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Poster bond goldfinger

His heart is COOOOOOOOOLD!!

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 Bond: You expect me to talk?

Goldfinger: No, Mr. Bond, I expect you to die!

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This was the third James Bond film and is one of the most iconic of the series. Part of what made it so good is that it is a shining example of a Pragmatic Adaptation that changed the title villain's rather ridiculous plot to literally rob Fort Knox in Ian Fleming's original novel into a plan that feels honestly and believably ingenious (not to mention changing the book's rather blatant racism and sexism).

Has several famous Bond-movie scenes, including Goldfinger threatening to cut Bond in half with a laser, Bond's high-stakes golf game and the death of Goldfinger's traitorous employee Jill Masterson, who for helping Bond ends up with her neck broken, her naked body sprawled across her bed and painted gold.

This movie also gave the franchise its first Cool Car. In fact, one of the great virtues of the film is that the gadgets shown, such as the car and the personal tracer, are 40+ years old and they still look both believable and neat (and in the case of the GPS-esque tracer, are modern-day consumer goods).

Not to be confused with the ska band of the same name.


Do you expect me to talk?[]

  • Action Film Quiet Drama Scene: When Bond figures out Goldfinger's diabolical plan. Oddly enough, one could almost say this about an action scene in itself, given how the final confrontation between Bond and Oddjob is done sans music and plays out rather methodically.
  • Adaptation Distillation: The film cuts a long and complex golf game scene into a short bit. More importantly, in the novel, Goldfinger truly does plan to steal all the gold from Fort Knox. The screenwriters have Bond openly talk of how that's physically impossible and then the twist of Goldfinger instead using a bomb to make the gold unusable, which is far more plausible.
  • Adaptation-Induced Plothole: Inverted. The book has Goldfinger's plan be to steal all the gold in Fort Knox, which would be impossible to do in the time he has. Here, Bond points this out... only for Goldfinger to reveal he actually plans to irradiate the gold with a Dirty Bomb supplied by the Chinese to make the bullion he already has more valuable.
  • Adaptational Sexuality: Pussy Galore's lesbianism is never mentioned in the film, where she merely tells Bond she is "immune" to his charms (and by the end of the film she very much isn't). Tilly was also a lesbian in the book and in love with Pussy, but is depicted as purely heterosexual in the film.
  • Affably Evil: Goldfinger.
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  Goldfinger: Is that julep tart enough for you, Mr. Bond?

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  • Aluminum Christmas Trees: The iconic opening shot of Bond emerging from a tuxedo beneath a wet suit was inspired by Peter Tazelaar, a member of the Dutch resistance and a British Intelligence agent during World War II. Tazelaar had a mission to infiltrate a German-occupied castle in Scheveningen during a reception. He drove to the location aboard a dinghy wearing a wet suit, removing it after landing to reveal formal evening wear underneath. Tazelaar went on to be one of the initial inspirations for Bond, and the scene was added to the film by script doctor Paul Dehn, who knew him during the war. Also, Mythbusters proved that it’s possible.
  • Amazon Brigade: Pussy Galore's Flying Circus.
  • Ambiguously Gay: Pussy Galore, who says she's "immune" to Bond's charms. In the novel, she is explicitly described as a lesbian. In the film, she's entirely heterosexual.
  • Antagonist Title
  • Armor-Piercing Question: When Goldfinger accuses Bond of bluffing about MI-6 sending in 008 to replace him if he dies, Bond coolly replies, "Can you afford to take that chance?" Goldfinger decides that no, he can't, and finally switches off the laser with which he was about to bisect Bond.
  • Artistic License: Biology: Jill is asphyxiated by covering her entire body with gold paint. Bond explains that people need at least a small patch of bare skin at the base of the spine for their skin to "breathe." This isn't true. At the time the novel was written, "skin asphyxiation" was taken seriously, at least by the public. The studio had a team of doctors on hand while shooting the death scene, and left Shirley Eaton's stomach unpainted to make sure she could breathe. In reality, death could result from heat exhaustion if the paint interfered with perspiration, or exposure to toxins if the paint were unsafe, but it would take a very long time. It's possible, of course, that Goldfinger simply murdered Jill and then covered her body in gold paint as a sort of calling card. Since Bond lived in a society that believed in "skin asphyxiation," perhaps he mistakenly assumed the cause of death.
  • Artistic License Economics:
    • Colonel Smithers explains to M and Bond that Britain (and its allies such as the United States) keep gold reserves to "estimate the true value of the dollar and the pound". The UK abandoned the gold standard for fiat money in the 1930s, although the US didn't fully drop it until the Nixon administration.
    • Subverted and defied in the main plot. Bond figures out Goldfinger is lying to his mob backers when he stops to think about his "plan" and realizes that carting all the gold out of Fort Knox is not only difficult, it would also massively devalue the currency against him. Goldfinger than reveals his actual plan: by nuking Fort Knox, it would create artifical scarcity and jack up the value of his personal gold even more. It should be noted that this is a case of Adaptation Distillation: in the original novel, Goldfinger was planning to steal all the gold. The makers of the film changed it as they knew Goldfinger would need more manpower to do so.
  • Artistic License Military: The U.S. Army Brigadier General is addressed as "Brigadier"; U.S. Army, Air Force and Marine Corps officers of this rank are addressed as "General", since in the U.S. military it is a General officer's rank. "Brigadier" is strictly a British or Commonwealth form of address. It's understandable that Bond might make this mistake, but Leiter, an American, should know better.
  • As Long as It Sounds Foreign: The guards at Auric AU, who are supposed to be Korean if going by the novel, are shouting in Cantonese according to the Bluray subtitles.
  • Awesome McCoolname: It's only in passing, but the American gangsters in on Operation: Grand Slam have names like "Mr. Solo", "Mr. Strap" and "Mr. Midnight". They get a bit more background and personality in the novel.
  • Badass in Distress: Bond spends a good chunk of the film as this, held prisoner by the title villain. He still manages to keep his wits and succeeds in getting Pussy Galore to betray Goldfinger.
  • Badass in a Nice Suit: Oddjob.
  • Bad Liar: Tilly tells Bond that her name is Tilly Soames and she's in Geneva to ice skate. Bond sees right through it by noticing her attache case which has T.M. on it.
  • Bait and Switch: At first, it seems like Goldfinger is going for the book's plan of robbing Fort Knox. When Bond points out why this won't work, Goldfinger casually reveals that he has no intention of doing so.
  • Battle Butler: Oddjob is a butler-cum-bodyguard and is a master martial artist whose whole body is covered in protective calluses.
  • Big Bad Wannabe: Mr. Ling, the Chinese nuclear weapons whiz on loan to Goldfinger's operation. Ling acts like a superior to Goldfinger in their interactions reminding him of deadlines and receiving progress reports from him, as the "on-paper" aim of Goldfinger's scheme is to destabilize the West's economy to benefit the Communist countries. He realizes he's being gamed perhaps half a second before Goldfinger puts a round through his heart.
  • The Big Board: The Fort Knox model Goldfinger shows off to the mobsters.
  • Big Red Button: The famous button under the stick shift in James Bond's car that activates the ejector seat.
  • Bizarre and Improbable Golf Game: "If that's his ball I'm Arnold Palmer."
  • Black Comedy Rape: Bond's martial arts sparring and wrestling with Pussy Galore before forcing himself upon her. It's thankfully subverted since she returns his kiss while they're still fully clothed, but it's still uncomfortable to watch.
  • Blinded by the Light: During the golf game, James Bond tosses a gold bar onto the grass just as Goldfinger is about to make his shot. The light reflecting off the bar (and the distracting sight of all that gold) causes Goldfinger to miss.
  • Bling Bling Bang: Goldfinger's gold plated revolver, which he uses at Fort Knox and later in his own airplane.
  • Board to Death: Goldfinger and the mobsters who supplied his equipment needs.
  • Body Paint: Jill Masterson is killed by being painted solid gold, which is explained as "skin suffocation". Spawned a myth (Summarily busted: You don't breathe through your skin, people — but if you're allergic to metallic powder, watch out) and thousands of imitators.
  • Bond One-Liner: "Shocking"; "As you said, he had a pressing engagement."; "Where is Goldfinger?" "Playing his golden harp"; "Where's your butler friend [Oddjob]?" "He blew a fuse."
  • Bond Villain Stupidity: More or less averted. While Goldfinger does keep Bond alive, it's because he prefers keeping Bond under his thumb rather than MI-6 just sending another agent in Bond's place and wants to trick the good guys into thinking Bond is doing better than he actually is. In reality, had Bond not turned Pussy in the eleventh hour, Goldfinger almost certainly would have won. Goldfinger was also perfectly willing to just let Bond be cut in half by his laser, and it's only because he realizes he can't afford to risk the chance that Bond's bluff is not a bluff that Bond survives.
  • Boring but Practical: Goldfinger's scheme ultimately isn't quite the specacular, over-the-top sensation that most of SPECTRE delves in, but it works well enough; set off a bomb in a national bank reserve, thereby decreasing the total amount of gold in circulation and increasing the value of—and thus the wealth and influence provided by—the gold he already has.
  • Bring Him to Me: After capturing Bond in Europe, Goldfinger has him brought to his horse ranch in the U.S., the control centre for Operation Grand Slam.
  • Bulletproof Vest: A Q-Branch agent gives one a test with an assault rifle. Pretty advanced stuff, though Q says it's not perfected yet.
  • Cadre of Foreign Bodyguards: Goldfinger and his bodyguard, Oddjob. Goldfinger has also several Asian men working for him, implied to have been given by his Chinese backers.
  • Ceiling Cling: Bond tricks a guard into thinking he's escaped, clinging on to the ceiling, and then dropping down behind him once the guard opens the door.
  • Cheaters Never Prosper: In his first scene, Goldfinger is revealed to be cheating in rummy by Bond, who makes him lose. Later, Bond realizes Goldfinger is cheating in their golf game and again, has him beaten.
  • Chekhov's Boomerang: Oddjob's hat. He uses it first of all to decapitate the statue after the golf game, then to kill Tilly Masterson in the woods, then it cuts the wire in the Fort Knox vault that will later be used to electrocute him. Finally, Bond hurls it at Oddjob, it gets stuck in the vault bars, and Bond uses the aforementioned wire to electrocute Oddjob when he goes to retrieve it through the metal in the rim of the hat.
  • Chekhov's Gun:
    • The giant laser is first used as a threat to execute Bond. It is later used to cut through the outer door of Fort Knox.
    • Bond's warning to Pussy about the dire effects of firing a gun inside a pressurized aeroplane cabin is later played out exactly as he warned.
  • China Takes Over the World: The Reds are in uniforms and Bond identifies a nuclear physicist as being from Red China (Oddjob is from Korea, if North then a Chinese ally).
  • Color Motif: Visually, the film uses many golden motifs, reflecting the novel's treatment of Goldfinger's obsession with the metal. The concept of the recurring gold theme running through the film was a design aspect conceived and executed by Ken Adam and art director Peter Murton.
    • All of Goldfinger's female henchwomen in the film except his private jet's co-pilot (black hair) and stewardess (who is Korean) are red-blonde, or blonde, including Pussy Galore and her Flying Circus crew.
    • Goldfinger has a yellow-painted Rolls-Royce with number plate "AU 1" ("Au" being the chemical symbol for gold), and also sports yellow or golden items or clothing in every film scene, including a golden pistol, when disguised as a colonel.
    • Jill Masterson is famously killed by being painted with gold, which according to Bond causes her to die of "skin suffocation". (An entirely fictional cause of death, but the iconic scene caused much of the public to accept it as a medical fact.)
    • Bond is bound to a cutting bench with a sheet of gold on it (as Goldfinger points out to him) before nearly being lasered.
    • Goldfinger's factory henchmen in the film wear yellow sashes, Pussy Galore twice wears a metallic gold vest, and Pussy's pilots all wear yellow sunburst insignia on their uniforms. Goldfinger's Jetstar hostess, Mei-Lei, wears a golden bodice and gold-accented sarong.
  • Compensating for Something: In the pre-credits sequence, a girl asks James Bond why he always carries a gun. He just shrugs and says he has a "slight inferiority complex".
  • Continuity Nod:
    • Bond is told that his "attache case" has been irreparably damaged by Goldfinger's men, which he seems a bit affected by. It's easy to presume this is referring to the gadget-loaded briefcase he got in From Russia with Love, and he's realizing how screwed he is without it.
    • At one point, Bond refers to Felix Leiter's time in Jamaica, referring to the events of Dr. No. This is actually a necessary callback as not only is Leiter now played by a different actor, but the new actor is also considerably older than Jack Lord, who played the role previously.
  • Continuous Decompression: After the window of Goldfinger's jet is shattered by a bullet.
  • Conveyor Belt O' Doom: Inversion when the laser beam moves toward Bond instead of the other way around.
  • Cool Car:
    • Bond's Aston Martin DB5, with all of its cool gadgets.
    • Goldfinger's Rolls-Royce is pretty nice, also.
    • Tilly's Ford Mustang convertible.
  • Cool Guns:
    • A cartel guard has a DWM Luger in his holster.
    • The American soldiers wield M-14s.
    • Goldfinger's henchmen carry MP-40s, including a little old lady.
    • Palmer Cap-Chur Short Range Projectors are used by Bond and Kisch, the former firing a grappling hook from it and the latter firing a tranquilizer dart from it.
    • Auric Goldfinger wields a gold-plated Colt Official Police as his sidearm, although he uses a gold-plated Colt 1908 in the book. He and Bond struggle over later on his plane during the climax. The gun eventually fires, breaking a window and sucking Goldfinger out. One of Goldfinger's guards also pulls one on Bond when Bond escapes from his cell.
    • Pussy Galore weilds a Smith and Wesson Model 22 .45ACP revolver, a serious handgun for a serious woman.
  • Corpsing: During the scene of the soldiers collapsing at Fort Knox, one soldier's head collides with another as they collapse and you can see him give a wide smile. Though this fits in-story with the reveal that they're all playing dead to fool Goldfinger.
  • Corrupt Corporate Executive: Goldfinger. If you can't have the United States' gold reserves, you can always just destroy them. Wiping out the entire population of Fort Knox (civilian and military alike) in the process is just collateral damage.
  • Cure Your Gays: In the book, Pussy is a Lipstick Lesbian until Bond's magic charms make her reconsider. Honor Blackman discussed this aspect in a 2006 AMC television special, Bond Girls Are Forever. She thinks that Pussy only believed she was a lesbian because Goldfinger (in the novel, it was her uncle instead) abused her pretty badly, and Bond's charm got her in touch with her actual heterosexuality. This is not remotely implied in the movie, however. The one time Goldfinger and Pussy interact onscreen, she's relaxing beside him at his Kentucky ranch and they seem to have a comfortable professional relationship. The movie version of Pussy is, based on the on-screen evidence, heterosexual.
  • Cut the Juice: The frequently-parodied scene where Bond is about to deal with his Wire Dilemma, whereupon a disposal technician steps over, calmly reaches under a panel on the bomb, and switches it off.
  • Dastardly Dapper Derby: Goldfinger has his servant Oddjob with his blade-tipped bowler, which was made behind the scenes by turning a chakram into a hat.
  • Deadly Gas: The Delta 9 nerve gas used to kill the gangsters and intended to kill the Fort Knox guards.
  • Dead-Man Switch: Bond tells Goldfinger that killing him won't do much in the long run, as his death will simply cause MI6 to dispatch another agent (008) to replace him.
  • Death by Sex: Jill Masterson, murdered by Oddjob on Goldfinger's orders after having sex with Bond. In the book, her sister Tilly dies because she had become sexually obsessed with Pussy Galore.
  • Deconstructed Trope: Tilly Masterson's story completely upends the standard Roaring Rampage of Revenge plot. After she discovers that her sister, Jill, has been killed by Goldfinger, she rushes off to Switzerland with a rifle in hand in an attempt to assassinate Goldfinger. You'd assume that she would prove to be a perfect ally for Bond, but instead, since she's an untrained civilian, her attempts to kill Goldfinger fail. All she accomplishes is nearly accidentally killing Bond, compromising his position twice, and eventually getting herself killed.
  • Deconstruction: The film does this to the plot of the original book, pointing out that Goldfinger's plan to rob Fort Knox would be impossible. Bond states that it would take a bare minimum of twelve days to move the gold out of Fort Knox and Goldfinger would have only two hours before law enforcement is on top of him, and Goldfinger agrees, revealing that his real plan is to set off a dirty bomb and irradiate the gold, rendering it unusable and increasing the value of his own stocks.
  • Didn't Think This Through:
    • Tilly Masterson has learned that Auric Goldfinger has killed her sister Jil and decides she wants some revenge. To do this, she decides to take him out by stalking him in Switzerland, where he has his base of operations, and shooting him with a rifle. Instead of doing a little bit of research, the very least of which being learning how to shoot properly, she rushes off to Switzerland with an AR7 a .22 calibre rifle with pitiful stopping power and range, and is such a horrible shot that she nearly shoots James Bond, who is man standing several hundred feet away and up from her target, causing him to think that she was targeting him instead. She tries to do it again later, when Bond is trying to infiltrate Goldfinger's smuggling facility. In her idiocy, she stops just short of advertising her position on a neon sign and trips an alarm wire, compromising Bond's infiltration attempt and leading them both into a chase that ultimately leads to her death at the hands of Oddjob.
    • Subverted. 007 thinks that Goldfinger hasn't thought his plan through, and points out to him that even if he used his nerve gas on the whole population of Fort Knox, he'd never have enough time to transport the gold from the vaults before military reinforcements came. What he doesn't know is, as Goldfinger explains to him, stealing it isn't part of the plan; his true goal involves detonating a bomb to render the gold in Fort Knox radioactive and unusable, thereby making the value of his personal foreign holdings in gold skyrocket. (In short, Goldfinger's scheme was intended to be an insider trading scam, taken Up to Eleven.)
  • Dirty Communists: In the novel, Goldfinger is revealed to be working for SMERSH (a Soviet counterintelligence organization).
    • In the movie, Goldfinger obtains his dirty-bomb material from Red China, which views his scheme as an opportunity to create "economic chaos in the West".
  • Disappointed by the Motive: Beautifully subverted. Bond openly says he's "disappointed in you, Goldfinger", as his apparent plan to rob Fort Knox is logistically impossible. When Goldfinger reveals his true scheme, however, Bond has to apologize and admit "it's an inspired deal."
  • Disney Villain Death:
    • Kisch, thrown over a railing to his death by Oddjob.
    • Goldfinger himself gets sucked out of a plane before "playing his golden harp."
  • Distressed Dude: The scene where Bond is strapped down to a table with a laser beam slowly approaching his groin.
  • Does This Remind You of Anything?: The German-accented Goldfinger locks a group of men in a room and gasses them to death. It also doesn't help that Gert Fröbe had previously been a member of the Nazi Party (albeit he left before the war broke out, and even saved a Jewish family during the war).
  • Double Entendre: "Shocking, positively shocking."
  • The Dragon: Oddjob
  • Dressing as the Enemy: After the army arrives, Goldfinger dresses himself as a U.S. soldier to escape. It is worth mentioning that he already had the uniform on under his coat, with the hat in his pocket, just in case he needed it.
  • Drop-Dead Gorgeous: Jill Masterson lying dead on the bed, painted gold. This is perhaps one of the franchise's most famous images.
  • Ejector Seat: Part of Bond's new Aston Martin. He uses it to get rid of one of the mooks after he is captured in the woods outside of Goldfinger's factory. Played rather realistically in the film, as it's fired by compressed air and only ejects the poor sucker 2-3 yards out. A real rocket-powered seat, as in a jet fighter, would have burned Bond to death and reduced the car to a charred wreck.
  • Electrified Bathtub: The assassin in the opening is killed off when he falls into a bathtub and, just as he is going to grab Bond's gun (as Bond's holster was hung on a coat rack besides the tub), Bond throws a lamp at the tub, fatally electrocuting him. (Reportedly, the effects for this even burned the actor.)
  • Empty Quiver: Inverted, the bomb is a purposely 'dirty' one and is meant to contaminate the gold as any that survives the blast would be radioactive for decades. Thus causing a massive financial panic making Goldfinger's own gold reserves multiply in value instantly, but also causing chaos and upheaval on behalf of the Chinese Communists who supplied the nuke.
  • Energy Weapon: The famous (or infamous, depending on your perspective) "crotch-laser", which was in-film supposed to be an industrial laser designed to cut gold. It was later used as part of the villain's scheme, however its initial use was far more memorable, hence the name. Interestingly, real lasers of that power level tend to be in the infrared spectrum. The red beam we see might be explained as a secondary guide laser similar to a laser gunsight, not the actual damage-causing bit. In reality industrial lasers of that strength didn't exist at the time the film was made, and the laser effect was animation and a prop man using a blowtorch from under the table.
  • Everybody Owns a Ford: Ford provided Tilly's Mustang, Felix Leighter's Thunderbird, and Goldfinger's Lincoln Continental, Ford Ranchero and Country Squire (and the government Continental sedans and convertible). Of note is that it's the first time a Mustang was in a film. The film also offers a bit of unintentional foreshadowing, as Ford would buy Aston Martin in the 1990s.
  • Every Car Is a Pinto:
    • After a car drives over a cliff, it explodes in midair.
    • At the end, a plane immediately explodes upon contact with the ocean.
  • Evil Genius: Mr. Ling, the Chinese nuclear expert.
  • Evil Gloating:
    • Played with when Goldfinger brags about the laser but then is about to let Bond die, but doesn't.
    • Played straight when Goldfinger shows a room full of men a complicated display of maps and models despite the fact that he intends to kill them all before they even leave the room.
  • Evil Is Petty: Goldfinger is petty enough that he cheats during friendly games of cards or golf just so he can win (what's to him) rather tiny sums of money.
  • Exact Eavesdropping: Bond overhears Goldfinger revealing all the details of his plan to a group of people he murders thirty seconds after leaving the room.
  • Explosive Decompression: The finale has the window of a private jet shot out and Goldfinger sucked through the opening. Interestingly, despite the window being the only apparent damage to the plane, it enters an unrecoverable dive, forcing 007 and Pussy to parachute to safety.
  • Face Death with Dignity: Oddjob doesn't seem bothered about being locked in the vault with the active bomb. In fact, Kisch panics and rushes to disarm the bomb, but Oddjob stops him and kills him.
  • Failure Hero: Bond actually fails at everything in this film, and is directly responsible for both Jill and Tilly's deaths. (In fact, if he hadn't ruined Tilly's shot at the factory, Goldfinger would have been killed right there, ending the film an hour early. And he's the one who triggers the alarm when he grabs her gun barrel.) Bond spends the bulk of the third act thinking he's failed and has nothing but desperate gambles left as chance allows him. He even appears surprised that Pussy changed sides. Even killing Oddjob at the end didn't really make a difference, as the heavily-armed soldiers break in a moment later and disarm the bomb, and would have riddled him with bullets if he had made even the slightest attempt to interfere with them.
  • Fakeout Escape: Bond tricks the guard into thinking he's escaped, clings onto the ceiling, and then drops down behind him once the guard opens the door.
  • Faux Affably Evil: Goldfinger swings back and forth with this. He threatens Bond with the crotch laser, but when Bond convinces him that he's more worthy alive than dead, he even has him served a mint julep at his estate. Then Goldfinger reveals that he plan includes a nerve gas attack on Fort Knox, and when Bond points out that it will kill thousands, military and civilian alike, Goldfinger dismisses the casualties as no greater than the number of deaths that occur every year due to auto accidents.
  • The Film of the Book: The book has a plot to steal the gold from Fort Knox (which the movie Bond points out is impossible) using a nuclear bomb to blow open a door while everyone is suicidally close. The movie changes the scheme into a plan to raid the fort just long enough to place the nuclear bomb in the main vault. Any gold surviving the blast would be radioactive and thus worthless, making the value of Auric Goldfinger's own gold jump at least tenfold.
  • Five-Bad Band
  • Fixing the Game: When playing cards at a resort, Goldfinger has an employee on a nearby balcony using binoculars to read his opponent's cards. Later when playing golf with Bond, he has Oddjob help him cheat his way out of a penalty stroke. Both times, James turns the tables (first by seducing the card-reading employee, then by cheating even harder at golf). This goes a long way to help establish Goldfinger's character; he's already extraordinarily wealthy, but is still greedy and petty enough to cheat to win (ultimately rather minor) sums of money in friendly bets.
  • Foreshadowing:
    • Oddjob demonstrates that his bowler hat is metal-rimmed by hurling it at a statue and decapitating it. He later kills Tilly Masterson in the woods by throwing his hat at her and breaking her neck.
    • Bond kills a henchman with electricity in the prologue. Guess how he kills Oddjob at the end.
    • When Bond first meets Pussy Galore while she's pointing a gun at him on a plane, Bond warns her about the consequences of shooting a gun in a plane at high altitude. In the climax a gun is fired in an aircraft and blows out a window, causing Goldfinger to be sucked out and fall to his death.
  • Frickin' Laser Beams: Torture device and door opener in one.
  • Getting Crap Past the Radar: In a 2002 interview with Empire magazine, Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman say that the American censor was concerned about Pussy Galore's name, but they persuaded him to let them leave it in by taking him out to dinner and claiming to be big supporters of the Republican Party.
  • Go-Karting with Bowser: Bond plays a round of golf with Goldfinger (who naturally, cheats). Bond doesn't exactly play fair, either.
  • Gold Makes Everything Shiny: Jill dies by having her body completely covered in golden paint.
  • Good Guns, Bad Guns: The mooks at Goldfinger's European plant carry weapons of Nazi German origin - mostly Walther P38s, and of course the grandmotherly gate guard who wields an MP-40. In the assault on Fort Knox, they use Kar 98k bolt action rifles and MP-40 sub-machine guns. In contrast, the US Army troops use Thompson SMGs and some M-14 Rifles, and Tilly Masterson uses an AR-7 rifle, the same type of rifle Bond himself used in From Russia with Love, and while her allegiance is ambiguous at first, she is ultimately revealed to be on Bond's side.
  • Groin Attack: Just barely averted. How do you get Bond to stop cracking wise? Slowly inch a laser closer and closer to his manly parts.
  • The Guards Must Be Crazy: Both played straight and subverted. In this case, one guard is fooled to allow Bond to escape, but he is recaptured and the guards intelligently make sure the spy stays put.
  • Halfway Plot Switch: The film starts as a surveillance mission to determine if the titular character is smuggling gold in and out of England to get the best price. Smuggling is forgotten quickly with the phrase "Operation: Grand Slam" which turns out to be a plot to nuke the gold at Fort Knox.
  • Hand Signals:
    • After James Bond convinces Goldfinger that he's worth keeping alive, Goldfinger makes a gesture to his henchmen to turn off the laser beam that was about to cut Bond in half.
    • After Goldfinger and his men enter Fort Knox, Goldfinger gives a signal to one of the men to open the vault.
    • While Oddjob is fighting Bond inside the Fort Knox vault, Bond is lying on the floor. Oddjob makes a two-handed "Get up" gesture to him.
  • Hero of Another Story: 008 never appears, but if M ever tells Bond that if he can't do the mission, someone else will, chances are 008 is that "someone else".
  • Hidden in Plain Sight: Goldfinger's entire MO — he pretends to be deaf to use a hearing aid (in fact, a receiver for a radio, allowing him to cheat), smuggles gold by driving cross country in a car made of painted gold, lounges pleasantly knowing the CIA is watching him, creates a detailed decoy plan just to fake everyone out until it's too late, and successfully impersonates an officer to escape once his plan goes south.
  • High Heel Face Turn: Pussy Galore, after being seduced by Bond. This is even crucial to the plot, since it got her to replace the nerve gas in her pilots' planes with a harmless placebo. The film gives little reason for her change of allegiance and leaves viewers to assume it was just because Bond seduced her.
  • Hollywood Density:
    • Bond uses two gold bars to break open the bomb and throws a gold bar at Oddjob. However, he does seem to have some trouble lifting them.
    • You might notice the cube resulted from the crushed Continental lacks wheels, and for something that'd be at least 2 tons (specially for the gold in the trunk), it barely makes a difference for the pick-up truck that receives it.note  Said gold also didn't visibly weigh down the trunk of the Continental before it was crushed.
    • Averted in the main plot - Bond and Goldfinger independently realize that it would take far more time than the Grand Slam team would plausibly have to move ten thousand tons of gold out of the vault and into whatever vehicles they had acquired for the heist. So instead, Goldfinger decided to render the Fort Knox gold valueless to increase the value of the gold he already possesses.
  • Hoist by His Own Petard: Oddjob is electrocuted while holding his steel-bladed hat.
  • Hollywood Density: Bond uses two gold bars to break open the bomb and throws a gold bar at Oddjob.
    • Bond does seem to have some trouble lifting them.
    • And the scene in which Bond explains why stealing the gold would be impractical (following which Goldfinger explains his real plan) is probably the most famous aversion in cinema.
    • You might notice the cube resulted from the crushed Continental lacks wheels, and for something that'd be at least 2 tons (specially for the gold in the trunk), it barely makes a difference for the pick-up truck that receives it.[1]
  • Idiot Ball:
    • Bond actually spends much of the film screwing up, but some fans actually like this since it makes him more flawed, human and realistic and ultimately more sympathetic. For example, it was seriously idiotic of Bond to stay at the hotel, in the same room, right after forcing Goldfinger to lose a bunch of money in cards. In fact, this decision leads directly to Jill's death.
    • Neither the British nor American governments had any idea that Goldfinger was planning to break into Fort Knox. If he hadn't dabbled with the relatively penny-ante crime of smuggling gold, he would never have drawn their attention and brought Bond down on his head, though he may have been stepping up his attempts to gain gold considering he intended for the price to shortly shoot up.
  • Implacable Man: Oddjob takes a thrown gold bar in the chest without flinching. In fact, the only time he appears to be even mildly uneasy in the film is when Bond attempts to use his own killer hat against him.
  • Impossibly Cool Weapon: Oddjob's razor-rimmed hat.
  • Improbable Weapon User: Oddjob and his razor-rimmed hat.
  • Incredibly Long Note: He loves GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLLLD!!!
  • Instant Sedation: Kisch uses a tranquilizer dart gun on a helpless Bond.
  • Intimidation Demonstration: Oddjob demonstrates his ability with his killer bowler hat early in the film, foreshadowing the fight with Bond at the end. He also crushes a golf ball ion his bare hands, displaying his physical skill and toughness.
  • It's Not Rape If You Enjoyed It: Bond and his Forceful Kiss of Pussy Galore is a mild example.
  • Just Between You and Me: Subverted and Inverted — Goldfinger brags about his plan to his business partners, knowing that he's going to kill them all anyway and that it won't make the slightest bit of difference if he tells them. What Goldfinger doesn't realise is that Bond is listening in on his little presentation; however, Bond misinterprets Goldfinger's plan and thinks that he intends to steal all of Fort Knox's gold, when in actual fact he intends to make it radioactive.
  • Kick the Dog: In the novel, Goldfinger gives his cat to Oddjob for dinner after it 'accidentally' foils his plot to spy on Bond.
  • Lack of Empathy: Goldfinger, with the backing of Red China, intends to cause economic chaos in the West by nuking the American gold supply at Fort Knox. When Bond asks about the potential death toll of Goldfinger's plan, he just simply shrugs and remarks "American motorists kill that many every two years".
  • Large Ham: Gert Frobe set the standard for cartoonish supervillainy.
  • Last Villain Stand: Goldfinger corners Bond on a plane to the White House, holding him up with a literal golden gun, only to miss his target and shoot a window before being sucked out of the plane and falling to his death.
  • Lead the Target: Part of Oddjob's skills with his lethal hat are because of this trope; he noticeably aims a significant distance in front of his moving target, and hits her cleanly on the neck despite the hat being much more slow moving than a bullet or an arrow.
  • Locking MacGyver in the Store Cupboard: Bond is able to fool then KO a guard.
  • Magic Countdown: The nuclear Time Bomb in Fort Knox.
  • May-December Romance: Averted. Honor Blackman (Pussy Galore) is the oldest Bond girl.
  • Meaningful Name:
    • Goldfinger's first name, Auric, is the Latin word for "gold".
    • "Pussy Galore" (at least in the novel) is a lesbian.
  • A Million Is a Statistic: Discussed. Bond points out that Goldfinger's nerve gas attack on Ft. Knox will kill thousands, military and civilian alike, for no greater cause than what is essentially, robbery. Goldfinger dismisses the casualties as no greater than the number of deaths that occur every year due to auto accidents.
  • Minor Crime Reveals Major Plot: When the film starts, Bond's assignment is comparatively mundane, assisting in an international law enforcement investigation into Goldfinger's gold smuggling. During his investigation he discovers that Goldfinger is after much larger game, eventually learning that he plans to detonate a salted nuke in Fort Knox.
  • Money Fetish: "This is gold, Mr. Bond. All my life I've been in love with its colour, its brilliance, its divine heaviness..." Ultimately subverted, however — Goldfinger doesn't fall for Bond's Nazi Gold trap, and while he shows pangs of guilt when the time comes to irradiate Fort Knox, he goes through with it without noticeable hesitation.
  • Mook Lieutenant: Kisch. He isn't exactly The Dragon, but he's close.
  • Murphy's Bullet: When Tilly tries to kill Goldfinger.
  • My God, You Are Serious: Bond talking to Q about his car's ejector seat.
  • The Napoleon: In Fleming's novel, Goldfinger is both this and an Evil Redhead.
  • The Nasty Party: Goldfinger explaining his scheme to the gangsters and then killing them.
  • Nazi Gold: Bond wagers a captured bar of Nazi Gold in a golf game with Goldfinger, implying that he can supply more to the avaricious gold dealer.
  • Near Villain Victory: Goldfinger's attempt to nuke Fort Knox and radiate the gold and make it useless was going very well... That is, he would have succeeded if Pussy Galore didn't have a Heel–Face Turn (thanks to James Bond) and replaced the nerve gas in her pilots' planes with a harmless placebo.
  • Neck Snap: How Oddjob kills Tilly Masterson.
  • Never Mess with Granny: The old lady working as a guard decides to get an MP 40 to shoot the Aston Martin (Alfred Hitchcock told Guy Hamilton it was his favorite scene).
  • Nice Hat: Nice Killer Hat. Just mind any wiring about.
  • No, Mr. Bond, I Expect You to Dine: Pussy Galore tells Bond he's Goldfinger's guest. Later, Goldfinger serves Bond a mint julep, explains his plan and has Pussy give him a tour. Trope namer, more or less.
  • Not My Driver: A variation: Mr. Solo opts out of participating in Operation Grand Slam, and thinks Oddjob is taking him to the airport. He realizes too late that he's actually being taken to a "pressing engagement" with a scrapyard car crusher.
  • Now It's My Turn: A wordless variant occurs, courtesy of Oddjob. When Bond's attacks don't affect him, Oddjob shoots him a smug look before going on the attack.
  • Oh Crap:
    • Goldfinger's Chicom advisors subtly freak out when Bond claims that MI6 knows about Operation Grand Slam. Goldfinger (correctly) suspects he's just bluffing, but keeps him alive just to be sure.
    • "Who mentioned anything about removing it?" Also counts as a Wham Line.
    • Bond gets another one during his fight with Oddjob. The man silently shrugs off a gold bar to the chest and a few whacks to the face with lumber, then tosses Bond around with hardly any effort, all the time with that creepy grin of his.
    • Later on in the fight, Oddjob gets one of his own when Bond picks up his hat.
    • Afterwards, Bond gets another when he manages to pry the bomb open, and upon seeing just how complex it is, realizes he has no clue how to disarm it.
    • Bond gets a final Oh, Crap! when a gun-wielding Goldfinger turns up on his private jet at the end - his face completely crumbles.
  • Oil Slick: One fo the gadgets in Bond's car.
  • One-Book Author: Despite her impressive film debut as Tilly, this was model Tania Mallet's only major film appearance.  She had previously tested for Tatiana Romanova in From Russia with Love.
  • Operation Blank: "Operation Grand Slam" is the name of Goldfinger's Evil Plan for Fort Knox, in both novel and film.
  • Overt Operative: 007 poses as a dealer in illicit gold, only to end up strapped to a laser-table with Goldfinger greeting him as "007". 007 naturally denies it, responding with his cover name which is - James Bond! Guess it wasn't as well known at the time. Goldfinger knew who he was because he was working with the Reds and one of Bond's "opposite numbers" identified him while he was unconscious.
  • Personal Mook: Goldfinger has Oddjob is his butler and chaffeur, and Pussy Galore for his personal pilot and also as the instructor for his own personal air force.
  • Pinball Protagonist: James Bond himself. Ignoring the pre-titles sequence, he causes the death of two sisters on the way to know Goldfinger's plan — which only occurs after he's captured by the villain, and his attempts to both escape and warn his allies of the scheme fail. The only things Bond do that help foil Operation Grand Slam are seducing Pussy Galore and killing Oddjob. Even when Goldfinger returns, he's killed by accident.
  • Pool Scene: After the opening credits, Bond is spending time by the pool of a Miami hotel, where he learns of his assignment involving the eponymous villain.
  • Pragmatic Adaptation: Over the original book, mostly the tone of racism, homophobia and sexism abounding in it. The novel also has Goldfinger planning to slowly poison the water supply of the troops as if they won't notice and truly remove all the gold in Fort Knox physically. The movie not only solves the poison issue but also the far more ingenious idea of nuking the gold (with a scene of Bond openly relating how stealing it all would be impossible) so Goldfinger's own stocks can rise in profits.
  • Pragmatic Villainy: Operation Grand Slam is much simpler in the film than in the novel: instead of outright stealing the gold from Fort Knox, Goldfinger wants to nuke it so that the value of his auric holdings would skyrocket even more. The theft was just a cover. 007 thought he would break into the vault, but is left flabbergasted when told about it by Goldfinger.
  • Product Placement: By Aston Martin and Ford (who provided Tilly's Mustang and the Lincoln Continental which gets crushed). Averted when Guy Hamilton thought using the scene Bond's in the bathroom (and uses all he can to hide the "magic eyes") to showcase Gilette products was silly.
  • Punch-Punch-Punch Uh-Oh: Bond, while fighting Oddjob in the Fort Knox vault.
  • Punny Name: Pussy Galore. In the film this was supposed to be lampshaded, with Bond's response to her telling him her name being "I'm sure you are, but what's your name?" but this was considered likely to annoy the censors. Bond's incredulous "I must be dreaming" is lampshading enough. Honor Blackman for her part gleefully annoyed the censors by using the character's full name at press conferences and the like.
  • Questionable Consent: Bond and Pussy have a martial arts match before he forces himself on her. It's ultimately a subversion, since she (eventually) returns his kiss while they're still fully clothed, but it's pretty uncomfortable to watch.
  • Rape as Backstory: In the novel, Pussy Galore hints that's why she's not into men.
  • Reality Ensues:
    • The point of Bond's speech to Goldfinger, pointing out how it's physically impossible to remove the gold from Fort Knox in anything less than a week and a half and he's going to have the Army and every police agency in the country on him in two hours. Of course, it's right then Goldfinger reveals he has no plans of removing anything. Even better given how the novel did try to push the idea of stealing the gold, and that in the book, Bond was the only person who thought Goldfinger's plan would fail.
    • Tilly Masterson discovers that her sister, Jill, has been killed by Goldfinger. In a matter of a few weeks, the untrained woman rushes off to Switzerland with a too-short range carbine (instead of a rifle) in hand in an attempt to assassinate Goldfinger. In the course of her attempt at a Roaring Rampage of Revenge, she ends up compromising Bond's position twice and fails to kill Goldfinger. The first attempt can be best summarized as an "Epic Fail". The second sees her tripping an alarm, which results in a lengthy chase that results in Bond getting captured and Tilly getting killed by Oddjob.
    • This is also early enough in the franchise that Bond's One-Man Army tendencies are still held in check; he needs the help of Pussy's team and the cooperation of American authorities to foil Goldfinger's plan, and even then it's a near-run thing.
  • Reality Is Unrealistic: Connery thought the tuxedo-under-the-wetsuit bit was too humourous and unbelievable. It was actually drawn from writer Paul Dehn's wartime experience of a Dutch resistance operation. It was later successfully tested on MythBusters.
  • Reflective Eyes: The opening has James Bond making out with a sultry cabaret dancer and look longingly into her eyes... which reflect her accomplice coming up behind Bond to try delivering a crack to his skull. 'Shocking', indeed...
  • Resignations Not Accepted: Mister Solo, after having Operation Grand Slam to rob Fort Knox revealed to him, states his intention to leave rather than take part in the plan with the rest of the gangsters. He is allowed to leave, and in fact, Goldfinger makes a point of saying that "We must respect Mr. Solo's decision". He's then driven away by Oddjob, and rather than taken to the airport, is shot with a silenced pistol by him.
  • Revealing Hug: In the pre-titles sequence, James Bond is making out with a Belly Dancer in his room just as a hidden assassin emerges with a truncheon and sneaks up on him. We, and Bond then see her oddly calm reaction to the assassin's appearance (as well as the reflection of the assassin in her eyes) revealing that they are working together. Fortunately, Bond catches on, and it does not end well for either of them.
  • Rule of Symbolism: The time bomb's clock in Fort Knox is halted at exactly 007 seconds. This was thrown in as a last-minute gag. The timer was originally going to be stopped at only 003 seconds, which is hinted at by Bond's next line, "Three more ticks and Goldfinger would've hit the jackpot".
  • Rule of Three: When Goldfinger tries to kill James Bond with the industrial laser, he tells him, "The reason for our first two meetings is now clear to me. I do not intend to be distracted by a third."
  • Same Language Dub: Gert Frobe did not speak English, so he spoke phonetically and was dubbed over.
  • Sacrificial Lamb: Jill Masterson and her sister Tilly are killed off shortly after each is introduced to show that Goldfinger is dangerous.
  • Scenery Censor: When Bond finds Jill Masterson lying dead on the bed while covered in gold paint, there's a conveniently placed pillow that blocks the audience from seeing her buttocks.
  • Scenery Porn: The drive through France and Switzerland. The book includes large sections describing the scenery.
  • Science Marches On: Jill's death by "skin suffocation" was based on an erroneous belief of the time. Basically, she wouldn't have suffocated as long as she could still breathe from her mouth or nose, as obvious as that sounds. Myth Busters also got in on the debunking.
    • And even Myth Busters got it wrong the first time, affirming the myth. Only after doctors contacted them did they do it again and get it right.
  • Sex Face Turn: Pussy Galore, with James Bond. In the book, Pussy was only faking at being a lesbian due to a history of sexual assault and a belief that there were no good men left in the world.
  • Slippery Skid: Bond uses an oil slick device in his Aston Martin to send a pursuing Mook car to its doom.
  • Sore Loser: When Bond and his caddy realize that Goldfinger is cheating by having Oddjob drop a new ball from an easy-to-play lie, Bond finds and swipes Goldfinger's Slazenger 1 and deliberately swaps it for a Slazenger 7 in his hand. Under the strict rules that Goldfinger insisted on, Goldfinger loses the last hole and therefore the match for playing the wrong ball. Goldfinger huffs out in anger, but Bond and the caddy can barely contain their glee.
  • The Speechless: Oddjob doesn't speak English so he never talks, the only thing he ever says is "Ah, Ah!" when notifying Goldfinger during their golf game. And the only other sound he makes is him screaming as he's electrocuted while holding trying to grab his metal hat when he tries retrieving it from metal bars that's it's stuck in as bond electrocutes the metal bars. In the novel, the reason he cannot speak is because he has a cleft palate.
  • Spiked Wheels: Bond's Aston Martin pops retractable barbed spikes from the centre of his wheels that destroy enemy tyres.
  • Spy Tux Reveal: The intro had James Bond plant a bomb in a drug lord's warehouse, then head for a restaurant while shucking his wetsuit to reveal a white tuxedo underneath.
  • Stealth Pun: Happens in-universe. When Goldfinger says that Mr. Solo has a "pressing engagement," no one else catches the reference to Mr. Solo's impending death by crushing. When Bond gets the joke later, he lampshades it.
  • Strapped to An Operating Table: Bond during the laser interrogation scene.
  • Suddenly Sexuality: Pussy Galore goes straight for Bond.
  • Take That: Bond finds time to slam The Beatles.
Cquote1

 James Bond: My dear girl, there are some things that just aren't done, such as drinking Dom Perignon '53 above the temperature of 38 degrees Fahrenheit. That's just as bad as listening to the Beatles without earmuffs!

Cquote2
  • Talent Double: Gert Fröbe couldn't play golf, so a double was required. Averted with Sean Connery, whose lifelong love of golf started with this film.
  • Talking Your Way Out: Bond gets out of the laser by reminding Goldfinger that there are other agents out there who will replace him if he dies, implying that his death would give the rest of MI-6 an excuse to move against him immediately.
  • Tap on the Head:
    • Bond is knocked out by a judo chop to the back of the neck administered by Oddjob.
    • Bond takes down a guard by kicking him in the head.
  • Those Wacky Nazis: While Goldfinger's German accent and reaction to Nazi gold lead many fans to assume Nazi roots, the character is specifically described as a Soviet agent in the book. Ironically, Gert Fröbe was a member of the Nazi party (not for long though), causing the film to be banned in Israel until it was discovered that he used his position to save a family of Jews, very much like a mini-Schindler. The German accent is an illusion. Fröbe didn't speak a word of English and had to be dubbed by English actor Michael Collins. Fröbe was such a good actor that the dub is completely unnoticeable.
  • Thrown From the Zeppelin: Goldfinger's crushing response to a gangster's refusal to join him. A pressing engagement, indeed. Not that the mobsters who were on board with Goldfinger fared any better.
  • Time Bomb: The nuclear bomb in Fort Knox.
  • Tracking Device: Bond plants one in Auric Goldfinger's Rolls-Royce. Felix Leiter later homes in on the smaller one Bond is carrying to locate the OO agent.
  • Tranquillizer Dart: While Bond is helplessly strapped to a table, Kisch renders him unconscious with a tranquilizer dart pistol.
  • Treasure Room: The gold depository at Fort Knox. The look on Goldfinger's face when he sees all that gold in piles is wonderful. In the film he plans on irradiating all that gold. In the book, he really does plan on trucking it away.
  • Tricked-Out Shoes: A minor example of this trope (after Klebb's poisoned dagger) is the trick heel on one of Bond's shoes where he conceals one of the mini-tracers given to him by Q.
  • Trope Codifier: Pick a Tuxedo and Martini Spy Fiction cliche — chances are good that it was popularized by this movie.
    • This movie, more than From Russia with Love and certainly more than Dr. No, defined the aspects of a Bond movie especially with promoting Q and his arsenal of gadgets.
  • Tuxedo and Martini: After Bond has snuck in to a drug factory in a drysuit and blown it up. He comes out of the water, removes the drysuit — and reveals a neat tuxedo.
  • Unexplained Accent: Despite being played by the very Germanic Gert Fröbe, when Goldfinger is introduced Felix Leiter says he's "British, but he doesn't sound like it." Of course Frobe was dubbed by another actor but he is still given a German accent. The character wasn't even British in Fleming's novel (he was Latvian) so why this was put into the film is a mystery (no other details about his background are mentioned)
  • Unflinching Walk: The pre-credits sequence, where Bond is the only one at the bar not to react to the huge explosion he planted earlier.
  • Useless Protagonist: Aside from seducing Pussy Galore - ensuring the army was still alive to foil Goldfinger - and killing Oddjob, 007 gets foiled at every turn. And regarding the villainous plan, the nuclear bomb is stopped by an anonymous armyman, and Goldfinger causes his own death by firing a gun inside an airplane (which in the book, was done by Bond himself).
  • Victim Falls For Rapist: Bond and Jill Masterton, in the original book. In the film, Bond forcibly kisses her, and she becomes immediately willing.
  • Villainous Breakdown: Goldfinger loses his cool once 007 foils his plan to irradiate the American gold supply. He dresses up as an American military officer to escape Fort Knox once Operation Grand Slam fails, and then tries to kill Bond aboard a plane, but is sucked out by the air pressure when he fires his gun on a window.
  • "The Villain Sucks" Song: Shirley Bassey would like to remind you that Goldfinger does, in fact, love gold. A lot.
  • The Voiceless: Oddjob, although he does get Goldfinger's attention during the golf game by shouting.
  • Wacky Wayside Tribe: Bond's infiltration and blowing up of a stash of "heroin-flavored bananas" at the start of the movie.
  • Watch the Paint Job:
    • Bond's Aston Martin DB5 is ruined when Bond runs it into a brick wall.
    • Also, the Lincoln Continental put in a car crusher (the crew said everyone on set was silent at seeing such a brand new car getting destroyed, and during a screening of the dailies, the projectionist entered the room angry asking if they really did it).
    • The DB5's tire slashers make mincemeat out of the side of Tilly's car.
  • We Have Ways of Making You Talk: Subverted. Goldfinger doesn't expect Bond to talk. He expects him to die.
  • Weaponized Car: The Aston Martin DB5, which was also Bond's first Weaponized Car. Its arsenal included Machine Guns, tyre-slashers, oil-slicks, a smokescreen, bullet-proof shield and rotating numberplates and an ejector seat triggered by a Big Red Button. And those are only the ones that made it to the screen. Ken Adam also gave it spike droppers, a weapon tray under the driver seat, and a radiotelephone concealed within the driver side door, but these never made it into the movie.
  • What Happened to the Mouse?: When Goldfinger emerges from the cockpit during the epilogue, a second man is clearly visible behind him, but this individual vanishes during the final fight between Bond and Goldfinger (with no indication of him aiding his boss), only to return as an unconscious or dead body on the floor after Goldfinger exits the plane. Likely the victim of deleted footage, as far as the finished film is completed what happened to this man remains a mystery.
  • Why Don't You Just Shoot Him?: As noted, Goldfinger fully intends to kill Bond, and only spares him for pragmatic reasons, but one has to wonder, if he originally had no plans to let Bond live, why he just didn't use a gun instead of a slow-moving laser that gives Bond enough time to talk his way out of the situation.
  • Wire Dilemma: Subverted: James Bond only has seconds to defuse a nuclear bomb in Fort Knox, and the best thing he can think of is to attempt to pull out a mass of wires and hope it does something. However, just when he makes the attempt, Felix Leiter arrives with a bomb expert who brushes away Bond and simply hits the off switch for the bomb to stop its countdown. With "007" on the timer.
  • Would Hit a Girl: Or in the case of opening teaser, allow a girl to be hit by someone else. Even though Bond has no qualms about hurting women himself if the mission demands it. (At least she exits the encounter with little more than a bump on the head, unlike her mook.)
  • Xanatos Speed Chess: Goldfinger actually outplays Bond through most of the film. At least once he does it unknowingly since Bond secretly placed a note with a tracking device on someone Goldfinger killed for other reasons. In fact, Bond only succeeded due to to a Heel–Face Turn by Pussy Galore and he didn't even know she'd turned.
  • Yodel Land: A small part of the film takes place in Switzerland. Much of the movie actually avoids this trope, however, taking place in Goldfinger's metallurgical plant, hardly part of the typical image.
  • You Have No Chance to Survive:
Cquote1

 James Bond: Do you expect me to talk?

Goldfinger: No, Mr. Bond, I expect you to die!

Cquote2


  • You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Goldfinger does this to nearly everyone. He gasses the gangsters that supplied him, shoots Mr. Ling after he arms the bomb, and then locks Oddjob and Kisch in the vault with the bomb. Justified with the latter three, as that was when his plan was starting to fall apart and he was trying to get away.
  1. The film crew actually had to cut the cube in half so the truck could support the weight.