People like to say that the book was
better, and in most cases that’s probably true like in Stephen King’s case where his style of horror doesn’t seem to translate well to the screen. But every once in awhile the film is much better than the book, as in the example of Ian Fleming’s 7th Bond novel- Goldfinger.
Harry Saltzman and Albert R. Broccoli chose this to be their 3rdfilm following the successful Dr. No
and From Russia With Love Bond films. While, essentially the same story the book has notable differences and can be looked upon as a really good first draft that the producers and their screenplay writers- Richard Maibaum and Paul Dehn vastly improved upon the story in the book and solved a major plot hole that somehow escaped Fleming when he wrote the book.
The biggy is that in the book Auric Goldfinger really was trying to steal the gold
from Fort Knox. Even with the huge American Mafia team he’s hired there is simply too much gold in quantity and weight to be burgled in a day out of Fort Knox. Another plot problem was the way Goldfinger disabled the Fort’s populace in the book- he poisons the water supply- and it will kill everyone in the town as well as the Fort. In the book the Army and U.S. Government are supposed to have a lackluster response to the situation allowing Goldfinger and his men to have free
reign.
This scenario is pretty unrealistic ( yes, I used that word discussing a Bond movie,)
that the Army and Government would completely stay away. It pushed the believability boundaries too much. I can imagine that’s probably what the producers discussed and actually came up with a better idea that Goldfinger uses a team of airplanes to spray a nerve agent that only effects the base and not the town as a whole in a surprise attack.
The other plot problem was Goldfinger’s use of a small tactical nuclear bomb to blow open the doors to the gold vault. Even if there such an incredibly small scale
nuclear device that only effects several feet thick metal doors and doesn’t wipe
out the surrounding quarter mile, then the gold inside the vault would be either vaporized, melted or radioactive.
Which led to a brilliant plot change in that Goldfinger, is not going to steal the gold at Fort Knox but is going to “kill” what he loves the most: the gold. The practical answer is also that distruction of the U.S.A. gold supply will vastly increase the worth of his own gold elsewhere. Since, Fleming’s use of the nuke had changed and in the 1960’s a new and scary technology emerged: the laser.
In the book Bond is tortured by Oddjob and Goldfinger for information with a saw.
The producers changed this to a laser, which has become an iconic image in
cinema. James Bond strapped to a metal table as a red laser beam slowly burns the metal advancing towards his crotch.
“Do you expect me to talk?”-Bond asks nervously.
Goldfinger smiling replies, “No Mr. Bond. I expect you to die.”
It also provided the perfect answer to opening the gold vault doors. Use the laser
to cut open the doors. There are numerous other changes from minor characters
becoming major characters like Pussy Galore who in the book was a gangster for
hire to being Goldfinger’s #1 pilot and flight commander on the attack on FortKnox.
These are just some of the differences between the book and the film and is a great exception to the rule that the book is always better than the movie.
better, and in most cases that’s probably true like in Stephen King’s case where his style of horror doesn’t seem to translate well to the screen. But every once in awhile the film is much better than the book, as in the example of Ian Fleming’s 7th Bond novel- Goldfinger.
Harry Saltzman and Albert R. Broccoli chose this to be their 3rdfilm following the successful Dr. No
and From Russia With Love Bond films. While, essentially the same story the book has notable differences and can be looked upon as a really good first draft that the producers and their screenplay writers- Richard Maibaum and Paul Dehn vastly improved upon the story in the book and solved a major plot hole that somehow escaped Fleming when he wrote the book.
The biggy is that in the book Auric Goldfinger really was trying to steal the gold
from Fort Knox. Even with the huge American Mafia team he’s hired there is simply too much gold in quantity and weight to be burgled in a day out of Fort Knox. Another plot problem was the way Goldfinger disabled the Fort’s populace in the book- he poisons the water supply- and it will kill everyone in the town as well as the Fort. In the book the Army and U.S. Government are supposed to have a lackluster response to the situation allowing Goldfinger and his men to have free
reign.
This scenario is pretty unrealistic ( yes, I used that word discussing a Bond movie,)
that the Army and Government would completely stay away. It pushed the believability boundaries too much. I can imagine that’s probably what the producers discussed and actually came up with a better idea that Goldfinger uses a team of airplanes to spray a nerve agent that only effects the base and not the town as a whole in a surprise attack.
The other plot problem was Goldfinger’s use of a small tactical nuclear bomb to blow open the doors to the gold vault. Even if there such an incredibly small scale
nuclear device that only effects several feet thick metal doors and doesn’t wipe
out the surrounding quarter mile, then the gold inside the vault would be either vaporized, melted or radioactive.
Which led to a brilliant plot change in that Goldfinger, is not going to steal the gold at Fort Knox but is going to “kill” what he loves the most: the gold. The practical answer is also that distruction of the U.S.A. gold supply will vastly increase the worth of his own gold elsewhere. Since, Fleming’s use of the nuke had changed and in the 1960’s a new and scary technology emerged: the laser.
In the book Bond is tortured by Oddjob and Goldfinger for information with a saw.
The producers changed this to a laser, which has become an iconic image in
cinema. James Bond strapped to a metal table as a red laser beam slowly burns the metal advancing towards his crotch.
“Do you expect me to talk?”-Bond asks nervously.
Goldfinger smiling replies, “No Mr. Bond. I expect you to die.”
It also provided the perfect answer to opening the gold vault doors. Use the laser
to cut open the doors. There are numerous other changes from minor characters
becoming major characters like Pussy Galore who in the book was a gangster for
hire to being Goldfinger’s #1 pilot and flight commander on the attack on FortKnox.
These are just some of the differences between the book and the film and is a great exception to the rule that the book is always better than the movie.
RSS Feed
