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| “ | James Bond: Do you expect me to talk? Auric Goldfinger: No, Mr. Bond, I expect you to die! |
„ |
| ~ Goldfinger's most famous quote. And one of cinema's most famous. |
| “ | Mr. Bond, they have a saying in Chicago: "Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. The third time it's enemy action." | „ |
| ~ Goldfinger warning Bond to stay away from him. |
| “ | This is gold, Mr. Bond. All my life I've been in love with its color... its brilliance, its divine heaviness. I welcome any enterprice that will increase my stock. | „ |
| ~ Goldfinger explains his love for gold |
Auric Goldfinger is the titular main antagonist of the 1959 spy fiction novel Goldfinger by the late Ian Fleming and its 1964 film adaptation of the same name.
He is a powerful gold smuggler, jeweler and metallurgist and the head of his gold company Auric Enterprises who plots to destroy the US gold supply, to increase the value of his own gold and become the richest man on Earth.
He was portrayed by the late Gert Fröbe, who also played Baron Bomburst in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, and the title character in the 1974 film adaptation of Der Räuber Hotzenplotz. In Goldfinger, his voice was dubbed over in post-production by the late Michael Collins.
Biography[]
Origin[]
Goldfinger was a wealthy jeweler who worked mainly with gold (as his name implies), being known as the biggest gold collector of the world. He had his own gold resources, but he was being investigated for smuggling illegal gold. James Bond was ordered to investigate him, discovering that Goldfinger smuggled gold in the parts of his own car, which was completely made of gold.
Meeting James Bond[]
When Goldfinger learned about the investigation, he invited Bond for a friendly golfing game, where he threatened 007 to stay out of his business, ordering his bodyguard Oddjob to give 007 a demonstration, so Oddjob took out his hat and threw it at a statue, cutting it by the neck. Despite the threat, Bond continued investigating, which led to his capture. Goldfinger only spared him thanks to a bluff from Bond, instead imprisoning the agent at his ranch. Overhearing a meeting of Goldfinger and his associates, Bond eventually learned that Goldfinger was planning to invade Fort Knox, the U.S.'s fortified gold reserve.
At first, Bond thinks that Goldfinger was planning to steal the gold, but after having a drink with Goldfinger, Bond soon learns that Goldfinger actually intends to destroy Fort Knox with an atomic bomb made from China (on behalf of Mr. Ling, Goldfinger's nuclear specialist from China), which would render the gold useless and validate the value of Goldfinger's gold, thus making him the richest man in the world; the Chinese government would then be able to take advantage of the US's economic fallout and establish themselves as the new global economic power, hence there support of Goldfinger's plan. To ensure that his plan would be successful, Goldfinger plans to have his fellow band of female pilots to spray nerve gas around the vicinity that would kill thousands of citizens, which will allow him and his forces to enter Fort Knox without resistance. He also decides to bring Bond along (as he plans to have him handcuffed to the bomb to finalize his plan).
However, before the plot went into effect, Bond convinced Goldfinger's personal pilot Pussy Galore to help him thwart Goldfinger's plans. To that end, she secretly called Washington and switched the nerve gas to a more harmless one that would send citizens into a temporary sleep. At Fort Knox, Goldfinger has Bond strapped to the bomb and bids him farewell before learning out in horror that several U.S. soldiers have arrived to the scene. Posing as a U.S. army officer, Goldfinger betrays Mr. Ling by shooting him and Oddjob and Kisch by trapping them inside the vault with the bomb. Goldfinger manages to escape after shooting down several U.S. soldiers while Oddjob stays behind to ensure that Goldfinger's plan must succeed, even at the cost of his life and killing Kisch to ensure that no one disarms the bomb.
Fate[]
| “ | I will deal with her later. At the moment she is where she ought to be, at the controls. | „ |
| ~ Goldfinger after James Bond asked what would happen to Glare and his final words before his death. |
| “ | Galore: What happened? Where's Goldfinger? Bond: Playing his golden harp. |
„ |
| ~ Goldfinger's demise |
Bond nearly gets cut in half by an industrial laser when Goldfinger has him strapped to a table.
Though Bond manages to finish off Oddjob by electrocuting him, he has trouble trying to disarm the bomb. After the U.S. soldiers manages to finish the rest of Goldfinger's men, they get in their bomb expert to successfully disarm the bomb for good, thus foiling Goldfinger's plot. After the battle is won, Bond is sent to Washington in a private jet to meet the president, only to find out that Goldfinger has boarded the plane earlier, left the tied-up pilots in the hangar and had Miss Galore pilot the jet. Goldfinger plans to escape to Cuba, but first to finish off both Bond and Galore for ruining his plans. However, during a moment of carelessness as he points his gun away from Bond, Goldfinger is attacked by Bond and the two fight in the airplane. During the fight, either Bond or Goldfinger accidentally shoot a window of the cabin, causing it to shatter. Goldfinger is sucked out of the plane's window before falling to his death.
James Bond Jr.[]
Goldfinger appears in the show, a spinoff of the movies. How he survived his death is never explained. He is shown as an of ally of S.C.U.M. His characterization on the show is somewhat closer to the book, as he now wants to procure gold rather than destroy it.
Personality[]
| “ | Golden words he will pour in your ear But his lies can't disguise what you fear For a golden girl knows when he's kissed her It's the kiss of death from Mister Goldfinger Pretty girl beware of this heart of gold This heart is cold |
„ |
| ~ "Goldfinger" on Auric Goldfinger. |
Auric Goldfinger is a greedy man who is completely obsessed by gold. Under his jovial appearance, Auric Goldfinger is in fact an extremely dangerous individual who is ready to do anything to achieve his ends, for example by manipulating a group of American gangsters or world powers such as China, or to eliminate in a way monstrous or not, all those who would have the audacity to stand in his way or betray him, even if the betray is a totally trivial matter. This is clearly showed when he ordered Oddjob to kill Jill Masterson for betraying him in a Canasta card game in which he lost 10,000 USD. This fact clearly points out his boundless greed and his incredible pettiness as he willing to cheat for a small amount of money compared to his vast fortune. He also often uses gold in his assassination methods. Goldfinger is extremely selfish, willing to sacrifice or betray his own allies for his own benefit. In addition to this, Goldfinger is protected by his very numerous resources and his goons. He is also shown to be a very intelligent man, having numerous skills at his disposition. He prefers to avoid fighting by himself, but at the end, he ultimately fights with James Bond.
Gallery[]
Images[]
.png "Goldfinger (James Bond Jr).png (128 KB)")
Videos[]
Trivia[]
- In the series' usual style of non-subtle names, "auric" is an adjective that means "of, relating to, or derived from gold". The word comes from "aurum", Latin for "gold". Thus, his name is literally "Gold Goldfinger."
- Goldfinger was dubbed over by Michael Collins since Gert Fröbe, being German, was not a very good English speaker. Fröbe himself does, however, speak some lines in the movie, most notably screaming "EXCEPT CRIME!" when introducing his plan to the mobsters.
- In the original novel, Oddjob was killed by getting sucked out of the plane window whereas Goldfinger was strangled by Bond's bare hands.
- This was changed due to how horribly violent slowly strangling someone to death with your bare hands would look on film and the film creators created the scene of Oddjob's death by electrocution was for the movie with Goldfinger being given his method of death instead.
- Goldfinger is ranked #49 on AFI's list "100 Years...100 Heroes and Villains".
- Goldfinger is one of the most iconic Bond villains in history, due in part to the legendary Goldfinger theme which has been considered by many as one of the best themes to any Bond film.
- Goldfinger is the first main villain to appear that is not affiliated with SPECTRE and the only one of this type to appear before Blofeld's defeat in Diamonds Are Forever.
- Originally, the main villain in Diamonds Are Forever was supposed to be Goldfinger's twin brother, but Fröbe refused to play him so he was replaced by Ernst Stavro Blofeld.
- In the original novel, Goldfinger's plan was to rob Fort Knox's gold depository, but this was changed in the movie after critics pointed out the flaws of said plan, most notably how he would have had nowhere near enough time to steal all the gold before the US military's inevitable intervention, and his intention of breaking open the vault with an atomic bomb being more likely to irradiate it. In the film, Bond, under the assumption that Goldfinger's plan is the same as it was in the novel, even explains the errors of the book's Operation Grand Slam, before learning Goldfinger's true intentions.
- Goldfinger's name was taken from Erno Goldfinger, a Hungarian architect who lived in London. Fleming had previously objected to the pre-war demolition of Victorian cottages to make way for Erno's modernist designs. When Erno consulted his lawyers following the publishing of Goldfinger, Fleming threatened to rename the character "Goldprick" but eventually Erno decided not to sue Fleming, whose publishers had agreed to pay his costs and gave him six copies of the book.
- Goldfinger was initially banned in Israel due to Gert Fröbe's past affiliation with the Nazi Party. However, Fröbe had left the party before WWII and the ban was lifted several years later after it came to light that he had helped two Jews by letting them hide in his basement during the war.
- Gert Fröbe spoke very little English, so British actor Michael Collins dubbed his voice. Director Guy Hamilton instructed Fröbe to speak his lines (in German) quickly, which would assist the dubbing. Reportedly though, Fröbe was speaking English in a few scenes which reduces the awareness of the dubbing. In the trailer, Fröbe's own heavily accented voice is heard when Goldfinger says, "Choose your next witticism carefully, Mr. Bond, it may be your last." Fröbe dubbed his own voice in the German dubbed version of the movie, too.
- He's the only Big Bad of Sean Connery Era who isn't member of SPECTRE.
External Links[]
- Auric Goldfinger on the Pure Evil Wiki
- Auric Goldfinger (novel) on the James Bond Wiki
- Auric Goldfinger (film) on the James Bond Wiki
- Auric Goldfinger on Wikipedia
