Why does Goldfinger gas the mob?
sirso
Posts: 212MI6 Agent
Why does Goldfinger gas the mob?
He tells them about his Fort Knox plan, then gasses them. If he had no intention of letting them take part in the plan, why invite them to the briefing?
Comments
They had all paid him good money towards the plan, so now he no longer needed them.
The Mob scene is for us, the viewer, to explain the plot of the movie. Logically, of course, as gymkata says, it makes no sense, but it’s best not to delve too deeply into these things, just pour a mint julep, sit back, and enjoy one of the best Bond movies ever made.
Can I have the link to your review?
It is a perennial question. The only explanation can really be that Goldfinger is either incredibly vain or insane; both are probably true but it doesn't make for the most satisfying plotting.
Same with his reasoning for not lasering Bond in two: it sort of works but doesn't feel like it entirely hangs together. Most villains kill people who know too much: somehow that keeps Bond alive!
And then you have to factor in letting Mr Solo drive off: if you're planning to kill everyone in the room why let one of them walk out and then kill him separately? And why not just get Oddjob to break his neck before he even leaves the ranch? It's all good fun but Auric is clearly off his rocker.
That was a very expensive looking presentation he gave to those doomed men what with the pool table turned architectural model and all. If he loved only gold he could have saved himself a few gold bars not bothering with it at all.
Also why separate out the one problem mobster and kill him separately ? That's even more expensive, and I think ends up happening after the other mobsters are dead. Goldfinger maybe needs someone with an MBA to help him find efficiencies, not invest everything in hairbrained schemes to raid Fort Knox.
I think maybe the issue is in the book the gangsters were with him right up til the raid, it was mostly their men doing the grunt work and fighting. The film writes them out of those later scenes yet still keeps them for the big meeting scene for exposition and dramatic purposes, so has to have an excuse for them to exit the story. just not a very logical one.
It is a scene that A View To A Kill improves upon, from a plot logic point of view anyway.
And then Max 'n' May say "What a view" "To a kill!" and any sense of logic goes out the zeppelin window 😄
Zorin's plot is not exposed yet but after the meeting in the zeppelin, we can easily guess what he plans to do. Those words are only supposed to "tease" the audience. I never had any problem with that.
Yes indeed, and crucially he only kills the guy who decides to leave the meeting! 😁
I'm not sure to get your point...
emtiem sez:
It is a scene that A View To A Kill improves upon, from a plot logic point of view anyway.
and its closer to the book!
Fleming sez:
'Gentlemen and madam.' He looked sadly round the group. 'I have received bad news. Our friend Mr Helmut Springer has met with an accident. He fell down the stairs. Death was instantaneous.'
'Ho, ho!' Mr Ring's laugh was not a laugh. It was a hole in the face. 'And what does that Slappy Hapgood, his torpedo, have to say about it?'
Goldfinger said gravely, 'Alas, Mr Hapgood also fell down the stairs and has succumbed to his injuries.'
Mr Solo looked at Goldfinger with new respect. He said softly, 'Mister, you better get those stairs fixed before me and my friend Giulio come to use them.'
Well Goldfinger lets Mr Solo leave, kills him, and then he kills everyone in the meeting anyway (so it's kind of pointless letting him leave); Zorin only silences the guy who leaves - it makes more sense to do that.
Ha! I'd forgotten about that, it's been a long time since I read them. That's actually a joke worthy of the films!
Sure ! It's quite logical.
But I didn't get why you said: "any sense of logic goes out the zeppelin window".
I was tempted to quote more. Its a good example of Fleming trying to write american gangster dialog, theres several funny lines in Fleming's version of the meeting scene.
by the way when I was a kid, I vaguely remember seeing Goldfinger and Diamonds are Forever on teevee a year or two before my mum took me to the cinema to see The Spy Who Loved Me
I was too busy reading my comics to pay attention, and remember watching a few minutes of the golf scene and finding it boring. But this meeting scene, with the pool table and the gassing, I definitely put down my comics and paid attention to. So even if it makes no sense, its one of the action packed visual highlights of the film.
(the cremation scene is the one bit I remember from that first viewing of Diamonds...)
Ego. Bond tells Goldfinger that he enjoyed his speech, and Goldfinger replies, "So did I." It was all his opportunity to have people revel in his great scheme.
ha! same reason they all explain their plans to Bond before setting the easily escapable death trap!
Oh it was just a joke about their bizarre dialogue in the "what a view" scene 😊
Well, I think it's a good one. The way it's written and filmed makes it clear. It's litterally "A view to a kill". It's a good means to justify the title of the movie, like "Whoever she was, it must have scared the living daylights out of her" 😉
A bit of an aside... but in the golf scene in Goldfinger, how come Goldfinger never asked Bond where he got the golds bar from, or ask Bond who Bond was?
If a stranger came up to me and offered me gold I would want to know more.
Well I guess as it’s Nazi gold it means Bond is definitely a criminal, and it’s kind of implicit that one criminal doesn’t ask another where he’s getting the loot: just that a deal is ready to be done.
I see.
It appears that one of the main reasons why Goldfinger gases the mob is for Goldfinger to show off his egotistical plan and then eliminate all of the mobsters since they would no longer be needed.
I also thought that maybe Goldfinger also wanted to check that the gas in the canisters he bought was genuine and really did contain Delta-9 nerve gas. He could also test to see how quickly the gas would come into effect, then disperse and lose its toxicity - all critical aspects to fulfilling Operation Grandslam.
Also Goldfinger paid the gangsters with gold. The gold would be no use to them if they are dead, so Goldfinger can get the gold back and keep it for himself.
" I don't listen to hip hop!"
Goldfinger gassed the mob because he had enough of the D listers EON cast as American mobsters.
There is some potential for plot there - GF gets to run it past the mobsters - he is showing off, essentially, and villains don't get much of a chance to do that. But in running it past them, he can talk through his plan so see how it pans out and they have the chance to pick holes in it in case it isn't watertight. Brainstorming session, I guess.
Emotionally it makes sense - we get a timely reminder that Goldfinger is a nasty villain and a murderer, lest we think he's turned over a new leaf in being nice to captive Bond.
But GF is s shoot first ask questions later film narratively - after all, if Pussy Galore has been turned later, why do they allow Goldfinger to press ahead with his plan, which very nearly comes off anyway, bar Oddjob's foolishness in disposing of one ally with the handcuff keys, and Bond's ingenuity. Of course, we don't know that at the time, we think the Americans haven't been informed and all those servicemen have been gassed. On reflection, it is one of the stupidest endings of any Bond film, no way would we let them get away with that if it happened in a Moore film, or anything else, it's goofy.
Roger Moore 1927-2017
@Napoleon Plural
I always guessed that the Americans had to be sure where exactly that the "atom device" was. It seems once it gets activated the Americans have some kind of instrument which can detect it and this gives the signal for everyone to start waking up.
I assumed someone briefed Pussy once she contacted Washington about the plan to intercept Goldfinger only once the bomb was armed.
Said it almost four years ago and still stand by it. 😁
Yeah, it works as being an ego thing. Auric enjoys it so much he turns on his disco strobe light! 😁
I also think sinlum's point about testing the gas is a good one.
Mr Solo's death however, I'm not sure makes a huge amount of sense. But it's fun!
Plus Goldfinger gets the chance to point to a big model with a long stick. Who would pass that up? I have never ever had the chance to do that in my life, and feel short-changed as a result.
Roger Moore 1927-2017