--- title: "Goldfinger" year: 1964 kind: "film" canonical: "https://film.one/film/goldfinger" fi1m_score: 82 critics_score: 80 critics_reviews: 17 published: "2026-09-18T11:09:03.101807+00:00" updated: "2026-09-18T11:09:03.780285+00:00" region: "US" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Goldfinger (1964) Directed by Guy Hamilton · 1h 50m · MPA PG · Adventure, Action, Thriller **Fi1m score: 82** · Critics 80 from 17 reviews *In a sentence:* The villain cheats at cards and golf, and it is the cheating, not the gold, that Bond cannot forgive > The third Bond film is where the series found its shape: the car, the song, the sets, the villain who explains himself. It is confident, fast and often funny, and it treats its women worse than we can quite laugh off. ## Synopsis James Bond (Sean Connery) is on leave in Miami when Felix Leiter (Cec Linder) points him at Auric Goldfinger (Gert Fröbe), a bullion dealer beating Simmons (Austin Willis) at gin rummy. Goldfinger is cheating, helped by Jill Masterson (Shirley Eaton), who watches the cards through binoculars and talks into his earpiece. Bond breaks up the scheme, takes Jill to bed, and wakes to find her dead, painted head to foot in gold. M (Bernard Lee) gives him the job: Goldfinger is suspected of smuggling gold out of Britain. Bond goads him over eighteen holes of golf, meets Oddjob (Harold Sakata), and follows his Rolls-Royce across Europe in an Aston Martin, where Tilly Masterson (Tania Mallet) is also on the trail. ## Review Sean Connery had played James Bond twice before *Goldfinger*, and Guy Hamilton, taking over as director, kept the man and threw away most of the anxiety. What remains is a comic thriller in which nothing is quite serious and every set piece is built to be talked about afterwards. That is the Bond formula as it has run for sixty years, and this is the film that set it. It is still, at 110 minutes, the most enjoyable of the early ones. Gert Fröbe’s Goldfinger is the best thing in it. He is a large, soft, pink man who does not run, fight or raise his voice, and Paul Dehn and Richard Maibaum’s script gives him a single trait: he cannot bear to lose, so he cheats, at cards, at golf, and eventually at world finance. The golf match is a long scene about two men being polite to each other, and funnier than most of the film’s jokes. Harold Sakata’s Oddjob, with the bowler hat that takes the head off a statue, never speaks and is frightening from his first shot. He smiles when he hurts people, and the smile is worse than the hat. Ken Adam built the rooms these men live in, and the best of them is the laser room: a slab, a beam and a clock face of light on the ceiling, which Ted Moore lights so the beam is the only red thing in a white and grey space. Bond is strapped to the table, the beam starts between his ankles and creeps towards him, and John Barry’s brass climbs a step at a time behind it. We knew exactly how it would end and we still tensed, and what did it was Peter R. Hunt’s cutting, which holds on the beam a beat longer than is comfortable each time we return to it. Barry’s score is the other pillar. The title song, sung by Shirley Bassey over Robert Brownjohn’s projections of a gold-painted body, is brass and swagger, and Barry threads the same tune through the rest of the film in a dozen tempos. Hunt cuts the pre-credits fight in a bathroom hard and close, and the car chase through a Swiss factory yard, with the Aston Martin’s smoke screen and oil slick and ejector seat, is over before we have finished enjoying it. The car is the film’s most durable joke: a British sports car fitted with the contents of a schoolboy’s imagination, and Bond’s face when he is told about the seat. Connery is at ease in a way he was not before. He is cruel, quick and amused, and he delivers a line about drinking Dom Pérignon above a certain temperature as if he has been waiting all his life to say it. But the film does something odd with him in its middle third: it locks him up. Bond becomes a prisoner who watches, eavesdrops and is moved about like a piece of luggage. For much of the film he does little, and it is Goldfinger and Oddjob who carry the picture. Then there are the women, and the film has aged badly there. Shirley Eaton’s Jill is on screen for one scene before she becomes an image, and Tania Mallet’s Tilly lasts a few more scenes before the film loses interest in her. Both are named Masterson; neither is given much to want. Honor Blackman’s Pussy Galore is the exception, a pilot who runs her own outfit and looks at Bond as if he were a mild inconvenience, and Blackman is dry and good. What the script eventually asks of her we did not laugh at, though the film wanted us to. [*From Russia with Love*](https://film.one/film/from-russia-with-love), the film before it, is leaner and more worried, and on some evenings we prefer it. *Goldfinger* is the one that everybody copied for the next four decades. Watch it for Fröbe, for Adam’s rooms, for Barry and Bassey, and for the laser, which has not dimmed. It is a PG. The gold paint will not trouble a child; the way the film talks to its women might trouble an adult. *Fi1m score 82, published 18 September 2026.* ## What the critics say Most critics agree Goldfinger is where the Bond formula settles: gadgets, a megalomaniac villain, a theme song and a joke never far from the violence. The praise clusters on Guy Hamilton’s handling of tone, keeping the outrageous and the self-mocking in step, and on Ken Adam’s sets, the Aston Martin and the laser sequence, which nearly everyone names. Connery draws warm notices for pairing charm with cruelty; John Barry’s score and Shirley Bassey’s song are mentioned almost as often. The reservations are fewer and mostly about age. The Independent enjoys the storytelling but finds the sexism and the barn scene hard to watch now, and The Times allows that it looks primitive beside later entries. The Guardian thinks the fantasy too contrived once Bond can do anything, and The New York Times, writing on release, finds the gadgets tedious while admiring the Fort Knox raid. The spread is narrow and nobody is hostile. ### Reviews we read (17) - **Radio Times**, David Parkinson (5/5): The film ranks among the slickest Bond entries, endlessly entertaining with classic moments like the gold paint, laser scene and Oddjob duel. Director Guy Hamilton integrates these into a gripping storyline and elicits Connery's best performance. [Read](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-mrfciw/goldfinger/) - **Empire**, Ian Nathan (90/100, inferred): The review hails the film as perfection and the point where the franchise hit its stride, praising the immortal laser scene, iconic elements like the Aston Martin and Oddjob's hat, and its blend of glamour, action, sex and comedy under Guy Hamilton. [Read](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/goldfinger-review/) - **Evening Standard**, Nick Curtis (90/100, inferred): The writer declares Goldfinger the finest in the series for its taut plot, Aston Martin, Shirley Bassey song, golf and laser set pieces, and especially Sean Connery at his peak capturing Bond's cruelty, charm, virility and humour. [Read](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/film/licence-to-thrill-7219862.html) - **RogerEbert.com**, Roger Ebert (90/100, inferred): Ebert declares Goldfinger the best of the Bond films and a great entertainment that encapsulates the entire series formula. He singles out its many durable iconic images, such as the gold-painted woman and the gadget-filled Aston Martin. [Read](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-goldfinger-1964) - **Sight and Sound** (90/100, inferred): The review praises the film's pre-credits sequence and overall tone of outrageous violence mixed with self-mockery. It highlights Ken Adam's sets, gadgetry like the Aston Martin, and the principle that nothing succeeds like excess. [Read](http://old.bfi.org.uk/features/ultimatefilm/chart/details.php?ranking=27) - **The Telegraph** (90/100, inferred): The piece celebrates Goldfinger as the gold standard and most important Bond film, crediting its formula of gadgets, action, sex and humour for defining the series. It singles out the laser scene and overall tone set by director Guy Hamilton for praise. [Read](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/0/goldfinger-perfect-james-bond-film-sean-connery/) - **Total Film** (90/100, inferred): The review states the third Bond film glitters in every department with the coolest car, greatest score and quintessential dialogue, crediting Guy Hamilton for nailing the balance of adventure, sexism and fantasy while noting minor technical flaws. [Read](https://www.gamesradar.com/goldfinger-review/) - **The New Yorker**, Brendan Gill (80/100, inferred): Gill pronounces Goldfinger worthy of the earlier Bonds and commends the screenwriters and director for keeping the misadventures flowing at a swift, self-parodying clip. He singles out the beautiful Aston-Martin for visual solace amid the action. [Read](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1964/12/26/006-12) - **Variety**, Variety Staff (80/100, inferred): The review finds no staleness in this third Bond outing and notes liberties taken with the novel that preserve its flavor. It singles out production designer Ken Adam for a wealth of enticing invention in sets and gadgets. [Read](https://variety.com/1963/film/reviews/goldfinger-1200420642/) - **The Independent**, Geoffrey Macnab (70/100, inferred): The critic calls Goldfinger the most pleasurable James Bond movie ever made thanks to its playful, witty storytelling and iconic set pieces, but notes its tarnished legacy due to dated sexism, xenophobia and a problematic barn scene now viewed as assault. [Read](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/features/goldfinger-james-bond-sean-connery-sexist-nazi-b2530685.html) - **The Times**, Edward Porter (70/100, inferred): The review praises the re-released film for its wit and panache despite feeling primitive by modern standards. It highlights the plot involving Pussy Galore and the attempt to sabotage Fort Knox as enduringly enjoyable. [Read](https://www.thetimes.com/culture/film/article/goldfinger-sunday-times-review-vsd2xb62f9c) - **Time Out**, Derek Adams (3/5): The critic notes the film's iconic elements including the theme song, Oddjob, Pussy Galore and the Aston Martin DB5. It recommends the restored print for big-screen viewing. [Read](https://www.timeout.com/movies/goldfinger) - **The Guardian** (50/100, inferred): The critic finds the film a solid but overly contrived fantasy that loses some of Bond's point when he can do anything. It singles out the exciting car chase scene for praise while noting the story's glossy violence and humour. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/books/2002/nov/16/featuresreviews.guardianreview11) - **The New York Times** (50/100, inferred): The review finds the latest Bond adventure tedious in its reliance on gadgets over female temptations but praises the climactic Fort Knox raid as spinningly staged and full of cliff-hanging suspense. It concludes that by that point viewers have had enough of Mr. Bond. [Read](https://www.nytimes.com/1964/12/22/archives/screen-agent-007-meets-goldfingerjames-bonds-exploits-on-film-again.html) - **Den of Geek**, Mark Pickavance (5/5): The critic calls Goldfinger the quintessential 007 experience in which all franchise elements crystallize into their final form. He singles out the megalomaniac villain, Ken Adams production design, John Barry score with Shirley Bassey theme, gadgets like the Aston Martin DB5, and overall faithfulness to Fleming for particular praise. [Read](https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/goldfinger-blu-ray-review/) - **Film Stories**, Mark Harrison (90/100, inferred): The critic highlights how Goldfinger solidified the Bond formula with gadgets, humor, and tongue-in-cheek tone, praising its influence and iconic elements like the laser scene and Aston Martin. They note its massive popularity and enduring impact despite some dubious tropes. [Read](https://filmstories.co.uk/features/goldfinger-how-james-bond-found-his-gadgets-girls-and-groove/) - **The Playlist**, The Playlist Staff (85/100, inferred): The review praises Goldfinger for its sly humor, fantastical elements balanced with integrity, cracking villains, kick-ass girls, classic iconography, and establishing the Bond song tradition, calling it a winner that appeals widely while refreshing. [Read](https://theplaylist.net/nobody-does-it-better-the-5-best-james-bond-films-20121108/) ## Details - **Director:** Guy Hamilton - **Director:** Guy Hamilton - **Screenplay:** Richard Maibaum, Paul Dehn - **Story:** Berkely Mather - **Novel:** Ian Fleming - **Cinematography:** Ted Moore - **Editor:** Peter R. Hunt - **Music:** John Barry - **Production design:** Ken Adam - **Producer:** Harry Saltzman, Albert R. Broccoli - **Cast:** Sean Connery as James Bond; Gert Fröbe as Auric Goldfinger; Honor Blackman as Pussy Galore; Harold Sakata as Oddjob; Shirley Eaton as Jill Masterson; Tania Mallet as Tilly Masterson; Bernard Lee as M; Martin Benson as Martin Solo - **Runtime:** 1h 50m - **Certificate (MPA):** PG - **Release (the US):** 9 January 1965 - **Genres:** Adventure, Action, Thriller - **Budget:** $3 million - **Box office:** $125 million ## Where to watch in the US - Amazon Prime Video: rent $3.99, hd - Apple TV: rent $3.99, hd - Amazon Prime Video: buy $14.99, hd - Apple TV: buy $14.99, hd *Checked 2026-09-18.* Also available in: AE, AR, AT, AU, BE, BG, BR, CA, CH, CL, CO, CZ, DE, DK, EE, ES, FI, FR, GB, GR, HK, HU, ID, IE, IN, IT, JP, LT, MX, MY, NL, NO, NZ, PA, PH, PL, PT, RO, RS, SE, SG, TH, TR, UA, US, VN, ZA. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country. ## Awards - Saturn Awards 2013: Best DVD Collection (nominated) - Academy Awards 1965: Best Sound Editing (won) ## If you liked this - *From Russia with Love* (1963), Fi1m 84: The Bond before this one: tighter, more nervous, and with a train fight to end all train fights — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/from-russia-with-love.md) - *North by Northwest* (1959), Fi1m 89: Hitchcock’s suave man on the run, the film Bond was half built from — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/north-by-northwest.md) - *The Ipcress File* (1965): The same producer’s answer to his own Bond: glasses, groceries and grubby London - *Charade* (1963): Grant and Hepburn in Paris, murders included; the lightest thriller anyone ever made - *OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies* (2006): A French parody so affectionate and exact it works as a period spy film too --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. 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