Summary
"I think it's about time I met Goldfinger," says Bond, and he wonders what sort of "bait" he should use. The man from the Board of Finance recommends he use some gold that was smelted by the Nazis during World War II, and takes it out of a green cloth. He says that Bond can use it to bait Goldfinger, but insists that he return the gold, as it is worth 5,000 pounds.
Bond goes to a lab of a weapons specialist named Q, where they are testing a bulletproof vest. He shows Bond an Aston Martin that he will be driving for his mission. He shows Bond the features of the car: tracking system and bugs to be concealed in a car that Bond is trailing, revolving license plates, a weapons system with a passenger ejector seat, tire slashers, machine guns, and bulletproof glass.
Later, we see Bond at a large country estate and golf course. Goldfinger's partner offers for Bond to play with Goldfinger instead of himself, and Bond introduces himself to the villain. Bond turns to see Goldfinger's caddy, a man in a suit and bowler hat, the same bowler hat we saw in shadow when Bond was struck unconscious. They go and play golf together, and on the course, Goldfinger wants to know why Bond wanted to meet him. "What's your game, Mr. Bond? You didn't come here to play golf," Goldfinger says, and Bond drops the brick of gold at Goldfinger's feet. Goldfinger misses the hole on an easy putt.
Goldfinger recognizes the gold immediately, and Bond tells him it's "part of a smelt of 600." Goldfinger notes that the gold disappeared in 1944, and asks Bond if he has access to more. With two holes to go, Bond tells him he does have access to more. "Then you have no objection to increasing the stakes?" Goldfinger asks, wanting to wagering the brick of gold on the next hole of golf.
Bond hits the ball, then Goldfinger hits one into the woods. Goldfinger searches for his ball, when suddenly, we see his caddy drop a golf ball through his pant leg onto the ground. The caddy calls Goldfinger over to retrieve it. "If that's his original ball, I'm Arnold Palmer," says Bond's caddy to him, and Bond confirms that it isn't because he's standing on the actual ball, and saying, "Let's have a little fun with Mr. Goldfinger."
Goldfinger hits his ball into the hole as Bond watches. Bond then pulls a ball out, throws it to Goldfinger and says, "One to go, that'll be the clincher." The caddy asks Bond if he switched them and Bond tells him he did. "Then we've got him!" says the caddy, and Bond adds, "If he doesn't notice the switch." Goldfinger hits his ball without noticing that it's been switched. When he thinks he's won, Bond points out that it's not his original ball, and points out that Goldfinger lost the match. Goldfinger throws down the ball, furious.
After the match, Bond puts a tracking device in the trunk of Goldfinger's car when the caddy isn't looking. He then compliments Goldfinger's car, and Goldfinger tells him that he's too clever for his own good, and since they've crossed paths twice, he'd like to leave it at that. He references the fact that Bond broke into his hotel room, even though Bond feigns ignorance. Goldfinger tells Bond that people try to engage themselves in his affairs unsuccessfully, before giving his caddy a signal and pointing at a nearby statue. The caddy throws his bowler hat at the statue, decapitating it with the blades that are built into the hat's brim. Before they leave, Goldfinger makes out a check for the game and Bond hands the caddy his golf ball, which the caddy crushes in his hand. Bond goes to his car and turns on the tracking device to see where Goldfinger is going.
Goldfinger boards a flight to Geneva. We see him and his caddy driving up the side of a mountain towards a small village. Bond watches the car on a tracking device, following behind. Near the top of a mountain, Bond watches Goldfinger from above as he gets out of a car. From higher up, a woman with a gun watches Bond, before shooting at him suddenly. Goldfinger and his caddy get back in the car and drive away. Bond gets back on the road, pursued by the assassin. He cuts in front of her, and eventually drives her off the road, slashing her tires in the process.
She drives off the road, and he pulls over, pretending that he isn't responsible for the crash and offering to help her. He suggests that her tires are defective, and she asks him for a ride to the garage. When he tries to introduce himself, she interrupts him and they get in the car. In the car, the woman tells Bond her name is Tilly Soames, and he notes a bag in the back with different initials, "T.M." He tells her he used to have a bag like hers, and she tells him it's for her ice skates, and that she skates in St. Moritz.
They pull over at a garage, and as Tilly goes to talk to a worker, Bond pulls up his tracker to see where Goldfinger has gone. When Tilly comes back, she tells him it'll take 24 hours for new tires, but when he offers to drive her to a hotel she declines. He hands her her bags and drives off, going to the industrial plant where Goldfinger is located and sits outside watching with binoculars.
That night, Bond wanders down to the plant, where Goldfinger is working on smuggling gold with a large team of workers. Bond eavesdrops as Goldfinger gives instructions to a Chinese associate. The plan is to put the 18 karat gold into parts of a Rolls Royce, which will then be removed and smelted at the plant. Bond sneaks back out into the forest, where he comes upon the female assassin, Tilly. As he jumps on her, her gun falls on the fence and an alarm goes off. Tilly tells Bond she wants to kill Goldfinger because he killed her sister, Jill. Bond puts two and two together, realizing that Tilly is Jill Masterson's sister, and asks why she shot at him earlier. She tells him she was shooting at Goldfinger but missed.
Analysis
Bond's swagger with the women is iconic and something then benefits him as a spy, but it also is what brings him some pushback from his superiors. M. threatens to take him off the Goldfinger case if he cannot be more discreet in his dealings with the ladies he encounters. Then, at the weapons specialist headquarters, Bond makes some jokes about having dalliances with women, much to the chagrin of the man showing him his new car. Even though he is chided for his rather randy behavior time and again, Bond simply cannot stop thinking and talking about sex, and it is one of his defining characteristics.
In this section of the film, Bond not only shows that he is debonair, but also that he is sneaky and intelligent. In the golf game, Bond manages to outsmart Goldfinger, who thinks his cheating won't get past the spy. While the stakes are high, and Bond could potentially lose the large and valuable brick of gold, he uses his wits to outsmart the cheater and hang on to the gold. Bond's gifts as a spy are not limited to his ability to strategize; they also include his ability to come out on top in a pinch, when it seems like he will not.
The film is stylishly shot, often following Bond in his chase to exotic and beautiful locations. Bond dresses well, drives a stylish car, and ends up traveling to beautiful mountain villages in Geneva. In the midst of espionage and chaos, Bond's life looks more like an advertisement for a glamorous lifestyle, one of jet-setting and golf, than a world of crime and punishment. This aesthetic high style makes the movie especially pleasurable to watch, because it feels not only intriguing and suspenseful, but aspirational as well.
In this section, Bond meets yet another beautiful woman, Tilly. Unlike the other women in his life, however, she doesn't take immediately to his seductive ways, and acts rather cold towards him. Additionally, she is more complicatedly embroiled in his mission than he had initially imagined, being the sister of Jill, the woman who was suffocated with gold in Bond's bed.
We also learn more about Goldfinger and the fact that he is indeed smuggling gold between countries by having it built into cars and then smelted at his plant in Geneva. Without too much trouble, Bond is able to locate Goldfinger's plant and sneak in to discover his secrets, proving himself to be an incredibly competent spy, in addition to being exceedingly clever and charming.
