Reviews (184)

IMHO, 60's Bond was the best...
I was born in the 70's and grew up in the 80's and 90's so one would think I would prefer Roger Moore or maybe Dalton or Brosnan. But when I think Bond/007, I only think of Sean Connery and the films from the 60's. I guess it's because the decade was perfect for the character(sexism/persona/fashion), the look and feel(tux/bowler hat/suave sophistication/martini in hand/cig. in mouth/exotic locales), and the music(twangy guitar theme/big brassy numbers). And GOLDFINGER was arguably the definitive representation of all this:

*Shirley Bassey's great rendition of the title song.
*the classic Aston-Martin DB5 with all the gadgets.
*the strong female lead with that name: Pussy Galore!
*one of the coolest and most beloved henchman/sidekicks in the series: Odd Job(love the grin and hat).
*one of the most ambitious, greedy, resourceful villains ever(well played by Gert Frobe-hard to believe he was dubbed in the movie as the audio commentary pointed out).
*classic scenes like Shirley Eaton covered in gold, the "laser beam" scene, the rumpus room, and the end fight.
*good plotline, and good plot to break in to Fort Knox...with a slight twist(love the scene where 007 is figuring out the plot and Goldfinger seems genuinely pleased that someone recognizes his 'genius')
*ok, so Kentucky ain't too exotic(unless you're from Switzerland I guess), but the Swiss Alps and inside a 'pretend' Fort Knox? You don't see that everyday.

All great stuff. The other guys had some good movies in their reign as Bond, but I think Connery was on a roll with From Russia With Love, Goldfinger, and Thunderball. There was so much style and a special aura that defined what Bond/spy/adventure films should be during that 3-film stint. And after all the praise I have for Goldfinger(just recently got the dvd), for the record, it's not even my all-time favorite. That belongs to THUNDERBALL: #1, Largo with the eye patch, the Spectre organization, Claudine Auger in shades on the beach, the jet pack, the underwater fight, etc....oh man. Sorry, back to Goldfinger. Buy the dvd, lots of great extras(2 commentaries, 2 documentaries, etc). If you're a fan, you're not reading this cause you own it. But to non-fans, the film alone is worth the absurdly low price and the loads of extras are what every dvd collector would want. Highly recommended for anyone.

The golden Bond film
The best Bond film? You bet. Sean Connery's Goldfinger is an awesome combination of everything a Bond film needs. Connery gives the best performance of any Bond film, and Honor Blackman is one of the best girls (and certainly the most famous) in the series. Gert Frobe is an outstanding villain, and Oddjob is the definitive henchman. Blackman is supported by two other great girls in the Masterson sisters. Q gives OO7 his best car (followed by the Lotus in TSWLM, the Mustang in Diamonds, and the BMW in TND) featuring machine guns, smokescreen, tire puncturers, and even an ejector seat. Bond also receives a tracking device from Q. The car chase is excellent, and the climax is one of the best at Fort Knox. Script is filled with witty lines, and the story is almost unmatched (Goldfinger will contaminate the gold supply in Fort Knox to greatly increase the amount of his own horde). Locations run from Flordia to Switzerland to Kentucky. Shirley Bassey's title song is great indeed, and Barry's score is in his top five for Bond films. The feel is superb, and everything cultimates together to make this the best OO7 film ever.

The great James in his best
In the the third film of this Bond series this may well be his favorite : (for me it's the best) there are enough reasons to hold this statement.
Harold Sakata is the most hated villain in any Bond picture, the maquiavelian mind and overwhelming presence of Auric Goldfinger , the unforgettable swiss landscapes , the girls Honor Blackman who is two steps behind of Daniela Bianchi (From Russia with love) and Claudine Auger (Thunderball) in what beauty concerns , the laser sequence , the poker game , the fine and suggestive dialogues , the ambush in the hall , the battle in Fort Knox and that hair raising final combat in the airplane, the dazzling direction of Guy Hamilton and the spectacular Aston Martin.
What else do you need for watching by the first time this one or remind it in case you saw before as a timeless cult movie ?
And please beware of any other hat in the head of someone like Odd Job.

The best achievement of the Bond series
This film is a winner in all the sense of the word. May be you won't find the advanced special effects of this age. But who really cares?
Watch for the admirable lot of golden situations; the suggestive sequence in which we laugh when James compare the champaign with the Beatles, for instance in a double sense joke, the unforgettable swiss landscapes, the eternally beauty of Honor Blackman as Pussy Galore, the presence of Harold Sakata the most hated villain in any Bond film, the powerful balance given by Grett Frobe as Auric Goldfinger the maquiavelian and perverse mind of Spectre, the notorius ambush in the hall , the final battle in Fort Knox and that unforgettable in the airplane make from this film, at least for me, the most complete film of any other Bond series.
Dazzling direction and the bitterness of Bond,James Bond.
After you watch,please beware on the next hat you see.
A cult movie.

My favorite movie from Bond series
I still can remember the first time I watched this film. I was in a old hall cinema and I watched three times that day . I just was eight years old but what histamine.
Harold Sakata as Odd Jobb has been the most hated villain in any Bond series and Grett Frobe as Goldfinger is one of the coldest and smart Spectre agents. Honor Blackman with her incandescent beauty as Pussy Galore is a perfect balance.
The film has a lot of smart and suggestive situations. Do you remember the sequence of the champaign bottle?
The ambush in the hall made by Goldfinger is a first rate, so the girl painted with gold, the chases and the unforgettable swiss landscapes, and the hair raising end in Fort Knox and in the airplane made of this one my eternal favorite among others.
Dazzling direction by Guy Hamilton and delightful action sequences.
Watch it and please, be careful with the next hat you see. ... Read more

Reviews (9)

time for a reevaluation
after the recent passing of brando i picked up a magazine celebrating his career. it listed this as one of his 10 best films and said this film was beautiful and vastly underrated.
couldnt agree more.
the misfire was in misrepresentation of it as an out and out comedy. of course chaplins films were rarely 'just comedies'.
countess of course relates to the earlier 'woman of paris' and this is indeed a throwback to 1920s sensabilities.
critics have for years pounced on this film (and brando was one of those critics, but then brando pounced on a lot of his own films and his method acting didnt simply gel with chaplins direction)but brando is indeed good as is the film itself.
its a nice small charmer. you'll enjoy it.

a little old-fashioned for 1960s standards
A COUNTESS FROM HONG KONG was director/comedian Charlie Chaplin's final film. In this film he is the director, writer and composer.

The story concerns a beguiling Russian countess named Natascha (Sophia Loren - HOUSEBOAT), a young woman forced into prostitution in Hong Kong, when she happens to meet an American politician named Ogden Mears (Marlon Brando - A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE, SUPERMAN). She stows away in his stateroom aboard a ship headed back to the States, where she belives she can escape her miserable life.

The usual battle-of-the-sexes ensues, when Natascha and Ogden are forced to spend the entire voyage together, bickering and fighting over their different opinions and tastes. But its soon evident that they are in love. Things become complicated when Ogden's icy wife (Tippi Hedren - THE BIRDS, MARNIE) joins the ship at Hawaii, while Natascha finds herself marrying Ogden's valet in order to gain an American passport!

This is a film that feels a little old-fashioned for the 1960s, but it is a rather charming and engaging romantic comedy. Perhaps the film is best-known for launching the hit single "(Love) This is My Song", made famous by Petula Clark. The movie also stars Sydney Chaplin, Patrick Cargill and Margaret Rutherford in a rather-clever cameo.

The DVD includes the trailer. (Single-sided, single-layer disc).

This DVD is part of a new series of classic releases from Universal that also include "Pillow Talk", "Send Me No Flowers", "The Thrill of It All!" and a twofer of "Man's Favorite Sport?/Strange Bedfellows".

Another review
I see there's several reviews already for this film, but here goes my two cents worth. Even though this is Chaplin's last film, it's his first and only film in color and widescreen. The movie is old fashion to say the least, it might of been better in b/w. Brando and Loren are completely wasted, the supporting players fair much better. Chaplin is quite good in his cameo role (makes you wish he'd given himself a bigger part). At the time, Chaplin took the negative reviews as almost a personal threat. He really defended the film, even going so far as to say he thought it was the best film he ever made! However several years later he admitted it wasn't very good, he said the actors where great but the story was really thin.

Goodbye Charlie
This is the final motion picture written and directed by Charlie Chaplin. He was 78 years old when it was released and had been in political exile from the United States for the past 15 years.

Although the movie features two of the biggest stars of its time, Marlon Brando and Sophia Loren, and was written as an old-fashioned comedy, it is rather slow and "talky." It has plenty of curiosity value, but I'm sorry to report, not a great deal of entertainment value. The once mighty Chaplin, had simply run out of gas. Working with Brando (who openly made fun of Chaplin during filming) and a script he had first drafted in the 30s for Paulette Goddard, Chaplin was out of his element.

Under-rated
"Countess" was Chaplin's final film and sadly I think it has been labelled as being awful. This is not the case. I feel that the main reason for people believing this to be a bad film is that they don't understand it. Chaplin always created fantastic stories out of simple ideas and this is not an exception. It is written and directed with such subtle elegance that some of the simpliest visual gags turn into the most hilarious situations. There are fantastic actors all round: Brando himself, Sophia Loren looking gorgeous, Sydney Chaplin showing that talent does run in the family and Patrick Cargill as the butler. Chaplin himself pulls a cameo and does a great job at not hogging his screen time, a mistake made by directors like Tarantino. The result is an amazingly gentle film that shows people from a fresh human perspective, a breath of fresh air by todays standards. You will be missed Charlie. ... Read more

Amazon.com

To own Goldfinger (1964) on digital video disc is to have at your fingertips the proof that Sean Connery is the definitive James Bond. Dry as ice, dripping with deadpan witticisms, only Connery's Bond would dare disparage the Beatles, that other 1964 phenomenon. No one but Connery can believably seduce women so effortlessly, kill with almost as much ease, and then pull another bottle of Dom Perignon '53 out of the fridge. Goldfinger contains many of the most memorable scenes in the Bond series: gorgeous Shirley Eaton (as Jill Masterson) coated in gold paint by evil Auric Goldfinger and deposited in Bond's bed; silent Oddjob, flipping a razor-sharp derby like a Frisbee to sever heads; our hero spread-eagle on a table while a laser beam moves threateningly toward his crotch. Honor Blackman's Pussy Galore is the prototype for the series' rash of man-hating supermodels. And Desmond Llewelyn makes his first appearance as Q, giving Bond what is still his most impressive car, a snazzy little number that fires off smoke screens, punctures the tires of vehicles on the chase, and boasts a handy ejector seat. Goldfinger's two climaxes, inside Fort Knox and aboard a private plane, have to be seen to be believed. --Raphael Shargel ... Read more

Reviews (184)

IMHO, 60's Bond was the best...
I was born in the 70's and grew up in the 80's and 90's so one would think I would prefer Roger Moore or maybe Dalton or Brosnan. But when I think Bond/007, I only think of Sean Connery and the films from the 60's. I guess it's because the decade was perfect for the character(sexism/persona/fashion), the look and feel(tux/bowler hat/suave sophistication/martini in hand/cig. in mouth/exotic locales), and the music(twangy guitar theme/big brassy numbers). And GOLDFINGER was arguably the definitive representation of all this:

*Shirley Bassey's great rendition of the title song.
*the classic Aston-Martin DB5 with all the gadgets.
*the strong female lead with that name: Pussy Galore!
*one of the coolest and most beloved henchman/sidekicks in the series: Odd Job(love the grin and hat).
*one of the most ambitious, greedy, resourceful villains ever(well played by Gert Frobe-hard to believe he was dubbed in the movie as the audio commentary pointed out).
*classic scenes like Shirley Eaton covered in gold, the "laser beam" scene, the rumpus room, and the end fight.
*good plotline, and good plot to break in to Fort Knox...with a slight twist(love the scene where 007 is figuring out the plot and Goldfinger seems genuinely pleased that someone recognizes his 'genius')
*ok, so Kentucky ain't too exotic(unless you're from Switzerland I guess), but the Swiss Alps and inside a 'pretend' Fort Knox? You don't see that everyday.

All great stuff. The other guys had some good movies in their reign as Bond, but I think Connery was on a roll with From Russia With Love, Goldfinger, and Thunderball. There was so much style and a special aura that defined what Bond/spy/adventure films should be during that 3-film stint. And after all the praise I have for Goldfinger(just recently got the dvd), for the record, it's not even my all-time favorite. That belongs to THUNDERBALL: #1, Largo with the eye patch, the Spectre organization, Claudine Auger in shades on the beach, the jet pack, the underwater fight, etc....oh man. Sorry, back to Goldfinger. Buy the dvd, lots of great extras(2 commentaries, 2 documentaries, etc). If you're a fan, you're not reading this cause you own it. But to non-fans, the film alone is worth the absurdly low price and the loads of extras are what every dvd collector would want. Highly recommended for anyone.

The golden Bond film
The best Bond film? You bet. Sean Connery's Goldfinger is an awesome combination of everything a Bond film needs. Connery gives the best performance of any Bond film, and Honor Blackman is one of the best girls (and certainly the most famous) in the series. Gert Frobe is an outstanding villain, and Oddjob is the definitive henchman. Blackman is supported by two other great girls in the Masterson sisters. Q gives OO7 his best car (followed by the Lotus in TSWLM, the Mustang in Diamonds, and the BMW in TND) featuring machine guns, smokescreen, tire puncturers, and even an ejector seat. Bond also receives a tracking device from Q. The car chase is excellent, and the climax is one of the best at Fort Knox. Script is filled with witty lines, and the story is almost unmatched (Goldfinger will contaminate the gold supply in Fort Knox to greatly increase the amount of his own horde). Locations run from Flordia to Switzerland to Kentucky. Shirley Bassey's title song is great indeed, and Barry's score is in his top five for Bond films. The feel is superb, and everything cultimates together to make this the best OO7 film ever.

The great James in his best
In the the third film of this Bond series this may well be his favorite : (for me it's the best) there are enough reasons to hold this statement.
Harold Sakata is the most hated villain in any Bond picture, the maquiavelian mind and overwhelming presence of Auric Goldfinger , the unforgettable swiss landscapes , the girls Honor Blackman who is two steps behind of Daniela Bianchi (From Russia with love) and Claudine Auger (Thunderball) in what beauty concerns , the laser sequence , the poker game , the fine and suggestive dialogues , the ambush in the hall , the battle in Fort Knox and that hair raising final combat in the airplane, the dazzling direction of Guy Hamilton and the spectacular Aston Martin.
What else do you need for watching by the first time this one or remind it in case you saw before as a timeless cult movie ?
And please beware of any other hat in the head of someone like Odd Job.

The best achievement of the Bond series
This film is a winner in all the sense of the word. May be you won't find the advanced special effects of this age. But who really cares?
Watch for the admirable lot of golden situations; the suggestive sequence in which we laugh when James compare the champaign with the Beatles, for instance in a double sense joke, the unforgettable swiss landscapes, the eternally beauty of Honor Blackman as Pussy Galore, the presence of Harold Sakata the most hated villain in any Bond film, the powerful balance given by Grett Frobe as Auric Goldfinger the maquiavelian and perverse mind of Spectre, the notorius ambush in the hall , the final battle in Fort Knox and that unforgettable in the airplane make from this film, at least for me, the most complete film of any other Bond series.
Dazzling direction and the bitterness of Bond,James Bond.
After you watch,please beware on the next hat you see.
A cult movie.

My favorite movie from Bond series
I still can remember the first time I watched this film. I was in a old hall cinema and I watched three times that day . I just was eight years old but what histamine.
Harold Sakata as Odd Jobb has been the most hated villain in any Bond series and Grett Frobe as Goldfinger is one of the coldest and smart Spectre agents. Honor Blackman with her incandescent beauty as Pussy Galore is a perfect balance.
The film has a lot of smart and suggestive situations. Do you remember the sequence of the champaign bottle?
The ambush in the hall made by Goldfinger is a first rate, so the girl painted with gold, the chases and the unforgettable swiss landscapes, and the hair raising end in Fort Knox and in the airplane made of this one my eternal favorite among others.
Dazzling direction by Guy Hamilton and delightful action sequences.
Watch it and please, be careful with the next hat you see. ... Read more

Description

From a novel by Graham Greene, Rod Steiger plays an unscrupulous financier who has absconded to Mexico with company funds.A genius at improvisation, he evades the authorities and concocts a scheme whereby he will murder a man, dispose of the body and assume the dead man's identitie.He soon learns the dead man whose identity he assumed was an even more notorious fugitive from justice. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

A Film Noir Classic
Ken Annakin is one of the most widely traveled international directors in cinema annals, journeying to every continent to accept the kinds of creative challenges daring filmmakers, in the ranks of which he definitely resides, thrive upon. Among his celebrated triumphs are "The Longest Day," in which he directed the most difficult battle scenes of Darryl F. Zanuck's classic, "Swiss Family Robinson," one of the industry's all-time grossers,and "Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines," a brilliant spoof containing some of the most inventive scenes in aviation filmmaking, for which he and co-scenarist Jack Davies received an Oscar nomination for Best Original Screenplay.

"Across the Bridge," a great British film shot in Spain, on its 1957 release was heralded as a suspense classic along the lines of Carol Reed's "The Third Man" eight years earlier. Reed led the early chorus of praise for a film unique in its presentation that traces the degradation of a haughty, corrupt, and thoroughly arrogant international financier who sees his world of opulence destroyed piece by piece when, after being alerted that Scotland Yard is pursuing him on fraud charges, travels from New York to Texas and, ultimately, Mexico to elude authorities. Adapted from a Graham Greene story, the same celebrated British author who wrote the screenplay for "The Third Man," Annakin aided scenarists John Stafford and Guy Elmes in their effort to convert a short story into a full-fledged drama concentrating on the psychology of greed interspersed with the theme of alienation.

When Rod Steiger, who catapulted to international stardom portraying the hunted international financier, arrives in Mexico, he learns that Bernard Lee of Scotland Yard is nipping at his heels. International law temporarily prevents Lee from crossing the American border in Texas to apprehend the fugitive businessman, so Steiger plots to put more distance between himself and Lee. Standing in the way is local police chief Noel Willman, who frustrates Steiger repeatedly by spurning his offers to bribe his way out of town. Willman, who achieves sadistic delight by watching the once powerful, now helpless Steiger squirm, plays his trump card ruthlessly, compelling his victim to remain where he is, unable to secure passage out of town and frustrated by Lee from crossing into Texas.

The film scales a psychological crescendo when the once potent and arrogant international financier is reduced to sleeping in dusty culverts under the stars, with one friend left to him in the world. For once his money is of no benefit. Steiger's lone friend is a dog named Dolores, acquired as he was leaving the train in Texas after knocking its owner unconscious and stealing his identity. The identity switch ultimately backfires when Steiger learns that his victim, played by Bill Nagy, is wanted for the murder of the provincial governor of the border region to which Steiger has retreated in putting distance between himself and Scotland Yard.

While initially praised as a brilliantly conceived and executed suspense film, with subsequent development of the field of film noir "Across the Bridge" has secured a position of leading recognition as one of the greatest British productions in that genre, a worthy successor to Carol Reed's "The Third Man" eight years earlier. It it one of those rare films that totally captures emotions while seizing the imagination, with Rod Steiger achieving milestone dramatic results. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Mickey Spillane plays his own creation, street-thug-turned-PI Mike Hammer, in this 1963 adaptation of his novel. The film opens with Hammer on the downside of a years-long bender, scooped out of the gutter by a bitter cop intent on prying information from a dying man. Inspired to clean up his act by the secrets he hears, Hammer hits the streets on a personal crusade to find the love of his life. Future Bond girl Shirley Earton costars as a glamorous society widow who goes slumming with Hammer. Spillane, who brings the grace of a trained monkey and the sex appeal of a Bronx cheer to the role, is less a stoic, tarnished street knight than a street bum at a cocktail party, but it works for the working-class pug. The low-budget production is a rare black-and-white CinemaScope picture, rough and messy butlacking the raw edge and gritty look of more accomplished crime pictures. B-movie veteran Roy Rowland directs with a lazy pace and a prosaic style that drags until he takes his camera to streets of New York City. The definitive Hammer remains Ralph Meeker in Robert Aldrich's Kiss Me Deadly, but Spillane makes a respectable runner-up. --Sean Axmaker ... Read more

Amazon.com

The early reels of First Man into Space should delight fans oftheMercury/Sputnik era in rocket technology... though it may delight fans oflow-budget '50s sci-fi even more. A small manned rocket, launched from a jetcruising at high altitude, manages to poke its nose up about 250 miles abovethe earth---thus making its cocky, reckless pilot the (you guessed it) first man into space. Unfortunately, weird cosmic debris clings to the spacecraft when it crash-lands, and also to the astronaut:he's now covered with alayer of scaly, sparkly space rock. To put it in technical terms, thereturned pilot is categorized as "a great big lumbering deformed monster."He's lumbering around a rocket facility in New Mexico, and themonster-pilot's brother (played by the always sober, always reliable MarshallThompson) must find the thing before it kills again. Oddly enough, once the cheesy space-flight FX wear off, First Man into Space turns into a competentand surprisingly thoughtful thriller; give this movie some points for atleast trying to emphasize the science in its fiction. --Robert Horton ... Read more