Goldfinger - the Bond blockbuster

The movie that shot the Penfold Heart to fame

Goldfinger (1964) is the third Bond film in which the young movie star Sean Connery plays MI6 agent James Bond for a third time. Based on the novel Goldfinger written by Ian Fleming in 1959, the film stars British actress Honor Blackman and Gert Frobe as the Bond villain. Produced by Albert R Broccoli and Harry Saltzman, this was the first of four Bond films to be directed by Guy Hamilton.

The plot centres upon 007 tracking the gold smuggler, Auric Goldfinger, who plans a nuclear detonation inside the Fort Knox gold depository.

Bond Blockbuster

Goldfinger was the first official Bond blockbuster: it made cinematic history by recouping its $3m production budget in two weeks, despite costing the same as the combined cost of the first two Bond films.

Goldfinger was also the first Bond film to use a pop star (Shirley Bassey) to sing the theme song - a success repeated for subsequent Bond films.

The Bond movie Goldfinger was originally released on 17th September 1964 in the UK and on 21st December 1964 in the USA. To promote the film, two Aston Martin DB5s were showcased at the 1964 New York World Fair, and subsequently dubbed "the most famous car in the world", rocketing sales of the sports car.

Corgi Toys began its decades-long relationship with the Bond franchise, producing a toy of the car. It became the biggest selling toy of 1964. The film's success also led to clothing, action figures, board games, trading cards and other memorabilia.

Bond Fans snap up memorabilia

The Penfold Heart Golf Ball played by James Bond led to massive sales of the Birmingham-produced golf ball. It became the most famous golf ball on the big screen. The Bond movie broke box office records in multiple countries around the world. Goldfinger went on to be included in the Guinness Book of World Records as the fastest grossing film of all time.

Penguin Group UK re-released Fleming's 007 titles in 2008 to celebrate the centenary of the author's birth. The Penfold Heart Golf Ball was re-introduced to tie-in with the centenary celebrations.

Would Bond still choose to play a Penfold Heart today? We like to think so!

Book cover Image by kind permission of Penguin Group UK