Goldfinger

Goldfinger (1964) is the third spy film in the James Bond series, and the third to star Sean Connery as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. It is based on the novel of the same name by Ian Fleming. The film stars Shirley Eaton as Bond Girl Jill Masterson who is famous for her iconic death, Honor Blackman and Gert Fröbe. The film was produced by Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman, and was the first of four Bond films directed by Guy Hamilton. The story has Bond following gold smuggler Auric Goldfinger, who plans a nuclear detonation inside the Fort Knox gold depository.

The film was the first official Bond blockbuster and made cinematic history by recouping its production costs in record-setting time, despite a budget equal to that of the two preceding films combined. Goldfinger was also the first Bond film to use a pop star to sing the theme song during the titles, a hallmark that would follow for every Bond film since except On Her Majesty's Secret Service.[1]

Cast

• 
  Sean Connery as James Bond (007): A British MI6 agent who is sent to investigate Auric Goldfinger. Connery reprised the role of Bond for the third time in a row. His salary rose, but a pay dispute later broke out during filming. After suffering a back injury when filming the scene where Oddjob knocks Bond unconscious in Miami, the dispute was settled: EON and Connery agreed to a deal where the actor would receive 5% of the grosses of each Bond film he starred in. It was while filming Goldfinger that Connery also became a fan of golf.[2]
  
• Shirley Eaton as Jill Masterson: Goldfinger's aide-de-camp, whom Bond catches helping the villain cheat at a game of cards. He seduces her, but for her betrayal, she is completely painted in gold paint and dies from 'skin suffocation' (a fictional condition Ian Fleming created for the novel. The skin does not actually "breathe"). Shirley Eaton was sent by her agent to meet Harry Saltzman, and she agreed to take the part if the nudity was done tastefully. It took an hour-and-a-half to apply the paint to her body.[3]
  
• Gert Fröbe as Auric Goldfinger: A wealthy man obsessed with gold. Theodore Bikel auditioned for the role of Auric Goldfinger but failed.[4] Fröbe was cast because the producers saw his performance as a child molester in a German film.[1] Fröbe, who did not speak English, said his lines phonetically, but was too slow. In order to dub him, he had to double the speed of his performance to get the right tempo.[3] He was dubbed over by Michael Collins.[1]
  
• Honor Blackman as Pussy Galore: Goldfinger's personal pilot and leader of an all-female team of pilots known as the Flying Circus. The character's name follows in the tradition of other Bond girls names that are double entendres. Blackman was selected for the role of Pussy Galore because of her role in The Avengers.[1] Concerned about censors, the producers thought about changing the character's name to "Kitty Galore",[5] but they and Hamilton decided "if you were a ten-year old boy and knew what the name meant, you weren't a ten-year old boy, you were a dirty little fucker. The American censor was concerned, but we got round that by inviting him and his wife out to dinner and [told him] we were big supporters of the Republican Party."[3] During promotion, Blackman took delight in embarrassing interviewers by repeatedly mentioning the character's name.[4]
  
• Harold Sakata as Oddjob: Goldfinger's lethal Korean manservant. Director Guy Hamilton cast Harold Sakata, an Olympic silver medalist weight lifter, as Oddjob after seeing him on a wrestling programme.[1] Hamilton called Sakata an "absolutely charming man", and found that "he had a very unique way of moving, [so] in creating Oddjob I used all of Harold's own characteristics".[6] Sakata was badly burned when filming his death scene.[2]
  
• Tania Mallet as Tilly Masterson: The sister of Jill Masterson, she is on a vendetta to avenge her sister.
  
• Bernard Lee as M: 007's boss.
  
• Cec Linder as Felix Leiter: Bond's CIA liaison in the United States. Linder was the only actor actually on location in Miami.[4] Linder's interpretation of Leiter was that of a somewhat older man than the way the character was played by Jack Lord in Dr. No; in reality, Linder was a year younger than Lord.
  
• Lois Maxwell as Miss Moneypenny: M's secretary.
  
• Desmond Llewelyn as Q: The head of Q-Branch, he supplies 007 with a modified Aston Martin DB5. Hamilton told Llewelyn to inject humour into the character, thus beginning the friendly antagonism between Q and Bond that became a hallmark of the series.[4]