Tag: Mr. Solo

Goldfinger – Car Tailing Scene and Iron and Metal Yard

Car Tailing Scene and Iron and Metal Yard - In this clip, Oddjob is supposedly driving Mr. Solo to the airport somewhere in Kentucky (USA).  In the trunk of the Lincoln is Mr. Solo’s million dollars worth of gold.   As we recall, Mr. Solo did not want any part of Operation Grand Slam (the Fort Knox plan) and Goldfinger let him out. Bond in the meantime had wrapped his homing device into a piece of paper that warned of the attack on Fort Knox, and slipped it into Mr.  Solo’s suit pocket thinking Felix Leiter would track him and discover the plan in time.  But time is pressing, and short for Mr. Solo. This is a critical scene for several reasons:
  1. we see again how ruthless Goldfinger is;
  2. Bond’s message will not get through to the authorities, because his homing device will cease to work when the Lincoln is crushed along with Solo and the gold; and
  3.  Oddjob is a direct follower of orders – shooting Mr. Solo on order and crushing him in the Lincoln.   Oddjob is happy to kill for Goldfinger.

SpyMovieNavigator On Location!  Yes!  The Iron and Metal Yard!

SpyMovieNavigator has been to all three major locations for this scene.   Though the scenes were purportedly in Kentucky, at Goldfinger's stud farm, and surround, they weren't shot there. The Lincoln drive, the iron and metal crushing yard, the Kentucky Fried Chicken where Leiter and simmons were waiting - all shot in Miami.   You can see our onsite videos here of the Kentucky Fried Chicken shop, the route Oddjob takes to the metal and iron yard, and the actual real metal and iron yard as it appears today. We will see this ruthless disregard for life in many Bond, Bourne and Mission: Impossible movies.  Drax in Moonraker, for instance, was willing to kill the entire human population, except for those selected for his ark-type space station.  That makes Goldfinger, willing to kill 41,000 - 60,000 people look like a light-weight.

Goldfinger – Real Fort Knox Plan Revealed

Fort Knox plan revealed - The scene is very comfortable, where Bond is not in immediate danger, and where Bond figures out the Fort Knox plan.    The setting is very idyllic on Goldfinger’s stud farm, with a breeze blowing, beautiful sunshine and lighting, and both Goldfinger and Bond enjoying a mint julep. A mint julep is a drink invented in the southern United States in the 1700s, yet when asked if he wants a mint julep, Bond says, yes, “sour mash but not too sweet.”  Just a worldly spy.  Felix Leiter and Simmons observe from behind a fence with binoculars.

Bond Learns of the Real Fort Knox Plan

Goldfinger is confident in Operation Grand Slam, and let’s Bond draw his own conclusions.   Bond initially thinks Goldfinger was going to break into the world’s largest bank and steal all of the gold, removing it all from Fort Knox. Bond works out the math to show it is impossible, and Goldfinger just smirks.   Then it dawns on Bond: Goldfinger’s plan is to explode a nuclear device within Fort Knox.  By so doing, that would radiate the gold, contaminating it for, what Goldfinger says, 58 years to be exact.  Bond now thinks the plan is brilliant. In the book, Goldfinger does plan to remove the gold, but here in the movie, the producers and writers make it a much more realistic plan with a higher degree of success by exploding a dirty bomb within Fort Knox.   The concept of dirty bombs in the early 1960s was very real - they could be made.  It is brilliant, and the exchange between Goldfinger and Bond here is tightly written, and very believable.

Goldfinger is a Ruthless Killer

Goldfinger knows the nerve gas will kill, not just incapacitate, the people who are exposed to it.  But killing 60,000 people does not bother Goldfinger.   We also discover that Goldfinger intends to bring Bond to Fort Knox during the assault.   He will be there, but “too closely for comfort. I’m afraid.” The scene ends, reminding us of Mr. Solo’s fate.  Oddjob pulls up in the blue 1964 Ford Ranchero, with the cube of metal from the crushed Lincoln, Mr. Solo, and his gold, in the rear.  Goldfinger says to Bond, “Forgive me., Mr. Bond, but I must arrange to separate my gold from the late Mr. Solo.”   Neither Oddjob nor Goldfinger have any qualms about killing. So we move from an idyllic setting, with mint juleps and cool breezes to the cold-hearted reality of how evil Goldfinger really is. Note: Goldfinger is wearing a gold vest in this scene, again, always wearing something gold.  He loves only gold!  Supposedly set at Goldfinger’s stud farm in Kentucky, this scene was shot at Pinewood Studios in London.  Now Bond knows of the real Fort Knox plan which has been revealed.  So Bond must die.  Again, we see a plan to kill Bond in an elaborate way – this time, bringing him to Fort Knox, and, as we will discover, handcuffing him to the nuclear device.  These evil geniuses are always confident in their complex methods of killing Bond! It is a psychological thing with megalomaniacs - they want their victims to know who is in control, and have enough time to think about it.

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