Auric Goldfinger is the primary villain of the 1964 film Goldfinger. He was portrayed by German actor Gert Fröbe and voiced by Michael Collins.
Film biography[]
Arguably the most famous James Bond villain in any film, Goldfinger's obsession is gold. In fact, Goldfinger is a gold smuggler, accomplishing this feat by having a workable car built out of gold and transporting it via airplane. Once the car arrived at its destination, Goldfinger would have it melted down. Goldfinger is also an avid golfer who plays with a Slazenger 1 golf ball. He is defeated by Bond, however, when he is tricked by Bond after attempting to cheat.
Auric Goldfinger owned many properties throughout the world including "Auric Enterprises, A.G", which was the headquarters for most of his smuggling operations. Located in Switzerland, it is where Bond nearly gets cut in half by an industrial laser when Goldfinger has him strapped to a table.
Goldfinger also owned a farm in Kentucky that was used for horse breeding called "Auric Stud".
Scheme[]
Goldfinger's scheme, codenamed "Operation Grand Slam", involved breaking into the U.S. Bullion Depository at Fort Knox, and detonating a radioactive dirty bomb, consisting of iodine and cobalt, thus contaminating the United States gold reserve for 58 years, and thereby dramatically increasing the value of his gold holdings.
After several encounters with James Bond, leading up to the battle of Fort Knox, Goldfinger attaches Bond to the bomb and leaves him with Oddjob to die. He then turns coward and retreats when the Americans arrive. Bond escapes, kills Oddjob and defuses the bomb. Goldfinger confronts Bond at gunpoint. He attempts to escape to Cuba, but Bond fights him. Goldfinger was killed when he was sucked out of a depressurizing airplane, midflight, while attempting to assassinate Bond.
Henchmen & Associates[]
Video game appearances[]
Goldfinger appears as a playable multiplayer character in Nightfire and GoldenEye.
Auric Goldfinger was brought back to life in the 2004 Electronic Arts video game GoldenEye: Rogue Agent. In the game Goldfinger recruits the player character, a former secret agent ousted by MI6. Goldfinger is also an ally of Francisco Scaramanga, the villain of The Man with the Golden Gun. In this game, Goldfinger's scientists develop what is considered to be the deadliest weapon known to mankind: the OMEN (Organic Mass Energy Neutralizer), and plans to use it against his rival, Dr. Julius No. He is eventually killed when GoldenEye and Scaramanga discover his betrayal and use the OMEN against him.
The character also appeared in the 2012 video game 007 Legends, with the likeness of Gert Fröbe and voiced by Timothy Watson (who also provides the voice of Daniel Craig's Bond).
Behind the scenes[]
His first name, Auric, is an adjective meaning of gold. Ian Fleming chose the name to commemorate the architect Erno Goldfinger who had built his home in Hampstead next door to Fleming; Fleming disliked Goldfinger's style of architecture and destruction of Victorian terraces and decided to name a memorable villain after him. The architect was not pleased to find the character sharing his name and contacted his lawyers; he eventually settled for, among other things, the promise that the character's first name Auric would always be used.
Auric Goldfinger was played by Gert Fröbe. Consequently, Goldfinger was banned in Israel after it was revealed that Fröbe was a member of the Nazi party. The ban, however, was lifted many years later when a Jewish family publicly thanked Fröbe for protecting them from persecution during World War II. Gert Fröbe, who did not speak English, was dubbed by Michael Collins, an English actor. Of his role as Goldfinger, Fröbe later remarked: "I am a big man, and I have a laugh to match my size. The ridiculous thing is that since I played Goldfinger in the James Bond film there are some people who still insist on seeing me as a cold, ruthless villain - a man without laughs."
Trivia[]
- In the film Goldfinger's automobile has the license plate "AU 1". Au is the symbol on the periodic table for the element gold, named after the Latin word Aurum, which means Gold. This also partially explains why Goldfinger's first name is Auric.
- The voice of Goldfinger was dubbed due to Gert Fröbe's heavy German accent.
- In 2003, the American Film Institute declared Auric Goldfinger the 49th greatest villain in in the past 100 years of film.
- Goldfinger has some of the most known Henchmen, such as Oddjob and Pussy Galore.
- He is the first independent main Bond villain in the film, though his book counterpart is the treasurer of S.M.E.R.S.H..
- He is also the only independent main villain to appear before SPECTRE's fall in Diamonds Are Forever.
- He is the inspiration of the villain Goldmember in the third Austin Powers film.
See also[]
- Auric Goldfinger (Literary)
- Goldfinger
- List of James Bond villains