Yes, it is the 60th anniversary. But he wasn’t a very nice man. . .
By Gary S. Vasilash
In the movie version Goldfinger, the character Jill Masterson dies because she is painted gold. That led to her death by asphyxiation because she helped out James Bond. Auric Goldfinger, the villain in the movie, was not to be trifled with.
Simply put, he was a bad guy.
It’s the kiss of death from Mister Goldfinger. . .” (Image: Rolls-Royce)
Which makes it odd that Rolls-Royce has developed the Phantom Goldfinger, a one-off extended model that is a tribute to the 1937 Phantom III Sedanca de Ville that the villain had in the movie. (It was used to smuggle gold, as it had body panels made of the stuff, which would have meant a rather hefty motor car, estimated to be on the order of two tonnes.)
Because Bond and Goldfinger have their first encounter at a golf course, there is a gold-plated putter affixed to the underside of the trunk lid. The club has an “AG” monogram, which is a refence to the signet ring that Goldfinger wears.
The master plan of the villain is to set off a nuclear device at Fort Knox so that all of the gold stored there would be useless (the film was released in 1964; while Franklin Roosevelt took the U.S. off of the gold standard in 1933 for domestic transactions, it wasn’t until 1971 that Richard Nixon ended international convertibility of the dollar to gold). Consequently the villain would be wealthier.
Seems strange that Rolls-Royce would be so chuffed about celebrating a villain who once threatened James Bond with a laser beam.
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