Shaken but not
Stirred:
Or
Blended
Bonds
How the
James Bond
films
fit into
the WNU
Goldfinger
May-June
1958
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THE
NOVEL: A Summary of the Novel
THE FILM:
A Summary of the Film
THE
BLENDED BOND: A recreation of the true events
The
novel Goldfinger begins with
Bond in the Miami Mexico Britain
They
had always
played outdoors but never at night. Auric
Goldfinger
claimed he could not sleep at night if he played cards. Goldfinger was
a
British Citizen domiciled at Nassau New
York
Du
Pont introduced Bond to Goldfinger. Goldfinger was a short stocky,
densely compacted man with and ugly face. He carroty red hair and
golden tan
and was hard of hearing, having a large hearing aid. During their
introductions
Bond learned that he and Goldfinger had the same golf handicap. He said
they
must play a game at the Royal St. Marks golf course sometime. Bond
watched Goldfinger
and Du Pont play cards for a few hands.
During a
break he told Du Pont he thought he had
figured out
how Goldfinger cheated. Bond went to his room which was directly above
Goldfinger’s and retrieved his gun and a camera. Using a passkey he
broke
into Goldfinger’s room and found a girl on the balcony. A beautiful
blonde dressed in black brassiere and panties who sunned her self and
painted
her nails as she watched the card game with binoculars and gave
Goldfinger
information about Du Pont’s cards over a
radio.
Bond took a picture of the set up and then sat down by the girl.
She
did not
want Bond to expose Goldfinger since she would lose her job. However
Bond was
getting paid to do it. He took the microphone and told Goldfinger that
he had
pictures of the set up that he could send to the FBI and Scotland Yard.
However
if paid wrote a check for cash for fifty thousand dollars Bond would.
Call it
even. He also wanted Goldfinger to book him a compartment on the Silver
Meteor
to New
York New
York
On
the way to New
York England
When
Bond
returned to London
Colonel Smithers
filled Bond in on gold smuggling and on Goldfinger’s background. He was
an immigrant from
Bond
drives up to
Royals St. Marks to see if he can get a game with Goldfnger. Bond used
to play
there all the time when he was a teenager and knew the professional
very well.
Goldfinger drove up in a golden Rolls Royce Ghost.
After
some
convincing on Goldfinger’s part Bond agrees to play golf with him.
During
the course of the game Goldfinger informed Bond that Jill Masterston
was no longer in his employ. Bond’s caddy catches Goldfinger’s
caddy switching balls on one hole so Bond switched Goldfinger’s ball
with
a different brand on the last hole. This caused Goldfinger to lose the
hole and
the match. Bond has his check made out to cash. When Bond returned to
his hotel
room for a bath, he received a message from Goldfinger inviting him to
his
estate for dinner. Bond accepted. When Bond arrived Goldfinger excused
himself
stating he had been called away but would return presently. Bond took
the
opportunity to snoop. Traveling through the well-lit house he found
nothing out
of the ordinary except in a cabinet he heard an odd whirring. He saw
that a 16
millimeter camera was running. Bond realized that Goldfinger had filmed
his
every move. Bond exposed the film. When Goldfinger returned he showed
Bond a
demonstration of his Korean Chauffeur’s martial arts. The tall chunky
man
was lighting quick in his movements. He demonstrated his strength by
punching
through an oaken stair railing. Bond was nearly hit by one of Oddjob’s blows. Oddjob
also
demonstrated the use of his bowler hat, tossing it at a door. It’s brim
dug into the wood, hanging there until Oddjob
retrieved it.
During
dinner
Goldfinger discussed karate and also told Bond why he had chosen
Koreans as his
servants. “They are the cruelest, most ruthless people in the
world”
Bond
hinted
around that he was looking for a financial opportunity and to
demonstrate he
was not above delving into criminal activities pretended to have been
part of
the Mexican heroin racket he had just broken up. Although Bond was not
certain
he thought he had intrigued Goldfinger.
When
Bond made
his report, he was told that an anonymous tip to Scotland Yard
disclosed the
Bond had a large amount of undeclared dollars about that time Bond’s
secretary had gotten an envelope filled with ten thousand dollars. They
had
also received word that Goldfinger had arranged for a special plane to
take his
car out of the country. Bond made arrangements to go to the airport and
examine
the car while it went through customs. He placed a homing device in its
toolbox.
Bond
used the
homing device to trail Goldfinger through
During
the short
ride Bond discovered that Tilly Soames
was a golfer who planned to play Swiss Women's Open Championship at Divonne. Bond thought it was a plausible story
but was not
certain if it were true. At Geneva Bond had to drop the girl off and
continue
after Goldfinger. The yellow Rolls Royce traveled to Coppet
where a small business named Enterprises Auric.
Bond
saw a crew disassemble the Rolls Royce.
In
Bond
decided that
he had enough information on Goldfinger to accomplish his mission and
decided
to return to
They
were taken
to Goldfinger’s office and Bond went on the offensive. He told
Goldfinger
he had trailed him because of his dirty trick of getting the police
after him
for winning their bet. Goldfinger did not buy that explanation. He said
“Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. The third time it's enemy
action."
Bond
lunged at
Goldfinger across his desk and managed to get his hands around his
throat
before Oddjob knocked him out. When Bond
came to he
was strapped to a table inside the metal works. A bright hot lamp shone
directly into his face. Tilly Masterston
was strapped to a chair. Goldfinger explained that Bond could either
tell him
why he was hounding him and suffer an easy quick death or be silent and
suffer
a prolonged agonizing death.
Bond
claimed that
many people knew where they were but Goldfinger said that did not
matter since
when he was done he could dispose of their bodies in the ovens.
Oddjob
started to massage
Bond, a massage that caused excruciating pain. Goldfinger started a saw
that
slowly crept toward Bond at the speed of an inch a minute, starting at
his
feet. Bond protested that they were innocent people and could tell him
nothing
more. Bond said that he and the girl would work for Goldfinger, a
notion
Goldfinger found amusing. Bond caused himself to black out to prevent
from
being forced to talk.
When
Bond awoke
he was in a hospital room being treated for a nervous breakdown, his
bills
being paid by Goldfinger. Bond tried to convince the Doctor that he and
the
girl were prisoners of Goldfinger not employees. Goldfinger explained
to the
Doctor that part of the breakdown manifested in a persecution mania.
Bond was
given a sedative and placed into a private ambulance. He awoke in a
windowless
room with a bed and a table and a chair. The bed was a bunk with
drawers in it.
His clothing was inside. He quickly dressed. There were two doors, one
of which
had a handle. He opened it and found that it lead into a lavatory with
another
door on the opposite side. Opening it he discovered that the girl had a
room
similar to his.
When Oddjob looked in the room Bond told him he
wanted some food
and he wanted to see Goldfinger. After Bond finished eating, Goldfinger
came
into the room holding a gun and told Bond that ordinarily he would have
eliminated Bond and Tilly Masterston
but as it happened he was in an enterprise that could use some extra
help. If
Bond would agree to help his payment would be one million pounds in
gold. If he
did not he would be killed. Having no real choice Bond agreed to work
for
Goldfinger. He was told that their rooms were in the warehouse of the
Hi-speed
Trucking Corporation. They would be confined there until the operation
was
underway. Goldfinger told Bond he planned to rob
Bond
went into
the girl’s room to convince her to play along. He told her he was from
Scotland Yard and the best way to scotch Goldfinger’s plans was to go
along. Reluctantly she agreed but also added that if Bond touched her
she would
kill him.
Their
first
assignment came when a typist’s desk was brought in. Bond was to type
out
ten copies of the meeting’s agenda. The guest list was made up of
mobsters from across
Tilly was
told to take
notes. Bond was told to size up the
various members of the meeting for anyone who might not be totally
committed to
the enterprise. Bond asked who Pussy Galore of Harlem was. She was a
leader of
a gang of lesbian criminals, called the Cement Mixers. Formerly they
had been
an acrobatic team but they had branched out into crime becoming cat
burglars
and jewel thieves.
Goldfinger
established his criminal credentials. He had founded and subsequently
disposed
of the "Golden Poppy Distributors" who operated out of Hongkong as well as 'The "Happy Landings Travel
Agency". He then laid out his plan to rob
All of
the mobsters save one went for the audacious plan. The one who refused
Helmut
Springer left the room followed by Oddjob.
It was
later announced by Goldfinger that Springer and his bodyguard had both
broken
their necks by falling down the stairs.
To
Bond’s amusement Tilly Masterson was quite
taken with Pussy Galore, which explained why she had been so stand
offish to
Bond.
After
the meeting broke up Bond and Goldfinger went over some of the
logistics for
the plan. One of Bond’s duties was to figure out the timetable for how
long it would take to disseminate the narcotic in the water supply.
Goldfinger
revealed that the narcotic was actually GB, one of the most potent
nerve gases
in the world. It would kill 60,000 people. Bond also pointed out that
it would
be impossible for the gold be carried off. Goldfinger replied that he
would use
the train to
Bond
realized that this was a SMERSH operation with Goldfinger at its head.
Bond and
Masterston worked diligently for
Goldfinger, Bond
wracking his brains on how to get free and Tilly
putting her trust in Pussy Galore. Goldfinger had Bond come along with
him on a
chartered flight that surveyed the area around
On the
appointed day, Goldfinger, his associates and their crews all assembled
dressed
as Red Cross workers heading for
As the
train rolled through the area near
At
Felix Leiter and a group of Marines showed up at that
point and
Goldfinger and his cronies fled. The army began mopping up operations.
Two days later Felix Leiter drove James Bond to
While
waiting for his plane Bond heard an announcement for him to report to
the BOAC
ticket counter. When he reported he was told that he had to receive a
shot
against typhoid. He went with a Doctor to a side room to get an
injection and
almost immediately fell unconscious. He awoke on a plane sitting in a
chair
with his arms bound to the chair staring at the face of Pussy Galore in
a
stewardess outfit.
Goldfinger
showed up in the uniform of a BOAC captain. He asked Bond how he did
it, how
did he ruin his plans. Bond told him he would talk but only if his arms
were
untied and he was allowed to have a drink and cigarettes. Goldfinger
agreed and
told Oddjob if Bond made one move towards
the cabin
door to kill him immediately. When Bond got his bourbon and cigarettes
there
was a note from Pussy that said I am with you.
When
asked where they were headed Goldfinger told Bond that he had managed
to get
his personal hoard of gold away from
After
Bond told him a censored story of how he had gotten onto Goldfinger, he
decided
to make his move before it was too late. As soon as Oddjob
was distracted Bond broke the window above Oddjob’s
head. Oddjob was sucked out of the plane
by the decompressive force. As the plane
tumbled from the
explosive decompression Goldfinger fired his gun at Bond. Bond grappled
with
him and choked Goldfinger to death.
After
Bond informed the two pilots that Goldfinger was dead and they were to
land as
soon as possible. They had to make a landing in the ocean. Bond made
arrangements
to be picked up as soon as they crash landed. The plane cracked as it
landed
spilling Goldfinger’s gold in the ocean. The novel closes with Pussy
Galore making romantic overtures towards Bond.
The
film Goldfinger opens up with James Bond making an underwater swim in a
wet
suit, which had a duck decoy on top of it. He emerges from the water
near a
complex of large liquid storage tanks. After disabling a guard he
enters one of
the tankers and sets a timed bomb near several tubes of nitroglycerine.
Bond
swims back and unzips his wetsuit revealing a white Tuxedo underneath.
Entering
a cantina he is given the eye by one of the dancing girls. A great
explosion
occurs outside the cantina and everyone rushes to see what has
happened. A man
at the bar congratulates Bond. He tells him that it is too dangerous
for him to
return to his room. There was a flight leaving for
Before
going to the airport Bond says he has some unfinished business. He goes
to the
small apartment of the cantina dancer who is just finishing a bath and
is
wrapped in a towel. As Bond embraces her she complains about his
shoulder
holster, he hangs it on the wall. As he kisses her he notices,
reflected in her
eye, that a man is sneaking up behind him with a truncheon. Bond swings
the
girl around so that it she who gets hit with the truncheon. He grapples
with
the man and tosses him in the bathtub. The man grabs Bond’s gun out of
the holster and aims it at Bond. Bond sweeps an electric fan into the
tub,
electrocuting his attacker.
In
He
walks over to the hotel and counts room doors. Reaching the one he is
seeking
Bond grabs a passing maid and uses her passkey. She tells him that this
is Mr.
Goldfinger’s room. He tells her he has a surprise for him. Inside the
room Bond sees a beautiful girl sitting on the balcony looking down at
the pool
with binoculars. She speaks into a radio, describing a hand of cards.
Bond
reaches over and switches the radio off. After charming the girl, he
uses the
radio to tell Goldfinger that unless Goldfinger wants to involve the
After
a romantic tryst, Bond goes to his suite kitchen to get another bottle
of
champagne. He is knocked unconscious by a karate chop wielded by a
short but
muscular Asian.[2]
When
Bond awakens he founds Jill on the bed her skin completely covered by
gold
paint. She has died from skin suffocation. Bond calls Leiter
who squares things with the
In
London Bond is reprimanded by M. He was only to watch Goldfinger not
steal his
girl. Bond affirms that he wants to stay on the case but M says that
unless
Bond can do it coldly and rationally, then it might be better if 008
replaced
him. Bond says he will stay on the case as M suggests if he knows what
it is
about. M tells Bond to meet him for a black tie dinner with the
Directors of
The Bank of England. They explain that Goldfinger has deposits of gold
in
various countries of the world, he moves them from country to country
manipulating the gold market. Although the Bank of England cannot prove
it,
they believe he is smuggling gold illegally, and removing gold reserves
from
As
bait they provide Bond with a gold bar taken from a Nazi gold found in
Bond
arranges to play Goldfinger a round of golf at his club (how does he
know where
Goldfinger golfs?). Goldfinger had driven
up to the
golf course in a yellow Roll Royce. His chauffeur and caddy was a burly
Asian
in a suit and bowler hat. During the match Goldfinger asks Bond what
his game
was, why he had arranged to gold with him. Bond drops the gold bar at
Goldfinger’s feet. Goldfinger immediately knows about the gold bar and
asks if Bond can get more. Bond says yes. Goldfinger insists that Bond
put up
the gold bar as a wager. Goldfinger will put up the cash equivalent. Bond agrees however Goldfinger begins to
cheat. When his ball is shot into the rough and cannot be found, rather
than
take a stroke, his caddy drops another ball and claims that it was the
one that
Goldfinger had shot. Bond knows this is a lie because he was standing
on
Goldfinger’s ball. Bond had found a similar ball to Goldfinger’s
and put it in his pocket. At the last hole Bond switched Goldfinger’s
ball with the similar one. Although Bond lost the hole, he won the
match when
he pointed out that Goldfinger had been playing with the wrong ball,
probably
he had picked up when his ball was lost in the rough. Goldfinger
angrily pays
Bond his money. He tells Bond it would be best for him if their paths
did not
cross again. He had Oddjob show him what
happened to
people who bothered Goldfinger. Oddjob
took off his
bowler had and tossed it at a stone statue. The bowler’s brim sliced
through the statue’s neck.
While
Goldfinger was writing the check, Bond planted a homing device on the
yellow
Rolls. Bond tracked Goldfinger to an airport where he and his car
boarded a
plane for
Bond
returns to looking for Goldfinger’s car and finds that the Rolls has
been
taken to a company named Auric
Enterprises. Bond
walks around on the hills around the factory and with binoculars scopes
out the
layout of the complex. At night he sneaks into the factory grounds. In
a metal
shop he sees them take apart Goldfinger’s Rolls Royce. He hears
Goldfinger explain to a young Chinese man that the body of the car was
actually
two tons of pure 19 karat gold. Goldfinger mentions Operation Grand
Slam.
Returning to the woods, Bond spots Tilly
with a
sniper rifle. He stops her from shooting. She tells him she wanted to
kill
Goldfinger because he killed her sister Jill. Bond and Tilly’s
confrontation had set off alarms and there were several men around
Bond’s
car. They manage to get into the car and are chased. However when they
come a
dead end Bond tells Tilly to run into the
woods, he
will hold them off. As Tilly runs into the
woods
however Oddjob takes off his bowler hat
and flings
it, breaking her neck.
Bond
is captured a gun man keeping him covered gets into his backseat and
forces
Bond to drive back to the factory. When the opportunity arises Bond
uses the
passenger eject button to rid himself of the gunman. He then attempts
to elude
his pursuers by weaving in and out of the buildings of the factory
complex.
Taking a wrong turn however Bond smashes his car is knocked senseless.
He
awakens strapped to a table made of solid gold. Goldfinger greets him
as 007.
An industrial laser capable of melting metal starts to cut the metal
table in
half, starting between Bond’s feet. When it slowly moves upward,
Goldfinger intending to slowly burn and bisect Bond. Stalling for time
Bond
mentions Operation Grandslam. Goldfinger
tells him it
may be something that he overhead. Bond asks if he can afford to take
that
chance. Goldfinger hesitates and one of his assistants shoots Bond with
a dart
gun.
Regaining
consciousness once more Bond finds himself gazing into the face of a
beautiful
woman who says her name is Pussy Galore. They are aboard Mr.
Goldfinger’s
personal jet headed towards
Bond
escaped from his cell by fooling his guard into opening the door. The
meeting
was being directly above the passage way near his cell and Bond
overheard the
plan. Bond quickly wrote out a note of what he had heard. However Pussy
found
him listening and marched him away at gun point.
One
of the mob leaders, a Mr. Solo decided not to buy into the
While
Oddjob was driving Mr. Solo away,
Goldfinger closed
off the room where the meeting had been held and gassed all of the mob
leaders,
killing them.
When
Oddjob drove up in the pickup with the
crushed car
inside Goldfinger told Bond he had to separate his gold from the late
Mr. Solo.
Goldfinger was told that there were people observing the farm. He
believed that
they were looking for Bond and so made every effort to make it appear
that Bond
was there of his own free will. Goldfinger invited Bond to have a drink
with
him on his patio while Pussy changed into something more alluring. Bond
told
Goldfinger that he could not depend on an anesthetic to work on all of
the
people the same way. He had made some calculations that proved it would
be
impossible for Goldfinger to steal the gold, it would take 28 days to
unload
the vault and Goldfinger would have perhaps hours before the area was
sealed
off by the United States Army. Goldfinger informed Bond that the agent
that
Pussy and her pilots would be spraying was a highly lethal but short
lived
nerve gas and he had no intention of removing the gold. Bond had
recognized the
young Chinese Goldfinger had been talking to at Enterprise Auric
as Ling, an expert on nuclear fission., he deducted that the Red
Chinese had
given Goldfinger a bomb which he intended to use to make the gold
radioactive.
The Red Chinese would get economic chaos in the West and Goldfinger’s
gold reserves would jump in value. Goldfinger congratulates Bond on his
deductive reasoning. Pussy Galore arrives at their table to show Bond
around
the farm. Leiter and his partner see this
and are
convinced that Bond does not need help.
Pussy
leads Bond into one of the barns and immediately becomes cold and
standoffish,
physically rebuffing Bond’s advances. After a short impromptu sparring
session of judo, Bond gets the best of Pussy and they have a romantic
encounter.
Early
in the morning several piper cubs take off from the airfield near
Goldfinger
and his men leave the vault to find that they are under attack. When
the atomic
bomb had been pushed into the Fort, all of the dead soldiers rose up
and
attacked Goldfinger’s men. Goldfinger took off his overcoat revealed
that
he was dressed in the uniform of a US Army general, he shoots several
of his
own men including Ling and rushes to the helicopter, yelling he will
secure it.
It takes off with Goldfinger in it.
At
the first sign of trouble Oddjob shut the
vault door,
locking inside himself, Bond and another of Goldfinger’s men, the one
who
had triggered the bomb. In a panic the bomb technician tried to disarm
the
bomb. Oddjob grabbed him and threw him
over a railing
so that he landed on a floor two stories down. Knowing that this man
had the
key, Bond hurried over to him and searched his pockets for the key to
his
handcuffs. Oddjob was still two stories
above Bond
and hurried down towards him. Bond unlocked the handcuffs but was
unable to
disarm the bomb before Oddjob reached him.
Oddjob threw Bond around the room as if he
were a child,
shrugging off Bond’s attacks. Bond barely dodged the thrown bowler hat
which cut a live electrical cable. Bond grabbed the hat and threw it at
Oddjob, missing him but lodging it in a
metal gate. When Oddjob pulled it out,
Bond touched the electrical cable to
the metal gate, electrocuting Oddjob. Bond
then
hurried over to the atomic bomb but could not fathom its workings, he
was going
to yank out a handful of cables when a man came rushing over with Felix
Leiter pushed Bond aside and hit the off
switch.
Bond
was taken to the nearby airport where he was to be flown on a jet for a
congratulatory meeting with the President. Bond discovered shortly
after taking
off that Goldfinger had commandeered the plane. Bond told Goldfinger
that he
would not dare shoot him since that would depressurize the plane, Taken
aback
by this news Bond grabbed for Goldfinger’s pistol and made it
discharge.
Goldfinger was sucked out of the plane window. Pussy could not get back
control
of the plane and she and Bond had to parachute to safety. Hidden by the
parachute, they had a romantic encounter, oblivious to the search
parties
looking for them.
THE BLENDED BOND: A
recreation of
the true events
The
film version of Goldfinger began the trend of Bond films where the film
would
differ substantially from the original novel. In most cases this was
because
the later films were actually depicting an entirely different Bond
adventure
while using names from the novel. Although Thunderball
and On Her Majesty’s Secret Service did adhere more
closely to
the book than some of the later films there were variances from the
novel to
the film. In the case of Goldfinger, Thunderball
and On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, these differences were a
combination of correcting some of the mistruths that Fleming had added
into the
film, while also making changes for the sakes of dramatic license.
One
of the major changes from reality that Ian Fleming had to make when
writing the
novel of Goldfinger was in portraying Operation Grandslam.
It is a testament to his abilities that makes Goldfinger’s scheme seem
plausible when in reality it was not. Close examination reveals that
Goldfinger’s plot to steal the gold out of
By
the time that the film was released, these security measures were in
place. It
was also believed depicting the actual plot in a work of “fiction”
would make Operation Grandslam seem
fantastical. Thus
any lingering “rumors” about the gold supply actually having been
threatened would be dismissed as the work of an active imagination and
so make
it unlikely that anyone would try to recreate this scenario.
Still
to further the illusion that Operation Grandslam
was
entirely fictitious, although the film corrected some of the implausibilities of Fleming’s depiction, the
film
deliberately added in elements that made little sense so far as the
execution
of the plan went.
Neither
the film nor novel correctly addressed the relationship between James
Bond and
Pussy Galore so we will endeavor to do so in this piece.
In
As
he left the cantina, Bond said he had some unfinished business to
complete
before going to the airport. Bond entered the small apartment of the
cantina
dancer who had previously given him the eye. She had had just finished
a bath
and stood wrapped in a towel. As Bond embraced her she complained that
his
shoulder holster was hurting her. Bond hung it on a clothes hook on the
wall.
As he kissed her he noticed, reflected in her eye, was a man sneaking
up behind
him with a truncheon. Bond swung the girl around so that it she who was
hit
with the truncheon. He grappled with the man and tossed him in the
filled
bathtub. The man grabbed Bond’s gun out of the hanging shoulder holster
and aimed it at Bond. Bond swept an electric fan into the tub,
electrocuting
his attacker.
While
at the airport he was approached by Junius
Du Pont whom he had
briefly met in the Casino Royale during
his game
against Le Chiffre. Knowing that Bond was
a whiz at cards
and a sort of investigator Du Pont asked
Bond if he
would look into something for him. Du Pont
would put
Bond up free at a the best suite in the exclusive Floridania
hotel. Over a dinner of crab and champagne Du
Pont
explained that the had lost twenty-five thousand dollars in five days
at two
handed canasta, a card game where usually the odds favor both players
coming
out even. Du Pont said that he was a very
good card
player and could usually spot how someone was cheating. He had gone
into the
hole because he kept playing the man to see how he cheated.
They
had always played outdoors but never at night. Auric
Goldfinger claimed he could not sleep at night if he
played cards. Goldfinger was a British Citizen domiciled at Nassau New
York
Du
Pont introduced Bond to Goldfinger. Goldfinger was a short stocky,
densely compacted man with an ugly face. He had carroty red hair and
golden tan
and was hard of hearing, having a large hearing aid. During their
introductions
Bond learned that he and Goldfinger had the same golf handicap.
Goldfinger said
they must play a game at the Royal St. Marks golf course sometime. Bond
watched
Goldfinger and Du Pont play cards for a
few hands.
During a break he told Du Pont he thought
he had
figured out how Goldfinger cheated. Bond went to his room, which was
directly
above Goldfinger’s and retrieved his gun and a camera. Using a passkey
he
broke into Goldfinger’s room and found a girl on the balcony sunning
herself on a deck chair as she watched the card game through binoculars
and
gave Goldfinger information about Du
Pont’s
cards over a radio. Bond took a picture of the set up and then sat down
by the
beautiful blonde dressed in black brassiere and panties.
She
did not want Bond to expose Goldfinger since she
would lose her job. However Bond was getting paid to do it. He took the
microphone and told Goldfinger that he had pictures of the set up that
he could
send to the FBI and Scotland Yard. However if Goldfinger wrote a check
for cash
for fifty thousand dollars Bond would. Call it even. He also wanted
Goldfinger
to book him a compartment on the Silver Meteor to New
York New
York
On
the way to New
York England
On
the eve before they were both to return to London
When
Bond awakened he found Jill on the bed. Her skin was completely covered
by gold
paint.[3]
She died from skin suffocation.[4]
Bond called M who squared things with the New
York
Angry
at Bond’s carelessness when Bond returned to London M
assigned him to night duty manning the radio and monitoring dispatches
for trouble. Bond used the down time to work on his book, Stay Alive,
a
treatise on unarmed combat. He also had records look up a man named
Goldfinger.
They did not find anything so he used an identicast
to make up a picture of Goldfinger’s likeness and have it sent around.
M
called him into his office one morning before Bond went off duty. He
told Bond
had an appointment with a Colonel Smithers
of the
Bank of England. They were interested in gold smuggling. By a rather
large
coincidence Goldfinger was the man that the Bank of England was after.[5]
Colonel Smithers filled Bond in on gold smuggling and on
Goldfinger’s background. He was an immigrant from
As
bait the Bank of England provided Bond with a gold bar taken from a
Nazi gold
treasure found in
Bond
drove up to
Royals St. Marks to see if he could get a game with Goldfnger. Bond
used to
play there all the time when he was a teenager and knew the
professional very
well. Goldfinger drove up in a golden Rolls Royce Ghost.
After
some
convincing on Goldfinger’s part Bond agreed to play golf with him. Goldfinger’s chauffeur
and
caddy was a burly Asian in a suit and bowler hat.
During the match
Goldfinger asked
Bond what his game was, why he had arranged to golf with him. Bond
dropped the
gold bar at Goldfinger’s feet. Goldfinger immediately recognized the
gold
bar and knew its history. He asked if Bond could get more. Bond said
yes.
Goldfinger insisted that Bond put up the gold bar as a wager.
Goldfinger would
put up the cash equivalent.
During
the course
of the game Goldfinger informed Bond that Jill Masterston
was no longer in his employ. Goldfinger taunted Bond, attempting to
throw him
off his game.
When
this ploy
failed, Goldfinger began cheating. His ball was shot into
the rough and could be found, rather
than take a stroke, his caddy dropped another ball and claimed that it
was the
one that Goldfinger had shot. Bond knew this was a lie because he was
standing
on Goldfinger’s ball. Bond had found a similar ball to Goldfinger’s
and put it in his pocket. At the last hole Bond switched Goldfinger’s
ball with the similar one. Although Bond lost the hole, he won the
match when
he pointed out that Goldfinger had been playing with the wrong ball,
probably
he had picked up when his ball was lost in the rough. Goldfinger
angrily paid
Bond his money.
When
Bond returned
to his hotel room for a bath, he received a message from Goldfinger
inviting
him to his estate for dinner. Bond accepted believing that Goldfinger’s
greed for the Toplitz gold had overcome
his anger at
Bond. When Bond arrived Goldfinger excused himself stating he had been
called
away but would return presently. Bond took the opportunity to snoop.
Traveling
through the well-lit house he found nothing out of the ordinary except
in a
cabinet where he heard an odd whirring. He saw that a 16 millimeter
camera was
running. Bond realized that Goldfinger had filmed his every move. Bond
exposed
the film. When Goldfinger returned he showed Bond a demonstration of
his Korean
Chauffeur’s martial arts. The tall chunky man was lighting quick in his
movements. He demonstrated his strength by punching through an oaken
stair
railing. Bond was nearly hit by one of Oddjob’s
blows. Oddjob also demonstrated the use of
his bowler
hat, tossing it at a door. It’s brim dug into the wood, hanging there
until Oddjob retrieved it.
During dinner Goldfinger
discussed
karate and also told Bond why he had chosen Koreans as his servants.
“They are the cruelest, most ruthless people in the world”
Bond
hinted around
that he was looking for a financial opportunity and to demonstrate he
was not
above delving into criminal activities pretended to have been part of
the
Mexican heroin racket he had just broken up. Although Bond was not
certain he
thought he had intrigued Goldfinger. As he was leaving Goldfinger’s
estate, he planted a homing device on Goldfinger’s Rolls Royce.
When
Bond made to M
report, he was told that an anonymous tip to Scotland Yard disclosed
the Bond
had a large amount of undeclared dollars. About that time Bond’s
secretary had gotten an envelope filled with ten thousand dollars.
Goldfinger
had tried to get Bond in trouble with the law.
The
homing device
showed that the Rolls was being taken out of the country via the
channel ferry.[7]
Bond
used the
homing device to trail Goldfinger through
During
the short ride Bond discovered that Tilly Soames was a golfer who planned to play Swiss
Women's Open
Championship at Divonne. Bond thought it
was a
plausible story but was not certain if it were true. Especially since
among her
luggage was a briefcase with the initials T.M. on it. At Geneva Bond
dropped
off the girl off and continued after Goldfinger. The yellow Rolls Royce
traveled to Coppet to a small metal works
factory
named Enterprises Auric.
Bond
walked around on the hills around the factory and with binoculars
scoped out
the layout of the complex. At night he sneaked onto the factory
grounds. In a
metal shop he saw them take apart Goldfinger’s Rolls Royce. He heard
Goldfinger explain to a young Chinese man that the body of the car was
actually
two tons of pure 19 karat gold. Goldfinger mentioned Operation Grand
Slam.
In
Bond
decided that he had enough information on Goldfinger to
accomplish his mission and decided to return to
Returning
to the woods, Bond spotted Tilly Soames
with a sniper rifle. He stopped her from shooting. She told him she
wanted to
kill Goldfinger because he had killed her sister Jill. Her sister had
told Tilly that Goldfinger
had a woman a month, always painted gold but
always allowed for a patch of skin to remain free to that there would
not be
any ill effects from the paint. Seeing that Jill had been painted gold,
Tilly knew who had killed her. Tilly
had also known about James Bond because after Bond’s and Jill’s train
trip, Jill had called Tilly to tell her
about the
romantic tryst.[8]
Bond
and Tilly’s confrontation had set off
alarms
and when they returned to Bond’s car there were several men around it.
Bond distracted them enough so that Tilly
and he were
able to get into the car. They were chased by several vehicles down
dark unlit
roads. Their escape came a dead end when the road ended. Bond told Tilly to run into the woods, he would hold them
off.
However they were captured by Oddjob stood
behind them
with a drawn bow.
They
were taken to
Goldfinger’s office and Bond went on the offensive. He told Goldfinger
he
had trailed him because of his dirty trick of getting the police after
him for
winning their bet. Goldfinger did not buy that explanation. He said
“Once
is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. The third time it's enemy
action."
Bond
lunged at
Goldfinger across his desk and managed to get his hands around his
throat
before Oddjob knocked him out. When Bond
awakened he
was strapped to a metal table inside the metal works. A bright hot lamp
shone
directly into his face. Tilly Masterston
was strapped to a chair. Goldfinger explained that Bond could either
tell him
why he was hounding him and suffer an easy quick death or be silent and
suffer
a prolonged agonizing death.
Bond
claimed that
many people knew where they were but Goldfinger said that did not
matter since
when he was done he could dispose of their bodies in the forge ovens.
Oddjob
started to massage
Bond, a massage that caused excruciating pain. Goldfinger started an
industrial
laser that began slowly began cutting through the metal table. Starting
at his
feet, the laser slowly crept toward Bond at the speed of an inch a
minute. Goldfinger
watched intently
intending to see the laser slowly burn and bisect Bond. Bond
protested that
he and Jill were innocent people and could tell him nothing more. Bond
said
that he and the girl wanted to work for Goldfinger, a notion Goldfinger
found
amusing.
Stalling for time Bond
mentions
Operation Grandslam. Goldfinger tells him
it might
have been something that he overhead. Bond asked if he could afford to
take
that chance. Goldfinger hesitated and one of his assistants shoots Bond
with a
dart gun.
When
Bond awoke he
was in a hospital room being treated for a nervous breakdown, his bills
being
paid by Goldfinger. Bond tried to convince the Doctor that he and the
girl were
prisoners of Goldfinger not employees. Goldfinger explained to the
Doctor that
part of the breakdown manifested in a persecution mania. Bond was given
a
sedative and placed into a private ambulance. He awoke in a windowless
room
with a bed and a table and a chair. The bed was a bunk with drawers in
it. His
clothing was inside. He quickly dressed. There were two doors, one of
which had
a handle. He opened it and found that it lead into a lavatory with
another door
on the opposite side. Opening it he discovered that Tilly
Masterston had a room similar to his.
When Oddjob
looked in the room Bond told him he wanted some food
and he wanted to see Goldfinger. After Bond finished eating, Goldfinger
came
into the room holding a gun and told Bond that ordinarily he would have
eliminated Bond and Tilly Masterston
but as it happened he was in an enterprise that could use some extra
help. If
Bond would agree to help his payment would be one million pounds in
gold. If he
did not he would be killed. Having no real choice Bond agreed to work
for
Goldfinger. He was told that their rooms were in the warehouse of the
Hi-speed
Trucking Corporation.[9]
They would be confined there until the operation was underway.
Goldfinger told
Bond he planned to rob
Bond
went into the Tilly’s room to convince her
to play along. He told
her he was from Scotland Yard and the best way to scotch Goldfinger’s
plans was to go along with it. Reluctantly she agreed but also added
that if
Bond touched her she would kill him.
Their
first
assignment came when a typist’s desk was brought in. Bond was to type
out
ten copies of the meeting’s agenda. The guest list was made up of
mobsters from across
Tilly was
told to take
notes. Bond was told to size up the
various members of the meeting for anyone who might not be totally
committed to
the enterprise. Bond asked who was Pussy Galore of Harlem. She was a
leader of
a gang of lesbian criminals, called the Cement Mixers. Formerly they
had been
an acrobatic team but they had branched out into crime becoming cat
burglars
and jewel thieves.
Goldfinger
established his criminal credentials. He had founded and subsequently
disposed
of the "Golden Poppy Distributors" which operated out of Hongkong as well as 'The "Happy Landings Travel
Agency".
He then laid out his plan to rob
All of
the mobsters save one went for the audacious plan. The one who refused
Helmut
Springer left the room followed by Oddjob.
Goldfinger
announced later that Springer and his bodyguard had both broken their
necks by
falling down the stairs.
One of
the more puzzling aspects of the film version is Goldfinger’s
relationship with the mob leaders. Once Goldfinger informed the mob
heads as to
the robbery’s target he asked if anyone wished to back out. When one of
them, Mr. Solo, declined to participate he had Oddjob
drive him to airport. However Oddjob
actually drove
the limousine to a junkyard and crushed the car with Mr. Solo inside. After Mr. Solo departed Goldfinger laid out
his plan in detail to the various heads of the mobs. After Goldfinger’s
explanation he excused himself from the room. He then released a poison
gas
into the meeting room, killing all of the mob bosses with whom he had
been
meeting. This scene rendered the incident of killing off Mr. Solo and
the entire
meeting with the mob bosses to be unnecessary and pointless.
Did
Goldfinger in fact kill these mob
bosses? If not, why was the scene
included in the film?
Mr.
Solo was a creation of the screenwriters. Goldfinger met with the mob
leaders
as depicted in the novel. He also had Helmut Springer killed as
explained in
the novel. The scene of Goldfinger killing all the mob bosses prior to
actually
carrying out the robbery was included as foreshadowing because
Goldfinger did
in fact intend to double cross these gangsters in a manner that would
have
resulted in their deaths.
Goldfinger
purposely concealed the fact that the “tranquilizer” gas that would
be sprayed over the area was a highly toxic nerve gas because he
realized that
even ruthless career criminals might balk at mass murder on such a
grand scale.
He also concealed that the atomic bomb used to open the vault was a
high yield
“dirty bomb” that would irradiate the gold and anyone who handled
it.[12]
The true purpose of involving American criminals, as far as Goldfinger
was
concerned, was not to provide manpower or transportation but to provide
a
diversion for Goldfinger so that he could get away unscathed.
To
Bond’s amusement Tilly Masterson was quite
taken with Pussy Galore, which explained why she had been so stand
offish to
Bond. Bond made a play for Pussy but she would have none of it.
Noticing Tilly’s jealousy, which was not
focused on Bond but
rather on Pussy Bond encouraged Tilly to
make friends
with Pussy, in this manner making Pussy his inside “man”.
After the
meeting broke up Bond and Goldfinger went over some of the logistics
for the
plan. One of Bond’s duties was to figure out the timetable for how long
it would take to disseminate the narcotic in the air. In order for
Bond’s
calculations to be accurate Goldfinger had to revealed that the
narcotic was
actually GB, one of the most potent nerve gases in the world. It would
kill
60,000 people. Bond also pointed out that it would be impossible for
the gold
be carried off, it would take 28 days to unload the vault and
Goldfinger would
have perhaps hours before the area was sealed off by the United States
Army.
Goldfinger replied that he would use the train to
Bond
believed that this was a SMERSH operation with Goldfinger at its head.
Bond and
Tilly worked diligently for Goldfinger,
Bond
encouraged Tilly’s relationship with
Pussy.
A couple
of days before the robbery was to take place Goldfinger and his crew
went to
his horse farm in
While
on the horse ranch Bond saw a young Asian man and
suddenly recognized him as Ling, a Red Chinese expert on nuclear
fission. Bond
had not paid much attention to him earlier believing that he had merely
been
one of Goldfinger’s Korean servants. Bond deducted that the Red Chinese
had given Goldfinger a bomb, which he intended to use to make the gold
radioactive. The Red Chinese would get economic chaos in the West and
Goldfinger’s gold reserves would jump in value. Bond apprised Pussy
Galore through Tilly of Goldfinger’s true
plans. Pussy was horrified at the thought of mass murder and angry at
Goldfinger’s betrayal. However Bond convinced her that unless the
atomic
bomb was also captured Goldfinger could use that as a means of
extortion.
Early in
the morning of the robbery several piper cubs took off from the
airfield near
Goldfinger
and his men left the vault and found that they were under attack. When
the
atomic bomb had been pushed into the Fort, all of the dead soldiers
rose up and
attacked Goldfinger’s men. Goldfinger took off his overcoat revealing
that he was dressed in the uniform of a US Army general. He shot
several of his
own men, including Ling, and rushed to the helicopter, yelling he would
secure
it. It took off with Goldfinger in it. Tilly
ran
towards the helicopter, not to stop it, but to be with Pussy. However Oddjob perceived this as a threat and threw his
hat. The
hard edge of the bowler hit Tilly in the
nape of the
neck, snapping it and dropping her.
Once
Goldfinger had taken off Oddjob hurried
into the vault
and shut the vault door. Oddjob locked
himself, Bond,
a technician and the triggered bomb inside the vault. Panicking the
bomb
technician tried to disarm the bomb. Oddjob
grabbed
him and threw him over a railing. The technician landed on a floor two
stories
down but near Bond. Knowing that this man had the key, Bond hurried
over to him
and searched his pockets for the key to his handcuffs. Oddjob
was still two stories above Bond and hurried down towards him. Bond
unlocked
the handcuffs but was unable to disarm the bomb before Oddjob
reached him. Oddjob threw Bond around the
room as if
he were a child and shrugging off Bond’s attacks. Bond barely dodged
the
thrown bowler hat, which cut a live electrical cable. Bond grabbed the
hat and
threw it at Oddjob, missing him but
lodging it in a
metal gate. When Oddjob pulled it out,
Bond touched
the electrical cable to the metal gate, electrocuting Oddjob.
Bond then hurried over to the atomic bomb but could not fathom its
workings, he
was going to yank out a handful of cables when a man came rushing over
with
Felix Leiter pushed Bond aside and hit the
off
switch.
Pussy
Galore had
contacted Leiter as Bond had requested. Felix had used his
contacts with the
CIA to get in touch with the FBI and the President of the
Bond
was taken to
the nearby airport where he was to be flown on a private jet for a
congratulatory meeting with the President. Shortly after the plane had
taken
off Pussy Galore greet Bond. She was outfitted in a stewardess’
uniform.
Goldfinger had commandeered the plane.[14]
Bond was none too pleased to also see Oddjob
aboard.
Although Oddjob had been shocked
unconscious he had
eluded capture and made his way to a secure rallying point.
Goldfinger showed up in
the uniform
of a flight captain. He asked Bond how he did it, how did he ruin his
plans.
Bond told him he would talk but only if his arms were untied and he was
allowed
to have a drink and cigarettes. Goldfinger agreed and told Oddjob
if Bond made one move towards the cabin door to kill him immediately.
When Bond
got his bourbon and cigarettes there was a note from Pussy that said I
am with
you.
When asked where they
were headed
Goldfinger told Bond that he had managed to get his personal hoard of
gold away
his horse ranch in
After
Bond told a censored story of how he had gotten onto Goldfinger, he
decided to
make his move before it was too late. Pulling a knife hidden in his
shoe he
grappled with Oddjob keeping Oddjob
between him and Goldfinger. Bond threw his knife and hit the door’s
emergency catch. The door blew open sucking Oddjob
out.[16]
Oddjob held on to the door jamb for a few
moments but was
sucked completely out. As the plane tumbled from the explosive
decompression
Goldfinger fired his gun at Bond. Bond grappled with him and choked
Goldfinger
unconscious. The explosive decompression coupled with the weight of the
gold
made the plane crack. An emergency landing had to be made in the ocean.
Goldfinger’s gold spilled into the ocean as the plane crashed.
Bond and
Pussy Galore were the only survivors picked up by a frigate. Pussy
Galore makes
romantic overtures towards Bond, claiming that she had only liked girls
because
she had never met a real man before.[17]
POST
SUBJECTS: PUSSY GALORE
AND LEGACY OFAURIC GOLDFINGER
PUSSY GALORE
Bond and Pussy
Galore ended their brief relationship once they arrived on shore. Pussy
Galore
was promptly arrested for her part in the
Pussy Galore
became one of the first members of Prince Zarkon’s
Omega Crew[18].
Unfortunately Prince Zarkon and the
The main reasons
that she had left Prince Zarkon’s group
however
were because she missed the company of women and because she had
learned
through Zarkon’s resources that some
members of
her old gang the Cement Mixers had been co-opted by another
organization, one
run by a man. While Pussy had not been reformed to the extent that she
saw no
problem with these women carrying out acts of thievery or industrial
sabotage,
these women were carrying out ruthless acts of assassination and
terrorism on
the orders of this man. [20]
Pussy
could not condone that and took steps to work against Carl Peterson’s
organization.[21]
Peterson had two
major operations going on simultaneously, both of which if successful
could
lead to his dream of world domination. Pussy was, with tacit help from Zarkon, able to identify Peterson’s targets and
the
members of his organization. So that that their activities would not be
compromised Peterson had two teams of his agents working independently,
each on
one of his projects. One operation was headed by Irma Eckman,
the second was by Odile Cazan.
Both operations had women as their primary operatives with some back up
from
male thugs.[22]
When Pussy was
arrested after the
Since most of the
former Cement Mixers had gone into the operation headed by Odile
Cazan, this operation became Pussy Galore’s primary focus.
Odile Cazan had a
doctorate in engineering from the
Dr. Cazan
took a position with Nero Enterprises based in
Pussy cultivated a
couple of women from both organizations working to undermine and
eventually
cause them to self-destruct without having her friends jailed or harmed.
Mary Corning,
Pussy’s agent in the Harpies was killed while attempting to bring
evidence to Pussy. Mary Corning was shot while attempting to fly away
from her
fellow Harpies with jewels from a robbery in
Dr. Phineas
had invented a device called the Q ray which could
sterilize individuals after one exposure, that is render them incapable
of
producing progeny. This would be a beneficial form of birth control for
overpopulated nations. Yet it could also be a terrible weapon that
could
sterilize the populations of entire nations. Phineas
announced that he was uncertain as to what he wanted to do with his
discovery,
destroy it or give it to
Once MI5 realized
the connection between Nero and the Harpies, they put Pussy’s old
friend
James Bond on the case. Pussy realized that with some inside help Bond
could
bring down Nero and Cazan. Pussy met with
Mary Corning’s friend, Helen Nero, the
daughter of Simon
Nero. Pussy knew from Mary Corning that Helen’s initial admiration for Odile Cazan had
turned into
hatred. Helen Nero disliked the close relationship between her father
and Odile Cazan
and hated how Cazan ran her father and
through him the business. Pussy
played upon Helen’s hatred of Odile,
pointing
out that once Odile Cazan
had become Mrs. Nero Helen could be cut off from her father’s fortune.
Pussy convinced
Helen to help Pussy’s friend, James Bond, take down Odile
Cazan, and possibly her father, if only to
save
Helen’s own fortune.
With Helen’s
aid, James Bond rescued Dr. Phineas from
the clutches
of Nero and Odile Cazan.
They borrowed some of the Harpy equipment to fly out of Nero
Enterprises. Helen
however died saving Dr. Phineas when his
rocket pack
cut out, holding him up and cushioning his impact with her body. The
impact and
combined weight was too much and she died from internal injuries.
Dr. Odile
Cazan and Simon Nero were
taken into custody but several of the Harpies escaped, surreptitiously
aided by
Pussy Galore. Those Harpies who were taken into custody were those who
had
willing done what ever Cazan had required
of them.
The goal of Peterson’s
project under Irma Eckman was to gain
control over
the production and distribution of the world’s petroleum. To this end
his
organization took over various Petroleum companies. Peterson obtained a
seat on
the boards of various Petroleum companies using the fictitious persona
of Mr.
Westin having his agents seduce and or extort various board members; he
eliminated the competition and then arranged for mergers or buyouts
finally
through a buy out of the company spearheaded. The female agents in this
operation
were lead by Irma Eckman. The women who
had been part
of The Order of Our Lady made up the elite hierarchy in the
organization. They
had contact with Carl Peterson and carried out the most important
missions.
Those who had been recruited from gangs such as the Cement Mixers made
up the
second tier in the hierarchy were entrusted with the day-to-day
operations.
There were also agents who had been “recruited” either through
seduction, extortion or a combination of both. These did the scut work of the organization, working as
couriers,
pleasure girls, patsies and cannon fodder.
One of these was
Grace whose father was a chemist who had been blackmailed by who tied
him into
the narcotics business. Irma Eckman’s
partner
and lover, In addition to being a kleptomaniac, Penelope was a sadist
like
Irma. She was also a bit of a nymphomaniac; she used threats against
Grace’s father to seduce Grace. After Irma learned of this she forced
Grace to become one of the organization’s pawns. This was to keep
Grace’s
father in check and also out of some jealous pique.
When Pussy Galore
visited Castallamare where Carl Peterson
had a base
of operations in a castle, Irma and Penelope recognized her. Irma was
curious
as to what Pussy Galore was doing in the area and if the rumors were
true that
she had left the Omega men and returned to a life of crime. If the
latter was
true then she thought Pussy might be useful for a job that she and Carl
had
planned. Knowing of Pussy’s sexual inclination she told Grace to become
friendly with Pussy and get as much information as she could from her.
She knew
that Grace would hate every minute of being Pussy’s “friend”
Ultimately it was
Irma’s sadistic sense of humor, the bloodlust of Irma Eckman
and Penelope combined with Carl Peterson’s arrogance and greed that
would
foil their plot. Pussy realized that Grace’s clumsy advances were not
genuine and so knew there was an underlying reason for the attempt. She
skillfully charmed and drew the young girl out, getting all the sad
details of
Grace’s situation. Pussy urged Grace not to despair but rather to find
an
inner strength to destroy her enemies. She convinced Grace to go along
with
Peterson until she could be assured of way to destroy his organization.
The snippets of
information Grace was able to obtain from Pussy Galore proved to be
very
helpful for Peterson and so he began having her trained as one of his
agents.
That this irritated Irma and Penelope was only more enticing.
When Peterson
purposely set things up so he could match wits with the son of his
father’s rival, he also set the stage for the ruination of his scheme.
Irma Eckmann murdered Robert Keller the
head of
Keller Oil with a trick cigar while posing as a stewardess aboard his
corporate
jet. She covered up the crime by planting a bomb on the plane and then
parachuted to safety. It appeared that the jet had been destroyed by a
terrorist bomb or mechanical malfunction. However Peterson, with Irma
acting as
his envoy, insisted that Phoenix Oil honor a one million pound deal.
Irma’s
principle had made a deal with Phoenix Oil that with in six months, one
way or
another Robert Keller would stop blocking the merger between Phoenix
Petroleum
and Keller Oil. Irma Eckmann’s insistence
that
the million dollars be paid made Keller’s death seem suspicious. The
insurance agency that had held the policy on Keller’s plane had their
Hugh Drummond, one of their top investigators look into the matter.
A friend of
Drummonds, Wyngarde worked for Phoenix Oil
as a
geologist. He had gotten wind of the plot to kill Keller and had tried
to warn
him through his superiors at Phoenix Oil. Reportedly Keller could not
be
reached in time. Wyndgarde also discovered
Peterson’s
plot to kill the King of “Akbar”, a
Middle Eastern country with vast oil reserves that vowed to do its own
refining, manufacturing and distribution. Akbar’s
king had just come into his majority and was making sweeping changes.[25]
Wyndgarde died suddenly in a fishing
accident, impaled by a
harpoon gun. Drummond thought this was extremely suspicious since Wyngarde could not swim. Wyngarde’s
servant, Caroggio made a trip to
Irma and Penelope
also killed Reginald, a board member of Phoenix Oil who led the vote
against
giving Irma Eckmann the money
While pretending
to seduce him Irma stabbed him with a paralytic and they
shoved him off the ledge of his penthouse
apartment. This convenient death was doubly suspicious. Peterson began
investigating. His nephew was nearly killed by a trick cigar sent to
Drummond’s flat. Drummond’s nephew was seduced by and the tortured
by Penelope. Irma and Penelope left a trail so that Drummond could find
his
nephew and set a timebomb to explode
shortly after
Drummond entered the room.
After he seeing
that one of the board members of Phoenix Petroleum named Westin in the
company
of Irma Eckman, he decided to look into
the matter.
He found that Westin was also on the boards of Keller Oil and several
other oil
companies which had suddenly changed hands, Drummond visited him only
to once
again nearly escape death when Westin’s office exploded, apparently
killing Westin.
Penelope had
tortured Robert Drummond with a lit cigarette and a small knife, his
wounds
although painful were not life threatening. However he did have enough
of
Hugh Drummond
accepted a dinner invitation from Carl Peterson who lived in the castle
across
the cove from Wyngarde’s house. Carl
Peterson
proved to be Westin who had faked his own death in the explosion,
substituting
the body of Carloggio for his.
Peterson revealed
that Castallamare was the main
headquarters for his
operation. The facility was almost exclusively run by women. The only
other man
besides Peterson was a combination manservant, bodyguard and martial
arts
instructor named Chang. Chang was mute and it is a fair bet that he was
also a
eunuch.
In addition to having
state of the art laboratories and high tech
devices in the Castle, it also had remote controlled mechanical
chessboard with
each piece being over six feet in height. Drummond was not permitted to
leave and
spent the next night and day, foiling or avoiding the various games and
traps
Peterson set forth for him. Penelope and Irma got into a lover’s spat
over who would get to seduce Hugh Drummond. Irma was chosen to do the
deed but
returned to Peterson’s office in a rage when Drummond rejected her.
Peterson and Penelope had watched the failed seduction on the close
circuit
television in Drummond’s room.As Irma and
Penelope went into one their catty arguments; Peterson was amused to
see Grace
enter Drummond’s room. Grace told Drummond how she had been forced to
work for Peterson and promised the help him escape. They watched Grace
and
Drummond on a close circuit television.. Peterson decided to make Grace
the
unwitting instrument of his assassination of King Fedra
of Akbar.[26] Peterson had Penelope send gas into
Drummond’s room to knock him out. However she sent just enough to make
him groggy and used his disorientation to visit his room and seduce him.
When Drummond awoke he
was escorted to Peterson’s game room where
Peterson challenged Drummond to a game of chess while they waited. The
chessboard was an entire ballroom with life sized computer driven
pieces.
During the course of the game Peterson told Drummond that he planned to
blow up
King Fedra’s yacht using Grace as his
unwitting
pawn.
Irma and Penelope
escorted Grace to the waterfront where they had Grace
watch the yacht while they went to arrange for the explosives. As soon
as Irma
and Penelope were out of site, Grace ran to the yacht. This was all
according
to Peterson’s plan since the explosive was hidden on Grace’s person.
Grace warned King Fedra and Robert
Drummond of the
assassination plot. As Fedra made his way
out to sea
Robert left the yacht and went to the castle to try and rescue Hugh
Drummond.
Drummond however had
ducked into the life sized chess pieces. He killed
the guard Chang who had been sent to kill him and then began to stalk
Peterson.
Although Peterson had a gun and eventually took up the sword impaling
Chang, he
failed to kill Drummond. Drummond used the life sized chess pieces to
trap and
apparently crush Peterson to death.
Robert Drummond fought
his way into the castle and aided Hugh Drummond
against two machine gun wielding female guards. Hugh and Robert
Drummond found
Irma and Penelope arriving at the castle in a speedboat. At gunpoint
they made
they return to King Fedra’s yacht however
they
refused to tell where the bomb was hidden so Grace had to be stripped.
As
everyone watched Grace stripping Irma and Penelope stole away to their
boat and
fled from the yacht before it exploded.
As they raced away Irma
revealed that the plastic explosive had been
hidden in Grace’s chignon. Penelope began clawing at her hair revealing
that she had stolen Grace’s hairpiece because it seemed nicer than
hers.
Hugh Drummond and the others watched as the speedboat exploded
apparently
killing Irma Eckmann and Penelope. Drummond remarked, “That’s what
comes from letting success go to your head” This is an interesting
remark
in that Drummond could not have overheard the conversation between
Penelope and
Irma Eckmann, yet he somehow knew where
the bomb had
been hidden.
The question is how did
he know. The answer is that Grace told him, she
knew all along that the chignon Peterson insisted she wear was booby
trapped.
Grace had wondered how to get rid of when, she saw Penelope steal her
chignon
and replace it with her own. At first Grace wondered what Penelope had
been up
too, that perhaps she had given Grace the one with the explosives.
However she
knew that Peterson did not trust the flighty Penelope with all of his
crucial
plans so realized that Penelope did not know that the explosive was in
the
hairpiece. Penelope’s kleptomania had led to her to commit a fatal
blunder. Knowing that Penelope had the explosive led Grace to run to
the yacht
and urge King Fedra to put to sea and get
safely away
from Penelope.
When Hugh Drummond
brought Penelope and Irma on board the yacht
Grace’s heart sank. Drummond quickly began searching through
Grace’s things for the bomb. Grace quickly whispered that Penelope had
it. Drummond had to come up with a stratagem that would allow the women
to
escape without raising suspicion. As Grace stripped naked and the
sailors
holding the girls watched, Irma and Penelope made what they thought was
their
escape.[27]
After Grace successfully
thwarted Carl Peterson’s plot to
assassinate “King Fedra” she spend a nice
vacation with Hugh Drummond, Roger Drummond and King Fedra.
She was contacted by Pussy Galore and told that her life was in danger
since
Peterson and Irma Eckmann were still very
much alive.
Pussy offered Grace protection as part of a organization of women with
many of
the same skills and abilities that Grace had received from her training
under
Peterson. This organization was run by a woman named Octavia Smythe. In a sense this was one of the offshoot
organizations of The Order of Our Lady although its existence predated
that of
The Order of Our Lady. The Madonna had induced the female only cult of
The Blue
Ringed Octopus to join forces with her. After her disappearance in
1955, the
Order of Our Lady splintered into several smaller organizations. The
Cult of
the Blue Ringed Octopus had become essentially the smuggling and piracy
branch
of the Order and so became self contained criminal organization.
Octavia Smythe joined it in 1960 and
eventually became its leader.
Pussy Galore was invited to join in 1967 and became a close advisor to
Octavia Smythe[28].
She
retired from the organization in 1980 and her present whereabouts are
unknown.
Auric Goldfinger had nearly been choked into death
by James Bond, it was only his thick neck which had saved him from
death.
However he truly died when the plane cracked in half as it hit the
ocean and
all of his precious gold spilled into the ocean. The ocean poured into
the
broken plane and revived Auric Goldfinger
seconds
before he tumbled along with the wreckage into the ocean depths. While
underwater he saw the thousands of gold bars that represented the
majority of
his wealth rapidly sink through the murky waters. Without thinking he
dove
among them attempting to grab as many as he could. Bombarded by the
heavy bars
he felt several of his bones break. When a bar struck him in the head
he was
once more knocked unconscious.
The surge of water
displacement as the rest of the airplane sank buoyed him to the surface
along
with a seat cushion. Two days later he was found on the shores of
When it was
determined that Auric Goldfinger was
indeed dead, his
staff of lawyers examined his papers. There was a public will, which
quickly
disseminated the remnants of his fortune and holdings to various
charities and
foundations. There however was another will which disseminated the
illegal
businesses and hidden assets to one individual, Auric
Goldfinger’s son, Mordecai Madras. Mordecai Madras was the son of one
of
the first women that Auric Goldfinger had
a romantic
liaison with while she was painted gold. Mordecai’s mother was a
Cypriot
who worked at a
Auric Goldfinger became convinced that Moredcai
Madras was indeed his son. However Goldfinger’s
paternal instincts did not stop from meting out a suitable punishment
for
betrayal. Mordecai Madras was beaten, his back was broken and he was
jailed for
embezzlement in a Turkish prison. Upon his death however, Goldfinger
expressed
a paternal responsibility that he avoided in life. Suitable bribes were
issued
to the Turkish prison where Mordecai had been imprisoned and his
release was
obtained. Mordecai had been paralyzed from his broken back and his ill
treatment. The once stout young man had become a thin and broken rag
doll.
Releasing his son
from prison was not the end of Goldfinger’s largesse, he gave Mordecai
the chance to purchase some of Auric
Enterprises from
the various foundations that purportedly owned. Although the purchase
price was
lower than the market value, Mordecai still had to come up with a large
amount
of capital. Mordecai was given instructions to go to a certain bank in
With Goldfinger’s
organization safely in hand he set his sights on becoming the richest
man in
the world. To do this, he had to become wealthier than Howard Hughes.
He
attempted to buy Hughes out and was rebuffed. He was determined to
acquire
Hughes International one way or another. Fortune seemed to smile on him
when a
beautiful woman fell out of the sky and landed near one of his tankers.
The
woman was Erica
Giulietta Le Portenza, the daughter of Camorra leader, Count Luchino Le
Portenza, a man so notorious and so evil, he was called Count
Nefarious. Erica
had been entrusted to lead a raid against Hughes International and
steal as
much of this technology as her men could carry. Erica and her men made
it into
the Hughes Long Island complex and loaded their planes with material
but the
planes were shot down by the East Cost Rocketmen led by Commander Barr.
Her
plane was damaged and crashed over the
She was found by one of the ships of Golden
Shipping Lines,
owned by Mordecai Midas. Midas learned of her background and arranged
for her
medical treatment. Her face was horrifically scarred so Midas gave her
a golden
mask to wear over the injury. Midas hired her as a criminal operative;
planning
and carrying out operations that would net him gold. One of Midas’
personal plans was to have her meet Howard Hughes get him alone and
then kidnap
him, without implicating Midas. Although Hughes was a recluse he could
sometimes be induced to attend certain charitable functions for
appearances
sake. Midas arranged for both Hughes and Erica to be invited to a
masquerade ball.
At the ball, Erica maneuvered Hughes into an unused room. Since Hughes
was a
well known lothario this was a relatively simple task. Once there
however Erica
allowed herself to be seduced by Hughes.
During their tryst she drugged and captured
Hughes. Hughes
was then replaced by a LMD[29]
who had been conditioned to turn Hughes International over to Midas.
However
Erica fell in love with Hughes and could not be a party to destroy him.
She
helped his escape and the LMD was exposed as a fraud. During the course
of
Hughes and Madam Masque’s escape, Mordecai’s hover chair was
destroyed and his prize yacht was severely damaged.[30]
Mordecai’ Midas’ spine had been further damaged
and he was paralyzed from the shoulders down. He turned all his
resources towards
making himself mobile again using technology stolen from Hughes.
Scientists in
his employ eventually created a large exoskeleton based on Hughes power
armor
designs which he insisted on being plated with gold.
Along with guns his armor was equipped with a
unique offensive weapon, his Midas touch, a paint spray containing a
powerful
paralytic toxin. Sprayed with the golden paint, people froze in their
tracks as
if they had become golden statues.
Although James Bond did not have any known
encounters with
Mordecai Midas, his nephew James did. James Bond’s nephew also named
James Bond was called James Bond Junior by his schoolmates and the name
stuck.
Although this was a bit of humor as they kidded him about being related
to the
famous “fictional” secret agent, his true relationship was unknown.
After graduating from public school, James Bond Junior and a couple of
his
schoolmates and their girlfriends decided to go on around the world
trek. As
often happens with members of the Wold Newton family, adventures fell
into
James Bond Junior’s lap. They happened the scene to stop three of
Mordecai Midas’s schemes to steal gold, one from an Olmec
city, another time from a sunken ship in the
In the mid seventies in the wake of Howard Hughes
death,
Mordecai Midas attempted to take over Hughes International. This
brought him in
direct conflict with Alexis Luther and his old friend, Erica Le
Portenza, who
was Alexis Luther’s partner and wife. Through financial skullduggery,
Mordecai Midas managed to take over a portion of the Hughes’ estate,
however Alexis Luther refused to give up residency so Mordecai Midas
seized
them by force. A battle royal took place between Luthor’s Iron Men, the
so called Team Luthor and the mercenary forces of Mordeca
Midas. During the fight Mida’s exoskeleton
took
a great deal of damage, eventually collapsing and crushing Mordecai
Midas. When
it did Mordecai Midas suffered severe brain damage and he ended his
days as a
jaundiced, near vegetable in a Lexcare facility.[33]
SECRET HISTORY TABLE OF CONTENTS
© 2007 Dennis Power