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Goldfinger - The Reunion
Pinewood Studios, London, England - June 11th 2008
On Sunday 13th April 2008 over 120 guests plus over a dozen cast and crew members came together to celebrate what is considered to be a Bond classic - Goldfinger.
What started as a screening with a few special guests turned eventually into an historic reunion the likes of which will never be repeated!
At 10:45 the doors were opened and our attendees enjoyed refreshments and mingled with our special guests - Norman Wanstall, Shirley Eaton, Tania Mallett, Margaret Nolan, Caron Gardner, Guy Hamilton and Burt Kwouk. The Cinemastore were also on hand to sell Bond goodies to eager Bond fans. A little later more special guests arrived in the guise of production designers Peter Murton, Sir Kenneth Adam with his Lady Adam, Peter Lamont, lyricist Leslie Bricusse and his wife Yvonne Romain, and Martin Benson.
On show was the one of a kind prototype Corgi DB5 which was kindly loaned to us by Corgi UK. It's value was said to be over £15,000!
Dave Worrall and our guests braved the weather to tour the studio locations used in Goldfinger, including the ornamental gardens for the location of the statue - which is the first victim of Oddjob's deadly bowler hat - then on to the paddock tank where the pre-title sequence was filmed, the covered way and the backlot which is where the exterior of the Fort Knox set was built and Goldfinger's Kentucky Ranch. The Aston Martin DB5 meanwhile awaited the tour in the covered way - scene of the famous car chase.
After the tour and the April showers, the warmth of Theatre 7 was very welcoming as our guests took their seats for what would be a very memorable afternoon, starting with the newly restored and remastered version of Goldfinger. However, there was one more surprise - to introduce the film was Pussy Galore herself, Honor Blackman, to a well deserved standing ovation.
For a film over 40 years old the quality of both sound and picture was simply stunning. We have to thank our friends at Eon Productions and Park Circus who kindly loaned us this new version of the film.
After a short break, the Q & A session took place with Golden Girl Shirley Eaton and Tania Mallett reminiscing about their time on the film where Shirley was again asked to explain the procedure for covering her body in gold paint - a question she never tires of answering with great enthusiasm.
Tania chatted about how she was offered the lead in From Russia With Love, but declined as she 'was not an actress' and said she'd prefer 'a smaller role to get started with'. Her wish was granted on the next film!
Leslie Bricusse chatted about the famous title song, and his other John Barry collaborations - even revealing he had penned lyrics for a possible title song for On Her Majesty's Secret Service. Put the words to that!
Next up were Burt Kwouk and Margaret Nolan. Margaret explained how the producers wanted her to model for the opening titles, but she said on the proviso they gave her a small part! Burt chatted about the ever enduring success of Bond, before our guest of the hour, director Guy Hamilton was welcomed to the stage.
Guy spoke about his four Bond films, and revealed he had been asked to helm Dr No, but could not for family reasons. He also spoke about how he is still not quite satisfied with the movie, and feels he could improve on some scenes. Is that really possible?!
There was one more surprise too. Before leaving the stage, Guy was presented with the Cinema Retro Outstanding Achievement award by Honor Blackman.
Honor Blackman and Guy Hamilton
take a stroll down memory lane
It was then back to the house for more refreshments and autographs, with each attendee being presented with a souvenir Corgi Aston Martin DB5 to take home.
All photos (c) Mark Mawston 2008. Not to be used without permission
You can read more about this event at Goldfinger - The Reunion
Bondstars.com will return with The Spy Who Loved Me
Bondstars.com would like to thank our special guests without whom...
Guy Hamilton, Sir Kenneth Adam, Shirley Eaton, Honor Blackman, Margaret Nolan, Tania Mallett, Burt Kwouk, Reg Barkshire, Caron Gardner, Martin Benson, Peter Lamont, Peter Murton, Noman Wanstall and Leslie Bricusse.
And for their invaluable help:
Leslie Gilliat, EON Productions, Lee Pfeiffer, David Wight, Alan Harbud, James Bond Nederland, The Louwman Collection, Nick Varley from Park Circus, Yvonne Dickens at MGM, Mark Mawston, Dave Worrall, Matthew Field, Lee Pfeiffer, Corgi UK, Total Film, Andrew Freeman, Henry Holland, Adrian Head, Paul Marchant-Smith, Niclas Elvingsson, Vipul Patel, David Zaritsky and Robin Harbour.
