Goldfinger (1964) (Revised Review)

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Composed by: John Barry

1964’s Goldfinger is what turned James Bond, already a fairly popular spy character, into a pop culture icon. The movie’s success guaranteed that the film series would persist for at least a few more movies (and as it turned out a few more decades). This time Bond goes to America to uncover the schemes of Auric Goldfinger (Gert Frobe), a gold-mad criminal genius. He also bumps into some of his colorful associates, including hat-throwing Korean battle-butler Oddjob (Harold Sakata) and the maybe lesbian leader of an all-girls flying circus Pussy Galore (Honor Blackman, and yes, that is the character’s name). This is the movie that got the James Bond formula down pat, with more humorous and potentially silly elements. The perfected formula also extended to the music.

For example, the title song finally plays over the opening credits, and with heavy input from John Barry. Barry’s work on From Russia with Love had impressed the producers so much that he was given the go-ahead to write the next song. Barry wrote the music first and had some of his associates worry about the lyrics. This probably explains why of the numerous Bond songs, “Goldfinger” has one of the strongest melodies. As for the lyrics, they are clearly about the titular villain Goldfinger and warn women in particular about falling for his wealth. The lyrics repeat without any change until the end, when a couple lines are repeated for a grand conclusion. There’s actually a demo version sung by Anthony Newell (who had helped with the lyrics). The male vocals have a more seductive tone and the instrumental backing is more restrained.

The final version of the song, however, has rightfully become one of the most famous pieces of Bond music. Welsh singer Shirley Bassey took over and injected more bombastic flair. The music changed as well, with the Goldfinger Fanfare blasting right out the gate on heavy brass. John Barry weaves in the James Bond theme, a tactic that would appear in several other title songs of the franchise. The song was so powerful and engaging that Shirley Bassey would become the only singer to come back to the franchise.

I’ve been writing about the title song quite a bit, but I’m not done. The new melody serves as Goldfinger’s theme, and undergoes many variations, including a special one for the raid on Fort Knox. In shorter segments Barry usually uses the three notes that spell “Goldfinger” or the two-note opening notes. There is another motif for the villains that is not quite the same theme, but weaves seamlessly into in cues such as “Pussy Galore’s Flying Circus” (for easier identification it appears at the starts of “Golden Girl” and “Gassing the Gangsters”). There is a glistening little motif that surprisingly does not represent the titular antagonist’s gold lust, but his famed henchman Oddjob.

Since Pussy Galore spends much of the movie in the employ of Goldfinger, Barry does not provide any love theme, instead adjusting his new title tune when a little romance is called for. The James Bond theme, which had a reasonable amount of play in From Russia with Love, is much more evident in Goldfinger’s underscore. Part of this is due to its inclusion in the title song. When the song gets instrumental workouts such as at the ending or “Oddjob’s Pressing Engagement,” the rhythm of the Bond theme appears. Thus this movie not only cemented the character, but his theme into a fixture of popular culture.

The album situation for Goldfinger is curious. In Britain there was a 38 minute release, standard for soundtrack albums in the age of records. The American version, for some reason, cut out four tracks and inserted a new rocking instrumental of the title song. The reason for this decision in unclear. A couple of the excised tracks are on the slower, suspenseful side, but two are pretty good. When EMI extended many of the Bond scores, they added the four tracks back. Here I should note that thanks to contractual reasons, these “Bonus Tracks” on the EMI releases were placed after the original album, and in chronological order. This leads to some rather frustrating album presentations and many a listener ended up resequencing the cues in a more pleasing order (I will offer one after the tracklisting).

On to the tracks themselves. After the title song, which gives the album a great, bombastic opener, it’s the short track “Into Miami.” This is an energetic big band number which sets the mood for the American locales. “Alpine Drive” puts the title theme in a romantic setting as Bond trails the villains in Switzerland. This cue shares a track with “Auric’s Factory,” a suspense piece which finally ends with a brassy blast. “Oddjob’s Pressing Engagement” is an awesome action cue. It’s the Goldfinger theme in its most blatant instrumental presentation. The track ends with some somber woodwinds and percussion after Oddjob performs an assassination.

“Bond Back in Action Again” covers the pre-title sequence. It’s heavily focused on the Bond theme, notably backed by light percussion at first. “Teasing the Korean” is a playful suspense piece with harp plucks and even a brief saxophone bit. Fragments of the Goldfinger theme can be heard. “Gassing the Gangsters” starts with the secondary Villains motif. This builds into aggressive clanging drums and tinkling percussion.

“Goldfinger (Instrumental) is the American unique track, a fast-paced rock version of the title theme that also introduces the Fort Knox variation on piercing woodwinds. Speaking of which, next up is “Dawn Raid on Fort Knox.” Expectant percussion with pieces of the Goldfinger theme build, joined by wavering strings. After some heavier percussion, the Fort Knox variation blasts out at 0:58. This variation, the heavy percussion, and the strings keep up a relentless pace for one of the franchise’s most high-octane musical moments. The track does eventually quiet down into a less rousing militaristic beat, but the motif gets one final blast before ticking percussion. This is simply one of the best James Bond tracks ever.

“The Arrival of the Bomb and Countdown” is the action finale. The first cue is scored with militaristic suspense. “Countdown” is much more brassy and percussive, taking the Villains motif to its most dangerous heights. “The Death of Goldfinger – End Title” presents a couple more instrumentals of the title theme. That’s it for the original American album.

“Golden Girl” alternates between the Villain and Oddjob motifs as well as some harp suspense for an iconic moment. “Death of Tilley” is by default the weakest track. The Villains motif gets a short burst at the start, then its melancholy suspense. “The Laser Beam” is much stronger. It’s a gradually escalating piece that incorporates the Goldfinger theme for yet another iconic moment (this film has quite a bit of them). The last of the four bonus tracks is “Pussy Galore’s Flying Circus.” The Goldfinger theme plays on a less villainous variation amidst sweeping strings. In the middle section the secondary Villains motif features with Oddjob’s motif making an intrusion. The sweeping variation of the Goldfinger theme reprises and then the theme plays in full, climaxing on ridiculously sexy trumpets (appropriate given the titular Pussy Galore’s outrageous name).

Goldfinger is widely considered one of the best James Bond soundtracks and it’s not hard to see why. The jazzy bombast permeates the entire score. Barry’s later offering would be more varied and romance-heavy which helps this entry stand out more. Thanks to the profusion of heavier action cues and big band jazz elements, it’s an easy listen (the fact that its longest album release doesn’t exceed too far past the 40 minute mark helps too). There’s a reason that Bond parodies and knock-offs (or retro films like Pixar’s Incredibles) often mimic this score in particular.

Rating:  (score) 10/10 (original British album) 10/10 (original American album) 8/10

  1. Goldfinger (Performed by Shirley Bassey) (2:47)
  2. Into Miami (0:57)
  3. Alpine Drive/Auric’s Factory (4:27)
  4. Oddjob’s Pressing Engagement (3:08)
  5. Bond Back in Action Again (2:29)
  6. Teasing the Korean (2:12)
  7. Gassing the Gangsters (1:03)
  8. Goldfinger Instrumental (2:08)
  9. Dawn Raid on Fort Knox (5:43)
  10. Arrival of the Bomb and Countdown (3:25)
  11. Death of Goldfinger/End Title (2:34)

Bonus Tracks

  1. Golden Girl (2:10)
  2. Death of Tilley (2:04)
  3. The Laser Beam (2:54)
  4. Pussy Galore’s Flying Circus (2:48)

Recommended Reordering

  1. Goldfinger (Performed by Shirley Bassey) (2:47)
  2. Bond Back in Action Again (2:29)
  3. Into Miami (0:57)
  4. Golden Girl (2:10)
  5. Alpine Drive/Auric’s Factory (4:27)
  6. Oddjob’s Pressing Engagement (3:08)
  7. Death of Tilley (2:04)
  8. The Laser Beam (2:54)
  9. Pussy Galore’s Flying Circus (2:48)
  10. Teasing the Korean (2:12)
  11. Gassing the Gangsters (1:03)
  12. Dawn Raid on Fort Knox (5:43)
  13. Arrival of the Bomb and Countdown (3:25)
  14. Death of Goldfinger/End Title (2:34)
  15. Goldfinger Instrumental (2:08)

Note: The only two tracks out of order are the title song, which often work as an album-opener over the gunbarrel sequence, and “Oddjob’s Pressing Engagement.” The latter I put earlier because it puts some action in the first half. As an album-only track, “Goldfinger Instrumental” acts as a neat end-credits style reprise of the main theme.

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