Goldfinger is a 1964 spy film directed by Guy Hamilton and the third official James Bond film, with Sean Connery returning as 007. This time Bond is sent to investigate the wealthy and dangerously obsessive Auric Goldfinger, whose criminal ambitions grow into a plot involving the gold reserves at Fort Knox. The film is one of the defining entries in the Bond series, not only because of its villains, gadgets and iconic dialogue, but because it helped establish the classic Bond formula in full: the larger-than-life mastermind, the memorable henchman, the luxury locations, the elaborate production design and the mix of danger, wit and spectacle.
The film was shot across England, the United States and Switzerland, with Pinewood Studios in Buckinghamshire serving as the main production base for many of the interior sets, including Goldfinger’s estate, factory and the famous Fort Knox vault, which had to be built from scratch because filming inside the real depository was not allowed. Location work in England also included Stoke Park for the golf match between Bond and Goldfinger, Black Park for parts of the Aston Martin chase, RAF Northolt for airport scenes and London Southend Airport for Goldfinger’s flight to Switzerland. In the United States, the production began in Miami Beach at the Fontainebleau Hotel, while second-unit footage was later shot in Kentucky around Fort Knox. The Swiss section gave the film some of its most striking scenery, with filming around Realp, Andermatt and the Furka Pass, where the mountain roads and high alpine landscape create one of the film’s most memorable visual stretches.
Fontainebleau Miami Beach
Fontainebleau Miami Beach appears in Goldfinger (1964), Scarface (1983), The Bodyguard (1992), Police Academy 5: Assignment Miami Beach (1988), and many more.
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