Goldfinger – The Golden Girl

Goldfinger – The Golden Girl – While Bond has won over Jill Masterson, was he naïve enough not to think that Goldfinger would retaliate? We assume they went out to dinner, as he had suggested, and then back to his room to make love and have fun. This clip picks up when Bond is recovering from being knocked out by Oddjob. When he comes to, he walks from the kitchen area where he was retrieving more champaign to the bed area.

The shot is filmed perfectly as we see Bond walk in front of a mirror and we can see Bond from both sides – shocked at what he is seeing. Jill Masterson is covered in gold paint lying on her stomach across the bed. A strategically placed pillow blocks us from seeing her butt, which would not have been on screen in 1964, especially for the equivalent of a PG (parental guidance) audience rating. In the book Jill Masterton – a slight spelling difference – is painted with gold as well.

We know it’s Bond’s room because when he picks up the phone, the person at the desk says, “Yes, Mr. Bond.” He calls Felix and tells her the girl is dead.

Goldfinger – The Golden Girl is Dead – But Not Bond

As a viewer, we wonder again why not kill Bond too? Oddjob got into Bond’s room, knocks out Bond, and then paints Jill Masterson from head to toe in gold paint. Of course, we assume Oddjob or whoever painted her knew how long it would take and that Bond would be knocked out until they were finished. Maybe they had a team in the room, painting her and watching Bond. We don’t know. But why not just kill Bond?

Perhaps Goldfinger does not yet know who Bond really is and just thinks he took his trophy-girl away from him. As we know, Goldfinger likes to win. So maybe Goldfinger was simply thinking to kill her, and Bond can’t have her anymore either. Let Bond suffer through this loss. But Goldfinger is connected, worldwide it seems. How does he not know about Bond being an MI6 agent?

Of course, we will see this same type of megalomaniacal behavior in many Bond villains to come. And, from the preceding James Bond 007 movies we see this as well, Dr. No and From Russia With Love. We will see it again in this film!

OK, our willing suspension of disbelief will get us to the next scene!

Goldfinger and Bond Golfing at Stoke Poges

Goldfinger Golf Scene

Goldfinger & Bond at Stoke Poges – This clip is about 5 ½ minutes long, but it highlights what will become the mission for the rest of the film. It establishes Bond as a person of interest for Goldfinger since he has access to some rare gold bars. This clip is not the sharpest in terms of quality, but it was the best we could find at this time on YouTube. This clip reinforces the tension and adverse relationship they have. As Bond wins the round and the 5,000 pounds that the gold bar was worth. That’s the bet Goldfinger made with Bond after he saw the gold bar, and Goldfinger is not happy.

Once again, you will notice Goldfinger is wearing a golden sweater as he plays his round of golf with Bond. He is almost always wearing something gold throughout the film. Once you pay attention to it, you will look for it!

We know that Goldfinger likes to win – and here he loses to Bond. And he must write him a check for the 5,000 pounds. Goldfinger’s Rolls is parked in front of the main building at the club. Here, he directs Oddjob to demonstrate the capabilities of his hat, knocking the head off a statue some distance away. We now know that Oddjob is physically strong, but has a hat for a potent weapon, which we will see used in key scenes later in the film.

SpyMovieNavigator On Location at Stoke Poges Club,
where these scenes were filmed

ON THE FILMING LOCATION: On a recent trip to London, SpyMovieNavigator took a trek out to Stoke Park, which is where they filmed these golf scenes. We actually had lunch at the restaurant – and it was fun – a high tea! Then, we walked out by the 18^th hole, got some great photos, This is where Goldfinger concedes the game to Bond (after Bond replaced Goldfinger’s ball with the wrong one – “stick rules!”

After that, we walked in front of the main building where the Rolls was parked, and where Bond, Oddjob and Goldfinger met after the match. There, Goldfinger writes the check to Bond. And here, in the film, is where Oddjob demonstrates his skills with his hat – knocking off the head of a statue. Here are a couple of pictures including the driveway in front where Goldfinger’s Rolls is, with Bond, Oddjob and Goldfinger, Dan in front of Stoke, and Dan and Tom in front of the famous 18th hole!

Stoke Poges Club, at Stoke Park, Goldfinger, golf, james bond, spymovienavigator — Stoke Poges Club – Where Goldfinger’s Rolls in parked and where Oddjob demonstrates his skills with

Stoke Poges Club, at Stoke Park, Goldfinger, Oddjob, where the Rolls is parked, Dan in front of Stokes Park — Stoke Poges Club, at Stoke Park, North of London. Goldfinger golf scenes

Stoke Poges Club, at Stoke Park, 18th hole, Goldfinger, James Bond, 18th hole, Dan and Tom in front of 18th green — Stokes Poges- Dan and Tom in front of the 18th green, where Goldfinger concedes the game!

Again, we were really excited to be at these filming locations! Especially for these great scenes in one of our favorite Bond movies – we were right there! We love going to spy movie film locations, and we encourage you to do the same. It is just fun to be where they shot these scenes. And when you watch the movie again, you can‘t help but say, “I was right there!”

Goldfinger Golf Scene In the Movie: Royal St. Mark’s is where they say they are playing.
In Reality: Stoke Poges Club, at Stoke Park, north of London

As a reminder, Goldfinger likes to win, and here, he lost again to Bond. So this cannot be good for Bond. This Goldfinger golf scene is one of the classics in spy movies.

In the movie, the golf match takes place at the Royal St. Marks’ (which was based on the Royal St. Georges). In real life, it was filmed at Stoke Poges Club, at Stokes Park, which is about 35 minutes outside of London (Buckinghamshire) and is a luxurious resort and spa. Fabulous grounds, building, etc., founded in 1908. One of the most expensive clubs in the world! Fleming was a decent golfer and played at Royal St. Georges, and was especially fond of the 19^th hole! Fleming’s handicap was 9, which coincidentally is the handicap of Bond. And in the film, Goldfinger has the same handicap, as the starter says in this clip.

In the film, we all know that Goldfinger plays a Slazenger 1, but Bond switches his ball with a Slazenger 7 when Goldfinger ends up in the rough and can’t find his ball, but Oddjob sneakily drops one. Bond finds the real one, and also a Schlesinger 7. Bond hides the Slazenger 1 and switches Goldfinger’s ball by tossing him the wrong one from the cup. We can believe that Goldfinger might not notice since a 7 and a 1 might look similar at a quick glance. But what ball does Bond Play? A Penfold Heart! This Goldfinger golf scene is a must-watch.

Goldfinger – DB5 Car Chase

This clip highlights three things: the DB5 and its gadgets, and the death of Tilly Masterson at the hands (hat) of Oddjob, and an emotional Bond, as we saw in Dr. No.

It is rumored that the producers wanted to use a Jaguar, but Jaguar refused to provide cars for the film. They then went to Aston Martin, and Aston Martin, of course, provided two cars for the movie. What was Jaguar thinking? This Aston Martin was also used in Thunderball and sold to a private American car collector for about $4.6 Million over 40 years later. There is another version of the story that says EON Productions had to pay for the Aston Martins.

Notice the sound effects in this clip, and remember it won an Academy Award for sound effects. The motor sounds, road sounds, gadgets, bullets being fired, the crash of Oddjob’s hat striking Tilly are all first-rate.

More Tender Side of Bond

Here, we see another glimpse at the more tender side of Bond, as we saw in Dr. No when Quarrel was killed and Bond walks over to look at Quarrel, sadly and reflective. Here, he does a similar thing. When Oddjob strikes down Tilly during the gunfight between Bond and Goldfinger’s Asian henchmen, Bond gives up the fight. Doing so, he runs over to the body of Tilly. Bond gently rolls her over, realizing she is dead. He glances at Oddjob’s hat and is obviously sad, maybe even emotional, as he looks at her face. Examine Bond’s face as he looks at her – he is emotional. And then he clenches his jaw, indicating that he is angry, and will try to avenge her death. All in one quick shot – brilliant.

The DB5, Car Chase

Of course, we move through this scene as Bond is avoiding his pursuers with skilled driving and the DB5 gadgets – at one point, after Bond activates the smokescreen, Tilly smiles broadly, and we, the audience, are thinking they will be safe and will shake off their pursuers.

Then Bond uses the oil slick, and another car chasing them crashes off a cliff and bursts into flames, much like we saw the hearse in Dr. No plunge to a fiery grave. In this clip, the car crashes, bursts into flames, crashes through some small trees as it rolls downhill, and the trees follow it in flames as it crashes into a wall at the bottom. A beautiful scene, even though most cars will not burst into flames when crashing like this as we said in our Dr. No podcast! But great drama!

We also see Bond raise the bulletproof shield during this chase. SpyMovieNavigator always wondered why the front windshield is bullet-proof as we will see in another moment in this clip as the old lady gatekeeper fires a machine gun at Bond’s windshield. Yet, he needs the bullet-proof shield to protect the rear window. Maybe just extra protection by Q, thinking most dangerous scenarios would be a chase from the rear. Or, maybe even to block out the targets inside the car. But it’s a cool gadget nonetheless.

Tilly Dead and the Capture of Bond – Why Did They Make Him Drive His Own Car?

Lastly, after Tilly is killed, you see the bad guys carry her body off as Oddjob grunts for one of his, I think, three or four grunts in the film. Then, they make Bond drive his own car back to Goldfinger’s headquarters. We are thinking – well, you kind of know the car is latent with gadgets – he used a smoke screen, oil slick, read bullet-proof shield already – what next? Well, they make Bond drive his car anyway.

Q’s forethought was right on the money again – the ejector seat! Yes, the Goldfinger goon who is in the passenger seat with a gun on Bond gets ejected – notice the very surprised look on his face as he glances up at the roof for a second before ejection. Bond then uses the front machine guns to try to escape, the gate lady fires a machine gun at the windshield, and eventually Bond crashes his car and they capture him.

All in all, this Goldfinger – DB5 car chase is a great chase scene, with lots of nuances. And one that makes sense in this film. And now Bond is captured . . .

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:

we see again how ruthless Goldfinger is;
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
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 – Bond versus Oddjob at Fort Knox

Bond versus Oddjob – In this clip, we see three people left inside Fort Knox with the bomb: the guy who cuffed Bond to the device, Oddjob, and Bond. The guy who cuffed Bond, once realizing they locked him in and he is doomed, wants to disarm the bomb. Oddjob, totally dedicated to Goldfinger even if it means his life, stops the guard.

And he throws him over the railing to a platform below. This is the very platform that Bond is on. So the question here is: this guard who cuffed Bond to the nuclear device knows how to disarm the bomb? Or was he just going to try? In a few minutes, we see Bond sweating it out trying to figure out how to disarm it. OK, we will believe that the guard who cuffed him has special knowledge. Maybe.

Bond versus Oddjob

The battle between Oddjob and Bond here is a spy movie classic. This is a captivating scene, as the timer ticks down on the device (albeit very slowly) as Oddjob and Bond fight it out. Oddjob, knowing he will die with Bond, makes no attempt to disarm the device. Afterall, he stopped the guard who wanted to disarm it. You have to give Oddjob props for his dedication.

Oddjob’s hat-weapon, which has served him so well, is his downfall here. He throws it at Bond, misses, and electrical wires are severed and fall sparking and flaming to the floor. As we see, Bond retrieves the hat, hurls it at Oddjob, misses and it sticks in-between the metal vertical bars protecting the gold.

Oddjob goes to get it, Bond slides on the floor, gets the wires that are sparking and holds them against the metal bars and Oddjob is electrocuted. In reality, it was reported that Harold Sakata, who played Oddjob, was badly burned in real life while filming this scene, but held onto the hat through his pain until Guy Hamilton yelled CUT! In fact, Sean Connery, it has been reported, injured his back in the Fort Knox scene as well.

OK, we can all relax. NO! The counter is ticking down on the nuclear device! And Bond is trying his hardest to figure out how to open the case and disarm the bomb. Too bad that guard is dead who cuffed him.

The Bomb Is Disarmed!

Eventually, Felix Leiter and the US team get into Fort Knox, Goldfinger escapes removing his gold overcoat to reveal an American service uniform. Yes. Gold buttons of course. But he is carrying a gold gun! While Bond fumbles to disarm the device, and there are only 007 ticks left, a CIA agent disarms it. Supposedly, it was going to stop at 003 seconds, but the director thought 007 would be more impactful. Bond still says “three more ticks Goldfinger would have hit the jackpot.”

Of course, they must track down Goldfinger now, but Bond was going to get an audience with the US President for saving the day. And he boards the plane to head to Washington, D.C., thinking all is good. But, as we have seen in many Bond movies to come, the ending is not always the ending! Bond gets surprised at times, like by Nick Nack in The Man With the Golden Gun, or by Tee Hee in Live and Let Die and more. And he will get surprised here.