Bond Villains (3): Auric Goldfinger

I never read Dostoevsky's Crime & Punishment in high school. Our teacher assigned it as summer reading and once fall came around and school started, it was the first book we discussed. For an entire week, I cowered behind B, hoping that the teacher wouldn't ask me any questions about the book. (Thank goodness that B, a girl, was nearly a foot taller than me, sitting.)

The only thing I remember about those hour-long discussions in class was the symbolism of the color yellow. It represented decay. Well, yellow and its fraternal twin gold are everywhere in the movie Goldfinger. Old Auric had the following yellow/gold items:

1. shirt
2. hair
3. ring
   
4. shorts
5. sandals
6. watch
7. miniature radio
8. blonde Jill Masterson (later covered with gold paint)
9. golf bag
10. sweater
11. putter
12. car (albeit two toned)
13. Oddjob (yes, I went there)
14. hat
15. gloves
16. vest
17. cheap labor (I went there again)
18. generous Chinese ally with nuclear know-how
19. gun
    

In the movie, yellow and gold symbolize greed, shallowness, amorality, and materialism. With the twin colors in virtually every frame, it does not take an evil genius (or a 10th grade honors student) to figure out the symbolism.

Bond villain ranking:
1. Auric Goldfinger (Goldfinger)
2. Dr. Julius No (Dr. No)
3. Rosa Klebb (From Russian With Love)

CKY