Whoa. From waking up in the worst place ever, Bond suddenly
finds himself in much nicer territory. He opens his eyes to see a blonde woman
standing over him, and the conversation runs thus:
BOND: Who are you?
PUSSY: My name is Pussy Galore.
BOND: I must be dreaming.
Pussy Galore. Jesus. How the hell they got away with that, I
don’t know. Bond’s response is quite understandable. Bond girls are famous for
having suggestive names, but none of them will ever quite reach the level of
Pussy Galore.
Can’t complain, though. Since the word “pussy” is going to
appear throughout the rest of this entry, a lot of people are going to be
finding this through Google and end up disappointed.
Bond expresses surprise at being alive. Pussy shows him the
gun he was shot with – obviously, it’s a tranquiliser gun. Bond asks where he
is now, and Pussy informs him that they’re on Goldfinger’s private jet, en
route to the States. Bond is his personal guest and will be extended every
courtesy. Pussy calls over Mei Lei, an attendant in a shiny gold top. She asks
if she can do anything for Bond. “Just a drink,” he replies, and although he
doesn’t add “for now,” you can sense that he is having certain ideas.
Bond is brought his martini, as Pussy explains that she is
Goldfinger’s personal pilot, and that the man himself went on ahead of them.
Bond switches into his default mode – that is, chat up mode – but Pussy tells
him not to bother, as she is immune.
What exactly did she mean by that? Pussy’s sexuality in the
film is deliberately ambiguous, probably for censorship reasons. Her comment
hints that she’s a lesbian, but that means that certain events later carry very
unfortunate implications. In the novel, she was an out-and-out lesbian, head of
a criminal organisation composed entirely of lesbians. They were called the
Cement Mixers, which, I assume, is a slang term for some act that lesbians
engage in together. Feel free to let you imagination run wild on that one.
Also, now not only has the word “pussy” appeared repeatedly, so has the word
“lesbian”. This is definitely going to attract the wrong Internet traffic.
Anyways, Pussy’s sexuality is uncertain in the film, but my belief has always
been that she’s a lesbian, so I’ll continue under that assumption.
So Pussy tells Bond his charms won’t work on her, and she
heads into the cockpit. Bond, naturally, takes all of three seconds to turn his
attention to Mei Lei instead.
Shortly after, Pussy switches on the intercom and tells Bond
that they will soon be landing in Baltimore, their destination. Bond decides to
spruce himself up and asks Mei Lei where his luggage is. Conveniently, his
attaché case (as seen in From Russia with Love) has been destroyed.
Goldfinger doesn’t miss a trick. Nevertheless, Bond enters the small bathroom to shave and get changed. Mei Lei tries to spy on him while he does so
(proving that Bond’s not the only pervert around) but Bond foils her. He uses
this opportunity to activate the smaller brother of the tracking device Q gave
him and place it in a compartment in the sole of his shoe.
Exiting the bathroom, he finds Pussy wielding a revolver.
She warns him to be on his best behaviour, or she’ll shoot him. Bond remarks
that firing a gun on a plane is a dangerous thing to do, as the bullet will cut
through the fuselage and cause the cabin to depressurise, sucking everyone on
board out into the atmosphere. What a fascinating bit of information that I’m
sure will not be in any way relevant later in the film.
Back in London, M gets a call from Felix Leiter. They’re
picked up Bond’s homing signal, and know he’s arrived in the States on
Goldfinger’s private jet. They assume Bond has successfully ingratiated himself
with Goldfinger. Uh, not quite. According to Leiter, the plane’s final
destination is Kentucky. M tells Leiter to keep his distance and let Bond do
his thing, as he’s evidently in control of the situation.
Cut back to Bond, utterly failing to be in control of the
situation. The plane lands at a small airfield, where a banner advertises a
Flying Circus.
No, not that one. The banner reads “Pussy Galore’s Flying
Circus” which is presumably like Monty Python, only with more lesbian cement mixing.
Bond and Pussy alight from the jet. While Pussy talks to the
mechanics, Bond wanders outside and sees some stunt planes flying in formation
overhead.
Bond is impressed, and remarks upon this to Pussy, who
informs him that she trained the pilots. Bond tries to chat her up again, but
Oddjob appears and takes Bond captive. As they drive away, the stunt planes
land and Pussy walks over to greet them. Since this is a Bond film, the pilots
are of course all blonde bombshells in tight outfits.
They tell Pussy that the dress rehearsal went as planned,
and Pussy tells them that they will be briefed that night on their actual
mission, which will take place the following morning. Hmm.
Back to Bond, who now arrives at Auric Stud, Goldfinger’s stud farm. Goldfinger greets Bond
cheerfully and has Oddjob take him to his “quarters” – that is, a small
underground prison cell. Bond’s in bother, but he has one trick left – the
homing device in his shoe, which Leiter is currently monitoring.
Meanwhile, Goldfinger heads into his expansive recreation
room, where a group of gangsters are gathered. It seems that Goldfinger has
assembled the heads of various criminal organisations from all over the USA for
some purpose.
They’re whining that Goldfinger owes them money, and
Goldfinger promises to pay them ten times over “when his bank opens” the
following morning. One of the gangsters points out that the next day is Sunday,
and banks don’t open on Sundays. “My bank will,” Goldfinger responds.
He throws a switch and suddenly the room changes. The pool
table flips over to reveal a control panel. The shutters come down and a large
photograph appears on one wall.
Goldfinger walks over to the photo, announcing that this
is his bank.
The Gold Depository at Fort Knox, which houses approximately
fifty billion dollars-worth of gold bullion. The gangsters ridicule the idea of
breaking into one of the most secure locations in the USA, but Goldfinger has a
plan. He reveals a model of Fort Knox and the surrounding area built into the
floor, while raving that “man has achieved miracles in every field of human
endeavour – except crime!”
Bond, meanwhile, is engineering an escape from his prison
cell. He does this by exploiting the fact that all film henchmen are
notoriously stupid. He waves at the guard outside his cell, and then ducks out
of sight. Apparently working on a baby’s logic that if you can’t see it, it
isn’t there, the guard believes this means that Bond has escaped, and makes the
sensible decision to open the door. Bond, clinging to the ceiling, gets the
drop on him and takes him out, grabbing his gun.
Bond makes his way along a passageway, and then pauses.
Goldfinger’s voice is drifting down from somewhere.
Goldfinger is getting irate at the gangsters, who remain
unconvinced that he can break into Fort Knox. He’s a Bond villain, so
naturally, it’s time for him to spell out his evil scheme – Operation Grand
Slam. Unknown to him, however, Bond is lurking under the model, and conveniently
can hear every word.
Basically, all of the gangsters are there because they each
provided Goldfinger with a certain asset. One of them gave him canisters of
Delta 9, a nerve gas which, according to Goldfinger, causes paralysis and
unconsciousness. Pussy Galore’s Flying Circus will fly over Fort Knox the
following morning and spray it into the atmosphere, essentially knocking out
everyone in the vicinity.
Goldfinger and his men will then move in. They will bypass
the electric fence surrounding Fort Knox with dynamite. Upon arriving at the
main entrance to the vault, Goldfinger assures them that he has a device that
can get them through the door. At that point, there is nothing to stop them
descending into the gold depository.
Most of the gangsters are convinced, apart from one. Mr Solo
wants no part of the scheme, preferring to take his money now. Goldfinger
agrees, and leaves with Mr Solo while the other gangsters examine the model.
Under said model, Bond has scribbled a note to Felix Leiter,
warning of Goldfinger’s plan.
He takes the tracking device from his shoe and folds it
inside the note, placing it in his pocket. A few moments later, someone grabs
him from behind a throws him into the wall! It’s Pussy, displaying her
knowledge of Judo. She’s flanked by armed guard and demands Bond turn over the
gun he picked up. He does so and is led away.
Behind them, Kisch is up to something. He seals off the area
and dons a gas mask. Throwing a few switches, the room with the gangsters in it
(minus Mr Solo and Goldfinger) locks down. A compartment in a table pops up to
reveal a couple of canisters of Delta 9. This begins spraying into the room.
The gangsters panic and try to escape, but one by one succumb to the gas.
Outside, Mr Solo’s car is being loaded with his payment –
one million dollars’ worth of gold bullion. Pussy approaches with Bond in tow,
to Goldfinger’s surprise. Bond exchanges pleasantries with Mr Solo. Goldfinger
explains that Mr Solo is leaving as he has a “pressing engagement”. Bond
manages to slip the note to Leiter – and the tracker – into Solo’s pocket. Mr
Solo departs, with Oddjob acting as chauffeur.
Pussy tells Goldfinger where she found Bond, and Bond
cheekily tells him how much he enjoyed the lecture on Operation Grand Slam.
Goldfinger is not happy.
Meanwhile, Felix picks up the homing signal, and presumes
Bond to be on the move. He sets off in pursuit, not knowing he is actually
chasing Mr Solo.
Whilst driving along, Solo notices that Oddjob fails to make
the turn for the airport. Instead, the car pulls into a side road. Solo is
confused, and then shocked to see Oddjob draw a gun. Oddjob shoots Solo dead.
Oddjob then drives to a wrecking yard. He leaves the car,
which is then fed into a crusher – with the body of Mr Solo inside.
The crushed cube of car is then placed in the back of a
pickup truck, which Oddjob merrily drives back to Auric Stud.
Felix is confused that the tracking signal has been suddenly
lost. He decides that the best course of action is to head to Goldfinger’s farm
and spy on it.
Goldfinger is busy sunning himself on the veranda, enjoying
a glass of Mint Julep and the
company of Pussy Galore.
He somewhat creepily tries to come onto Pussy, who brushes
him off. Kisch interrupts to inform him that two men (i.e. Felix and his
partner) are spying on them. Goldfinger realises that keeping Bond alive was an
excellent idea – if they see Bond enjoying a drink with Goldfinger, Leiter will
assume everything is under control. He orders that Bond be brought up to the
veranda, and asks Pussy to go and put something “suitable” on. She departs.
Down in the cell, it’s clear Goldfinger has learnt from his
mistake, as Bond is now being watched by not one, but several guards.
He’s not taking any chances. Kisch appears and escorts Bond up to the veranda.
Goldfinger offers him a drink, which Bond accepts.
Bond remarks that Operation Grand Slam simply won’t succeed,
and that Delta 9 nerve gas is in fact fatal – a fact Goldfinger was already
aware of.
Wait a mo. That means Goldfinger intentionally murdered all
the gangsters. If that’s the case, then why did he explain the plan to them?
What was the point? And moreover, why did he let Mr Solo leave? It just
caused him additional effort and now he has to recover the gold from the
crushed car. Of course, his lecture did serve one purpose: it filled in the
details of Operation Grand Slam for both Bond and the audience. But it makes
very little sense from an in-story perspective.
Unless you consider that Goldfinger is not only mad but
arrogant as well, and revels in gloating about his genius. He so desperately
wants to show off his cleverness, but without jeopardising his plan. Thus, his
solution is to tell a group of guys his scheme, and then promptly murder them.
The Mr Solo thing is just an extra step along the way to Crazytown.
So, back to the veranda. Goldfinger is unconcerned that he’s
about to kill sixty thousand people. Bond then smugly tells Goldfinger that,
according to his maths, there’s no way Goldfinger can shift the gold out of the
vault before the army descends on him.
With a smirk, Goldfinger replies, “Who mentioned anything
about removing it?”
Oh crap.
Screencaps courtesy of
screenmusings.org
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