It remains the most influential out of all the James Bond films in six decades – and contains one of the most iconic lines delivered to Bond when he is facing his maker.
The third in the legendary spy adventure series based on Ian Fleming’s series of novels, GOLDFINGER is set in America for the most part, but the majority of the movie was in fact shot in and around Pinewood Studios in Buckinghamshire, England.
James Bond (Sean Connery) is sent on a mission to Miami to shadow Auric Goldfinger (Gert Frobe) and discovers he is an adept cheat at cards, thanks in part to his moll Jill Masterson (Shirley Eaton), whom he seduces. However, he is knocked cold by an unseen assailant and discovers when awake that Jill has been suffocated in gold paint on the bed they were sleeping in.
Returning to London, he meets up with Goldfinger again on the golf course, using a piece of gold bullion as bait, as well as his henchman, Oddjob (Harold Sakata) who carries a steel rimmed bowler hat that can split marble. Using a locating device, he follows the trail to Auric’s gold factory in Europe, where he discovers the first part of a mission he overhears called ‘Grand Slam’….
Everything that followed was based on this particular film – the cars, the exotic locations, the girls and of course the gadgets – some of which stemmed from the silver Aston Martin (complete with ejector seat) he drives. Add the iconic title song sung by Welsh songstress Shirley Bassey and some great action – and you have the established formula for the Bond saga.