Goldfinger's Speech

Gassy Man

Was listening to the commentary on the Goldfinger DVD, and it was pointed out that Goldfinger's speech to the gangsters before offing them was illogical. I always thought that it was a superb way to show his ego -- that is, that he wanted to brag about his plan to a captive audience, and once they were suitably impressed and his ego fed, they were no longer needed and, therefore, dispatched. To me, it was one of the genius moments of the film.

Thoughts?

Sir Miles

I have to agree with you...Goldfinger obviously loved an audience to brag too - and this was the perfect one for him...plus he gets the added bonus of showing them how he conned them all and managed to get them to work together without each knowing of the others involvement...

Thunderpussy

It also explains the plot to the audience. )

Firemass

brilliant speech. almost verbatim from the novel. however, definitely illogical. I can see your point about big ego/loves audience but why waste all that time to gather the gangsters when he had absolutely no use for them whatsoever. In the book they were all there for a reason to help out with the Fort Knox heist.

ps- the first time i heard Goldfinger's speech was on a 1996 Tony Hawk Airwalk skateboarding video. I had no clue it was from a Bond movie.

Sir Hillary Bray

Of course it's illogical...but so is every speech in which the villain explains his entire plan to Bond. Those speeches are essential to many of the movies, however implausible they may be. Goldfinger's speeches to both the gangsters and then to Bond over mint juleps are both fantastic.

Thunderpussy

It's Bond's verson of gathering all the suspects to a murder mystery
in to the drawing room, to name the murder ! )

CmdrAtticus

I finally came to accept the idea that once Solo rejected the idea and wanted out, he gave GF the suspicion that if one of them did it, then more of them might before the plan was executed, and could possibly even betray him after getting their money and alerting the authorities. He therefore decided after Solo left it would be wiser to just kill off the rest just to be safe.

Blackleiter

Sir Hillary Bray wrote:

Of course it's illogical...but so is every speech in which the villain explains his entire plan to Bond. Those speeches are essential to many of the movies, however implausible they may be. Goldfinger's speeches to both the gangsters and then to Bond over mint juleps are both fantastic.

Precisely! -{

JayCobb1045

Here's my problem with Goldfinger's speech - I'd buy the ego/boasting argument if it was just him in a normal conference room with the gangsters. But this is a whole room, with an intricate mechanized false floor, a detailed mock-up of Fort Knox, AND built in gas delivery system. This entire room is apparently designed and built for no other reason than the false presentation to the gangsters. Even for a megalomaniac Bond villain, that is a bit much.

But I'll always cut this scene slack because of the amazing lines from the gangster's once the floor starts moving - "so bad it's good" never applied more.

CmdrAtticus

JayCobb1045 wrote:

Here's my problem with Goldfinger's speech - I'd buy the ego/boasting argument if it was just him in a normal conference room with the gangsters. But this is a whole room, with an intricate mechanized false floor, a detailed mock-up of Fort Knox, AND built in gas delivery system. This entire room is apparently designed and built for no other reason than the false presentation to the gangsters. Even for a megalomaniac Bond villain, that is a bit much.

But I'll always cut this scene slack because of the amazing lines from the gangster's once the floor starts moving - "so bad it's good" never applied more.

I understand the skepticism regarding the room having been set up for the gas. However, it's possible GF, being the planner he is, did it because he anticipated the gangsters not going along with his scheme and figured if
they did not it was a great opportunity to test the effectiveness of the gas (though I'm certain it had already been tested). As far as the model and projection go, it could be said he set that up for showing his troops what they were going to do as well as the gangsters.

Firemass

CmdrAtticus wrote:

I finally came to accept the idea that once Solo rejected the idea and wanted out, he gave GF the suspicion that if one of them did it, then more of them might before the plan was executed, and could possibly even betray him after getting their money and alerting the authorities. He therefore decided after Solo left it would be wiser to just kill off the rest just to be safe.

Maybe. It's also illogical to spend all the extra effort killing Mr. Solo separately when he could have died along with the rest.

Agent Kino

It's definitely one of the most iconic scenes from the Bond franchise. The speech I thought was well thought out. Goldfinger has that aura around him and like mentioned he's very arrogant. He already knew he was going to kill the gangsters from across the country. He was truly the most heinous villain.

hehadlotsofguts

Goldfinger used the gangsters to secure the materials for grand slam. Once they served their purpose Goldfinger killed them. He kept them alive up to that point because he wanted to brag about his plan first.