Goldfinger: After 40 Years Deleted Scene from Bond Movie Reappears
Goldfinger is one of the most memorable of the James Bond film series. Recently, a deleted scene from the final edit of Goldfinger (1965) appeared on YouTube, only to be pulled almost immediately after the film's owner, United Artists, protested. The long-rumored scene was a mere two minutes in length, but has been sought by rabid Bond fans for many years. Disappointingly, the scene didn't even feature legendary actor, Sean Connery, but focused on his CIA ally Felix Leither.
The film's director, Guy Hamilton fought to include the scene in the final cut since it explained one of the films important turning points that is missing from the film itself: How did they convince all the citizens of Fort Knox, Kentucky to fall to the ground in unison, faking death, when Ms. er, Galore's stunt planes flew overhead spraying "poison gas". How could the government navigate that hard to imagine feat of public relations coordination? Although, it is illegal to show the clip without UA authorization, the following is a copy the scripted dialgogue of the YouTube clip. The expensive scene took place on location in the old Fort Knox civic theatre (now demolished) with hundreds of extras. It begins as Leither is ending a formal presentation with some sort of clunky overhead projector (we'd like to see those overheads - bombs, beauties and Odd Job!). The scene itself is a series of questions and answers between Leiter and scores of townspeople. He is on a dias wit h what appear to be local dignitaries. The following is a transcript from the clip.
...so, that's about it. We need everyone to fall to the ground and pretend you're dead at around 10:04 tommorrow. Your cue will be the sound of some crop dusters overhead.
But, that's impossible, there's 16,000 people in this town...
Difficult, but not impossible.
But what if we're driving a car, or walking down stairs..
Well,it's important not to be driving or walking..just plan ahead. We're staging some car crashes to be realistic. I plan to have my car drive into a tree with my head hanging out the window...it's a good effect.
But, what about the nuclear bomb! You mean they're going to drive a nuclear bomb into the middle of town? What about our children!I want to leave.
You can't leave, they've closed all the roads and the highway, too. They won't let anyone out.
What!No!
Now, now, everyone settle down, those are just road improvements.
And what about our phones? None of them work!
The room explodes with excited conversation.
Those are just...phone improvements. C'mon, everybody, this is as good of a plan that we could come up with on short notice. It's just a few minutes out of your day. Just make a note to yourself, at 10:04, fall down and play dead. This is your town, after all. A nuclear bomb plays havoc with home values.
Do we all need to foam at the mouth? I can make up some foam for anyone who wants it.
That's the spirit!It's the details, people.
Tell me about this British Secret Agent? Is he attractive?
What difference does that make? They're driving a dad-blame nuclear bomb into the middle of our town! An all-out Atom Bomb!
I'm just trying to picture it all in my head.
There is a general uproar, and we are supposedly left to wonder if Leither can pull this miracle off. Hamilton later said that the scene was pulled because it made it look like Leither had saved everyone - not Bond. According to Hamilton, a United Artist exec said, "Leither looks like Sherrif Andy Taylor and Bond looks like his sidekick Barney", referring to the old TV series in which common plot points centered on Taylor saving the bumbling Barney.
It's an non-traditonal view of the movie, but it has some validity. It's Bond, after all, who is helplessly handcuffed to the bomb at the end of the film, something that would certainly happen to Barney Fife if that nuclear bomb had made it to Mayberry. Sherrif Taylor, er, Leither arranges everything behind the scenes and he saves the day - making Barney, no, Bond look like a hero. The studio exec said that the scene reminded the audience of who is really pulling this off.Although it's doubtful the deleted scene will ever be shown on YouTube again, film buffs can finally know how the film script explained the incredible ending of Goldfinger. Now, I wonder if the writers from the Andy Griffith show might want some belated credits.
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