger saw the first change in director the franchise had. Terence Young was away filming the historical comedy The Amorous Adventures of Moll Flanders, which he had opted to direct instead of the 3rd Broccoli-and-Saltzman produced 007 film. To replace him, Guy Hamilton was hired.

This man was previously assistant director for a few of Carol Reed's films and had turned down the offer to direct Dr No. His intention was to make the villains more powerful and to reduce Bond's 'superman' persona. Remember Guy Hamilton's name, he will pop up again in a few reviews' time.

Goldfinger also saw the return of two key crew who were absent for the filming of From Russia With Love: stunt coordinator Bob Simmons, and production designer Ken Adam. Sean Connery was also away filming the Alfred Hitchcock film Marnie at the time, and thus was unable for most of the location shooting. That's why you'll often see Connery in front of back projection whenever he's interacting with an environment.

The film was released on the 18th September 1964, and truly kicked off the 'Bond mania' years of the mid-to-late 1960s. This overwhelming popularity spawned two unofficial spoof films, an adaptation of Casino Royale directed by Charles K. Feldman, and an Italian spaghetti spy film called Operation Kid Brother (or O.K Connery) starring Sean Connery's brother, Neil.

Both featured a variety of returning Bond cast members and are awful, but you get my point. This film made James Bond big.

Goldfinger was also pivotal in the development of James Bond as a film franchise with genuine longevity and staying power. Its script and structure is still being replicated nowadays with the Daniel Craig films, and quite rightfully so: not only is this Sean Connery's quintessential film as the character, it's also his best, and by a considerable margin.

This film encapsulates what the formula and tropes of a standard Bond film should be. We have the famous gun barrel sequence, followed by a pre-title scene that (usually) has very little to do with the main plot of the film. Here, Bond stealths his way into a drug factory, plants explosives, has some fun in a bar, dispatches an assassin, delivers a quip, leaves, cut to Robert Brownjohn's titles. It's a perfect combination and a fun little sequence that sets the tone well for the rest of the film.

The fairly straightforward narrative of the picture is a welcoming treat after the convoluted spy antics of From Russia With Love. However, its simplicity does not mean that it ceases to consistently surprise and excite. The wonderful and colourful array of characters here bring the plot to life in more ways than one.

I spoke about Guy Hamilton's desire to reduce Bond's superhero persona, and his means of doing this is making the villains seem more dangerous. Hamilton achieves this immaculately by creating another scene that has woven its way into cinema history, with Bond being knocked out and waking up to find Goldfinger's assistant suffocated in gold paint. It remains a visually striking and impressive image that tells us all we need to know about the villains without dialogue: they're ruthless, cunning, and will use any means to achieve their plan.

It also gives us a glimpse of the iconic Oddjob, played by American heavyweight champion Harold Sakata. He strikes Bond on the neck and a haunting brassy piece by John Barry plays as we a silhouette with a bowler hat. Throughout the rest of the picture, he does not speak a word, and this quality, plus his tremendous physique and bowler hat weapon, makes him a very effective henchman to the main villain of the piece, Auric Goldfinger (Gert Frobe).

Originally meant to be played by Orson Welles who in the end was deemed too expensive, Goldfinger is the first example of a very flamboyant, conceited Bond villain, and he lays the path for those to follow magnificently. German-born Frobe could speak very little English and so for the majority of the film was dubbed by stage actor Michael Collins, and the ADR is superbly synchronised.

This approach to the villains worked very well, and Guy Hamilton succeeded in crafting memorable Bond villains who are still ranked in high regard to this day. Despite this, he manages to make our principal protagonists just as engaging as the exuberant opposition.

Sean Connery here is once again excellent as the suave agent, delivering charisma and energy no matter the situation. These early Sean Connery films also elevate his performance due to the quality of the material he's given, something that Connery would definitely be lacking in with his last film (stay tuned for the Diamonds Are Forever review, this is going to be hell for me, I'll have to watch it again).

Him and Goldfinger have cracking interplay, bouncing off each other with witty dialogue that never ceases to bring a gleeful smile.

When we meet the Bond girl, cheekily named Pussy Galore, Bond quips 'I must be dreaming.' Pussy herself, played by ex-Avengers star herself Honor Blackman, is also the archetypal Sean Connery Bond girl: stunning to look at, theatrical name, a seductive nature to her voice. While my favourite Bond girl is still yet to come, she is definitely the inspiration for a lot of these, and even then, the imitations often are hit-and-miss.

The supporting cast are all on fine form as usual, with Bernard Lee's M, Lois Maxwell's Moneypenny, and Desmond Llewellyn's Q in particular, all cementing and perfecting their roles and purposes in the franchise, delivering entertaining dialogue and engaging exposition. The familiarity of the MI6 crew always helps you dive in to a later instalment and the story that entails, and that's all thanks to the early Sean Connery pictures.

The film also looks beautiful too: while Thunderball's accommodation of the 2:35:1 aspect ratio helped bring some more cinematic camerawork to the table, Goldfinger is well-shot, well-lit and well-directed. Never do scenes feel incomprehensible (unlike some other Daniel Craig film inspired by shaky cam) or too dim you can't tell what's going on - it's a very aesthetically-pleasing treat.

A couple of very minor little flaws come into play, however. Sometimes Bond feels like he isn't really doing all that much, there are some moments of sped-up film that are jarring and annoying, and some scenes go on a bit too long and feel like padding in places.

However, in terms of negatives, that's really it.

I've forgotten how truly great this film is. This movie does the James Bond formula beautifully, and while other films will improve it and expand it, here, the components are all here and they are wonderful. Wonderful characters, an interesting story, opulent cinematography, ostentatious villains, lovely performances, the list just goes on and on. The odd minor gripe or scene that could have been chopped down a little doesn't harm the movie in any significant way, and just feel like nitpicking bringing them up here. Despite some Bond films being more colourful, or more inventive, or more action-packed, we can all agree: this is the best Sean Connery Bond film and it probably will continue to be for a long time.

Goldfinger gets an A.

With the help of this film, Bond's popularity truly swept the world. Critics and audiences loved it, and the film nearly drew in the returns of Dr No and From Russia With Love combined at the worldwide box office. After the resolution of a legal dispute, Broccoli and Saltzman could finally adapt the Ian Fleming book they had been wanting to bring to the big screen since the beginning. But did their passionate project pay off in the end? That's what I will answer next time, when we will look at 1965's Thunderball.