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Goldfinger
Auric Goldfinger
Background information
Feature films Goldfinger
Television programs
Video games GoldenEye: Rogue Agent
GoldenEye (2010) (multiplayer mode)
007 Legends
Park attractions
Actor Gert Frobe
Actress
Animators
Voice Michael Collins
Timothy Watson
Performance model
Designer
Inspiration
Awards 2nd place in Watchmojo.com's Top 10 James Bond Villains along with Oddjob
Character information
Other names None
Personality Arrogant,
Appearance Obese, Blonde hair, blue eyes
Occupation Treasure of SMERSH (Novel)
Affiliations SMERSH (in the novel)
China (in the movie)
Goal Eliminate the United States gold reserve.
Home Riga, Latvia, Europe (in the Novel), England, United Kingdom, Europe (in the Movie)
Friends Oddjob, Pussy Galore (formely)
Enemies James Bond
Minions Oddjob, Helmut M. Springer (in the Novel)
Likes Playing golf, breeding horses
Dislikes Unknown
Powers and abilities
Weapons Gun,
Fate Gets sucked out of the plane and falls to his doom.
Quote No mister Bond, I expect you to die!

Auric Goldfinger is the titular main antagonist from the 1964 film Goldfinger. His first name, Auric, is an adjective meaning of gold. He was portrayed by Gert Frobe, whose voice was dubbed over in post-production by Michael Collins.

Novel biography[]

In the novel, Auric Goldfinger is the richest man in England and the treasurer of SMERSH, Bond's nemesis. Goldfinger's passion is gold. He is also a jeweler, a metallurgist, and a smuggler.

When Goldfinger first meets James Bond in Miami, he claims that he is agoraphobic; a ploy to allow him to cheat a previous acquaintance of Bond's at a game of two-handed Canasta. Bond figures out how Goldfinger is managing this cheating and blackmails him by forcing him to admit his deception. Goldfinger is also an avid golfer, but is known at his club for being a smooth cheater. When Bond contrives to play a match with Goldfinger, he again cheats the cheater by switching Goldfinger's Dunlop One with a Dunlop Seven he had found while playing. Goldfinger is the owner of "Enterprises Auric A.G." in Switzerland, maker of metal furniture, which is bought by many airlines including Air India. A few times during the year, Goldfinger drives his Rolls Royce "Silver Ghost" car from England to Enterprises Auric. Bond learns that Goldfinger makes repeated dead drops of gold bars along the way and that his car's bodywork is 18 carat (75%), solid white gold under the ploy that the added weight is armor plating. Once at Enterprises Auric, his car is stripped down, melted and made into furniture (seating) for an airline company that Enterprises Auric is heavily invested in. The plane(s) are then flown to India where the seats are melted down again into gold bars and sold for a much higher premium rate; 100 to 200% profit.

Operation Grand Slam[]

Operation Grand Slam is Goldfinger's codename for his scheme that involves "knocking off" the U.S. bullion depository at Fort Knox, Kentucky. Through the use of a chemical created by the Germans during World War II, Goldfinger plans to poison the water supply at Fort Knox, thus rendering everyone on the base (60,000) dead. From there Goldfinger would use an atomic bomb he had purchased for one million USD to blow open Fort Knox's impregnable vault. With the help of American gangsters, Goldfinger would then remove roughly 15 billion dollars in gold bullion and escape.

James Bond foils Goldfinger's plan by getting word to Felix Leiter of the impending operation. With the help of The Pentagon, Leiter was able to stop Goldfinger, and foil the operation. But Goldfinger escapes. Goldfinger met his end while trying to escape to the Soviet Union. After taking the plane Bond was on for himself and intending to escape the authorities, Bond escapes. After the spy kills Oddjob, Goldfinger appears and a violent struggle ensues. James Bond eventually strangles the man.

Film Biography[]

Arguably the most famous James Bond villain in any film, Goldfinger's obsession is gold. Welcoming any enterprise which will increase his considerable stock, Goldfinger engages in international gold smuggling. Smuggling gold out of Britain, Goldfinger moulds the bodywork of his Rolls Royce in eighteen carat gold, weighing approximately two tons. Making six trips a year to the continent, his men dismantle the vehicle at "Auric Enterprises, A.G" in Switzerland. They reduce the gold in a special furnace, which in turn are turned into gold ingots. A considerably wealthy man, Auric Goldfinger owned many properties throughout the world. Apart from being a legitimate bullion dealer, Goldfinger poses as a legitimate international jeweller. As such, he was legally entitled to operate modest metallurgical installations such as "Auric Enterprises, A.G", which he utilised in his gold smuggling scheme. An avid golfer who plays with a Slazenger 1 golf ball, Goldfinger owns the golf club where he and 007 play a high-stakes game. He is defeated by Bond, however, when he is tricked by Bond after attempting to cheat. Goldfinger also owned a farm in Kentucky that was used for horse breeding called "Auric Stud".


Scheme[]

At first, Bond thinks that Goldfinger was planning to steal the gold, but after having a drink with Goldfinger (who said that he had no intention in stealing the gold), Bond soon learn that Goldfinger actually intends to destroy Fort Knox with an atomic bomb made from China (on behalf of Mr. Ling, Goldfinger's nuclear specialist from China), which would render the gold useless and validate Goldfinger's value of gold, thus making him the richest man in the world. To ensure that his plan would be successful, Goldfinger plans to have his fellow band of female pilots to spray nerve gas around the vicinity that would kill thousands of citizens, which will allow him and his forces to enter Fort Knox without resistance. He also decides to bring Bond along (as he plans to have him handcuffed to the bomb to finalize his plan).

However, before the plot went into effect, Bond convinced Goldfinger's personal pilot Pussy Galore to help him thwart Goldfinger's plans. To that end, she sercretly called Washington and switched the nerve gas to a more harmless one that would send citizens into a temporary sleep. At Fort Knox, Goldfinger has Bond strapped to the bomb and bids him farewell before learning out in horror that several U.S. soldiers have arrived to the scene. Posing as a U.S. army officer, Goldfinger betrays Mr. Ling by shooting him and Oddjob and Kisch by trapping them inside the vault with the bomb. Goldinger manages to escape after shooting down several U.S. soldiers while Oddjob stays behind to ensure that Goldfinger's plan must succeed, even at the cost of his life and killing Kisch to ensure that no one disarms the bomb.

Though Bond manages to finish off Oddjob by electrocuting him, he has trouble trying to disarm the bomb. After the U.S. soldiers manages to finish the rest of Goldfinger's men, they get in their bomb expert to successfully disarm the bomb for good, thus foiling Goldfinger's plot. After the battle is won, Bond is sent to Washington in a private jet to meet the president, only to find out that Goldfinger has boarded the plane earlier, left the tied-up pilots in the hangar and had Miss Galore pilot the jet. Goldfinger plans to finish off both Bond and Galore for ruining his plans, but during a moment of carelessness, Goldfinger is attacked by Bond and the two fight in the airplane. During the fight, Goldfinger accidentally shoots a window of the cabin and is sucked out of the plane before falling to his death.

Gallery[]

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