September 2024 marks the 60th anniversary of the film that many fans consider one of the best in the entire James Bond franchise: Goldfinger. The third with Sean Connery as 007, the film became (until Skyfall) the most popular among critics and fans, being considered the model for subsequent films, including Skyfall. If it were up to behind the scenes, it might not have arrived in theaters on time. The success of the film was so great that it caused Ian Fleming’s novels to increase in sales, reaching almost 6 million books in the United Kingdom alone, with Goldfinger leading the way. A phenomenon on par with what we saw on screen.

For female audiences, any old James Bond film is problematic, including this one. Forcing women into kisses and sex, and physical and verbal aggression are the strengths of Sean Connery‘s James Bond, today it would be more than problematic. Still, it is worth remembering the dates and details of production.

One of Goldfinger‘s innovations was that it was the first in the series where the spy accesses you and uses a lot of technology, as support, as well as the first to show a prologue that had a connection to the mission and see how Q tests the gadgets under development before pass them to Bond. From here, the subsequent films largely follow the basic structure of the script, including humor, a woman killed by the villain, and lots of action. None can be as effective as Goldfinger, however, whose rhythm is perfect.

Initially, the producers had imagined that On Her Majesty’s Secret Service would be the sequel to From Russia with Love, but even with the script ready, there were problems with the locations in Switzerland and production had to be postponed. To make matters worse, there was still a process going on around Thunderball, the other option, which is why producers Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman decided in a hurry to bet on Goldfinger, which received a hefty budget for the time. 3 million dollars, which was the same as the values of Dr. No and From Russia with Love combined, confirming the franchise’s box office bet. At this point, they wanted James to be successful in the United States and that is also why a large part of the plot takes place on American soil.

Another classic change here was the change of director. Terence Young‘s schedule prevented him from amending a third film, after having directed the initial two, and so they went back to Guy Hamilton, who didn’t want to make Dr. No because he disagreed with a James Bond that was far superior to his antagonists. And it’s visible: the fight sequences, not so realistic today, really excited the public at the time, including the classic confrontation between James and Oddjob.

Recording began on January 20, 1964 and continued until the middle of the year, being the last film whose set was visited by the author, Ian Fleming, who would die in August of the same year, shortly before release.

When Goldfinger opened, the launch party practically filled the Odeon cinema in Leicester Square, London, with an excited crowd that caused riots. Worldwide success was instantaneous, with licensed clothing, shoes, action figures, board games, puzzles, lunch boxes, toys, record albums, trading cards and slot machines being sold as marketing pieces.

But perhaps Goldfinger‘s unsurpassable contribution lies in the soundtrack and the title song sung by Shirley Bassey, creating the tradition of having a great music artist sing in the credits sequence, adopted since then in almost all 007 films. John Barry, despite having to work to a tight deadline, was one of his favorite jobs because he had total control of the music.

The plot of Goldfinger is based on the 1959 novel of the same name, which sees James Bond investigating gold smuggling by gold tycoon Auric Goldfinger and eventually discovering the villain’s plans to rob Fort Knox. It was also the first film in the franchise to win an Oscar, for Best Sound Editing. As it didn’t win for the song, it’s another of the Academy’s mistakes. It was also, 60 years ago, the best box office of all Bonds: it recovered its investment in just two weeks, reaching more than 120 million dollars worldwide. For these reasons, it is still one of the best ever made. You can ignore the “problems”, especially because Bassey’s voice made this one of the most powerful 007 films. Unforgettable.

Pesquisar

Pesquisar